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diff --git a/old/63831-0.txt b/old/63831-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 6d86615..0000000 --- a/old/63831-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,17384 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Queens of old Spain, by Martin Andrew Sharp -Hume - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this ebook. - -Title: Queens of old Spain - -Author: Martin Andrew Sharp Hume - -Release Date: November 21, 2020 [EBook #63831] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team - at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images - generously made available by The Internet Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK QUEENS OF OLD SPAIN *** - - - - - QUEENS OF OLD SPAIN - - -[Illustration: - - MARY TUDOR, QUEEN OF ENGLAND AND SPAIN. - - _After a Painting by Sir Antonio More._ -] - - - - - Queens - of - Old Spain - - - BY - - MARTIN HUME - - EDITOR OF THE CALENDARS OF SPANISH STATE PAPERS LECTURER IN SPANISH - HISTORY AND LITERATURE PEMBROKE COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE - - - ILLUSTRATED - - - LONDON - GRANT RICHARDS LTD. - PUBLISHERS - - _Published October 1906_ - _Re-issued July 1911_ - - - - - TO THE SEVERE BUT HONEST PUBLIC - - -The books left by a man whose every thought was about books, are even -more himself than were his actions during life. In fact, at times, I -think it is the case with all who write; for, after all, what a man -writes is really far more important than anything he does. - -Most of us in wandering through a churchyard where we come upon a -friend’s name, on a tombstone, feel a spirit of revolt. It is no good to -tell us death is as natural as life. We all know that, and still feel -that in some strange way we have been defrauded by the death of a dear -friend. Nothing is more unjust than is a natural cause. - -Even the Greeks, with all their joyousness, must have felt this when -they invented Nemesis. - -We Caledonians, who took our faith from Hippo (nane o’ yer Peters, gie -me Paul), perhaps stand up against the stabs of Fate better than those -nurtured in the most damnable doctrine of freewill. Once allow it, and -life becomes a drunken whirligig on which sit grave and reverend -citizens playing on penny whistles, all attired in black. - -If though the name upon the tombstone strikes a chill to the heart, half -of regret and half of fear—for what, when all is said and done, is your -_memento mori_ but blue funk?—when we pick up a dead friend’s book upon -a stall, published at twelve-and-sixpence and ticketed a penny, we must -reflect—that is, the most of us—that to that favour we shall come, and -all the pages, that cost us so much thought in the writing, to be tied -together with a piece of string and sold with the base trash of Smith -and Jones and Brown, fellows who had no style, nor knew the difference -betwixt invention and imagination, humour or wit, and did not know a -colophon from an illuminated capital, and sold all in a lot. - -Therefore I am glad that this edition of one of Hume’s best works is -coming out, and I who saw him laid to rest in the dry, marly earth of -that drear East End cemetery only a year ago—or was it ten, for when a -man is dead time ceases for him and for ourselves in thinking of him—am -writing these few lines to do my best to keep his memory green. - -His ‘Queens of Spain’ was one of the books that he liked best. - -Some say an author always likes his weakest book, but, even if he does, -what does it matter? A mother not infrequently adores the least -desirable of all her sons, but the world judges him; and she who bore -him has to submit to all its judgments of her well-beloved, just as the -author has to bow the head to what it says about his books. - -Hume was a man who valued what the public said about his work. I used to -fancy him, as a good gladiator, some Roman citizen who for his debts, or -some cause or another, was forced to live by push of sword, and took it -up in the same spirit in which my friend took up the pen, and set about -to write. - -Such a man, I fancy, fighting of course like Tybalt, by the book of -arithmetic, would feel a pride in dying well. Just as he fell, -despatched by some rude Dacian who in his life had never come within the -walls of any fencing school, he would wrap his mantle round him -decently, and murmur: ‘Civis Romanus sum,’ as he lay dying in the dust. - -These kind of men are never vanquished. Even if they die, their death -serves as an example to the world, and makes boys miserable at school -who have to put it into Greek hexameters. - -Hume was of these good gladiators and passed laborious days. How many -reams of paper he must have filled; how many miles of writing he must -have traced in his hard-working life, only himself could have been sure -of, and perhaps not he, for who shall say if a silkworm measures the -length of silk that comes from the cocoon. - -When in a music hall I see a man do something easily which seems -impossible, I always think upon the hours he must have passed—missing, -remissing, perspiring, cursing, and at last see him successful, and then -no matter how respectable my neighbours in the stalls appear, or tight -my gloves are, clap with a will. Noise, after all, is the reward, -perhaps the sole reward, that we accord success. - -A modest modicum was all Hume had to show for a self-denying life -spent—that is to say, for the last twenty years of it—in burrowing in -archives and writing ceaselessly upon the facts he found. - -Most certainly he lived the simple life. Up early in the morning, he -used to begin writing just as a mill horse turns round in a mill. Three -or four thousand lines by tea-time, and then perhaps he would review a -book. Then twice a week (no more) he used to walk down to the club, dine -simply, and sit reading till it was time to walk back home, to sleep and -rise again to work. - -With almost lightning speed he wrote, so that, when once he had his -facts, nothing remained but the material labour of the pen. - -‘Martin fa presto’ I used to call him, and certainly, considering how -much he wrote, the level he maintained was high; not perhaps in the vein -of Hallam or of Robertson, but then in history there are many bypaths, -and along them he strayed. Sometimes a ramble in a country lane is -better than a tramp upon the Great North Road. - -I like to fancy that in the Record Office, at Simancas, Brussels, and in -the Archives of the Indies (that great red pile, in Seville), there are -some old librarians who remember him, and talk about his work. I hear -them say, at Seville or Simancas, ‘There was an Englishman who used to -come here, one who spoke Christian. He used to sit and write, and knew -the documents better than we ourselves’ (which was not difficult). ‘I -tell you that that Englishman was like a devil at his work.’ - -If they exist, and Hume could hear of them, I am certain he would smile -in his grave way and say: ‘Ah, yes; old Don Saturino Lopez, or Don -Eustaquio Perez,’ as the case might be, ‘I well remember him. He never -knew where to find anything; he came from Coria, I think.’ - - R. B. CUNNINGHAME GRAHAM. - - - - - INTRODUCTION - - -In a previous volume I have remarked upon the extremely small political -significance of most of the Queens Consort of England, although socially -the country has become what it is mainly through feminine influence. In -Spain the exact reverse has happened, and in no Christian country has -the power of women been less formative of the life and character of the -nation, whilst, largely owing to personal and circumstantial accident, -the share of ladies in deciding the political destinies of the country -from the throne has been more conspicuous than in other European -monarchies. The oriental traditions dominant in Spain for centuries -tended to make wives the humble satellites rather than the equal -companions of their husbands; and the inflated gallantry, before -marriage at least, that sprang from the chivalrous obsession grafted -upon mixed feudal and Islamic ideals, affected to exclude woman from the -harder facts of existence, and from the practical problems that occupied -the minds of men. But whilst these traditions limited the power of -Spanish women generally, they were insufficient to counteract the -extraordinary political influence of a series of remarkable feminine -personalities who, mainly owing to feebleness and ineptitude of -consorts, or to long minorities of sons, have on occasion during the -course of four centuries practically wielded the sceptres of Spain. It -is true that queens regnant in England as well as in Spain have usually, -and quite naturally, been powerful political factors, but in most -instances they necessarily differed but little, either in aims or -methods, from male sovereigns. The difference between the queens of the -two countries is most remarkable in the case of queens consort, who in -Spain have, either as wives or widowed regents, influenced government to -an extent quite unparalleled in England. Apart from the accident of -forceful personal character, or other influential qualities possessed by -some of these ladies, the reason for their importance must be sought in -the fact that most of them represented great dynastic interests or -national alliances, and were supported by powerful parties in Spain or -abroad. In order that their lives should be properly understood, it will -be necessary to keep in view contemporary events in other parts of -Europe which more or less concerned them; and to relate the history of -all the Queens of Spain upon such a plan would exceed the capacity of a -single volume and the patience of the ordinary reader. It is proposed, -therefore, to select for treatment only the lives of some of the Queens -of Spain who, for their greatness, their political significance, their -attractions, or their misfortunes, stand forth most prominently in the -romantic history of their country. The temptation is great to dwell upon -certain of the earlier Queens of the small kingdoms which constituted -Spain before the union of the crowns: to tell the heroic story of the -great Berengaria, the mother of St. Ferdinand, and those of Queen Maria -de Molina and Blanche of Bourbon; to recount the matrimonial vagaries of -Peter the Cruel, and dwell upon Catharine of Lancaster, whose marriage -with the heir of Castile closed the war of succession to the Castilian -crowns waged by her father John of Gaunt. She, especially, stands forth -with almost photographic precision in the pages of the genius who penned -the chronicles of her time. Gigantic in size she seemed to the more -diminutive Spaniard: florid, fat, and fair; a vast eater and drinker, -whose valiant prowess at the festal board astounded the abstemious -people amongst whom she lived; strong and masculine, but idle, and -careless of the feminine arts by which woman’s attraction is increased; -ruled by her favourites, but withal a good woman and a good Queen, who -governed Spain honestly for ten years, during the minority of her weak -son, John II. of Castile. - -But, interesting as some of these earlier personages are, they cannot -rightly be called Queens of Spain; and the first of all Spanish Queens, -the great Isabel of Castile and Aragon, may fittingly begin the volume, -which will contain the stories of other ladies perhaps more loveable, -more feminine, more sympathetic, but none so splendidly steadfast, so -noble of aim, or so strong as she. Her function in the world, aided by -her husband, was to crush the rieving nobles, and bring unity to Spain -by religious exaltation. The end endowed her country with transient -greatness and febrile force, whilst the methods by which it was attained -doomed the nation she loved so well to a long agony of decay, and -ultimate exhaustion. The problems facing Spanish rulers thenceforward -were no longer centred upon the development of the country as a -prosperous Christian land, or even upon the maintenance of the -Mediterranean as a Christian sea. The policy of the ‘Catholic Kings’ -plunged Spain into the vortex of mid-European politics at the critical -period of the world’s history, when new lines of demarcation were being -scored by religious schism across the ancient boundaries: when deep, -unbridgable crevasses were being split between peoples hitherto bound -together by common interests and traditional friendship. At this crucial -time, when the centre of all earthly authority was boldly challenged, -Spain was pledged by Isabel and Ferdinand to a course which -thenceforward made her the champion of an impossible religious unity, -and squandered for centuries the blood and treasure of her people in the -fruitless struggle to fix enduring fetters upon the thoughts and souls -of men. Myriads of martyrs shed their blood to cement the solid Spain -that might serve as an instrument for such gigantic ends; and the -ecstatic Queen, though gentle and pitiful at heart, yet had no pity for -the victims, as her clear eyes pierced the reek of sacrifice, and saw -beyond it the shining glory of her goal. To her and to her descendant -kings the end they aimed at justified all things done in its attainment, -and the touch of mystic madness that in the great Queen was allied to -exalted genius, grew in those of her blood who followed her to the -besotted obsession that blinded them to the nature and extent of the -forces against them, and led them down at last to babbling idiocy, and -their country to impotent decay. The pale figure of Joan the distraught -flits across our page, and forces to our consideration once more the -awful problem of whether she was the victim of a hellish conspiracy on -the part of those who should have loved her best, or a woman afflicted -by the hand of God; whether her lifelong martyrdom was the punishment of -heresy or the need of her infirmity. Pathetic Mary Tudor, Queen Consort -of Spain, demands notice because her marriage with Philip II. marked the -vital need of Spain, at any cost, to hold by the traditional alliance -with England amidst the shifting sands of religious revolt which were to -overwhelm and transform Europe; whilst, later, the desperate attempt of -Philip to form a new group of powers which should enable Spain to -dispense with unorthodox England, is personified in the sweet and noble -figure of his third wife, Isabel of Valois, upon whose life-story, -poignant enough in its bare reality, romancers have embroidered so many -strange adornments. The Austrian princesses, who in turn became consorts -of the Catholic Kings, all represent the unhappy persistence of the -rulers of Spain in clinging to the splendid but unrealisable dream -bequeathed by their great ancestor the Emperor to his suffering realm; -that of perpetuating Spanish hegemony over Europe by means of compulsory -uniformity of creed, dictated from Rome and enforced from Madrid. And in -the intervals of discouragement and disillusionment at the impotence of -Habsburg Emperors to secure such uniformity even within the bounds of -the empire itself, and the patent impossibility for Spain alone to cope -with the giant task, we see the turning of kings and ministers in -temporary despair towards the secular enemy of the house of Austria, and -Spain in search of French brides who might bring Catholic support to the -Catholic champion. When, at last, exhausted Spain could deceive herself -no longer, and was fain to acknowledge that she had been beaten in her -attempt to hold the rising tide and deny to men the God-given right of -unfettered thought, the matrimonial alliances of her Kings, whilst -ceasing to be instruments for the realisation of the vision of her -prime, still obeyed the traditionary policies which drew Spain -alternately to the side of France or Austria. But the end of such -efforts now was not to serve Spanish objects, wise or otherwise, but to -snatch advantage for the rival birds of prey who were hovering over the -body of a great nation in the throes of dissolution, ravening for a -share of her substance when the hour of death should strike. Sordid and -pathetic as the story of these intrigues may be in their political -aspect, the personal share in them of the Queens Consort themselves, -their methods, their triumphs and their failures, are often fraught with -intense interest to the student of manners. The life of the unscrupulous -Mariana of Austria, who in the interests of her house held Spain so long -in the name of her imbecile son, and in her turn was outwitted by Don -Juan and the French interest, presents us with a picture of the times so -intimate, thanks to the plentiful material left behind by a -self-conscious age, as to introduce us into the innermost secrets of the -intrigues to an extent that contemporaries would have thought -impossible. And again the sad, but very human, story of the young -half-English Princess, bright and light-hearted, torn from brilliant -Paris to serve French interests, as the wife of Mariana’s half-witted -son Charles II., only to beat herself to death against the bars of her -gloomy golden cage and break her heart to old Mariana’s undisguised joy, -throws a flood of lurid light upon Spanish society in its decadence, and -proves the baseness to which human ambition will stoop. More repugnant -is the career of poor Marie Louise’s German successor as the Consort of -the miserable Charles the Bewitched in his last years, and the tale of -the extraordinary series of plots woven by the rival parties around the -lingering deathbed of the King, whom they worried and frightened into -his grave, a senile dotard at forty. Only briefly dealt with here are -the Queens of the Bourbon renascence, stout little Marie Louise of -Savoy, and the forceful termagant Isabel Farnese, who, chosen to serve -as a humble instrument of others, at once seized whip and reins herself, -and drove Spain as she listed during a long life of struggle for the -aggrandisement of her sons, in which Europe was kept at strife for years -by the ambition of one woman. - -These and other Queens Consort will pass before us in the following -pages, some of them good, a few bad, and most of them unhappy. There is -no desire to dwell especially upon the sad and gloomy features of their -history, or to represent them all as victims; but it must not be -forgotten, in condonation of the shortcomings of some of them, that they -were sent from their own homes, kin, and country, often mere children, -to a distant foreign court, where the traditional etiquette was -appallingly austere and repellent; sacrificed in loveless marriage to -men whom they had never seen; treated as emotionless pawns in the game -of politics played by crafty brains. No wonder, then, that girlish -spirits should be crushed, that young hearts should break in despair, -or, as an alternative, should cast to the winds all considerations of -honour, duty, and dignity, and seek enjoyment before extinction came. -Some of them passed through the fiery ordeal triumphant, and stand forth -clear and shining. Great Isabel herself, another more colourless Isabel, -the Emperor’s wife, a third, Isabel of the Peace, most beloved of -Spanish Queens, and Anne her successor, as solemn Philip’s wife. Of -these no word of reproach may justly be said, nor of Margaret, the -Austrian consort of Philip III., nor of the spirited Isabel of Bourbon, -daughter of the gay and gallant Béarnais, and sister of Henriette Marie -of England. These and others bore their burden bravely to the last; and -of the few who cast theirs down, and strayed amongst the poisoned -flowers by the way, it may be truly urged that the trespasses of others -against them were greater than their own transgressions. Such of their -stories as are here told briefly are set forth with an honest desire to -attain accuracy in historical fact and impartiality in deduction -therefrom. There has been no desire to make either angels or devils of -the personages described. They were, like the rest of their kind, human -beings, with mixed and varying motives, swayed by personal and political -influences which must be taken into account in any attempt to appraise -their characters or understand their actions. Several of the lives are -here told in English for the first time by the light of modern research, -and in cases where statements are at variance with usually accepted -English teaching, references are given in footnotes to the contemporary -source from which the statements are derived. The opening of the -archives of several European countries, and the extensive reproduction -in print of interesting historical texts in Spain of late years, provide -much of the new material used in the present work; and the labours of -recent English, French, and Spanish historians have naturally been -placed under contribution for such fresh facts as they have adduced. -Where this is the case, acknowledgment is made in the form of footnotes. - - MARTIN HUME. - - - - - CONTENTS - - - BOOK I - - PAGE - ISABEL THE CATHOLIC 1 - - - BOOK II - - JOAN THE MAD 139 - - - BOOK III - - 1. MARY OF ENGLAND 207 - 2. ISABEL OF VALOIS 259 - - - BOOK IV - - 1. ISABEL OF BOURBON 315 - 2. MARIANA OF AUSTRIA 359 - - - BOOK V - - 1. MARIE LOUISE OF ORLEANS 411 - 2. MARIANA OF NEUBURG 485 - - - EPILOGUE 529 - - - INDEX 543 - - - - - ILLUSTRATIONS - - - MARY TUDOR, QUEEN OF ENGLAND AND SPAIN. After a Painting - by ANTONIO MORE _Frontispiece_ - - ISABEL THE CATHOLIC AT THE SURRENDER OF GRANADA. After a _to face page_ - Painting by PRADILLA 64 - - JOAN THE MAD AND THE BODY OF HER HUSBAND. After a - Painting by PRADILLA „ „ 176 - - ISABEL OF VALOIS. After a Painting by PANTOJA DE LA CRUZ „ „ 288 - - ISABEL OF BOURBON. After a Painting by VELAZQUEZ „ „ 336 - - MARIANA OF AUSTRIA. After a Painting by VELAZQUEZ „ „ 368 - - ISABEL FARNESE. After a Painting by VAN LOO „ „ 536 - - _The above Illustrations are reproduced from Photographs by J. Lacoste, - Madrid._ - - - - - BOOK I - ISABEL THE CATHOLIC - - - CHAPTER I - -Proudly reared upon a lofty cliff above the trickling Manzanares, there -stood the granite palace that had gradually grown around the ancient -Moorish fortress of Madrid. Like an eagle from its aerie, its tiny -windows blinked across the tawny plain at the far-off glittering snow -peaks of Guadarrama, standing forth clear and sharp against a cobalt -sky. The Alcazar had been the scene of many strange happenings in the -past; and for a hundred years chivalric splendour had run riot in its -broad patios, with their arcades of slender columns, and in its -tapestried halls, whose carved ceilings blazed with gold and colour. -Frivolous, pleasure-loving, Juan II. of Castile, grandson of John of -Gaunt, had through a long reign outdone in vain ostentation the epic -poems and romances of chivalry that filled his brain, and he himself, -with his attendant Nubian lion slouching by his side, had stalked -through the Alcazar upon the cliff, a figure more picturesque than that -of Amadis or Arthur. His lavish, easy-going son, Henry IV., had followed -in his footsteps, and had made his palace of Madrid a home of dissolute -magnificence and humiliating debauchery, unexampled even in that age of -general decadence. - -But rarely had scenes at once so pregnant of evil, and yet so ostensibly -joyous, been enacted in the palace of Madrid as on the 17th March 1462. -Greed, hate and jealousy, raged beneath silken gowns and ermine mantles; -nay, beneath the gorgeous vestments of the great churchmen who stood -grouped before the altar in the palace chapel, though smiling faces and -words of pleasure were seen and heard on every side. For to the King, -after eight years of fruitless marriage, an heiress had been born, and -the court and people of Castile and Leon were bidden to make merry and -welcome their future Queen. Bull fights, tournaments, and cane contests, -the songs of minstrels and plenteous banquets, had for days beguiled a -populace palled with gaudy shows; and now the sacred ceremonies of the -Church were to sanctify the babe whose advent had moved so many hearts -to shocked surprise. The King, a shaggy, red-haired giant with slack, -lazy limbs and feeble face, towered in his golden crown and velvet -mantle over his nine-year-old half-brother Alfonso by his side. The -child, under a canopy, was borne in state up to the font by Count Alba -de Liste, and the stalwart, black-browed primate of Spain, Alfonso -Carrillo, Archbishop of Toledo, who, with three attendant bishops, -performed the ceremony, blessed the baby girl unctuously beneath the -King’s lymphatic gaze, though he had already resolved to ruin her. By -the side of the font stood the sponsors: a girl of eleven and a sturdy -noble in splendid attire, with his wife. All around, the courtiers, -their mouths wreathed in doubtful smiles which their lifted brows -belied, glanced alternately at the little group of sponsors, and at the -noblest figure of all the courtly throng: a young man glittering with -gems who stood behind the King. Tall, almost, as Henry himself, with -flashing dark eyes and jet black hair, a fair skin and gallant mien, -this youth formed with the King, and the group at the font, the elements -of a great drama, which ended in the renascence of Spain. For the young -man was Beltran de la Cueva, the new Count of Ledesma, who, all the -court was whispering, was really the father of the new-born Princess, -and the sponsors, besides the Frenchman Armignac, were the gorged and -spoiled favourite of the King, the all-powerful Juan Pacheco, Marquis of -Villena, and his wife, and the King’s half-sister, Princess Isabel of -Castile. The girl had seen nothing of court life, for up to this time, -from her orphaned babyhood, she had lived with her widowed mother and -younger brother in neglected retirement at the lone castle of Arevalo, -immersed in books and the gentle arts that modest maids were taught; but -she went through her part of the ceremony composedly, and with simple -dignity. She was already tall for her age, with a fair, round face, -large, light blue eyes, and the reddish hair of her Plantagenet -ancestors; and if she, in her innocence, guessed at some of the -tumultuous passions that were silently raging around her, she made no -sign, and bore herself calmly, as befitted the daughter of a long line -of kings.[1] - -Seven weeks afterwards, on the 9th May, in the great hall of the palace, -the nobles, prelates, and deputies of the chartered towns met to swear -allegiance to the new heiress of Castile. One by one, as they advanced -to kneel and kiss the tiny hand of the unconscious infant, they frowned -and whispered beneath their breath words of scorn and indignation which -they dared not utter openly, for all around, and thronging the corridors -and courtyards, there stood with ready lances the Morisco bodyguard of -the King, eager to punish disobedience. And so, though the insulting -nickname of the new Infanta Juana, _the Beltraneja_, after the name of -her assumed father, passed from mouth to mouth quietly, public protest -there was none.[2] - -Already before the birth of the hapless _Beltraneja_, the scandal of -Henry’s life, his contemptible weakness and the acknowledged sexual -impotence which had caused his divorce from his first wife, had made his -court a battle ground for rival ambitions. Like the previous Kings of -his house, which was raised to the throne by a fratricidal revolution, -and himself a rebel during his father’s lifetime, Henry IV. had lavished -crown gifts upon noble partisans to such an extent as to have reduced -his patrimony to nought. Justice was openly bought and sold, permanent -grants upon public revenues were bartered for small ready payments, law -and order were non-existent outside the strong walls of the fortified -cities, and the whole country was a prey to plundering nobles, who, -either separately or in “leagues,” tyrannised and robbed as they -listed.[3] Feudalism had never been strong in the realms of Castile, -because the frontier nobles, who for centuries pushed back gradually the -Moorish power, always had to depend upon conciliating the towns they -occupied, in order that the new regime might be more welcome than the -one displaced. The germ of institutions in Spain had ever been the -municipality, not the village grouped around the castle or the abbey as -in England, and the soldier noble in Spain, unlike the English or German -baron, had to win the support of townsmen, not to dispose of -agricultural serfs. But when the Moors in Spain had been reduced to -impotence, and a series of weak kings had been raised to the throne as -the puppets of nobles; then when feudalism was dying elsewhere, it -attempted to raise its head in Spain, capturing the government of towns -on the one hand and beggaring and dominating the King on the other. By -the time of which we are now speaking, the process was well nigh -complete; and the only safeguard against the absolute tyranny of the -nobles, was their mutual greed and jealousy. - -For years Juan Pacheco, Marquis of Villena, had ruled the King with a -rod of iron. The grants and gifts he had extorted for himself and his -friends made him more powerful than any other force in the land. But -there were those who sulked apart from him, nobles, some of them, of -higher lineage and greater hereditary territories than his; and when the -handsome foot page, Beltran de la Cueva, captured the good graces of the -King and his gay young Portuguese wife, Queen Juana, the enemies of -Villena saw in the rising star an instrument by which he might be -humbled. After the Beltraneja’s birth and christening, honours almost -royal were piled upon Beltran de la Cueva; and Villena and his uncle, -Alfonso Carrillo, Archbishop of Toledo, grew ever more indignant and -discontented. Only a fortnight after the Cortes had sworn allegiance to -the new Princess, Villena drew up a secret protest against the act, -alleging the illegitimacy of the child,[4] and soon open opposition to -King and favourite was declared. - -There is no space here to relate in detail the complicated series of -intrigues and humiliations that followed. The King on one occasion was -forced to hide in his own palace from the assaulting soldiery of -Villena. To buy the goodwill of the jealous favourite towards his little -daughter he went so far as to agree to a marriage between the Beltraneja -and Villena’s son;[5] and more humiliating still, in December 1464, he -consented to the inquiry of a commission of churchmen nominated by -Villena and his friends, to inquire into the legitimacy of his reputed -daughter. The inquiry elicited much piquant but entirely contradictory -evidence as to the virility of the King, who, it was admitted on all -hands, delighted in the society of ladies, and aroused the violent -jealousy of the Queen; but, although with our present lights there seems -to have been no valid reason for disinheriting the princess, the -commission was sufficiently in doubt to recommend the King to make the -best terms he could with the rebels. The King’s sister, Princess Isabel, -who at the time lived at Court, was also used as an instrument by Henry -to pacify the league against him. She had been betrothed when quite a -child at Arevalo to Prince Charles of Viana, eldest son of the King of -Aragon, and in right of his mother himself King of Navarre; a splendid -match which, failing issue from Henry and from her younger brother -Alfonso, might have led to the union of all Spain in one realm. But -Charles of Viana had already in 1461 fallen a victim to the hate and -jealousy of his stepmother, Juana Enriquez, daughter of a great -Castilian noble, Don Fadrique, the Admiral of the realm, and Isabel -became to her brother a valuable diplomatic asset. Before the storm of -war burst Henry attempted to wed his sister to Alfonso V. of Portugal, -his wife’s brother, and so to prevent her claims to the Castilian crown -being urged to the detriment of the Beltraneja; but the match had no -attraction for the clever cautious girl of thirteen; for the suitor was -middle-aged and ugly, and already her own genius or crafty councillors -had suggested to her the husband who would best serve her own interests. -So she gravely reminded her brother that she, a Castilian princess, -could not legally be bestowed in marriage without the formal -ratification of the Cortes. - -In September 1564 Beltran de la Cueva received the great rank of Master -of Santiago, which endowed him not only with vast revenues, but the -disposal of an armed force second to none in the kingdom, and this new -folly of the King was the signal for revolt. A party of nobles -immediately seized Valladolid against the King, and though the -townspeople promptly expelled them and proclaimed the loyalty of the -city, the issue between the factions was now joined. On the following -day, 16th September, an attempt that nearly succeeded was made to -capture and kidnap the King himself near Segovia. He was a poor, -feeble-minded creature, hating strife and danger, and, though some of -his stronger councillors protested against such weakness, he consented -to meet the revolted nobles, and redress their grievances. In October -Villena, the Archbishop of Toledo, Count Benavente, the Admiral Don -Fadrique, and the rest of the rebels, met Henry between Cabezon and -Cigales, and in three interviews, during their stay of five weeks, -dictated to the wretched King their demands.[6] The King was to dismiss -his Moorish guard and become a better Christian: he was to ask for no -more money without the consent of the nobles, to deprive Cueva of the -Mastership of Santiago, recognise his own impotence and the bastardy of -his daughter, and acknowledge as his heir his half-brother Alfonso, whom -he was to deliver to the guardianship of Villena. On the 30th November -the nobles and the King took the oath to hold the boy Alfonso as the -heir of Spain; and then Henry, a mere cypher thenceforward, sadly wended -his way to Segovia, where the commission to inquire into the shameful -question of his virility was still sitting,[7] and Villena and his -uncle, the warlike Archbishop, were thus practically the rulers of -Spain. But though Henry consented to everything he characteristically -tried to avoid the spirit of the agreement. Beltran de la Cueva was -deprived of the Mastership of Santiago, but he was made Duke of -Alburquerque in exchange for the loss, and the poor little disinherited -Beltraneja was treated with greater consideration than before. - -When civil war was seen to be inevitable in the spring of 1465, Henry -carried his wife and child with his sister Isabel to Salamanca, whilst -the Archbishop of Toledo, in the name of the revolted nobles, seized the -walled city of Avila, where within a few days he was joined by Villena -and his friends, bringing with them the Infante Alfonso, who, in -pursuance of the agreement made with the King at Cigales, had received -the oath of allegiance as heir to the crown. From the King it was clear -that the nobles could hope for no more, for he had summoned the nation -to arms to oppose them; but from a child King of their own making, rich -grants could still be wrung, and for the first time since the dying days -of the Gothic monarchy, the sacredness of the anointed Sovereign of -Castile was mocked and derided. In April 1565, at Plascencia, the nobles -swore secretly to hold Alfonso as King; and on the 5th June 1364, on a -mound within sight of the walls of Avila, the public scene was enacted -that shocked Spain like a sacrilege. Upon a staging there was seated a -lay figure in mourning robes, with a royal crown upon its head; a sword -of state before it, and in the hand a sceptre. A great multitude of -people with bated breath awaited the living actors in the scene; and -soon there issued from the city gate a brilliant cavalcade of nobles and -bishops, headed by Villena escorting the little prince Alfonso. Arriving -before the scaffolding, and in mockery saluting the figure, most of the -nobles mounted the platform, whilst Villena, the Master of Alcantara, -and Count Medillin, with a bodyguard, conveyed the Infante to a coign of -vantage some distance away. Then in a loud voice was read upon the -platform the impeachment of the King, which was summed up under four -heads. For the first, it ran, Henry of Castile is unworthy to enjoy the -regal dignity; and as the tremendous words were read the Archbishop of -Toledo stepped forth and tore the royal crown from the brows of the -lifeless doll: for the second, he is unfit to administer justice in the -realm, and the Count of Plascencia removed the sword of state from its -place: for the third, no rule or government should be entrusted to him, -and Count of Benavente took from the figure’s powerless grasp the -sceptre which it held: for the fourth, he should be deprived of the -throne and the honour due to kings, whereupon Don Diego Lopez de Zuñiga -cast the dummy down and trampled it under foot, amidst the jeers and -curses of the crowd. When this was done, and the platform cleared, young -Alfonso was raised aloft in the arms of men that all might see, and a -great shout went up of “_Castilla, Castilla, for the King Don Alfonso_,” -and then, seated on the throne, the boy gave his hand to kiss to those -who came to pay their new sovereign fealty. Like wildfire across the -steppes and mountains of Castile sped the awful news, and Henry in -Salamanca was soon surrounded by hosts of subjects whose reverence for a -sacrosanct King had been wounded by what they regarded as impious -blasphemy. - -Both factions flew to arms, and for months civil war raged, the walled -cities being alternately besieged and captured by both parties. Isabel -herself remained with the King, usually at Segovia or Madrid; though -with our knowledge of her character and tastes, she can have had little -sympathy with the tone of her brother’s court. At one time during the -lingering struggle in 1466, Henry endeavoured to win Villena and his -family from the side of rebellion by betrothing Isabel to Don Pedro -Giron, Master of Calatrava, Villena’s brother. The suitor was an uncouth -boor, and that an Infanta of Castile should be sacrificed in marriage -with an upstart such as he was too much for Isabel’s pride and great -ambition. Nothing in the world, she said, should bring her to such a -humiliation; though the King, careless of her protests, petitioned the -Pope to dispense Don Pedro from his pledge of celibacy as Master of a -monkish military order. Isabel’s faithful friend, Doña Beatriz -Bobadilla, wife of Andres Cabrera, High Steward of the King, and -Commander of the fortress of Segovia, was as determined as her mistress -that the marriage should not take place, and swore herself to murder Don -Pedro, if necessary, to prevent it. A better way was found than by Dona -Beatriz’s dagger, for when the papal dispensation arrived, and the -prospective bridegroom set out in triumph to claim his bride, poison cut -short his career as soon as he left his home. Whether Isabel herself was -an accomplice of the act will never be known. She probably would not -have hesitated to sanction it in the circumstances, according to the -ethics of the time; for she never flinched, as her brother did, at -inflicting suffering for what she considered necessary ends. - -On the 20th August 1467, the main bodies of both factions met on the -historic battlefield of Olmedo, the warlike Archbishop of Toledo, clad -in armour covered by a surcoat embroidered with the holy symbols, led -into battle the boy pretender Alfonso; whilst the royal favourite, -Beltran de la Cueva, now Duke of Alburquerque, on the King’s side, -matched the valour of the Churchman.[8] Both sides suffered severely, -but the pusillanimity of the King caused the fight to be regarded as a -defeat for him, and the capture of his royal fortress of Segovia soon -afterwards proved his impotence in arms so clearly, that a sort of -_modus vivendi_ was arranged, by which for nearly a year each King -issued decrees and ostensibly ruled the territories held by his -partisans.[9] - -At length, in July 1468, the promising young pretender Alfonso died -suddenly and mysteriously in his fifteenth year, at Cardeñosa, near -Avila; perhaps of plague, as was said at the time, but more probably of -poison;[10] and the whole position was at once revolutionised. Isabel -had been in the Alcazar of Segovia with her friends the commander and -his wife when the city was surrendered to the rebels, and from that -time, late in 1567, she had followed the fortunes of Alfonso, with whom -she was at his death. She at once retired broken-hearted to the convent -of Santa Clara in Avila, but not, we may be certain, unmindful of the -great change wrought in her prospects by her brother’s premature death. -She was nearly seventeen years of age, learned and precocious far beyond -her years; the events that had passed around her for the last six years -had matured her naturally strong judgment, and there is no doubt from -what followed that she had already decided upon her course of action. -She was without such affectionate guidance as girls of her age usually -enjoy; for her unhappy widowed mother, to whom she was always tender and -kind, had already fallen a victim to the hereditary curse of the house -of Portugal, to which she belonged, and lived thenceforward in lethargic -insanity in her castle of Arevalo. Isabel’s brother the King was her -enemy, and she had no other near relative: the churchmen and nobles who -had risen against Henry, and were now around her, were, it must have -been evident to her, greedy rogues bent really upon undermining the -royal power for their own benefit; and deeply devout as Isabel was, she -was quite unblinded by the illusion that the Archbishop and bishops who -led the revolt were moved to their action by any considerations of -morality or religion. On the other hand, the rebellious nobles and -ecclesiastics could not persist in their revolt without a royal figure -head. Young Alfonso, a mere child, had been an easy tool, and doubtless -the leaders thought that this silent, self-possessed damsel would be -quite as facile to manage. - -They did not have to wait many days for proof to the contrary. The -Archbishop of Toledo was the mouthpiece of his associates. Within the -venerable walls of the royal convent at Avila he set before Isabel a -vivid picture of the evils of her elder brother’s rule, his shameful -laxity of life, his lavish squandering of the nation’s wealth upon -unworthy objects, and the admitted illegitimacy of the daughter he -wished to make his heiress; and the Archbishop ended by offering to -Isabel, in the name of the nobles, the crowns of Castile. The wearer of -these crowns, wrested painfully through centuries of struggle from -intruding infidels, had always been held sacred. The religious -exaltation born of the reconquest had invested the Christian sovereigns -in the eyes of their subjects with divine sanction and special saintly -patronage. To attack them was not disloyalty alone, but sacrilege; and -the deposition of Henry at Avila had, as we have seen, thrilled Spain -with horror. It was no part of Isabel’s plan to do anything that might -weaken the reverence that surrounded the throne to which she knew now -she might succeed. So her answer to the prelate was firm as well as -wise. With many sage reflections taken from the didactic books that had -always been her study, she declared that she would never accept a crown -that was not hers by right. She desired to end the miserable war, she -said, and to be reconciled to her brother and sovereign. If the nobles -desired to serve her they would not try to make her Queen before her -time, but persuade the King to acknowledge her as his heir, since they -assured her that the Princess Juana was the fruit of adultery. - -At first the nobles were dismayed at an answer that some thought would -mean ruin to them. But the Archbishop, Carrillo, knew the weakness of -Henry, and whispered to Villena as they descended the convent stairs, -that the Infanta’s resolve to claim the heirship would mean safety and -victory for them. Little did he or the rest of the nobles know the great -spirit and iron will of the girl with whom they had to deal. No time was -lost in approaching the King. He was ready to agree to anything for a -quiet life, and Alburquerque, and even the great Cardinal Mendoza, -agreed with him that an accord was advisable; though it might be broken -afterwards when the nobles were disarmed. Before the end of August all -was settled, and the cities of Castile had sent their deputies to take -the oath of allegiance to Isabel as heiress to the crown. A formal -meeting was arranged to take place between Henry and his sister at a -place called the Venta de los Toros de Guisando, a hostelry famous for -some prehistoric stone figures of undetermined beasts in the -neighbourhood. All was amiable on the surface. Henry embraced his sister -and promised her his future affection, settling upon her the -principality of Asturias and Oviedo, and the cities of Avila, Huete, -Medina, and many others, with all revenues and jurisdictions as from the -beginning of the revolt (September 1464).[11] But by the agreement -Isabel was bound not to marry without the King’s consent, and it is -evident that to this condition Henry and his friends looked for -rendering their concessions voidable. - -The intrigues of the two parties of Castile were therefore now centred -upon the marriage of the Princess. Suitors were not lacking. If we are -to believe Hall, Edward IV. of England, before his marriage with -Elizabeth Grey, was approached by the Spaniards, and it is certain that -his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, was at one time a wooer. Either -of them would have suited Henry of Castile, because it would have -removed Isabel from Spain. A Portuguese would have also been acceptable -to the same party, because Portugal was naturally on the side of the -Beltraneja and her Portuguese mother. But Isabel had other views, and -the only suitors that were entertained seriously were the Duke of -Guienne, the brother of Louis XI., and the young Ferdinand of Aragon, -the son and heir of John II. and nephew of the doughty old Admiral of -Castile, who had stood by the side of the nobles in their revolt. There -was never any doubt as to which of the suitors Isabel favoured. The -Frenchman was reported to her as a poor, puny creature with weak legs -and watery eyes, whilst Ferdinand, a youth of her own age, was praised -to the skies for his manliness, his good looks, and his abilities, by -those whose judgment she trusted. It is impossible to say whether Isabel -as yet fully understood what such a marriage might mean to Spain; but it -is certain that the wicked old John II. of Aragon was quite aware of its -advantages for his own realm. - -The house of Aragon, with its domains of Sicily and Naples, and its -secular ambition towards the east, had found itself everywhere opposed -by the growing power of France. The Mediterranean, the seat of empire -for centuries, had no finer havens than those under the sceptre of -Aragon, but the Catalans were harsh and independent with their kings, -and sparing of their money for royal purposes. A poor king of Aragon -could not hope, with his own unaided resources, to beat France on the -Gulf of Lyons, and bear the red and yellow banner of Barcelona to the -infidel Levant. But with the resources in men and money of greater -Castile at his bidding, all was possible; and John II., who had not -scrupled to murder his first-born son for the benefit of his second, and -oust his own children from their mother’s realm of Navarre, was ready to -go to any lengths to bring about the union which might realise the dream -of Aragon. - -From Isabel’s point of view, too, the match was a good one, apart from -personal inclination. There is no doubt whatever that she was, even thus -early, determined when her time came to crush the tyrannous nobles who -had reduced Castile to anarchy and the sovereign to a contemptible lay -figure. With her great talent she understood that to do this she must -dispose of force apart from that afforded by any league of nobles in -Castile itself; and she looked towards Aragon to lend her such -additional strength. This fact, however, was not lost upon the greedy -nobles, especially Villena. The turbulent leader of conspiracy already -looked askance at the quiet determined girl who thus early imposed her -will upon her followers, and throwing his power again on the side of the -king he had once solemnly deposed, he seized the mastership of Santiago -as his reward. In a panic at the fear of the Aragonese match, the king -and Villena once more agreed to marry Isabel with the king of Portugal, -Villena and Cardinal Mendoza being heavily bribed by the Portuguese for -their aid.[12] Isabel was at her town of Ocaña at the time, and her -position was extremely difficult and perilous when the Portuguese envoys -came to her with Villena to offer her their king’s hand. As Isabel had -several weeks before secretly bound herself to marry Ferdinand of -Aragon, her reply was a diplomatic refusal to the Portuguese advances; -and Villena, enraged, was disposed to capture her on the spot and carry -her a prisoner to Court. Inconvenient princes and princesses were easily -removed in those days, and Isabel’s danger was great. But she had the -faculty of compelling love and admiration; she was as brave as a lion -and as cunning as a serpent, and the people of Ocaña made it quite -evident to Villena that they would allow no violence to be offered to -her. But clearly something must be done to prevent Isabel from becoming -too strong; and as a last resort after her refusal to entertain the -Portuguese match it was determined to capture her by force of arms. She -was then at Madrigal, and Villena’s nephew, the Bishop of Burgos, bribed -her servants to desert her in her hour of need: the King sent orders to -the townsmen that no resistance was to be offered to his officers; and -Cardinal Mendoza with a strong force marched towards Madrigal to arrest -Isabel. But another archbishop, more warlike than he, Carrillo of -Toledo, was before him. With the Admiral Don Fadrique and a band of -horsemen, he swooped down from Leon and bore Isabel to safety amongst -those who would have died for her, and entered into the great city of -Valladolid after sunset on the 31st August 1469. No time was to be lost. -Envoys were sent in disguise hurrying up to Saragossa, to hasten the -coming of the bridegroom. The service was a dangerous one; for if -Ferdinand had fallen into the hands of the Court party a short shrift -would have been his. But the stake was great, and Juan II. of Aragon and -his son, young as the latter was, did not stick at trifles. One -difficulty, indeed, was overcome characteristically. Isabel was known to -be rigidity itself in matters of propriety; and, as she and Ferdinand -were second cousins, a papal bull was necessary for the marriage. The -Pope, Paul II., was on the side of the Castilian Court, and no bull -could be got from him; but Juan II. of Aragon and the Archbishop of -Toledo carefully had one forged to satisfy Isabel’s scruples.[13] - -Whilst one imposing cavalcade of Aragonese bearing rich presents took -the high road into Castile and occupied the attention of the King’s -officers, a modest party of five merchants threaded the mountain paths -by Soria, after leaving the Aragonese territory at Tarazona on the 7th -October. The first day after entering Castile they rode well-nigh sixty -miles; and late at night the little cavalcade approached the walled town -of Osma, where Pedro Manrique and an armed escort were to meet them. The -night was black, and their summons at the gates of the town was -misunderstood: a cry went up that this was a body of the king’s men to -surprise the place; and from the ramparts a shower of missiles flew upon -the strangers below. One murderous stone whizzed within a few inches of -the head of a fair-haired lad of handsome visage and manly bearing, who, -as a servant, accompanied those who wore the garb of merchants. It was -Ferdinand himself who thus narrowly escaped death, and a hurried -explanation, a shouted password, the flashing of torches followed, and -then the creaking drawbridge fell, the great gates clanged open, and the -danger was over.[14] The next day, with larger forces, Ferdinand reached -Dueñas, in Leon, near Valladolid; and four days later, now in raiment -that befitted a royal bridegroom, for his father had made him king of -Sicily, he rode when most men slept to Valladolid. It was nearly -midnight when he arrived, and the gates of the city were closed for the -night, but a postern in the walls gave access to the house in which -Isabel was lodged; and there the Archbishop of Toledo led him by hand -into the presence of his bride, to whom he was solemnly betrothed by the -Archbishop’s chaplain. It was all done so secretly that no inkling of it -reached the slumbering town; and within two hours the youth was in the -saddle again and reached Dueñas long before dawn.[15] - -On the 18th October 1469, four days later, all was ready for the public -marriage, and Ferdinand entered the city this time in state, with -Castilian and Aragonese men-at-arms and knights around him. Isabel was -staying at the best house in Valladolid, that of her partisan, Juan -Vivero, and the great hall was richly decked for the occasion of this, -one of the fateful marriages of history, though none could have known -that it was such at the time. The celebrant was the warlike Archbishop -who had been so powerful a factor in bringing it about; and the next -day, after mass, the married pair dined in public amidst the rejoicing -of the faithful people of Valladolid. There was little pomp and -circumstance in the wedding, for the times were critical, the realm -disturbed, and money scarce; but imagination is stirred by the -recollection of the great consequences that ensued upon it, and those -who saw the event, even with their necessarily limited vision of its -effects, must have realised that any splendour lavished upon it could -not have enhanced its importance. - -The news of the dreaded marriage filled the King and his court with -dismay. Villena, in close league with Alburquerque and the Mendozas, now -espoused the cause of the Beltraneja,[16] who was declared the -legitimate heiress to the Crown, and betrothed to Isabel’s former -suitor, the Duke of Guienne, in the presence of the assembled nobles, at -the monastery of Loyola, near Segovia. It mattered not, apparently, that -the very men who now swore fealty to Juana, the hapless Beltraneja, had -previously denounced her as a bastard: they wanted a puppet, not a -mistress, as Isabel was likely to be, and they were quite ready to -perjure themselves in their own interests. Isabel was formally deprived -of all her grants and privileges, even of the lordship of her town of -Dueñas, near Valladolid;[17] where she and Ferdinand had kept their -little court, and where their first child had just been born (October -1470), a daughter, to whom they gave the name of Isabel. - -Ferdinand could not remain long in idleness, and was soon summoned by -his father to aid him in a war with France, being absent from his wife -for over a year, winning fresh experience and credit both as soldier and -negotiator. In the meanwhile, things were going badly again for the -Beltraneja. Her French betrothed died in May 1472; and some of the -nobles, jealous of the greed of Villena, were once more wavering, and -making secret approaches to Isabel. She had bold and zealous friends in -the Chamberlain Cabrera, who held the strong castle of Segovia, and his -wife, Beatriz de Bobadilla.[18] In the last weeks of 1473, Doña Beatriz -and her husband urged Henry to forgive and receive his sister. She was, -they told him, being persecuted by the Marquis of Villena, and had meant -no harm in her marriage with the man she loved. Henry was doubtful, but -Cardinal Mendoza and Count Benavente had changed sides again, and now -quietly used their influence in Isabel’s favour. A grudging promise was -given by the King, but it was enough for Doña Beatriz; and, disguised as -a farmer’s wife, she set forth from Segovia on a market pad; and alone -over the snowy roads, hurried to carry the good news to the Princess in -the town of Aranda, which had just been surrendered to her by the -townsfolk. A few days afterwards, on further advice from Doña Beatriz, -Isabel, escorted by the Archbishop of Toledo and his men-at-arms, -travelled through the night, and before the first streak of dawn on the -28th December 1473, they were admitted into the Alcazar of Segovia, -where no force but treachery could harm her. - -Villena’s son, who, fearing betrayal, had refused to enter the city when -he had come with the King weeks before, and had remained in the -neighbourhood at the famous Geronomite monastery of El Parral, founded -by his father, fled at the news. His father, with Alburquerque and the -Constable of Castile, Count of Haro, at once met at Cuellar, and sent an -insolent order to Henry to expel his sister from Segovia. It came too -late, however. The King, by this time, had met Isabel, who had received -him at the gate of the Alcazar, and professed her love and duty to him. -In a speech full of womanly wisdom,[19] she said she had come to pray -him to put aside anger towards her, for she meant no evil; and all she -asked was that he should fulfil his oath taken at Toros de Guisando, and -acknowledge her as heiress of Castile. ‘For by the laws of God and man, -the succession belonged to her.’ Weak Henry swayed from one side to the -other like a reed in the wind, as either party had his ear; and at last -Isabel took the bold course of sending secretly for Ferdinand, who had -just returned from Aragon. The risk was great, but Isabel knew, at -least, that she could depend upon the Commander of the Alcazar of -Segovia, and Ferdinand secretly entered the fortress on the 4th January -1474. It was a difficult matter for Doña Beatriz to persuade the King to -receive his young brother-in-law; but she succeeded at last, and when -Henry had consented, he did the thing handsomely, and they all rode -together through the city in state, with great show of affection and -rejoicing. On Twelfth Day, Doña Beatriz and her husband gave a great -banquet to the royal party[20] at the Bishop’s palace, between the -Alcazar and the Cathedral. Whilst the minstrels were playing in the hall -after dinner, the King suddenly fell ill. Violent vomiting and purging -seemed to point to poison, and the alarm was great. Prayers and -processions continued night and day, and the unfortunate man seemed to -recover; but, though he lived for nearly a year longer, he never was -well again, the irritation of the stomach continuing incessantly until -he sank from weakness. - -In the interim both factions interminably worried him to settle the -succession. Sometimes he would lean to Isabel’s friends, sometimes to -Villena and Alburquerque, but Isabel herself, wise and cautious, knew -where safety alone for her could be found, and took care not to stir -outside the Alcazar of Segovia, in the firm keeping of Cabrera, who -himself was in the firm keeping of his wife, Doña Beatriz. Once in the -summer it was found that the King had treacherously agreed that -Villena’s forces should surreptitiously enter the town and occupy the -towers of the cathedral, whence they might throw explosives into the -Alcazar and capture Isabel on the ground that she was poisoning the -King; but the plan was frustrated, and Henry, either in fear or ashamed -of his part of the transaction, left Segovia to place himself in the -hands of Villena at Cuellar. Greedy to the last, Villena carried the -sick King to Estremadura to obtain the surrender of some towns there -that he coveted; but to Henry’s expressed grief, and the relief of the -country, the insatiable favourite died unexpectedly of a malignant -gathering in the throat on the way, and the King returned to Madrid, -himself a dying man. His worthless life flickered out before dawn on the -12th December 1474, and his last plans were for the rehabilitation of -the Beltraneja. He is said to have left a will bequeathing her the -succession; but Cardinal Mendoza, Count Benavente, and his other -executors, never produced such a document, which, moreover, would have -been repudiated now by the nation at large, passionately loyal, as it -already mainly was, to Isabel.[21] - -There was hardly a private or public shortcoming of which Henry in his -lifetime had not been accused. From the Sovereign Pontiff to frank, but -humble subjects, remonstrances against his notoriously bad conduct had -been offered to the wretched King; and at his death the accumulated -evils, bred by a line of frivolous monarchs, had reached their climax. -There was no justice, order or security for life or property, and the -strong oppressed the weak without reproach or hindrance, the only -semblance of law being maintained by the larger walled cities in their -territories by means of their armed burgess brotherhood. But in the -disturbances that had succeeded the birth of the Beltraneja the cities -themselves were divided, and in many cases the factions within their own -walls made them scenes of bloodshed and insecurity. Faith and religion, -that had hitherto been the mainstay of the throne of Castile, had been -trampled under foot and oppressed by a monarch whose constant companions -and closest servitors had been of the hated brood of Mahomet. Nobles -who, for themselves and their adherents, had wrung from the Kings nearly -all they had to give, and threatened even to overwhelm the cities, were -free from taxation, except the almost obsolete feudal aid in spears -which the Sovereign had nominally a right to summon at need. Such men as -Villena, or Alvaro de Luna in the previous reign, with more armed -followers than the King and greater available wealth, were the real -sovereigns of Castile in turbulent alternation, and the final -disintegration of the realm into petty principalities appeared to be the -natural and imminent outcome of the state of affairs that existed when -Henry IV. breathed his last. - -All Castile and Leon, with their daughter kingdoms, were looking and -praying for a saviour who could bring peace and security; and at first -sight it would seem as if a turbulent State that had never been ruled by -a woman could hardly expect that either of the young princesses who -claimed the crown could bring in its dire need the qualities desired for -its salvation. Isabel’s popularity, especially in Valladolid, Avila and -Segovia, was great; and at the moment of the King’s death her friends -were the stronger and more prompt, for Villena had just died, the -Beltraneja was but a child of twelve, and the Queen-Mother, discredited -and scorned, was lingering out her last days in a convent in Madrid.[22] -The towns, for the most part, awaited events in awe, fearing to take the -wrong side, and a breathless pause followed the death of the King. -Isabel was at Segovia, and under her influence and that of Cabrera, the -city was the first to throw off the mask and raised the pennons for -Isabel and Ferdinand, to whom, in her presence, it swore allegiance and -proclaimed sovereigns of Castile. Valladolid followed on the 29th -December; whilst Madrid, whose fortress was in the hands of Villena’s -son, declared for the Beltraneja. The nobles shuffled again; moved by -personal interest or rivalry, the Archbishop of Toledo, abandoning -Isabel out of jealousy of Cardinal Mendoza; whilst Alburquerque, the -supposed father of the Beltraneja, joined her opponent, and civil war, -aided by foreign invasion from Portugal, was organised to dispute with -Isabel and her husband their right to the crown. - -By rare good fortune the young couple, who were thus forced to fight for -their splendid inheritance, were the greatest governing geniuses of -their age. It is time to say something of their gifts and characters. -They were both, at the time of their accession, twenty-three years of -age, and, as we have seen, their experience of life had already been -great and disillusioning. Isabel’s was incomparably the higher mind of -the two. The combined dignity and sweetness of her demeanour captivated -all those who approached her, whilst her almost ostentatious religious -humility and devotion won the powerful commendation of the churchmen who -had suffered so heavily during the reign of Henry. There is no reason to -doubt her sincerity or her real good intentions any more than those of -her great-grandson, Philip II., a very similar, though far inferior, -character. Like him, she never flinched from inflicting what we now call -cruelty in the pursuance of her aims, though she had no love for cruelty -for its own sake. She was determined that Spain should be united, and -that rigid orthodoxy should be the cementing bond; that the sacred -sovereign of Castile should be supreme over the bodies and souls of men, -for her crown in her eyes was the symbol of divine selection and -inspiration, and nothing done in the service of God by His vice-regent -could be wrong, great as the suffering that it might entail. She was -certainly what our lax generation calls a bigot; but bigotry in her time -and country was a shining virtue, and is still her greatest claim to the -regard of many of her countrymen. She was unmerciful in her severity in -suppressing disorder and revolt; but we have seen the state at which -affairs had arrived in Castile when she acceded to the crown, and it is -quite evident that nothing but a rod of iron governed by a heart of ice -was adequate to cope with the situation. Terrible as was Isabel’s -justice, it entailed in the end much less suffering than a continuance -of the murderous anarchy she suppressed.[23] Her strength and activity -of body matched her prodigious force of mind, and she constantly struck -awe in her potential opponents by her marvellous celerity of movement -over desolate tracts of country almost without roads, riding often -throughout the night distances that appear at the present day to be -almost incredible. - -Ferdinand was as despotic and as ambitious as she, but his methods were -absolutely different. He wanted the strength of Castile to push -Aragonese interests in Italy and the Mediterranean; and, like Isabel, he -saw that religious unity was necessary if he was to be provided with a -solid national weapon for his hand. But for Isabel’s exalted mystic -views of religion he cared nothing. He was, indeed, severely practical -in all things; never keeping an oath longer than it suited him to do so, -loving the crooked way if his end could be gained by it, and he -positively gloried in the tergiversation by which throughout his life he -got the better of every one with whom he dealt, until death made sport -of all his plans and got the better of him. His school of politics was -purely Italian; and he cynically acted upon the knowledge, as Henry VII. -of England also did, that the suppression of feudalism doomed the -sovereign to impotence unless he could hoard large sums of ready money -wrung from subjects. In future he saw that kings would be feared, not -for the doubtful feudatories they might summon, but in proportion to the -men and arms they could promptly pay for in cash; and he went one better -than the two Henry Tudors in getting the treasure he saw was needed. -They squeezed rills of money from religious orthodoxy, and divided their -subjects for a century; he drew floods of gold by exterminating a -heterodox minority, and united Spain for the ends he had in view. -Ferdinand and Isabel might therefore challenge the admiration of -subjects for their greatness and high aims, and command loyalty by their -success as rulers; but they cannot be regarded as loveable human beings. - -Between two such strong characters as these it was not to be expected -that all would be harmonious at first, and the married life of Isabel -began inauspiciously enough in one respect. There is no doubt that both -Ferdinand and his father intended that the former should be King regnant -of Castile, and not merely King consort. Ferdinand indeed, through his -grandfather of the same name, was the male heir to the Castilian crowns; -and as the Salic law prevailed in Aragon, they assumed that it might be -enforced in Castile. This, however, was very far from Isabel’s view; -reinforced as she was by the decision of the Castilian churchmen and -jurists, and she stood firm. For a time Ferdinand sulked and threatened -to leave her to fight out her battle by herself; but better counsels -prevailed, and an agreement was made by which they were to reign -jointly, but that Isabel alone should appoint all commanders, officers -and administrators, in Castile, and retain control of all fiscal matters -in her realms. - -On the 2nd January 1475, Ferdinand joined his wife in Segovia, where a -Cortes had been summoned to take the oath of allegiance to them. Through -the thronged and cheering street he rode to the Alcazar; Beltran de la -Cueva, Duke of Alburquerque, by his side, and nobles, bishops and -burgesses, flocked to do homage to the new sovereigns. Two months later -the faithful city of Valladolid greeted the royal couple with effusive -joy; and a round of festivities drew the lieges and gave time for -adherents to come in. Both parties were mustering forces for the great -struggle; and it needed stout hearts on the part of Isabel and her -husband to face the future. The Archbishop of Toledo was now on the side -of the Beltraneja; and so was Madrid and some of the great nobles of -Andalucia; and, worst of all, Alfonso of Portugal had been betrothed to -his niece the Beltraneja; and was even now gathering his army to invade -Castile and seize the crown. On the 3rd April the new sovereigns held -high festival at Valladolid. Isabel, in crimson brocade and with a -golden crown upon her veiled abundant russet hair, mounted a white -hackney with saddle cloth, housings and mane covered with gold and -silver flowers. She was followed by fourteen noble dames dressed in -parti-coloured tabards, half green brocade and half claret velvet, and -head dresses to imitate crowns; and, as they rode to take the place of -honour in the tilt yard, men said that no woman was ever seen so -beautiful and majestic as the Queen of Spain.[24] Knights and nobles -flocked to the lists, and King Ferdinand rode into the yard mounted upon -his warhorse to break a lance, the acknowledged finest horseman in -Spain. But as he entered the populace stared to see the strange crest he -bore upon his helm, and the stranger motto emblazoned upon his shield. -What could it mean? asked, not without fear, some of those who professed -to be his friends. The crest took the form of a blacksmith’s anvil, and -the motto ran;— - - _Como yunque sufro y callo, - Por el tiempo en que me hallo._ - - I do bear, like anvil dumb, - Blows, until the time shall come.[25] - -which we are told was meant as a warning to those at his side that he -knew they were beguiling him with such pageantry whilst they were -paltering with his enemies. - -It was a gay though ominous feast; but Isabel could not afford much time -for such trifling, and on the second day she mounted her palfrey and -rode out to Tordesillas, forty miles away, to inspect the -fortifications, and then to make an attempt to win back to her cause the -Archbishop of Toledo. With prodigious activity the young Sovereigns -separately travelled from fortress to fortress, animating followers, and -providing for defence; and Isabel was in the imperial city of Toledo -late in May 1475, when the news came to her that the King of Portugal -had entered Spain with a large army, had formally married the Beltraneja -at Palencia, and proclaimed himself King of Castile.[26] Without wasting -a moment Isabel started on horseback for her faithful fief of Avila, -ninety miles away. She was less than two days on the road, and, though -she had a miscarriage on the way at Cabezon she dared not tarry until -safe within the walls of the city, which she entered on the 28th May. - -For some months thereafter the fate of Spain hung in the balance. -Ferdinand strained every nerve, but the forces against him were stronger -than his, and the Archbishop of Toledo with his wealth and following had -reinforced the Portuguese. The invading army lay across the Douro at -Toro, a frontier fortress of Leon of fabulous strength, and Ferdinand -from Valladolid attempted to push them back and was beaten. All Leon, -and the plain of Castile as far as Avila, looked at the mercy of the -invaders. But the Portuguese was slow of action, and at this critical -juncture the splendid courage of Isabel saved the situation.[27] -Summoning Cortes at her city of Medina, the centre of the cloth industry -and the greatest mart for bills of exchange in Europe, she appealed to -their patriotism, their loyalty, and their love. Her eloquent plea was -irresistible. Money was voted without stint, merchants and bankers -unlocked their coffers, churches sold their plate, and monasteries -disinterred their hoards. Aragonese troops marched in, Castilian levies -came to the call of their Queen, and by the end of 1475 Ferdinand was at -the head of an army strong enough to face the invaders. Isabel took her -full share of the military operations. On the 8th January 1476, she rode -out of Valladolid through terrible weather, in the coldest part of -Spain, to join Ferdinand’s half-brother, Alfonso, before Burgos. For ten -days the Queen travelled through the deep snowdrifts before she reached -the camp, to find that the city had already surrendered; and on the -evening of her arrival, in the gathering dusk, she entered the city of -the Cid, to be received by kneeling, silk-clad aldermen with heads bowed -for past transgressions, to be graciously pardoned by the Queen. The -pardon was hearty and prompt; for these, and such as these, Isabel meant -to make her instruments for bringing Spain to heel. - -In the meanwhile Ferdinand had marched to meet the invading army of 3000 -horse and 10,000 foot which lay across the Douro at Toro. First he set -siege to Zamora, between the invading army and its base, and the King of -Portugal ineffectually attempted to blockade him. Failing in this, the -invaders on the 17th February raised their camp and marched towards Toro -again. They stole away silently, but Ferdinand followed them as rapidly -as possible, and caught up with them twelve miles from Toro, late in the -afternoon, on the banks of the Douro. The charge of the Aragonese upon -the disorganised army on the march was irresistible, and a complete rout -of the invaders ensued, no less than 300 of the fugitives being drowned -in the river in sheer panic. King Alfonso of Portugal fled, leaving his -royal standard behind him, and before nightfall all was over, and the -last hope of the Beltraneja had faded for ever. - -A month afterwards Zamora, the almost impregnable fortress, surrendered -to Ferdinand; and then the King marched to subdue other towns, whilst -Isabel laid siege to Toro. The Queen scorned to avail herself of the -privilege of her sex, and suffered all the hardships and dangers of a -soldier’s life. Early and late she was on horseback superintending the -operations, and ordered and witnessed more than one unsuccessful assault -upon the town. At length, after a siege of many months, Toro itself -fell, the last great fortress to hold out, and Isabel rode into the -starving city in triumph. Then indeed was she Queen of Castile, with -none to question her right. - -The waverers hastened to join the victorious side, the nobles who had -helped the Beltraneja, even the Archbishop of Toledo, came penitently, -one by one, to make such terms as their mistress would accord; whilst -the Beltraneja herself, unmarried again by an obedient Pope, retired to -a Portuguese convent, and the King of Portugal afterwards laid aside his -royal crown and assumed the tonsure and coarse gown of a Franciscan -friar. Never was victory more complete; and when three years later, -early in 1479, the old King of Aragon, Ferdinand’s father, went to his -account, Isabel and Ferdinand, for ever known as ‘the Catholic kings,’ -by grace of the Pope, reigned over Spain jointly from the Pyrenees to -the Pillars of Hercules, one poor tributary Moorish realm, Granada, -alone remaining to sully with infidelity the reunited domains of the -Cross. - -But the elements of aristocratic anarchy still existed, especially in -Galicia and Andalucia, where certain noble families assumed the position -of almost independent sovereigns, and at any time might again imperil -the very existence of the State. With the great ambitions of Ferdinand -and the exalted fervour of Isabel to spread Christianity, it must have -been clear to both sovereigns that they must make themselves absolutely -supreme in their own country before they could attempt to carry out -their views abroad. The realms of Aragon offered no great difficulty, -since good order prevailed, although the strict parliamentary -constitutions sorely limited the regal power, and gave to the estates -the command of the purse. In Castile, however, the nobles, eternally at -feud with each other, were quite out of hand, and Isabel’s first -measures were directed towards shearing them of their power for -mischief. All the previous kings of her line—that of Trastamara—had been -simply puppets in the hands of the nobility; she was determined, as a -preliminary of greater things, to be sole mistress in her realm. Her -task was a tremendous one, and needed supreme diplomacy in dividing -opponents, as well as firmness in suppressing them. Isabel was a host in -herself; and to her, much more than to her husband, must be given the -honour of converting utter anarchy into order and security in a -prodigiously short time. - -The only semblance of settled life and respect for law in Castile was to -be found in the walled towns. The municipal government had always been -the unit of civilisation in Spain, and the nobility being untaxed, the -Castilian Cortes consisted entirely of the representatives of the -burgesses. With true statesmanship Isabel therefore turned to this -element to reinforce the crown as against lawless nobles. The proposal -to revive in a new form the old institution of the ‘Sacred Brotherhood’ -of towns was made to her at the meeting of the Cortes at Madrigal in -April 1476, and was at once accepted. A meeting of deputies was called -at Dueñas in July, and within a few months the urban alliance was -complete. An armed force of 2000 horsemen and many foot-soldiers was -formed and paid by an urban house tax.[28] They were more than a mere -constabulary, although they ranged the country far and wide, and -compelled men to keep the peace, for the organisation provided a -judicial criminal system that effectually completed the task of -punishment. Magistrates were appointed in every village of thirty -families for summary jurisdiction, and constables of the Brotherhood -were in every hamlet, whilst a supreme council composed of deputies from -every province in Castile judged without appeal the causes referred to -it by local magistrates. The punishments for the slightest transgression -were terrible in their severity, and struck the turbulent classes with -dismay. In 1480 a league of nobles and prelates met at Cabeña, under the -Duke of Infantado, to protest against the Queen’s new force of -burgesses. In answer to their remonstrance she showed her strength by -haughtily telling them to look to themselves and obey the law, and at -once established the Brotherhood on a firmer footing than before, to be -a veritable terror to evildoers, gentle as well as simple. - -Isabel was no mild saint, as she is so often represented. She was far -too great a woman and Queen to be that; and though for the first two or -three years of her reign diplomacy was her principal weapon, no sooner -had she divided her opponents and firmly established the Holy -Brotherhood, than the iron flail fell upon those who had offended. In -Galicia the nobles had practically appropriated to themselves the royal -revenues, and the Queen’s writ had no power. That might suit weak Henry, -but Isabel was made of sterner stuff than her brother had been, and in -1481 she sent two doughty officers to summon the representatives of the -Galician towns to Santiago, and to demand of them money and men to bring -the nobles to their senses. The burgesses despaired, and said that -nothing less than an act of God would cure the many evils from which -they suffered. The act of God they yearned for came, but Isabel was the -instrument. Forty-seven fortresses, which were so many brigand -strongholds, were levelled to the ground in the province; and some of -the highest heads were struck from noble shoulders. The stake and the -gibbet were kept busy, the dungeons and torture chambers full; and those -of evil life in sheer terror mended their ways, or fled to places were -justice was less strict. - -But it is in the suppression of the anarchy at Seville that Isabel’s -personal action is most clearly seen. For years the city had been a prey -to the sanguinary rivalry between two great families who lorded it over -the greater part of Andalucia, the Guzmans and the Ponces de Leon; and -at the time of Isabel’s accession the feud had assumed the form of -predatory civil war, from which no citizen was safe. The cities of the -south were less settled in Christian organisation than those of the -north, and their municipal governments not so easy to combine; and -Isabel, in 1477, determined by her personal presence in Seville to -enforce the hard lessons she had taught the rest of her realms. The -armed escort that accompanied her was sufficient, added to the awe -already awakened by her name, to cow the turbulent spirits of Seville. -Reviving the ancient practice of the Castilian kings, Isabel, alone or -with her husband by her side, sat every Friday in the great hall of the -Moorish Alcazar at Seville, to deal out justice without appeal to all -comers. Woe betided the offender who was haled before her. The barbaric -splendour, which Isabel knew how to use with effect, surrounding her, -gave to this famous royal tribunal a prestige that captured the -imagination of the semi-oriental population of Seville, whilst the -terrible severity of its judgments and the lightning rapidity of its -executions reduced the population to trembling obedience whilst Isabel -stayed in the city. No less than four thousand malefactors fled—mostly -across the frontier—to escape from the Queen’s wrath, whilst all those -who in the past had transgressed, either by plundering or maltreating -others, and could be caught, were made to feel to the full what -suffering was. So great was Isabel’s severity that at last the Bishop of -Cadiz, accompanied by the clergy and notables of Andalucia, and backed -by hosts of weeping women, came and humbly prayed the Queen to have -mercy in her justice. Isabel had no objection. She did not scourge and -slay because she loved to do it, but to compel obedience. Once that was -obtained she was content to stay her hand; and before she left the city, -a general amnesty was given for past offences except for serious crimes. -But she left behind her an organised police and criminal tribunals, -active and vigilant enough to trample at once upon any attempt at -reviving the former state of things. - -A more difficult task for Isabel was that of reforming the moral tone of -her court and society at large. The Alcazar of Henry IV. had been a sink -of iniquity, and the lawlessness throughout the country had made the -practice of virtue almost impossible; whilst the clergy, and especially -the regular ecclesiastics, were shamefully corrupt. Isabel herself was -not only severely discreet in her conduct, but determined that no -countenance should be given to those who were lax in any of the -proprieties of life; and it was soon understood by ecclesiastics and -courtiers that the only certain passport to advancement in Castile was -strict decorum. It is probable that much of the sudden reform thus -effected was merely hypocrisy; but it lasted long enough to become a -fixed tradition, and permanently raised the standard of public and -private life in Spain. - -In all directions Isabel carried forward her work of reform. The great -nobles found to their dismay, when the Queen was strong enough to do it, -that she, fortified by the Cortes of Toledo, had cancelled all the -unmerited grants so lavishly squandered by previous kings upon them. -Some of those who had been most active in the late troubles, such as the -Dukes of Alburquerque and Alba and the Admiral of Castile, Ferdinand’s -maternal uncle, were stripped almost to the skin. Isabel’s revenue on -her accession had only amounted to 40,000 ducats, barely sufficient for -necessary sustenance; but in a very few years (1482) it had multiplied -by more than twelvefold, and thirty millions of maravedis a year had -been added to the royal income from resumed national grants. To all -remonstrances from those who suffered, Isabel was firm and dignified, -though conciliatory in manner. Her voice was sweet and her bearing -womanly; she always ascribed her measures, however oppressive they might -seem, to her love for the country and her determination to make it -great. Upon this ground she was unassailable; and enlisted upon her side -even those who felt the pinch by appealing to their national pride. - -There was no one measure that added more to Isabel’s material power than -her policy towards the religious orders of knighthood. These three great -orders, Calatrava, Santiago, and Alcantara, had grown out of the long -crusade against the Moors; devout celibate soldiers receiving in -community vast grants of territory which they wrested from the infidel. -By the time of Isabel they had grown to be a scandal, for the -grandmasters disposed of revenues and forces as large as those of the -crown, and were practically independent of it. Isabel’s treatment of -them was diplomatic and wise as usual. As each mastership fell vacant -she granted it to her husband; and thus the three most dangerous rivals -to the royal authority were made thenceforward appanages of the crown, -to which the territories were afterwards appropriated.[29] - -The Queen’s activity and strength of body and mind must have been -marvellous. We hear of her travelling vast distances, almost incessantly -in the saddle, visiting remote parts of her husband’s and her own -dominions for State business, to settle disputed points, to inspect -fortifications, to animate ecclesiastical or municipal bodies, and to -suppress threatened disorder. No difficulty seemed to dismay her, no -opposition to deflect her from the exalted purpose she had in view. For -it must not be supposed that this strenuous activity was sporadic and -without a central object which inspired it all. In this supreme object -the key to Isabel’s life must be sought. Isabel’s mother was mad: after -the death of her husband she had sunk into the gloomy devotional lunacy -which afflicted in after years so many of her descendants; and in the -impressionable years of Isabel’s youth, passed in the isolated castle of -Arevalo, the whole atmosphere of her life had been one of mystic -religious exaltation. - -The Christian Spaniard of Castile had through seven centuries gradually -regained for Christ his lost kingdom by a constant crusade against the -infidel. The secular struggle had made him a convinced believer in his -divine mission to re-establish the reign of the cross on earth. To this -end saints had led him into battle in shining armour, blazing crosses in -the sky had heralded victory to God’s own militia, and holy relics, -miraculously revealed, had served as talismans which ensured success. -Mysticism and the yearning for martyrdom was in the air in Isabel’s -youth, and she, a saintly neurotic, who happened also to be a genius and -a queen, shared to the full the Castilian national obsession. The man -who fostered the growth of this feeling in the young princess at Arevalo -might have been useful in spurring a sluggish mind to devotion; but to -further inflame the zeal of a girl of Isabel’s innate tendency was -unnecessary, and of this alone was he capable. He was a fiery, -uncompromising, Dominican monk, called Tomas de Torquemada. The -Dominicans, centuries before, had been entrusted by the Pope with the -special duty to maintain the purity of the faith, and as its guardians, -spiritual pride and arrogance had always been the characteristic of the -order. Torquemada, as Isabel’s confessor and spiritual tutor, had -abundant opportunities of influencing her, and never ceased to keep -before her the sacred duty imposed upon rulers of extirpating heresy, -root and branch, at any cost. Her own brother Henry had been surrounded -by the hated infidel, the enemy of Christ and Spain. Failure as a king, -ruin as a man, and a miserable death, had been his portion. And so the -lesson was ceaselessly dinned into Isabel’s ear, that no ruler could be -happy or successful who did not smite heretics, infidels and doubters, -hip and thigh, for the glory of God. The Moor, she was told, still -defiled in Granada the sacred soil of Spain, suffered by an unworthy -Christian king to linger for the sake of the paltry tribute paid. - -To establish the rule of Christ on earth, which she was taught was her -sacred duty, Isabel knew that a strong weapon was needed. Only a united -and centralised Spain could give her that, and Spain must be unified -first of all. Her marriage with Ferdinand was a great step in advance; -her suppression of the nobles and the masterships of the orders another, -the submission of the country to her will and law a third, the increase -of her revenues a fourth; but a greater than all was the reawakening in -the breasts of all Spaniards the mystic exaltation and spiritual pride -that gave strength to their arms against the Moor in the heroic days of -old. The character of the Spanish people, and the state of the public -mind at the time, made it easy to stir up the religious rancour of the -majority against a minority already despised and distrusted. Throughout -Spain there were numerous families of the conquered race nominally -Christians, but yet living apart in separate quarters, and unmixed in -blood with their neighbours. They were, as a rule, industrious and -well-to-do handicraftsmen and agriculturists, whose artistic traditions -and skill gave them the monopoly in many profitable and thriving -avocations. The Christian Spaniard had not, as a rule, developed similar -qualities, and were naturally jealous of the so-called new Christians -who lived with them, but were not of them. - -There was, however, at first but little open enmity between these two -races of Spaniards, though distrust and dislike existed. It was -otherwise in the case of the Jews. They, during the centuries of Moorish -rule, had grown rich and numerous, and had in subsequent periods almost -monopolised banking and financial business throughout Spain, marrying in -many cases into the highest Christian families. As farmers of taxes and -royal treasurers they had become extremely unpopular, especially in -Aragon; and although, for the most part, professed Christians, they were -eyed with extreme jealousy by the people at large, and on many occasions -had been the victims of attack and massacre in various places.[30] -Nevertheless, so far as can be seen, the first steps towards religious -persecution by Isabel and her husband do not appear to have been -prompted, although they may have been strengthened, by this feeling. -There had for centuries existed in Aragon and Sicily an Inquisition for -the investigation of cases of heresy. It was a purely papal institution, -and its operations were very mild, though extremely unpopular. In -Castile, the papal Inquisition had never been favoured by rulers, who -were always jealous of the interference of Rome, and at the time of -Isabel’s accession it had practically ceased to exist. - -When the sovereigns were holding Court at Seville in 1477, a Sicilian -Dominican came to beg for the confirmation of an old privilege, giving -to the Order in Sicily one-third of the property of all the heretics -condemned there by the Inquisition. This Ferdinand and Isabel consented -to, and the Dominican, whose name was Dei Barberi, suggested to -Ferdinand that as religious observance had grown so lax under the late -King Henry, it might be advisable to introduce a similar tribunal into -Castile. Ferdinand’s ambitions were great. He wanted to win for -Barcelona the mastership of the Mediterranean and the reversion of the -Christian Empire of the East, and, as a preliminary, to clear Spain -itself of the taint of dominant Islam at Granada. He understood that -times had changed, and that the nerve of war was no longer feudal aids, -but the concentration in the hands of the King of the ready money of his -subjects. The people who had most of the ready money in Spain were the -very people whose orthodoxy was open to attack, and he welcomed a -proposal that might make him rich beyond dreams. - -Isabel was not greedy for money as her husband was: she was too much of -a religious mystic for that; but to spread the kingdom of Christ on -earth, to crush His enemies and raise His cross supreme in the eyes of -men, seemed to promise her the only glory for which she yearned. By her -side was her confessor Torquemada, the Dominican Ojeda, and the Papal -Nuncio, all pressing upon her that to strike at heresy in her realms was -her duty. So Isabel took the step they counselled, and begged the Pope -for a bull establishing the Inquisition in Castile. The bull was granted -in September 1478, but no active steps were taken for nearly two years. - -In 1480, Isabel and her husband were again in Seville, and the -Dominicans were ceaseless in their exhortations to them to suppress the -growing scandal of obstinate Judaism. The complaints of the clergy -against the Jews were such as they knew would be supported by the -populace. Amongst other things, they said that the Jews bought up and -ate all the meat in the market for their Sabbath, and there was none -left for Christians on Sunday;[31] that they were hoarding coin to such -an extent that there was a lack of currency; that they donned rich -finery and ornaments only fit for their betters, and so on.[32] - -The various modern apologists of Isabel have striven to minimise her -share in the establishment of the dread tribunal that sprang out of -these and similar complaints. There seems to me no reason for doing so: -she herself probably considered it a most praiseworthy act, and her only -hesitation in the matter was caused by her dislike of strengthening the -papal power over the church of Castile.[33] There could have been no -repugnance in her mind to punishing, however severely, those whom she -looked upon as God’s enemies, and consequently unworthy of the -privileges of humanity. Ferdinand added his persuasion to the clamours -of the churchmen; and from Medina del Campo, Isabel, in September 1480, -commissioned two Dominicans to act as Inquisitors, and to establish -their tribunal at Seville. - -The Jews of Seville took alarm at once, and large numbers of them fled -from the city to the shelter of some of the neighbouring great nobles, -who looked with dislike at this new development of priestly power. A -decree of the sovereign’s at once forbade all loyal subjects to withhold -suspected heretics from their accusers, and those fugitive Jews who -could escape sought the safety of Moorish Granada. In the first days of -1481, the Inquisition got to work, striking at the highest first, and -before the end of the year 2000 poor wretches were burnt in Andalusia -alone.[34] All Spain protested against it. Deputations from the chief -towns came and demanded the abolition of a foreign tribunal over -Spaniards. The Aragonese, rough and independent as usual, resorted to -violence, and hunted the Inquisitors, whilst in Old Castile the tribunal -could only sit, in many places, surrounded by the Queen’s soldiers. But -Isabel’s heart was aflame with zeal, and Ferdinand, with gaping coffers, -was rejoicing at the showers of Jewish gold that flowed to him; and all -remonstrance was in vain. The Pope himself soon took fright at the -severity exercised, and threatened to withdraw the bull, but Ferdinand -silenced him with a hint that he would make the Inquisition an -independent tribunal altogether, as later it practically became, and -thenceforward the horrible business went on unchecked until Spain was -seared from end to end, and independent judgment was stifled for -centuries in blood and sacrificial smoke. - -The heartless bigot Torquemada, Isabel’s confessor, was appointed -Inquisitor-General in 1483, and he, the most insolent, because the -humblest, man in Spain, became the greatest power in the land, master of -Isabel’s conscience and feeder of Ferdinand’s purse. Isabel’s Spanish -biographers continue to assert that she was tireless in her endeavours -to soften the rigour of her own tribunal, and to intercede for her ‘dear -Castilians.’ There is not a scrap of real evidence known to prove that -she did so, and certainly her contemporaries did not believe it.[35] Her -administration, however, had already been extremely successful. Peace -and order reigned, the pride of Spaniards, which she so sedulously -fostered, had been worked up to a high pitch, the Queen herself was -personally popular, in consequence of her dignity, her activity, and her -patriotism; and the urban populations, who had so greatly aided her, and -were now so powerful, dreaded to cause disturbance that might have -thrown the country again into the clutches of the nobles. Terrible, -therefore, as was the action of the Holy Office, acquiesced in by the -Queen, there were many reasons why no combined opposition to it in -Castile was offered, although for the first years of its existence it -was bitterly hated. - -To the Queen during these first few years of ceaseless activity, no -other child had been born but the Infanta Isabel, the first fruit of her -marriage in 1470. The constant long journeys on horseback, the hardships -and risk entailed by her work, thus for eight years prevented the birth -of a male heir. But during Isabel’s stay at Seville, on the 30th June -1478, the prayed for Prince of Asturias, Juan, was born. Ferdinand was -away in the north at the time, but all the pomp and splendour, which -Isabel knew so well how to use, heralded the birth of the Prince. On the -15th July the Queen was sufficiently well to ride in state to the -cathedral from the Moorish Alcazar where she lived, and to present her -first-born son to the Church. Through the narrow, tortuous lanes of the -sunny city, packed with people, Isabel rode on a bay charger; her -crimson brocade robe, all stiff with gold embroidery, trailing almost to -the ground, over the petticoat covered with rich pearls. Her saddle, we -are told, was of gold, and the housings black velvet, with bullion lace -and fringe. Ferdinand’s base brother Alfonso, and his kinswoman the -Duchess of Vistahermosa, followed close behind, and the Queen’s bridle -was held by the Constable of Castile and Count Benavente. The merry -music of fife, tabor, and clarion preceded the royal party; and behind -there came on foot the nobles and grandees, and the authorities of the -city. The baby Prince was borne in the arms of his nurse, seated upon a -mule draped with velvet, and embroidered with the scutcheons of Castile, -Leon, and Aragon, and led by the Admiral of Castile. At the high altar -of the famous Mudejar Cathedral, Isabel solemnly devoted her child to -the service of God, and then, with splendid largess to all and sundry, -she returned to the palace.[36] - -Isabel was unremitting always in the performance of her religious -duties, and wherever she stayed, endowments for purposes of the Church -commemorated her visit. Her humility and submission to priests and nuns -is cited with extravagant praise by her many ecclesiastical eulogists, -and they tell the story of how, when Father Talavera first succeeded -Torquemada as her confessor, he bade her kneel at his feet like an -ordinary penitent. When she reminded him that monarchs always sat by the -side of the confessor, as she had always done before, he rebuked her by -saying that his seat was the seat of God, before whom all kneeled -without distinction; and the Queen thenceforward kept upon her knees -before the priest, whom she honoured thenceforward for what in our days -we should consider unpardonable arrogance. - -There was little of repose for Isabel, even after the birth of her -child. To Seville came the news a few months afterwards that the old -soldier Archbishop of Toledo and the Pachecos had once more persuaded -Alfonso of Portugal to strike a blow for his niece and wife the -Beltraneja. Raising what troops she could, Isabel rode through -Estremadura at the head of her force, determined to end for good claims -that she thought had already been disposed of. Ferdinand was in Aragon, -where, his father having just died, his presence could not be dispensed -with; but Isabel was undismayed. In vain her councillors begged her to -refrain from undertaking the campaign in person. The country was -devastated by famine and war, they said; pestilence prevailed in the -towns, and the raids of the Portuguese and rebels would expose her to -great danger. ‘I did not come hither,’ Isabel replied, ‘to shirk danger -and trouble, nor do I intend to give my enemies the satisfaction, nor my -subjects the chagrin, to see me do so, until we end the war we are -engaged upon or make the peace we seek.’[37] Isabel, in command of the -Castilians, finally crushed the Portuguese at the battle of Albuera; and -then, after reducing to submission the rebel noble fortresses, she -negotiated a peace with Portugal and France at Alcantara, by which both -powers were compelled to recognise her as Queen of Spain. Suppressing -revolt, deciding disputes, and punishing transgressions on her way, -Isabel then rode to Toledo, where Ferdinand joined her, and there her -third child, Joan, was born, in November 1479. - - - CHAPTER II - -Castile and Aragon, now being indissolubly united, and internal peace -secured, it was time for the sovereigns to prepare for the execution of -the great designs that had respectively moved them to effect what they -had done. These designs were to some extent divergent from each other. -Ferdinand’s main object was to cripple his rival, France, in the -direction of Italy, and assume for Aragon the hegemony of the -Mediterranean and of the sister Peninsula, of which Sicily already -belonged to him and Naples to a member of his house. Castile, on the -other hand, had for centuries cultivated usually harmonious relations -with France, the frontiers not being conterminous except at one point, -the mouth of the Bidasoa; and the ambitions of Castile were -traditionally towards the absorption of Portugal, the domination of the -coast of North Africa, and the spread of the Christian power generally -to the detriment of Islam, its secular enemy. Its own Moorish -populations were as yet but imperfectly assimilated, and the existence -of the realm of Granada in the Peninsula kept hopes alive in the breasts -of the Castilian Moors. The presence of many thousands of potential -enemies in the midst of Christian Spain, and the wealth and number of -the Jews, who, in a struggle, would probably side with the Moors, -undoubtedly influenced greatly in causing the severity of the -Inquisition against them and their subsequent expulsion. The first step, -therefore, to be taken towards the objects either of Aragon and Castile, -was to reduce to impotence any Moorish power in Spain itself that might -cause anxiety to the Christian rulers whilst they were busy upon plans -abroad, though this step was mainly important to Castile rather than to -Aragon. - -This was the state of affairs in the beginning of 1481. The Castilians -were subdued and prepared to do the bidding of their Queen, but the -Catalans and Aragonese, rough and independent, had to be conciliated -before they could be depended upon to give their aid to an object -apparently for the advantage of Castile. Isabel had summoned a Cortes of -her realms to the imperial city of Toledo late in 1480, to take the oath -of allegiance to her infant son Juan as heir to the throne: and thence, -with a splendid train, she rode to visit for the first time her -husband’s kingdoms, to receive their homage as joint sovereign. -Ferdinand met his wife at Calatayud in April 1481, and there, before the -assembled Cortes of Aragon, the oath of allegiance to the sovereigns and -their heir was taken. The Aragonese were rough-tongued and jealous, and -even more so the Catalans, dreading the centralising policy of Isabel -and their assimilation by Castile; and throughout Ferdinand’s dominions -Isabel was forced to hear demands and criticisms to which the more -amenable Cortes of Castile had not accustomed her. It was gall and -wormwood to her proud spirit that subjects should haggle with monarchs, -and in Barcelona she turned to her husband, when the Cortes had refused -one of his requests, and said: ‘This realm is not ours, we shall have to -come and conquer it.’ But Ferdinand knew his subjects better than she, -and gradually made them understand that in all he did he had their -interests in view. He was forced, indeed, by circumstances and his wife -to allow precedence to Castilian aims, the better to compass those of -Aragon. - -The turbulent Valencians were being won to benevolence by the presence -of their King and the smiles of his wife in the last days of 1481, when -the news reached the sovereigns that the pretext they needed for their -next great step had been furnished by the Moors of Granada. From the -fairy palace of the Alhambra for the previous two hundred and fifty -years, the Kings of Granada had ruled a territory in the South of -Andalucia, running from fifteen miles north of Gibraltar along the -Mediterranean coast two hundred and twenty miles to the borders of -Murcia, and including the fine ports of Malaga, Velez, and Almeria. The -industry of the people and the commerce of their important seaboard, -facing the African land of their kinsmen, made the population prosperous -and their standard of living high; but a series of petty despots, -successively reaching the throne by usurpation and murder, had enabled -the Kings of Castile, by fomenting the consequent discord, to reduce -Granada to the position of a tributary. When Isabel succeeded, and the -treaties between Castile and Granada had to be renewed in 1476, -Ferdinand had demanded the prompt annual payment of the tribute in gold. -Muley Abul Hassan had paid no tribute to Isabel’s brother, and intended -to pay none to her. ‘Tell the Queen and King of Castile,’ he replied, -‘that steel and not gold is what we coin in Granada.’ From the day they -received the message Isabel and Ferdinand knew that they could not wield -a solid Spain to their ends until the Cross was reared over the Mosque -of Granada. When, therefore, all the rest of Spain was pacified, and the -sovereigns were at Valencia at Christmas 1481, the pretext for action -came, not unwelcome, at least for Isabel. The Moors of Granada had swept -down by night and captured the Christian frontier fortress of -Zahara.[38] Isabel and her husband had never ceased since their -accession to prepare for the inevitable war. The civil conflict they had -passed through had proved the superiority for their purpose of paid -troops of their own over feudal levies, and already the organisation of -a national army existed. The Royal Council appointed by Isabel had -brought from France, Italy, and Germany the best skilled engineers and -constructors of the recently introduced iron artillery; great quantities -of gunpowder had been imported from Sicily, and improved lances, swords, -and crossbows had been invented and manufactured in Italy and Spain. - -The troops that had been expelled from Zahara, and those that at first -revenged the insult by the capture and sack of the important Moorish -fortress of Alhama, between Malaga and Granada, were the vassals of the -princely Andalucian nobles, the Duke of Medina Sidonia and the Marquis -of Cadiz; but the sovereigns, hurrying from Valencia to the Castilian -town of Medina del Campo, set about organising the coming war with -national forces. The efficiency and foresight shown were extraordinary, -and, up to that time, unexampled. Nothing seems to have been forgotten -or left to chance; flying hospitals, field ambulances, and army -chaplains, testify to Isabel’s personal influence. Whatever may have -been the case with Ferdinand, his wife approached the struggle as to a -sacred crusade. Torquemada, though not yet Inquisitor-General, was busy -with the Holy Office, and had just been replaced as Isabel’s confessor -by the saintly Father Talavera, whose influence over the Queen was -greater still; and whose zeal for the conquest of Granada for the cross -was a consuming passion, only comparable in its strength with his proud -humility.[39] - -The kingdom of Granada was girt around with mountain fortresses of -immense strength upon the spurs and peaks of the Sierra Nevada; and in -the midst stood the lovely city, as it stands to-day, with its twin -fortresses upon their sister cliffs, the Alhambra and the Albaycin, each -capable of housing an army. The task of reducing the mountain realm was -a great one, for the outlying fortresses had to be subdued separately -before the almost impregnable capital could be attacked, whilst the long -line of coast had to be watched and blockaded to prevent, if possible, -succour being sent from Africa by kinsmen across the sea. In the first -days of March 1482, the news of the capture of Alhama by the Andalucian -nobles, and the awful slaughter of the women and children, as well as -the men, who so heroically defended it, reached Isabel at Medina; and -the splendid exploit and vast booty won uplifted all Castilian hearts. -It is said by many historians, but is not true, that Isabel herself set -out barefooted on a pilgrimage to Compostella, to thank Santiago for the -victory. But though she had no time for this, she bade the Church -throughout Castile sing praises for the boon vouchsafed to the Christian -cause. But then came tidings less bright. The Moorish King, with all his -force of 80,000 men, was besieging the Marquis of Cadiz in Alhama: the -water supply had been cut off, food was scarce, and the Christians -surrounded. Within a week of the news Ferdinand was on the march with -his army, and the Duke of Medina Sidonia, with his 40,000 armed -retainers, was rapidly approaching Alhama to succour his ancient foe the -Marquis of Cadiz. The slaughter of Moors in the constant unsuccessful -assaults upon Alhama had been immense; the King, Muley Abul Hassan, had -bitter domestic enemies, and daring not to face the approaching -Christians, he raised the siege and returned to Granada. The rich booty -taken in the town by the original captors aroused the cupidity of the -relieving force, and dissensions between the Christians arose over the -division of the spoil. Medina Sidonia and his army marched away, and -again Muley Abul Hassan beleaguered Alhama, with artillery this time, -and a powerful army. Once more deeds of unheard of gallantry and -hardihood were done by the Moorish chivalry; but, as before, -unavailingly. By the end of March Ferdinand’s great host, with 40,000 -beasts of burden carrying supplies and munitions, approached, and again -Muley Abul Hassan retreated to his disaffected capital. It was a blow -from which the Moorish power in Spain never recovered, and thenceforward -Granada fought hopelessly with her back to the wall. - -Into the fertile vega of Granada swept Ferdinand’s host in the midsummer -of 1482, carrying devastation and ruin in its van. From the heights of -Granada the Moors, with impotent hate and rage, saw their blazing -villages, their raided flocks and herds, their murdered countrymen, and -desolated fields; and yet within the fair city treason and civil discord -numbed all hearts, and paralysed the warrior’s arms. For Muley Abul -Hassan was fighting foes within his own harem more deadly than the -Christians who raided beneath his walls; and a palace revolution led by -his wife and his undutiful son, Abu Abdalla (Boabdil), was already -plotting his downfall. To secure his position in the vega of Granada, it -was necessary for Ferdinand to capture the frowning fortress that -crowned the height of Loja, and commanded the pass into Castile. It had -long been a thorn in the Christian flesh, and now Ferdinand, with all -the chivalry of Spain, were pledged to capture it at any cost. Though -brave and cool, Ferdinand was no great tactician, and was easily -outwitted by the wily Moors, who led his forces into ambush and utterly -routed the Christian host. Panic and flight ensued, with the loss of -baggage, standards, and arms; and Ferdinand himself escaped only by the -efforts of a small devoted band of Castilian knights. The ruin was -complete, and when Ferdinand joined his heroic wife at the ancient -Moorish Alcazar of Cordova, even her faith and steadfastness for a time -wavered. - -But not for long. Talavera, Torquemada, and Mendoza, the Cardinal of -Spain, with fiery zeal for the extirpation of heresy, were at her side. -Not for territory alone, but to fix God’s realm on earth freely, must -sacrifice be made and final victory won: and, though Ferdinand with -longing eyes towards his own aims, yearned to use his arms against -France for the recapture of his own provinces of Rosellon and Cerdagne, -and tried to persuade his wife that though ‘her war might be a holy one, -his against the French would be a just one,’ Isabel had her way, and -with unflinching zeal set about organising to snatch conquest from -defeat.[40] Muley Abul Hassan, expelled from his city of Granada, but -holding his own in Malaga and the south, had been succeeded in his -capital by the weak, rebellious Boabdil. The old King and his brother, -El Zagal, were still fighting doughtily, and even successfully raiding -the Christian land near Gibraltar; and Boabdil, jealous of their -activity, determined to sally from Granada and strike a blow for his -cause, at the instigation of his masculine mother. At the head of 9000 -Moors, all glittering and confident, the Prince sallied out of Granada -in April 1483, and, collecting the veteran guard of Loja on the way, -marched towards Cordova. The Moors were undisciplined, loaded with loot, -and led by a fool, when they approached the Christian Cordovese city of -Lucena, and their ostentatious march into Christian land had been -heralded. Their attack upon the city was repulsed with great valour, and -whilst they were meditating a renewed assault, a relieving force of -Christians approached. The Moors retired, but were overtaken and utterly -routed. Boabdil the King, garbed in crimson velvet mantle heavy with -gold, and armed in rich damascened steel, was singled out from amongst -the mob of fugitives, captured by a Castilian man-at-arms, and borne in -triumph by the Christian chief, the Count of Cabra, to the strong castle -of Porcuna, there to await the sovereign’s decision as to his fate. -Isabel and her husband were far away at the time; for, after the birth -of her fourth child, Maria, in the previous summer of 1482, she and -Ferdinand had travelled north to Madrid to meet the Castilian Cortes, -and ask for supplies for carrying on the war. Thence, on a more -questionable errand, they had moved further north. The little mountain -realm of Navarre on the Pyrenees, a buffer state between Castile and -France, belonged to the descendants of Ferdinand’s father by his first -wife. The desire of the Aragonese King to unite Navarre to Ferdinand’s -kingdoms, had removed by murder one Navarrese sovereign after another, -until now, in 1482, the beautiful young half French Francis Phœbus was -King. He was one more obstacle to be removed; for after him a sister -would come to the throne, and she might be easily dealt with: so poison -ended the budding life of Francis Phœbus—by Ferdinand’s orders, it was -credibly said at the time;[41] and Ferdinand and his wife hurried up to -Vitoria, bent, if possible, upon adding one more crown to the brows of -the Queen of Castile.[42] It was a cynically clever move of Ferdinand’s, -for it would bring Castile in touch with France, and thus play into the -hands of the Aragonese, but the threatening attitude of Louis XI. -convinced Ferdinand that he must wait for a more fitting opportunity, -which he did for thirty years, when Isabel had long been dead. When the -news came to Tarazona, where the Cortes of Aragon were in session, that -Boabdil was captured, Ferdinand hurried south to Cordova to reap the -fruits of victory, leaving Isabel in Castile. - -In the great hall of the Alcazar of Cordova, Ferdinand sat in council in -August 1483, surrounded by the soldiers who in his absence had overrun -the vega, and two Moorish embassies claimed audience. One came from the -old King, Muley Abul Hassan, in Malaga, begging with heavy bribes the -surrender of his rebellious son Boabdil. This embassy Ferdinand refused -to receive; but the other from the Queen Zoraya, Boabdil’s mother, with -offers of ransom, submission, and obedience, was admitted. Ferdinand was -the craftiest man of his age, and saw that the imprisonment of Boabdil -gave unity to the Granadan Moors, whilst his presence amongst them would -again be the signal for fratricidal conflict. But the King of Aragon -drove a hard bargain, as he always did, and the foolish, vain Boabdil -only bought his liberty at a heavy price. He was to do homage to the -Christian kings, to pay a heavy ransom and yearly tribute, and give -passage to the Christian armies to conquer his father in Malaga. Boabdil -meekly subscribed to any terms, and then paying homage on bended knee to -his master, he wended his way to Moorish land, a mark for the scorn of -all men, ‘Boabdil the Little’ for the rest of time. - -Anarchy thenceforward reigned through the kingdom of Granada, as -Ferdinand had foreseen. I shall pluck the pomegranate, seed by seed, -chuckled the Christian king. And so he did; for, although a two years’ -truce had been settled with Boabdil, the civil war gave to the Christian -borderers constant opportunities of overrunning the land, on the pretext -of aiding or avenging one of the combatants and attacking the old King. -Ferdinand would fain have attacked the new King of France, Charles -VIII., but Isabel was firm; and though Ferdinand was thereafter obliged -to stay a time in his own dominions to placate the discontented -Catalans, Isabel was tireless in her insistence upon the Christian -crusade that she had undertaken, though, for appearance sake, she -consented to both wars being carried on at the same time, which she knew -was impracticable.[43] The spirit of the woman was indomitable. -Travelling south towards the seat of war in 1484 with the new Archbishop -of Toledo, Cardinal Mendoza, she herself took command of the campaign -against the Moor. - -It was, verily, her own war. In counsel with veteran soldiers she -surprised them with her boldness and knowledge; and her harangues to the -soldiery, and care for their welfare, caused her to be idolised by men -who had never yet regarded a woman as being capable of such a stout -heart as hers. She managed even to spur Ferdinand into leaving Aragon, -and once more taking the field against the old King of Granada, and, one -by one, the Moorish fortresses fell, and the Christian host encamped -almost before the walls of Granada: the Queen herself, though -approaching childbirth (in 1485), travelling from place to place in the -conquered country, encouraging, supervising, and directing. The -following year, 1486, Isabel and her husband again travelled to Cordova -from Castile, and now with a greater force than ever before. For news of -this saintly warrior Queen, who was fighting for the cross, had spread -now through Christendom, and not Iberian knights alone, but the chivalry -of France and Italy, Portugal and England, were flocking to share the -glory of the struggle. - -At the conquest of Loja in May 1486, Lord Rivers, Conde de Escalas, as -the Spaniards called him, aided greatly with his men in capturing the -place, and earned the praise of Isabel.[44] As each church was dedicated -to the true worship in the conquered towns, Isabel herself contributed -the sacred vessels and vestments necessary for Christian worship; relics -of the saints, and blessed banners sent by her, went always with the -Castilian hosts; and soon the spiritual pride, which had been the secret -of all Spain’s strength in the past, became again the overwhelming -obsession, which, whilst it strengthened the arms, hardened the hearts -of all those who owned the sway of Isabel. - -In December 1485, Isabel’s last child, Katharine, was born at Alcalá de -Henares, and through most of the stirring campaigns of 1486 the Queen -accompanied the army in their sieges of Moorish towns, and thence rode -with her husband right across Spain to far Santiago, crushing rebellion -(that of Count Lemos), holding courts of justice, punishing offences and -rewarding services on the way. The next spring again saw her in the -field against the important maritime city of Velez-Malaga, which was -captured in April; and in the autumn the great port of Malaga fell after -an heroic defence. But heroism of infidels aroused no clemency in the -breast of the Christian Queen. By her husband’s side, with cross borne -before them, and a crowd of shaven ecclesiastics around them, they rode -in triumph through the deserted city to the mosque, now purified into a -Christian cathedral. Christian captives in chains were dragged from -pestilent dungeons that the manacles might be struck from their palsied -limbs in the victors’ presence, and when the Christians had given thanks -to the Lord of Hosts, the whole starving population of Malaga were -assembled in the great courtyard of the fortress, and every soul was -condemned to slavery for life: some to be sent to Africa in exchange for -Christian captives; some to be sold to provide funds for the war, some -for presents for the Pope and other potentates and great nobles, whilst -all the valuables in the wealthy city were grabbed by greedy Ferdinand, -by one of his usually clever and heartless devices.[45] - -[Illustration: - - ISABEL THE CATHOLIC AT THE SURRENDER OF GRANADA. - - _After a Painting by Pradilla._ -] - -The want of magnanimity and common humanity to these poor people, who -had only defended their homes against the invader, is usually ascribed -entirely to Ferdinand; but there is nothing whatever to show that Isabel -thought otherwise than he, except that she objected to a suggestion that -they should all be put to the sword. She was a child of her age, an age -that did not recognise the right of others than orthodox Christians to -be regarded as human beings; and in Isabel all instinctive womanly -feeling was dominated by her conviction of the greatness of her duty as -she understood it, and the sacred mission of her sovereignty. The fall -of Malaga rendered inevitable that of the city of Granada, only held, as -it was, under the nominal rule of the miserable Boabdil, supported by -the Christian troops under Gonzalo de Cordova. Every week his little -realm grew smaller, and every hour the streets of Granada rang with -Moslem curses of his name. Outside the walls rapine and war, inside -treachery and murder, scourged Granada; and whilst the pomegranate was -rotting to its fall, in the intervals of fresh conquests Isabel and her -husband progressed through Aragon and Valencia, everywhere carrying -terror to evildoers and strengthening the arm of the Inquisition. The -next year, 1488, the same process was continued, and in 1489 the large -cities of Baza, Almeria and Guadix were conquered from Boabdil’s rebel -uncle. Baza was the strongest fortress in the kingdom, and offered a -resistance so obstinate that the Christians, despairing of taking it, -sent to Isabel at Jaen, asking her permission to raise the siege. She -commanded them to redouble their efforts. Fresh men, money and munitions -were sent to them. The Dukes of Alba and Najera, and the Admiral of -Castile, were bidden to lead their men to aid Ferdinand before Baza. New -field hospitals were supplied, and all the Mancha and Andalucia were -swept for food and transport, no less than 14,000 mules, for the relief -of the besiegers. Floods broke down the bridges and made the roads -impassable, but still Isabel did not lose heart. A body of 6000 men were -raised to repair the ways. The cost exhausted the Queen’s treasury, but -she laid hands on the church plate and the treasures of the convents, -pledged her own crown with the Jews to overcome the obstacle, and raised -a hundred million maravedis for her purpose. Her ladies followed her -example and poured their gold and jewels into her coffers, and yet Baza -still held out, and winter was close at hand. Ferdinand was for -abandoning the siege, but the stout-hearted Queen herself set out from -Jaen in November, and rode undaunted through the bitter weather, night -and day, to join her troops at Baza. Her presence struck the Moors with -dismay, and filled the Christian hearts with confidence, for both knew -that there she would stay, at any cost, until the place surrendered, as -it did, to her, on the 4th December 1489,[46] whereupon Almeria and -Guadix gave up the struggle, and the Queen and her husband returned to -winter at Seville, knowing now that Granada itself was theirs for the -plucking when the season should arrive. - -All through the year 1490 the preparations for the crowning feat went on -throughout Castile. Patriotism, in the sense of a common pride of -territory, did not exist in Spain; but already in the nine years that -the Inquisition had been at work, and Isabel’s fiery zeal against the -Moors had continued, the spiritual arrogance, always latent, had knit -orthodox Spaniards together as they had never been bound before. To the -majority, the persecution of a despised and hated minority was -confirmation of their own mystic selection. Isabel was the -personification of the feeling, and to her, as to her people now, the -oppression of the unbeliever was an act that singled her out as the -chosen of God to vindicate His faith. So Torquemada and the Inquisition, -with the approval of the Queen, harried the wretched Jews, who professed -Christianity, more cruelly every day.[47] If a ‘New Christian’ broke -bread with a Jew it was the former who was punished. If he dared to wear -clean linen on Saturday, or used a Hebrew name, the Dominican spies, who -dogged his footsteps, accused him, and the flames consumed his carcass -whilst Ferdinand emptied his coffers. The revenue of the Jewish -confiscations had provided much of the treasure needed for the constant -war of the last eight years; but Ferdinand wanted more, and ever more, -money before Granada could be made into a Christian city. Isabel would -conquer Granada, and at any cost gain the undying glory of recovering -for Christ the last spot in Spain held by the infidel. Injustice, -cruelty, robbery, and the torture of innocent people were nothing, less -than nothing, to the end she aimed at; and when the flames were found -all too slow for feeding Ferdinand’s greed, Isabel easily consented to a -blow being struck at the unbaptised Jews, in a body, whenever it was -necessary to collect a specially large sum of money for _her_ war. - -In April 1491, the siege of the lovely city, set in its vast garden -plain, was begun. The Moors inside were gallant and chivalrous, -determined to sell their city dearly, however their spiritless King -might deport himself; but their dashing cavalry sallies where almost -futile against an army so carefully organised and disciplined as that of -Isabel. The head quarters of the Christian Queen were about two leagues -from Granada, and when Isabel joined her army the siege opened in grim -earnest. The many contemporary chroniclers of the campaign have left us -astonishing descriptions of the dazzling splendour which surrounded the -Queen. She, who in the privacy of her palace was sober in her attire, -and devoted to housewifely duties, could, when she thought desirable, as -she did before Granada, present an appearance of sumptuous splendour -almost unexampled. Her encampment, with its silken tents magnificently -furnished, its floating banners and soaring crosses, were such as had -never been since the time of the Crusades. On a white Arab charger, with -floating mane and velvet trappings to the ground, the Queen, herself -dressed in damascened armour and regal crimson, was everywhere -animating, consoling, and directing. Cardinals and bishops, princes, -nobles and ladies, thronged around her; and every morning as the sun -tipped with gold the snow peaks of the Sierra, all in that mighty host, -from the Queen down to the poorest follower, bowed before the gorgeous -altar in the midst of the camp, whilst the Cardinal of Spain (Mendoza) -performed the sacred mystery of the mass. - -One night in the summer (14th July) the Queen had retired to her tent -and was sleeping, when, two hours after midnight, a lamp by her bedside -caught the hangings, stirred by the breeze, and in a minute the great -pavilion was ablaze. Isabel in her night garb had barely time to escape, -and witnessed the conflagration spread from tent to tent till much of -the encampment was reduced to ruin. At the cries and bugle calls of the -distressed Christians, the Moors afar off on the walls beheld with joy -the discomfiture of their enemies; and if another leader than Boabdil -had been in command, it would have gone ill with Isabel and her men. But -there was no defeat for a woman with such a spirit as hers. The -suggestions that the siege should be raised until the next year, she -rejected in scorn. Once again her virile spirit had its way. More money -was raised, mostly squeezed out of the miserable Jews; the army was -quartered in neighbouring villages, and within eighty days a city of -masonry and brick replaced the canvas encampment, and here, in the city -of Santa Fe,[48] Isabel solemnly swore to stay, winter and summer, until -the city of Granada should surrender to her. - -Granada was entirely cut off from the world. The coast towns were no -longer in Moorish hands, and no succour from Africa could come to the -unhappy Boabdil. The desperate warriors of the crescent were for -sallying _en masse_ and dying or conquering, once for all; but Boabdil -was weak and incapable; and less than a month after the completion of -Isabel’s new city of Santa Fe, he made secret advances to his enemy at -his gates for a capitulation. The Queen entrusted the greatest of her -captains, Gonzalo de Cordova, who understood Arabic, with the task of -negotiation; but soon the news was whispered inside the city, and twenty -thousand furious Moorish warriors rushed up the steep hill to the -Alhambra, to demand a denial from the King. Seated in the glittering -hall of the ambassadors, Boabdil received the spokesmen of his indignant -people, and pointed out to them with the eloquence of despair the -hopelessness of the situation; and the wisdom of making terms whilst -they might. Stupefied and grief-stricken the populace acknowledged the -truth, bitter as it was, and with bowed heads and coursing tears left -the beautiful palace that was so soon to pass from them. - -The negotiations were protracted, for Granada was divided and might -still have held out, and the Moors begged hard for at least some vestige -of independence as a State. But at last, on the 28th November 1491, the -conditions were agreed to. The Granadan Moors were to enjoy full liberty -for their faith, language, laws and customs; their possessions and -property were to be untouched, and those who did not desire to owe -allegiance to Christian sovereigns were to be aided to emigrate to -Africa. The tribute to be paid was the same as that rendered to the -Moorish King, and the city was to be free from other taxation for three -years; whilst Boabdil was to have a tiny tributary kingdom (Purchena) of -his own in the savage fastnesses of the Alpujarra mountains, looking -down upon the splendid heritage that had been his. The terms were -generous to a beaten foe, and their gentleness is usually ascribed to -Isabel. Since, however, they were afterwards all violated with her full -consent, it matters little whether the Queen or her husband drafted -them. But mild as the conditions of surrender were, many of the -heartbroken Moors of the city were still for fighting to the death in -defence of the land of their fathers and their faith; and Boabdil, in -deadly fear for his life, begged the visitors to hasten the taking -possession of the city. On the last day but one of the year 1491, the -Christian men-at-arms entered the Alhambra; and on the 2nd January 1492, -a splendid cavalcade went forth from the besieging city of Santa Fe to -crown the work of Isabel the Catholic. Surrounded by all the nobles and -chivalry of Castile and Aragon, the Queen, upon a splendid white -charger, rode by her husband’s side, followed by the flower of the -victorious army. Upon a hill hard by the walls of the city, Isabel -paused and gazed upon the towers and minarets, and upon the two -fortresses that crowned the sister heights, for which her heart had -yearned. This must have seemed to her the most glorious moment of her -life: for the last stronghold of Islam was within her grasp; and well -she must have known that, capitulations notwithstanding, but a few short -years would pass before the worship of the false prophet would disappear -from the land where it had prevailed so long. - -At a signal the gates of the city opened, and a mournful procession came -towards the royal group upon the rise. Mounted upon a black barb came -Boabdil the Little, dusky of skin, with sad, weeping eyes downcast. His -floating haik of snowy white half veiled a tunic of the sacred green, -covered with barbaric golden ornaments. As he approached the group upon -the mound, the conquered King made as if to dismount, and kneel to kiss -the feet of the Queen and her husband. But Ferdinand, with diplomatic -chivalry, forbade the last humiliation, and took the massive keys of the -fortress, whilst Boabdil, bending low in his saddle, kissed the sleeve -of the King as he passed the keys to the Queen, who handed them to her -son, and then to the Count of Tendilla, the new governor of the city. -Four days later, Granada was swept and garnished, purified with holy -water, ready for the entry of the Christian Sovereigns.[49] The steep, -narrow lane leading to the Alhambra from the Gate of Triumph was lined -by Christian troops, and only a few dark-skinned Moors scowled from -dusky jalousies high in the walls, as the gallant chivalry of Castile, -Leon, and Aragon, flashed and jingled after the King and Queen. As they -approached the Alhambra, upon the tower of Comares there broke the -banner of the Spanish Kings fluttering in the breeze, and at the same -moment, upon the summit of the tower above the flag, there rose a great -gilded cross, the symbol of the faith triumphant. - -Then, at the gates, the heralds cried aloud, ‘Granada! Granada! for the -Kings Isabel and Ferdinand;’ and Isabel, dismounting from her charger, -as the cross above glittered in the sun, knelt upon the ground in all -her splendour, and thanked her God for the victory. The choristers -intoned Christian praise in the purified mosque, whilst the Moors, who -hoped to live in favour of the victors, led by the renegade Muza, added -the strange music of their race to the thousand instruments and voices -that acclaimed the new Queen of Granada. Amidst the rejoicing and -illuminations that kept the city awake that night, Boabdil the beaten -was forgotten. When he had delivered the keys of the Alhambra, he had -refused to be treated by his followers any longer with royal honours, -and had retired weeping to the citadel, soon to steal forth with a few -followers and his masculine mother to the temporary shelter of his -little principality.[50] When the sad cavalcade came to the hill called -Padul, ‘The last sigh of the Moor,’ thenceforward tears coursed down the -bronze cheeks of the King as he gazed upon the lost kingdom he was to -see no more. ‘Weep! weep!’ cried his mother, ‘weep! like a woman for the -city you knew not how to defend like a man.’ - -Throughout Christendom rang the fame of the great Queen, whose -steadfastness had won so noble a victory; and even in far-off England -praise of her, and thanks to the Redeemer whose cause she had -championed, were sung throughout the land. For the conquest of Granada -marked an epoch, and sealed with permanence and finality the -Christianisation of Europe, the struggle for which had begun eight -centuries before, from the mountains of Asturias. The imagination of the -world was touched by the sight of a warrior-crusading Queen, more -splendid in her surroundings than any woman since Cleopatra, who yet was -so modest, meek, and saintly in the relations of daily life, so -exemplary a mother, so faithful a wife,[51] so wise a ruler; and the -cautious, unemotional Ferdinand, whose ability as a statesman was even -greater than that of his wife, was overshadowed by her radiant figure, -because she fought for an exalted abstract idea, whilst his eyes were -for ever turned towards the aggrandisement of himself and Aragon. She -could be cruel, and deaf to pleas for mercy, because in her eyes the -ends she aimed at transcended human suffering; he could be mean and -false, because his soul was baser and his objects all mundane. - -In the Christian camp before Granada there had wandered a man who was -not a warrior, but a patient suitor, waiting upon the leisure of the -Sovereigns to hear his petition. He was a man of lofty stature, with -light blue eyes that gazed afar away, fair, florid face and ruddy hair, -already touched with snow by forty years of toil and hardship. He had -long been a standing joke with some of the shallow courtiers and -churchmen that surrounded the Queen, for he was a dreamer of great -dreams that few men could understand, and, worst offence of all, he was -a foreigner, a Genoese some said. He had followed the Court for eight -long years in pursuit of his object, the scoff of many and the friend of -few; but the war, and the strenuous lives that Isabel and Ferdinand -lived, had again and again caused them to postpone a final answer to the -prayer of the Italian sailor, who had, to suit Spanish lips, turned his -name from Cristoforo Colombo to Cristobal Colon. - -At the end of 1484,[52] the man, full of his exalted visions, had sailed -from Lisbon, disgusted at the perfidy of the Portuguese, who had feigned -to entertain his proposals only to try to cheat him of the realisation -of them. His intention was first to sail to Huelva in Spain, where he -had relatives, and to leave with them his child Diego, who accompanied -him, whilst he himself would proceed to France, and lay his plans before -the new King, Charles VIII. Instead of reaching Huelva, his pinnace was -driven for some reason to anchor in the little port of Palos, on the -other side of the delta, and thence the mariner and his boy wended their -way to the neighbouring Franciscan Monastery of St. Maria de la Rabida, -to seek shelter and food, at least for the child. Colon, as we shall -call him here, was an exalted religious mystic, full of a great -devotional scheme, and himself, in after years, wore a habit of St. -Francis. It was natural, therefore, that he should be well received by -the brothers in that lonely retreat overlooking the delta of the Rio -Tinto; for he was, in addition to his devotion, a man of wide knowledge -of the world as well as of science and books, and in the monastery there -was an enlightened ecclesiastic who had known courts and cities, one -Friar Juan Perez, who had once been a confessor of Queen Isabel. With -him and the physician of the monastery, Garcia Hernandez, Colon -discussed cosmogony, and interested them in his theories, and the aims -that led him on his voyage. The mariner needed but little material aid, -two or three small ships, which could easily have been provided for him -by private enterprise. But his plans were far reaching, and well he knew -that to be able to carry them out, the lands he dreamed of discovering -could only produce for him the means to attain the result he hungered -for, if a powerful sovereign would hold and use them when he had found -them.[53] - -There was a great magnate within a few days’ journey of the monastery, -who himself was almost a sovereign, and not only had ships in plenty of -his own, but could, if he pleased, obtain for any plan he accepted the -patronage of powerful sovereigns. This was the head of the Guzmans, the -Duke of Medina Sidonia, the Andalucian noble who controlled the port of -Seville and the coasts of the south. It must have seemed worth while to -Colon to address himself to this neighbouring noble before setting out -on his long voyage to France; for he journeyed from La Rabida towards -Seville, leaving his child, Diego, to be educated and cared for by the -friars of the monastery. He found the Duke of Medina Sidonia -irresponsive to his approaches, and was again thinking of taking ship to -France, when he was brought into contact, by what means is not known, -with another great noble almost as powerful as the head of the Guzmans, -the Duke of Medina Celi, who, from his palaces at Rota and Puerto de -Santa Maria, on the Bay of Cadiz, disposed of nearly as many sail as -Medina Sidonia. - -The magnate listened, often and attentively, to the eloquent talk of the -sailor seer whom he lodged in his house: how, far away across the -western ocean, beyond the islands that the Portuguese had found, lay -Asia, the home of gems and spices rare, now only reached painfully -across the forbidden lands of the infidel and by the Levant Sea, or -perchance, though that was not sure, around the mighty African -continent; that wealth untold lay there in pagan hands, awaiting those -who, with cross and sword, should capture it, and win immortal souls for -Christ, and so eternal glory. He, Colon, was the man destined by God to -open up the new world foretold to Saint John in the tremendous dream of -the Apocalypse, for some vast object of which he yet refrained to speak. -Books, Seneca, Ptolemy, and the Arab geographers, the Fathers of the -Church, legends half forgotten, the conclusions of science, the course -of the stars, and the concentrated experience of generations of sailor -men, were all used by the Genoese to convince the Duke. The prospect was -an attractive one, and Medina Celi promised to fit out the expedition. - -In the building yards of Port Santa Maria the keels of three caravels -were laid down to be built under Colon’s superintendence. They were to -cost three or four thousand ducats, and be fitted, provisioned and -manned, for a year at the Duke’s expense; and Colon must have thought -that now his dream was soon to come true, and that his doubt and toil -would end. But for the inner purpose he had in view beyond the discovery -of the easy way to Asia, he needed a patron even more powerful than -Medina Celi; and it may have been the discoverer who took means to let -the Queen of Castile know the preparations that were being made, or, as -Medina Celi himself wrote afterwards, the information may have been sent -to Court by the Duke, fearing to undertake so great an expedition -without his sovereign’s licence.[54] In either case, when Isabel was -informed of it in the winter of 1485, she and her husband were in the -north of Spain, and instructed the Duke to send Colon to court, that -they might hear from his own mouth what his plans were. - -The mariner arrived at Cordova on the 20th January 1486, with letters of -introduction from the Duke to the Queen and his friends at court. The -sovereigns were detained by business in Madrid and Toledo for three -months after Colon came to Cordova; but his letters procured for him -some friends amongst the courtiers there, with whom he discussed the -theories he had formed, especially with the Aragonese Secretary of -Supplies, the Jewish Luis de Sant’angel, who, throughout, was his -enlightened and helpful friend. Most of the idle hangers-on of the court -at Cordova, clerical and lay, made merry sport of the rapt dreamer who -lingered in their midst awaiting the coming of the sovereigns. His -foreign garb and accent, his strange predictions, absurd on the face of -them—for how could one arrive at a given place by sailing directly away -from it?—all convinced the shallow pates that this carder of wool turned -sailor was mad. - -When Isabel and Ferdinand at last arrived at Cordova, on the 28th April -1486, the season was already further advanced than usual to make -preparations for the summer campaign: and there was little leisure for -the sovereigns to listen to the vague theories of the sailor. But early -in May Colon was received kindly by Isabel and her husband, and told his -tale. Their minds were full of the approaching campaign, and of the -trouble between Aragon and the new King of France about the two counties -on the frontier unjustly withheld from Ferdinand; and after seeing Colon -for the first time Isabel instructed the secretary, Alfonso de -Quintanilla to write to the Duke of Medina Celi that she did not -consider the business very sure; but that if anything came of it the -Duke should have a share of the profits. - -In the meanwhile Ferdinand and his wife were too busy to examine closely -themselves into the pros and cons of Colon’s scheme, and followed the -traditional course in such circumstances, that of referring the matter -to a commission of experts and learned men to sift and report. The -president of the commission was that mild-mannered but arrogant-minded -confessor of the Queen, Father Talavera; the man of one idea whom the -conquest of Granada for the cross blinded to all other objects in life. -With him for the most part were men like himself, saturated with the -tradition of the church, that looked upon all innovation as impiety, and -all they did not understand as an invention of the evil one. So, when -Colon sat with them and expounded his theories to what he knew were -unsympathetic ears, he kept back his most convincing proofs and -arguments; for his treatment in Portugal had taught him caution.[55] -There were two, at least, of the members of the commission who fought -hard for Colon’s view, Dr. Maldonado and the young friar Antonio de -Marchena, but they were outvoted; and when the report was presented it -said that Colon’s project was impossible, and that after so many -thousands of years he could not discover unknown lands, and so surpass -an almost infinite number of clever men who were experienced in -navigation.[56] - -Hardly had Talavera and his colleagues assured the sovereigns that the -whole plan was impossible and vain, unfit for royal personages to -patronise,[57] than Ferdinand again took the field (20th May), and once -more Cristobal Colon was faced by failure. But he was a man not easily -beaten. During his stay at Cordova he had made many friends, and gained -many protectors at Court. First was his close acquaintance, Luis de -Sant’angel, by whose intervention he was so promptly received by the -sovereigns after their arrival at Cordova; but others there were of much -higher rank: the great Cardinal Archbishop of Toledo, Mendoza, the tutor -of the Prince Don Juan, Friar Diego Deza, Friar Juan Perez, who had -first received Colon at La Rabida, and was now at court, Alonso de -Quintanilla, the Queen’s secretary, Juan Cabero, the intimate Aragonese -friend and chamberlain of the King; and one who probably did more in his -favour quietly than any one else, that inseparable companion of Isabel, -Beatriz de Bobadilla, now Marchioness of Moya. - -But it was weary waiting. As we have seen, the energies of the -sovereigns were absorbed in the war. Ferdinand, moreover, was -desperately anxious to finish it successfully, and get to Aragonese -problems that interested him more directly; the intended war with France -and that world-wide combination he was already planning, by which not -the strength of Spain alone but that of all Christendom should be at his -bidding, to humble his rival and exalt Aragon in Italy, the -Mediterranean and the East. It was too much to expect that Ferdinand -would welcome very warmly any project for frittering away in another -direction the strength of the nation he was hungering to use for his own -ends. Isabel, on the other hand, would naturally be inclined to listen -more sympathetically to such a project as that of Colon. Here was half a -world to be won to Christianity under her flag, here was wealth -illimitable to coerce the other half, and, above all, here was the -fair-faced mystic with his lymphatic blue eyes, like her own, showing -her how the riches that would fall to his share were all destined for a -crusade even greater than that of Granada, the winning of the Holy -Sepulchre from the infidel, and the fixing for ever of the sovereign -banner of Castile upon the country hallowed by the footsteps of our -Lord. To Isabel, therefore, more than to Ferdinand, must it be -attributed, that when the campaign of 1486 was ended the Italian mariner -was not dismissed, notwithstanding the unfavourable report of Talavera’s -commission. - -The sovereigns were obliged to start out to far Galicia, as has been -related on page 64; but before they went they replied to Colon that, -‘though they were prevented at present from entering into new -enterprises, owing to their being engaged in so many wars and conquests, -especially that of Granada, they hoped in time that a better opportunity -would occur to examine his proposals and discuss his offers.’[58] This -answer, at all events, prevented Colon’s supporters in Spain from -despairing; and whilst the monarchs were in Galicia in the winter of -1486, the Dominican Deza, the Prince’s tutor, who was also a professor -at Salamanca, conceived the idea that an independent inquiry by the -pundits of the university might arrive at a different conclusion from -that of Talavera’s commission, and undo the harm the latter had -effected. Though there is no evidence of the fact, it is certain that -Deza, who was a Castilian and a member of the Queen’s household, would -not have taken such a step as he did without Isabel’s consent. In any -case, Colon travelled to Salamanca; and there, as the guest of Deza in -the Dominican monastery of Saint Stephen, he held constant conference -with the learned men for whom the famous University was a centre. - -Isabel and her husband themselves arrived at Salamanca in the last days -of the year 1486, and heard from Deza and other friends that, in the -opinion of most of them, the plans of Colon were perfectly sound. The -effect was seen at once: the mariner accompanied the Court to Cordova in -high hopes, no longer an unattached projector of doubtful schemes, but a -member of the royal household. Before once more taking the field in the -spring of 1487, the Queen officially informed Colon that ‘when -circumstances permitted she and the King would carefully consider his -proposal’; and in the meantime a sum of 3000 maravedis was given to him -for his sustenance, a grant that was repeated, and sometimes exceeded, -every few months afterwards. In August 1487, Colon was summoned by the -sovereigns to the siege of Malaga, probably to give advice as to some -maritime operations; but thenceforward he usually resided in Cordova, -awaiting with impatience the convenience of the Queen and King. - -During the heartbreaking delay he entered again into negotiation with -the Kings of Portugal, France, and England, but without result; and it -was only when the city of Granada was near its fall, and the end of the -long war in sight, that Colon, following the sovereigns in Santa Fe, saw -his hopes revive. Now, for the first time, he was invited to lay before -them the terms he asked for if success crowned his project. Isabel had -been already gained to Colon’s view by the transparent conviction of the -man and his saintly zeal. His friends at Court were now many and -powerful, and Ferdinand himself had not failed to see that the promised -accession of wealth to be derived from the discovery would strengthen -his hands. Perhaps he, like Isabel, had been dazzled with Colon’s life -dream of the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre; for that would, if it were -effected, tend to realise the highest ambitions of Aragon. But -Ferdinand, as a prudent man of business, never allowed sentiment, -however exalted, to override practical considerations. When, therefore, -the terms demanded by Colon were at length submitted to him and the -Queen, he unhesitatingly rejected them as absolutely out of the -question. Much obloquy has been heaped upon Ferdinand for his lack of -generosity in doing so; but a perusal of the conditions, with a -consideration of the circumstances and ideas of the times, will convince -any impartial person that Ferdinand’s first rejection of them was more -to his credit than his subsequent acceptance with the obvious intention -of violating them. - -They were, indeed, extravagant and impracticable to the last degree. The -title of Admiral had only been given in Spain to nobles of the highest -rank and greatest possessions. The office, usually hereditary, carried -with it seignorial rights over the coasts and ports that were -practically sovereign, as in the case of the Enriquezs in Castile and of -Medina Sidonia in Andalucia. And yet Colon, a plebeian Italian sailor, -dropped as if from the clouds, made as his first demand, that he should -be recognised as ‘Admiral of all the islands and continents that may be -discovered or gained by his means, for himself during his life, and for -his heirs and successors for ever, with all the prerogatives and -pre-eminences appertaining to such office, as they are enjoyed by Don -Alonso Enriquez, your Admiral of Castile.’ The Admiral of Castile was -Ferdinand’s uncle, and the second person in realm after the blood royal; -and, although the office was hereditary in his house, the sovereigns of -Castile had never surrendered the power of withdrawing the title if they -pleased, whereas the Italian mariner demanded that for ever he and his -should be practically independent of the sovereigns. The second -condition was, that Colon was to be Governor and Viceroy of all islands -and continents discovered, with the right of nominating three persons -for each sub-governorship or office from which the sovereigns were bound -to choose one. This latter condition was also an infraction of the right -of the kings to choose their own officers freely. The discoverer claimed -for himself and his heirs for ever one clear tenth of all merchandise, -gold, gems, pearls, and commodities of every sort, bought, bartered, -found, gained, or possessed, in the territories discovered. It was just, -of course, that Colon should be splendidly rewarded if success crowned -his efforts, but the imagination reels at the idea of the stupendous -wealth that would have been his by virtue of such a claim as this. But -this was not all. Colon claimed the right, if he pleased, of taking -one-eighth share in every expedition and trading venture leaving Spain -for the Indies, and, to crown all, if any dispute arose with regard to -the discoverer’s rights and profits, under the capitulation, he and his -nominees were to be the sole judges of the case. - -Most of these demands could not be legally granted under the laws of -Castile, and it is no wonder that when Colon refused to modify them, he -was curtly dismissed by Ferdinand, and told to go about his business and -propose his plans elsewhere. There is no reason to doubt, in spite of -romantic legends unsupported by evidence, that Isabel acquiesced in this -action of her husband. She was, it is true, strongly in favour of the -proposed undertaking; but she was a greater stickler than Ferdinand for -her regal prerogatives, and it is unlikely that she would have lightly -surrendered them thus any more than he. In any case, Colon, in high -dudgeon, left Santa Fe with the intention of offering his plans to -France. First visiting in Cordova the lady with whom he had lived, he -proceeded on his way to La Rabida, where his son Diego was still living, -thence to embark for France. In the monastery there he again met the -guardian, Fray Juan Perez, the Queen’s confessor, to whom he told his -tale of disappointment; and the physician, Hernandez, was summoned to -the conference. - -Colon, with his earnestness and eloquence, impressed them more than ever -with the glowing prospects of wealth unlimited for Spain, and glory -undying for the Christian Queen, who should bring pagan Asia into the -fold of the Church; and, unknown to the explorer, Juan Perez sent post -haste by a trusty messenger a letter to the Queen urging her not to let -Colon go elsewhere with his plans. It is well-nigh two hundred miles, -and a bad road, from Palos to Granada, and Isabel was in the midst of -taking possession of the conquered city; but yet she found time to send -back an answer within a fortnight to Perez, who, by one pretext or -another, had detained Colon in the monastery, bidding her late confessor -himself to come and see her without delay, that she might discuss with -him the subject of his solicitude. Perez lost no time; for at midnight -the same day, without a word to Colon, he rode out of La Rabida towards -Granada. - -What arguments he used to Isabel we do not know, probably he told her -that Colon was inclined now to modify his pretensions. In any case, the -good friar hurried back to the monastery with the cheering news that the -Queen had promised to provide three caravels for the expedition, and -summoned Colon to court again, sending him, in a day or two, two -thousand maravedis to buy himself some new clothes, and make him fit to -appear before her. It is extremely unlikely—indeed impossible—that -Isabel should have taken this step without Ferdinand’s consent. She was -the stronger vessel, and may have won him over to her way of thinking, -aided probably by the representations of Juan Perez, that Colon’s terms -would be modified. - -The explorer arrived at Granada shortly after the triumphal entry of the -conquerors, and saw Isabel (and presumably her husband) on several -occasions at their quarters at Santa Fe. To Ferdinand’s annoyance he -found that Colon still insisted upon the same impracticable conditions -as before. Talavera, the new Archbishop of Granada, full of zeal for the -Christianisation of his new diocese, frowned at all suggestions that -might divert attention to another direction; and finally, the King and -Queen decided to dismiss Colon for good as impossible to deal with. -Rather than bate a jot of his vast claims, for, as he solemnly asserted -afterwards, he needed not the wealth for himself, but to restore the -Holy Land to Christendom, he wended his way heartbroken towards his home -at Cordova; his red hair now blanched entire to snow. The glory for -Spain of discovering a new world for civilisation was trembling in the -balance. The great dreamer, hopeless, had turned his back upon the court -after seven years of fruitless waiting, and Ferdinand, this time, had no -intention of recalling him. - -Then the keen business prescience of the Jew Secretary of Supplies, Luis -de Sant’angel, pained that such bright hopes should be carried to other -lands, took what, for a man of his modest rank, was a very bold step. He -was a countryman of Ferdinand, and in his confidence, but it was to -Isabel he went, and with many expressions of humility and apology for -his daring,[59] urged her not to miss such a chance as that offered by -the Genoese. Sant’angel appears to have been under the impression that -the main reason for Colon’s dismissal was the difficulty of the -Castilian treasury providing the money he asked for, as he offered to -lend the million maravedís necessary. It is quite likely, indeed, that -he did not know the details of the explorer’s demands as to reward. -Isabel appears to have thanked Sant’angel for his offer and opinion, -with which she said she agreed; but asked him to defer the matter until -she was more at leisure. - -This was something gained; but the principal difficulty was to persuade -Ferdinand. Another Aragonese it was who undertook it; that inseparable -companion of the King, the Chamberlain, Juan Cabero. What arguments he -employed we know not, but he was as astute as Ferdinand himself, and -probably we shall not be far from the truth when we presume that he and -his master agreed that, since the Queen was so bent upon the affair, it -would be folly to haggle further over terms, which, after all, if they -were found inconvenient, could be repudiated by the sovereigns, and it -is probable that Isabel may have been influenced by the same view. So, a -few hours only after Colon had shaken the dust of Santa Fe from his -feet, a swift horseman overtook him at the bridge of Los Pinos, and -brought him back to court. - -Again he stood firm in his immoderate pretensions, and the chaffering -with him was resumed, for it must have been evident to Ferdinand that -the terms could never be fulfilled. It must not be forgotten that Colon -had come with a mere theory. The plan was not to discover a new -continent: there was no idea then of a vast virgin America, but only of -a shorter way to Japan and the realms of the great Khan. Such a project, -great as the profit that might result, would naturally loom less in the -sight of contemporary Spaniards than the Christianisation of Granada, -and it is unjust to blame Ferdinand for holding out against terms which -were even a derogation of his own and his wife’s sovereignty. Isabel, -far more idealist than her husband, was ready to accede to Colon’s -demands, and her advocacy carried the day. Possibly, to judge from what -followed, even she assented, with the mental reservation that she, as -sovereign, could, if she pleased, cancel the concessions she granted to -Colon if she found them oppressive. - -The terms demanded, however, were not the only difficulty in the way. -There was the question of ready money; and the war had exhausted the -treasury. It is an ungracious thing to demolish a pretty traditional -story, but that of Isabel’s jewels, sacrificed to pay for Colon’s first -voyage, will not bear scrutiny.[60] As a matter of fact, her jewels were -already pawned for the costs of the war, and although Las Casas, -Bernaldez, and Colon’s son Fernando, say that the Queen offered to -Sant’angel to pawn her jewellery for the purpose, and it is probable -enough that in the heat of her enthusiasm she may have made such a -suggestion figuratively, it is now quite certain that the money for the -expedition was advanced by Luis de Sant’angel, although not as was, and -is, usually supposed, from his own resources, but from money secretly -given to him for the purpose from the Aragonese treasury, of which he -was a high officer.[61] - -The agreement with Colon was signed finally in Santa Fe on the 17th -April 1492, and at the end of the month the great dreamer departed, this -time with a light heart and rising hopes, to Palos and La Rabida to fit -out his caravels, and sail on the 3rd August 1492 for his fateful -voyage. With him went Isabel’s prayers and hopes; and during his -tiresome and obstructed preparations at Palos, she aided him to the -utmost by grants and precepts,[62] as well as by appointing his -legitimate son, Diego, page to her heir, Prince Juan, in order that the -lad might have a safe home during his father’s absence. Although -Isabel’s action in the discovery may be less heroic and independent of -her husband, than her enthusiastic biographers are fond of representing, -it is certain that but for her Ferdinand would not have patronised the -expedition. Looking at the whole circumstances, and his character, it is -difficult to blame him, except at last for agreeing to terms that he -knew were impossible of fulfilment, and which he probably never meant to -fulfil. But Isabel’s idealism in this case was wiser than Ferdinand’s -practical prudence, so far as the immediate result was concerned, and to -Isabel the Catholic must be given the glory of having aided Columbus, -rather than to her husband, who was persuaded against his will. - -Granada was conquered for Isabel, and it was now Ferdinand’s turn to -have his way. For years Aragonese interests had had to wait, though, as -Ferdinand well knew, the unifying process, which he needed for his ends, -was being perfected the while. Under the stern rule of Torquemada the -Inquisition had struck its tentacles into the nation’s heart, and, crazy -with the pride of superiority over infidels, the orthodox Spaniard was -rapidly developing the confidence in his divine selection to scourge the -enemies of God, which made the nation temporarily great. Isabel was the -inspiring soul of this feeling. A foreigner, visiting her court soon -after Granada fell, wrote, as most contemporaries did of her, in -enthusiastic praise of what we should now consider cruel bigotry. -‘Nothing is spoken of here,’ he says, ‘but making war on the enemies of -the faith, and sweeping away all obstructions to the Holy Catholic -Church. Not with worldly, but with heavenly aim, is all they undertake, -and all they do seems inspired direct from heaven, as these sovereigns -most surely are.’[63] - -This eulogium refers to the plan then under discussion for ridding -Isabel’s realms of the taint of Judaism. We are told that to the Queen’s -initiative this terrible and disastrous measure was due. ‘The Jews were -so powerful in the management of the royal revenues that they formed -almost another royal caste. This gave great scandal to the Catholic -Queen, and the decree was signed that all those who would not in three -months embrace the faith, were to leave her kingdoms of Castile and -Leon.’[64] Ferdinand was quite willing, in this case, to give the -saintly Queen and her clergy a free hand, because, to carry out his -world-wide combination to humble France, he would need money—very much -money—and the wholesale confiscation of Jewish property that accompanied -the edict of expulsion was his only ready way of getting it. On the 30th -March 1492, less than three weeks before the signature of the agreement -with Colon, the dread edict against the Jews went forth. Religious -rancour had been inflamed to fever heat against these people, who were -amongst the most enlightened and useful citizens of the State, and whose -services to science, when the rest of Europe was sunk in darkness, make -civilisation eternally their debtor. They were said to carry on in -secret foul rites of human sacrifice, to defile the Christianity that -most of them professed, and Isabel’s zeal, prompted by the churchmen, -was already climbing to the point afterwards reached by her -great-grandson, Philip II., when he swore that, come what might, he -would never be a king of heretic subjects. - -By the 30th July 1492 not a professed Jew was to be left alive in -Isabel’s dominions. With cruel irony, in which Ferdinand’s cynical greed -is evident, the banished people were permitted to sell their property, -yet forbidden to carry the money abroad with them. At least a quarter of -a million of Spaniards of all ranks and ages, men, women, and children, -ill or well, were driven forth, stripped of everything, to seek shelter -in foreign lands. The decree was carried out with relentless ferocity, -and the poor wretches, straggling through Spain to some place of safety, -were an easy prey to plunder and maltreat. It was a saturnalia of -robbery. The shipmasters extorted almost the last ducat to carry the -fugitives to Africa or elsewhere, and then, in numberless cases, cast -their passengers overboard as soon as they were at sea. It was said -that, in order to conceal their wealth, the Jews swallowed their -precious gems, and hundreds were ripped up on the chance of discovering -their riches. There was no attempt or pretence of mercy. The banishment -was intended, not alone to remove Judaism as a creed from Spain—that -might have been done without the horrible cruelty that ensued—but as a -doom of death for all professing Jews; for Torquemada had, five years -before, obtained a Bull from the Pope condemning to major -excommunication the authorities of all Christian lands who failed to -arrest and send back every fugitive Jew from Spain.[65] Isabel appears -to have had no misgiving. Her spiritual guides, to whom she was so -humble, praised her to the skies for her saintly zeal: her subjects, -inflated with religious arrogance, joined the chorus raised by servile -scribes and chroniclers, that the discovery of the new lands by Colon -was heaven’s reward to Isabel for ejecting the Hebrew spawn from her -sacred realm; and if her woman’s heart felt a pang at the suffering and -misery she decreed, it was promptly assuaged by the assurance of the -austere churchmen, who ruled the conscience of the Queen. - -Leaving Talavera as archbishop, and Count de Tendilla as governor of -conquered Granada, Isabel and her husband, with their children and a -splendid court, travelled in the early summer of 1492 to their other -dominions where their presence was needed. Ferdinand, indeed, was -yearning to get back to his own people, who were growing restive at his -long absence, and for the coming war with France, it was necessary for -him to win the love of his Catalan subjects, who, at first, still -remembering his murdered half-brother, the Prince of Viana, had borne -him little affection. He had treated them, however, with great -diplomacy, respecting their sturdy independence, and had asked little -from them, and by this time, in the autumn of 1492, when he and Isabel, -with their promising son, Juan, by their side, rode from Aragon through -the city of Barcelona to the palace of the Bishop of Urgel, where they -were to live, the Catalans were wild with enthusiasm for the sovereigns -with whose names all Christendom was ringing. - -Ferdinand nearly fell a victim to the attack of a lunatic assassin in -December, as he was leaving his hall of justice at Barcelona, and during -his imminent danger Isabel’s affection and care for him gained for her -also the love of the jealous Catalans.[66] Throughout the winter in -Barcelona Ferdinand was busy weaving his web of intrigue around France -and Europe, to which reference will presently be made, and in March 1493 -there came flying to the court the tremendous news that Colon had run -into the Tagus for shelter after discovering the lands for which he had -gone in search. No particulars of the voyage were given; but not many -days passed before Luis de Sant’angel, the Aragonese Treasurer Gabriel -Sanchez, and the monarchs themselves, received by the hands of a -messenger sent by the explorer from Palos, letters giving full details -of the voyage.[67] No doubt as to the importance of the discovery was -any longer entertained, and when the Admiral of the Indies himself -entered Barcelona in the middle of April, after a triumphal progress -across Spain, honours almost royal were paid to him. He was received at -the city gates by the nobles of the court and city, and led through the -crowded streets to the palace to confront the sovereigns, at whose feet -he was, though he and they knew it not, laying a new world. With him he -brought mild bronze-skinned natives decked with barbaric gold ornaments, -birds of rare plumage, and many strange beasts; gold in dust and nuggets -had he also, to show that the land he had found was worth the claiming. - -Ferdinand and Isabel, with their son, received him in state in the great -hall of the bishop’s palace; and, rising as he approached them, bade him -to be seated, an unprecedented honour, due to the fact that they -recognised his high rank as Admiral of the Indies. With fervid eloquence -he told his tale. How rich and beautiful was the land he had found; how -mild and submissive the new subjects of the Queen, and how ready to -receive the faith of their mistress. Isabel was deeply moved at the -recital, and when the Admiral ceased speaking the whole assembly knelt -and gave thanks to God for so signal a favour to the crown of Castile. -Thenceforward during his stay in Barcelona, Colon was treated like a -prince; and when he left in May to prepare his second expedition to the -new found land, he took with him powers almost sovereign to turn to -account and bring to Christianity the new vassals of Queen Isabel. - -It is time to say something of Isabel’s family and her domestic life. As -we have seen, she had been during the nineteen years since her accession -constantly absorbed in state and warlike affairs; and the effects of her -efforts to reform her country had already been prodigious, but her -public duties did not blind her to the interests of her own household -and kindred; and no personage of her time did more to bring the new-born -culture into her home than she. She had given birth during the strenuous -years we have reviewed to five children. Isabel, born in October 1470; -John, the only son, in 1478; Joan in 1479, Maria in 1482, and Katharine -at the end of 1485: and these young princesses and prince had enjoyed -the constant supervision of their mother. Her own education had been -narrow under her Dominican tutors, and that of Ferdinand was notoriously -defective. But Isabel was determined that her children should not suffer -in a similar respect, and the most learned tutors that Italy and Spain -could provide were enlisted to teach, not the royal children alone, but -the coming generation of nobles, their companions, the wider culture of -the classics and the world that churchmen had so much neglected. And not -book learning alone was instilled into these young people by the Queen. -She made her younger ladies join her in the work of the needle and the -distaff, and set the fashion for great dames to devote their leisure, as -she did, to the embroidering of gorgeous altar cloths and church -vestments, whilst the noble youths, no longer allowed, as their -ancestors had been, to become politically dangerous, were encouraged to -make themselves accomplished in the arts of disciplined warfare and -literary culture. - -Isabel, like all her descendants upon the throne, set a high standard of -regal dignity, and in all her public appearances assumed a demeanour of -impassive serenity and gorgeousness which became traditional at a later -period; but she could be playful and jocose in her family circle, as her -nicknames for her children prove. Her eldest girl, Isabel, who married -the King of Portugal, bore a great resemblance to the Portuguese mother -of Isabel herself, and the latter always called her child ‘mother,’ -whilst her son Juan to her was always the ‘angel,’ from his beautiful -fair face. She could joke, too, on occasion, though the specimens of her -wit cited by Father Florez are a little outspoken for the present day; -and her contemporary chroniclers tell many instances of her keen caustic -wit. Her tireless and often indiscreet zeal for the spread of the faith -has been mentioned several times in these pages; but submissive as she -was to the clergy, she was keenly alive even to their defects, and the -laxity of the regular orders, which had grown to be a scandal, was -reformed by her with ruthless severity. Her principal instrument, -perhaps the initiator, of this work was the most remarkable -ecclesiastical statesman of his time, and one of the greatest Spaniards -who ever lived, Alfonso Jimenez de Cisneros. - -A humble Franciscan friar of over fifty, living as an anchorite in a -grot belonging to the monastery of Castañar, near Toledo, after a -laborious life as a secular priest and vicar-general of a diocese, would -seem the last man in the world to become the arbiter of a nation’s -destinies; and yet this was the strange fate of Jimenez. When Talavera -was created Bishop of Granada, Isabel needed a new principal confessor; -and, as usual in such matters, consulted the Cardinal Primate of Spain, -Mendoza, who years before had been Bishop of Sigüenza, and had made -Father Jimenez his chaplain and vicar-general, because his rival -archbishop, that stout old rebel Carrillo, had persecuted the lowly -priest. Mendoza knew that his former vicar-general had retired from the -world, and was living in self-inflicted suffering and mortification; and -he was wont to say that such a man was born to rule, and not to hide -himself as an anchorite in a cloister. When, after the surrender of -Granada, a new royal confessor was required, Jimenez, greatly to his -dismay, real or assumed, was at the instance of the Cardinal summoned to -see the Queen. Austere and poorly clad, he stood before the sovereign -whom he was afterwards to rule, and fervently begged her to save him -from the threatened honour. In vain he urged his unfitness for the life -of a court, his want of cultivation and the arts of the world; his -humility was to Isabel a further recommendation, and she would take no -denial. - -Thenceforward the pale emaciated figure, in a frayed and soiled -Franciscan frock, stalked like a spectre amidst the splendours that -surrounded the Queen; feared for his stern rectitude and his iron -strength of will. His mind was full, even then, of great plans to reform -the order of Saint Francis, corrupted as he had seen it was in the -cloisters; and when the office of Provincial of the Order became vacant -soon afterwards the new Confessor accepted it eagerly. Through all -Castile, to every monastery of the Order, Jimenez rode on a poor mule -with one attendant and no luggage; living mostly upon herbs and roots by -the way. When, at last, Isabel recalled him peremptorily to her side, he -painted to her so black a picture of the shameful licence and luxury of -the friars, that the Queen, horrified at such impiety, vowed to sustain -her Confessor in the work of reform. It was a hard fought battle; for -the Priors were rich and powerful, and in many cases were strongly -supported from Rome. All sorts of influences were brought to bear. -Ferdinand was besought to mitigate the reforming zeal of Isabel and -Jimenez, and did his best to do so. The Prior of the Holy Ghost in -Segovia boldly took Isabel to task personally, and told her that her -Confessor was unfit for his post. When Isabel asked the insolent friar -whether he knew what he was talking about he replied, ‘Yes, and I know -that I am speaking to Queen Isabel, who is dust and ashes as I am.’ But -all was unavailing, the broom wielded by Jimenez and the Queen swept -through every monastery and convent in the land; the Queen herself -taking the nunneries in hand, and with gentle firmness examining for -herself the circumstances in every case before compelling a rigid -adherence to the conventual vows. When Mendoza died in January 1495, the -greatest ecclesiastical benefice in the world after the papacy, the -Archbishopric of Toledo, became vacant. Ferdinand wanted it for his -illegitimate son, Alfonso of Aragon, aged twenty-four, who had been -Archbishop of Saragossa since he was six. But Toledo was in the Queen’s -gift, and to her husband’s indignation she insisted upon appointing -Jimenez. The Pope, Alexander VI., who had just conferred the title of -‘Catholic’ upon the Spanish sovereigns, was by birth a Valencian subject -of Ferdinand; and there was a race of the rival Spanish claimants to win -the support of Rome. But Castile had right as well as might on his side -this time, and, again to his expressed displeasure, Jimenez became -primate of Spain, and the greatest man in the land after the King who -distrusted him.[68] - -From their births Ferdinand had destined his children to be instruments -in his great scheme for humbling France for the benefit of Aragon; and -Isabel, in this respect, appears usually to have let him have his way. -It was a complicated and tortuous way, which, in a history of the Queen, -cannot be fully described. Suffice it to say that when Ferdinand found -himself by the fall of Granada free to take his own affairs seriously in -hand, he had for years been intriguing for political marriage for his -children. First he had endeavoured to capture the young King of France, -Charles VIII., on his accession in 1483, by a marriage with Isabel, the -eldest daughter of Spain. Charles VIII. was already betrothed to -Margaret of Burgundy, but Anne of Brittany, with her French dominion, -was preferred to either, and then (1488) Ferdinand, finding himself -forestalled, betrothed his youngest daughter, Katharine, to Arthur, -Prince of Wales, to win the support of Henry Tudor in a war against -France,[69] to prevent the absorption of Brittany. All parties were -dishonest; but Ferdinand outwitted allies and rivals alike. Henry VII. -of England was cajoled into invading France; whilst Ferdinand, instead -of making war on his side as arranged, quietly extorted from the fears -of Charles VIII. an offensive and defensive alliance against the world, -with the retrocession to Aragon of the counties of Roussillon and -Cerdagne; and England was left in the lurch. - -There is no doubt that the object of the King of France in signing such -a treaty was to buy the implied acquiescence of Ferdinand in making good -his shadowy claims to the kingdom of Naples, then ruled by the unpopular -kinsman of Ferdinand himself. As was proved soon afterwards, nothing was -further from Ferdinand’s thoughts than thus to aid the ambition of the -shallow, vain King of France in the precise direction where he wished to -check it. But in appearance the great festivities held in Barcelona on -the signature of the treaty in January 1493, heralded a cordial -settlement of the long-standing enmity between the two rivals. Isabel -took her share in the rejoicings; and rigid bigots appear to have -written to her late Confessor, Archbishop Talavera, an exaggerated -account of her participation in the gaiety. Isabel, in answer to the -letter of reprimand he sent her, defended herself with spirit and -dignity, after a preface expressing humble submission. ‘You say that -some danced who ought not to have danced; but if that is intended to -convey that I danced, I can only say that it is not true; I have little -custom of dancing, and I had no thought of such a thing.... The new -masks you complain of were worn neither by me nor by my ladies; and not -one dress was put on that had not been worn ever since we came to -Aragon. The only dress I wore had, indeed, been seen by the Frenchmen -before, and was my silk one with three bands of gold, made as plainly as -possible. This was all my part of the festivity. Of the grand array and -showy garments you speak of, I saw nothing and knew nothing until I read -your letter. The visitors who came may have worn such fine things when -they appeared; but I know of no others. As for the French people supping -with the ladies at table, that is a thing they are accustomed to do. -They do not get the custom from us; but when their great guests dine -with sovereigns, the others in their train dine at tables in the hall -with the ladies and gentlemen; and there are no separate tables for -ladies. The Burgundians, the English and the Portuguese, also follow -this custom; and we on similar occasions to this. So there is no more -evil in it, nor bad repute, than in asking guests to your own table. I -say this, that you may see that there was no innovation in what we did; -nor did we think we were doing anything wrong in it.... But if it be -found wrong after the inquiry I will make, it will be better to -discontinue it in future. The dresses of the gentlemen were truly very -costly, and I did not commend them, and, indeed, moderated them as much -as I could, and advised them not to have such garments made. As for the -Bull feasts, I feel, with you, though perhaps not quite so strongly. But -after I had consented to them, I had the fullest determination never to -attend them again in my life, nor to be where they were held. I do not -say that I can of myself abolish them; for that does not appertain to me -alone, nor do I defend them, for I have never found pleasure in -them.[70] When you know the truth of what really took place, you may -determine whether it be evil, in which case it had better be -discontinued. For my part all excess is distasteful to me, and I am -wearied with all festivity, as I have written you in a long letter, -which I have not sent, nor will I do so, until I know whether, by God’s -grace, you are coming to meet us in Castile.’[71] - -This letter gives a good idea of Isabel’s submission to her spiritual -advisers, as well as of her own good sense and moderation, which -prevented her from giving blind obedience to them. Another instance of -this is seen by Isabel’s attitude towards the chapter of Toledo -Cathedral after the death of her friend Cardinal Mendoza (January 1495), -the third King of Spain, as he had been called. The Queen travelled from -Madrid to Guadalajara to be with him at his death, and tended him to the -last, promising, personally, to act as his executor, and to see that all -his testamentary wishes were fulfilled. Amongst these was the desire of -the prelate to be buried in a certain spot in the chancel of the -cathedral. To this the chapter had readily assented in the life of the -archbishop, but when he had died they refused to allow the structural -alterations necessary, and the matter was carried to the tribunals, -which decided in favour of the executors. The chapter still stood firm -in their refusal, and then the Queen, as chief executrix, took the -matter in her own hands, and herself superintended the necessary -demolition of the wall of the chapel at night, to the surprise and -dismay of the chapter, who no longer dared to interfere.[72] - -On leaving Aragon after the signature of the hollow Treaty of Barcelona -(1493), Isabel and her husband took up their residence in the Alcazar of -Madrid, where, with short intervals, they remained in residence for the -next six years. During this period, spent, as will be told by Ferdinand, -in almost constant struggle for his own objects in Italy and elsewhere, -Isabel was tireless in her efforts for domestic reform. The purification -of the monasteries and convents went on continually under the zealous -incentive of the new Archbishop of Toledo, Jimenez: the roads and -water-sources throughout Castile were improved; the municipal -authorities, corrupt as they had become by the introduction of the -purchase of offices, and the effects of noble intrigue, were brought -under royal inspection and control; and this, though it improved the -government of the towns, further sapped their independence and -legislative power. The Universities and high schools, which had shared -in the universal decadence, were overhauled, and a higher standard of -graduation enforced: the coinage, which had become hopelessly debased, -in consequence of the vast number of noble and municipal mints in -existence, was unified and rehabilitated: sumptuary pragmatics, mistaken -as they appear to us now, but well-intentioned at the time, endeavoured -to restrain extravagance and idle vanity: measures for promoting -agriculture, the great cloth industry of Segovia and oversea commerce, -and a score of other similar enactments during these years, from 1494 to -the end of the century, show how catholic and patriotic was Isabel’s -activity at the time that Ferdinand was busy with his own Aragonese -plans. The annals of Madrid at this period give a curious account of -Isabel’s prowess in another direction. The neighbourhood of the capital -was infested with bears, and one particular animal, of special size and -ferocity, had committed much damage. By order of the Queen a special -battue was organised, and the bear was killed by a javelin in the hands -of Isabel herself, upon the spot where now stands the hermitage of St. -Isidore, the patron of Madrid.[73] - -Ferdinand’s marvellous political perspicacity, and the far-reaching -combinations he had formed, now began to produce some of the -international results for which he had worked. The Treaty of Barcelona -had bound Ferdinand to friendship with France, and abstention from -marrying his children in England, Germany or Naples, and implied the -leaving to Charles VIII. of a free hand in Italy: but no sooner had -Ferdinand received his reward by the retrocession of Roussillon and -Cerdagne to him, than he broke all his obligations under the treaty. -Charles VIII. had marched through Italy, to the intense anger of the -native princes, and took possession of Naples, and then Ferdinand, in -coalition with the Valencian Pope, Alexander VI., formed the combination -of Venice, and Spanish troops under the great Castilian, Gonzalo de -Cordova, expelled the French from Naples, and set up the deposed -Aragonese-Neapolitan king, until it should please, as it soon did, -Ferdinand to seize the realm for himself. - -This war was an awakening to all Europe that a new fighting nation had -entered into the arena. Already the proud spirit of superiority by -divine selection was being felt by Spaniards as a result of the -religious persecution of the minority, and the devotional exaltation -inspired by the example of the Queen: and under so great a commander as -Gonzalo de Cordova Spanish troops for the first time now showed the -qualities which, for a century at least, made them invincible.[74] -Whilst this result attended the policy of Isabel and her husband in -religious affairs, their action in another direction simultaneously, -whilst for the moment seeming to give to Ferdinand the hegemony of -Europe, really wrought the ruin of Spain by bringing her into the vortex -of central European politics, and burdening her with the championship of -an impossible cause under impossible conditions. - - - CHAPTER III - -Amidst infinite chicanery and baseness on both sides the marriage treaty -of Isabel’s youngest daughter, Katharine, with Arthur, Prince of Wales, -had been alternately confirmed and relaxed, as suited Ferdinand’s -interests. But he took care that it could be at any time revived when -need should demand it. This made Ferdinand always able to deal a -diverting blow upon France in the Channel. But Ferdinand’s main stroke -of policy was the double marriage of his children, Juan, Prince of -Asturias, with the Archduchess Margaret, daughter of Maximilian, -sovereign of the Holy Roman Empire; and of Joan, Isabel’s second -daughter, with Philip, Maximilian’s son, and, by right of his mother, -sovereign of the dominions of the Dukes of Burgundy with Holland and -Flanders; whilst Isabel’s eldest daughter, already the widow of the -Portuguese prince, Alfonso, was betrothed to his cousin, King Emmanuel. -Imagination is dazzled at the prospect opened out by these marriages. -The children of Philip and Joan would hold the fine harbours of -Flanders, and would hem in France by the possession of Artois, Burgundy, -Luxembourg, and the Franche Comté; whilst their possession of the -imperial crown and the German dominions of the house of Habsburg would -identify their interests with those of Ferdinand in checking the French -advance towards Italy. On the other side of the Channel the -grandchildren of Ferdinand and Isabel would rule England, and hold the -narrow sea; whilst the friendship between England and Scotland, prompted -by Ferdinand, and the marriage of Margaret Tudor with James IV., -deprived France of her ancient northern ally. The King of Aragon might -then, with the assurance of success, extend his grasp from Sicily to the -East, and become the master of the world. The plan was a splendid one; -and for a time it went merry as the marriage bells that heralded it. -With his family seated on the Portuguese throne, Ferdinand had, -moreover, no attack to fear on that side from French intrigue, such as -had often been attempted; and for a brief period it seemed as if all -heaven had smiled upon the astute King of Aragon. - -Isabel had always been an exemplary mother to her children, who, on -their side, were deeply devoted to her. She had rarely allowed them to -be separated from her, even during her campaigns; and had herself cared -for their education in letters, music, and the arts under the most -accomplished masters in Europe.[75] When they had to be sacrificed one -by one for the political ends of their father, Isabel’s love as a mother -almost overcame her sense of duty as a queen, and in the autumn of 1496 -she travelled through Spain with a heavy heart to take leave of her -seventeen-year old daughter, Joan, for whom a great fleet of 120 sail -was waiting in the port of Laredo, near Santander. The King was away in -Catalonia preparing his war with France; the times were disturbed, and a -strong navy with 15,000 armed men were needed to escort the young bride -to Flanders, the home of her husband, Philip of Burgundy, heir of the -empire, and to bring back to Spain the betrothed of Prince Juan, -Philip’s sister, Margaret, who, in her infancy, had been allied to the -faithless Charles VIII. of France. For two nights after the embarkation -Isabel slept on the ship with her daughter, loath to part with her, as -it seemed, for ever; and when, at last, the fleet sailed, on the 22nd -August 1496, the mother, in the deepest grief, turned her back upon the -sea, and rode sadly to Burgos to await tidings of her daughter. - -Storms and disasters innumerable assailed the fleet. Driven by tempest -into Portland, one of the largest of the ships came into collision and -foundered; and though the young Archduchess received every courtesy and -attention from the English gentry, she was not even yet at the end of -her troubles; for on the Flemish coast another great ship was wrecked, -with most of her household, trousseau, and jewels. Eventually the whole -fleet arrived at Ramua, sorely disabled, and needing a long delay for -refitting before it could return to Spain with the bride of Isabel’s -heir.[76] Whilst Joan was being married, with all the pomp traditional -in the house of Burgundy, to her handsome, good-for-nothing husband, -Philip, at Lille, Queen Isabel, at Burgos, in the deepest distress, was -mourning for the loss of her own distraught mother, as well as for her -daughter.[77] Every post from Flanders brought the Queen evil news. The -fleet that had carried Joan over, and was refitting to bring Margaret to -Spain, was mostly unseaworthy: Philip neglected and ill-treated his -wife’s countrymen to the extent of allowing 9000 of the men on the fleet -at Antwerp to die from cold and privation, without trying to help them; -already his young wife was complaining of his conduct. Her Spanish -household were unpaid; and even the income settled upon her by Philip -was withheld, on the pretext that Ferdinand had not fulfilled his part -of the bargain, which was, of course, true. - -At length, after what seemed interminable delay, the Archduchess -Margaret arrived at Santander early in March 1497. Ferdinand, with a -great train of nobles, received his future daughter-in-law as she -stepped upon Spanish soil, and a few days later Queen Isabel welcomed -her in the palace of Burgos, where, with greater rejoicing than had ever -been seen in Castile, the heir of Ferdinand and Isabel was married to -gentle Margaret, one of the finest characters of her time. Seven months -afterwards the Prince of Asturias, at the age of twenty-one, was borne -to his grave, and his wife gave birth to a dead child.[78] The blow was -one from which Isabel never recovered. Juan was her only son, her -‘angel,’ from the time of his birth; and the dearest wish of her heart -had been the unification of Spain under him and his descendants. The -next heiress was Isabel, her eldest daughter, just (August 1497) married -to King Emmanuel of Portugal, and the jealous Aragonese and Catalans -would hardly brook a woman sovereign; and, above all, one ruling from -Portugal, when Ferdinand should die.[79] Hastily Cortes of Castile was -summoned at Toledo, and swore allegiance to the new heiress and her -Portuguese husband as princes of Asturias in April 1498, but she, too, -died in childbed in August, when the heirship devolved upon her infant -son, Miguel, who, if he had lived, would have united not only Spain, but -all the Iberian Peninsula under one rule. But it was not to be, and the -babe followed his mother to the grave in a few months. - -Troubles fell thick and fast upon Isabel and her husband. Death within -three years had made cruel sport of all their plans; and the support of -England, long held in the balance by Ferdinand, to be bought when it was -worth the price demanded, had now to be obtained almost at any cost. The -price had increased considerably; for Henry Tudor was as keen a hand at -a bargain as Ferdinand of Aragon, and closely watched events. With the -usual grasping dishonesty on both sides, the treaty for the marriage of -Isabel’s youngest daughter, Katharine, to the heir of England was again -signed and sealed, and the young couple were married by proxy in May -1499. But Katharine was young. Her mother could hardly bring herself to -part with her last-born, and send her for ever to a far country amongst -strangers; and she fought hard for two years longer to delay her -daughter’s going, with all manner of conditions and claims as to her -future life. At length Henry of England put his foot down, and said he -would wait no longer; and, worse still, he hinted that he would marry -Arthur elsewhere, and throw his influence on the side of Philip of -Burgundy, Ferdinand’s son-in-law, in the struggle that was already -looming on the horizon. Isabel and her daughter both knew that the -latter was being sent to serve her father’s political interests against -her own sister and brother-in-law; but, from her birth, Katharine had -been brought up in her mother’s atmosphere of uncompromising duty, -surrounded by the ecstatic devotion which demanded serene personal -sacrifice for higher ends; and, on the 21st May 1501, the Princess of -Aragon bade a last farewell to her mother in the elfin palace of the -Alhambra, to see her no more in her life of martyrdom.[80] - -Isabel’s health was already breaking down with labour and trouble. -Disappointment faced her from every side, and as tribulations fell, -bringing her end nearer, and ever nearer, the stern religious zeal that -inflamed her grew more eager to do its work in her day. She had never -been a weakling, as we have seen. From her youth the persecution of -infidels had been as grateful to her sense of duty, as the crushing of -her worldly opponents had been satisfying to her love of undisputed -dominion. In all Castile, no man but her confessor, and he at his peril, -had dared to say her nay; but at this juncture, when health was failing -and her strength on the wane, there came to her tidings from across the -sea that turned her heart to stone. Joan, her daughter, had always been -somewhat wayward and rebellious at the gloomy, devout tone that pervaded -her mother’s life, and Isabel had coerced her, on some occasions by -forcible means, to take her part in the religious observances that -occupied so large a share of attention at the Spanish court.[81] - -Joan was young and bright: the life in her palace at Brussels was free -from the gloom that hung over crusading Castile. Philip, her husband, -cared for little but pleasure, and, though he was but a faithless -husband, she was desperately in love with him. The new culture, -moreover, which had even found its way, with Peter Martyr, into Isabel’s -court, had, in rich, prosperous Flanders, brought with it the freedom of -thought and judgment that naturally came from the wider horizon of -knowledge that men gained by it, and doubtless the change from the rigid -and uncomfortable sanctimony of her native land to the gay and debonair -society of Flanders had seemed to Joan like coming out of the darkness -into the daylight. The Spanish priests who surrounded her sounded a note -of warning to Isabel only a few months after Joan had arrived in -Flanders. She was said to be lax in her religious duties: her old -confessor, who continued to write to her fervent exhortations to -preserve the faith as it was held in Spain, could get no reply to any of -his letters, and he learnt that the gay Parisian priests, who flocked in -the festive court, were leading Joan astray. - -Isabel sent a confidential priest, Friar Matienzo, to Flanders to -examine and report on all these, and the like accusations. He saw Joan -in August 1498, and found her, as he says, more handsome and buxom than -ever, though far advanced in pregnancy; but when he began to press her -about religion, though she had plenty of reasons ready for what she did, -she was as obstinate as her mother could be in holding her own way. She -refused to confess at the bidding of the friar, to accept any confessor -appointed by her mother, or to dismiss the French priests who were with -her, and the friar sent the dire news to Isabel that her daughter had a -hard heart and no true piety.[82] - -This was bad enough, but on the death of the Queen of Portugal, Isabel’s -eldest daughter and heiress, leaving her infant son as heir to the -united crowns, Philip assumed for himself and his wife, Joan, the title -of Prince and Princess of Castile. This was a warning for Ferdinand.[83] -Already Philip and his father, the Emperor Maximilian, had shown that -they had no idea of being the tools of Ferdinand’s foreign policy, but -if Philip of Burgundy successfully asserted Joan’s right to succeed her -mother as Queen of Castile, then all Ferdinand’s edifice of hope fell -like a house of cards, for most of Spain would be governed by a -foreigner, with other ends and methods, and poor, isolated Aragon, by -itself, must sink into insignificance. - -When the infant Portuguese heir, Miguel, died, early in 1499, the issue -between Ferdinand and his son-in-law was joined. Isabel was visibly -failing, and it was seen would die before her husband, in which case -Joan would be Queen of Castile, in right of her mother. Philip, her -husband, with the riches of Flanders and Burgundy, and the prestige of -the empire behind him, would come, perhaps in alliance with the French, -and reduce greedy, ambitious Ferdinand to the petty crown of Aragon. -Thenceforward it was war to the knife between father and son-in-law, who -hated each other bitterly; and Isabel’s distrust of her daughter Joan -grew deeper as religious zeal and ambition for a united Spain joined in -adding fuel to the fire. With true statesmanship Isabel, under the great -influence of Jimenez, clung more desperately than ever to the idea of a -Spain absolutely united. Ferdinand’s object in working for the -consolidation of the realms had always been to forward the traditional -objects of Aragon in humbling France, but those of Isabel and Jimenez -were different. To them the spread of Christianity in the dark places of -the earth, for the greater glory of Castile, was the end to be gained by -a united Spain, and for that end it was necessary that the people should -be unified in orthodoxy as well as in sovereignty. The cruel and -disastrous expulsion of the Jews[84] served this object in Isabel’s -mind, though to Ferdinand its principal advantage was the filling of his -war chest. The squandering of Castilian blood and treasure in Naples and -Sicily was to Isabel and Jimenez a means of strengthening the Spaniards -in their future Christianisation of north Africa, whilst to Ferdinand it -meant the future domination of Italy, the Adriatic, and gaining the -trade of the Levant for Barcelona. - -When Isabel and her husband went to Granada, after a long absence, in -1499, with the all-powerful Jimenez in his dirty, coarse, Franciscan -gown, the difference of view of the husband and wife was again seen. The -Moors of Granada had lived, since their capitulation, contented and -prosperous in the enjoyment of toleration for their customs and faith -under the sympathetic rule of the Christian governor, the Count of -Tendilla, and the ardent, but always diplomatic, religious propaganda of -Archbishop Talavera. If these two men had been allowed to continue their -gentle system for a generation, there is no doubt that in time Granada -would have become Christian without bloodshed, even if it had retained -its Arabic speech. But Jimenez and the Queen could not wait, and -determined upon methods more rapid than those of Talavera. In the seven -years that had passed since Granada surrendered to Isabel, the crown of -Spain had become much more powerful. The prestige and wealth of the -sovereigns had been increased; the discovery of America had considerably -added to the importance of Castile, whilst the expulsion of the French -from Naples had magnified Aragon. The Jews had been expelled from Spain, -and, above all, the Inquisition, under the ruthless Torquemada, had -raised the arrogance both of people and priests on the strength of the -stainless orthodoxy of Spain. - -Jimenez doubtless felt that the circumstances demanded, or at least -excused, stronger measures towards the Moslems in Granada. He soon -persuaded or stultified Talavera, and set about converting the Moors -wholesale. Bribery, persuasion, flattery, were the first instruments -employed, then threats and severity. Thousands of Moors were thus -brought to baptism, with what sincerity may be supposed. Jimenez, a book -lover himself, and afterwards the munificent inspirer of the polyglot -Bible in his splendid new University of Alcalá, committed the vandalism -of burning the priceless Arabic manuscripts that had been collected by -generations of scholars in Granada. Five thousand magnificently -illuminated copies of the Koran were cast into the flames, whilst many -thousands of ancient Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic texts were sacrificed to -the blind bigotry and haste of Jimenez and Isabel, who, even in -learning, drew the line at Christian writings. From sacrificing books to -sacrificing men was but a step for Jimenez. Isabel and her husband had -sworn to allow full toleration to the Moors, but what were oaths of -monarchs as against the presumed interests of the faith? Soon the -dungeon, the rack, and the thumbscrew came to fortify Jimenez’s -propaganda, and, though the Moslems bowed their heads before -irresistible force, they cursed beneath their breath the day they had -trusted to the oath of Christian sovereigns. - -The absence of Ferdinand and Isabel in Seville early in 1500, gave to -Jimenez full freedom; and soon the strained cord snapped, and the -outraged Moors rebelled. Like a spark upon tinder an excess of insolence -on the part of one of Jimenez’s myrmidons set all Granada in a blaze; -and the Primate was besieged in his palace, in imminent danger of death. -He acted with stern courage even then, and refused to escape until Count -de Tendilla with the soldiery dispersed the populace, and drove them -into their own quarter, the Albaicin. There they were impregnable, and -Tendilla, who was popular, with Talavera, even more beloved, took their -lives in their hands, and unarmed and bareheaded entered the Albaicin to -reassure the Moors. ‘We do not rise,’ cried the latter, ‘against their -highnesses, but only to defend their own signatures,’[85] and the -beloved Archbishop and Governor, who left his own wife and children in -the Albaicin as hostages of peace, soothed the Moors into quietude -almost as soon as the storm had burst. - -The news flew rapidly to Seville, though Jimenez’s version was not the -first to arrive, and when he heard it, Ferdinand turned in anger to -Isabel. ‘See here, madam,’ he said, handing her the paper, ‘our -victories, earned with so much Spanish blood, are thus ruined in a -moment by the rashness and obstinacy of your Archbishop.’[86] Isabel -herself wrote in grave sorrow to Jimenez, deploring that he had given -her no proper explanation of what had happened; and after sending his -faithful vicar, Ruiz, to placate the monarchs somewhat, the Archbishop -himself appeared before the Queen and her husband. He was a man of -tremendous power. Over Isabel his religious influence was great, and he -proved now that he knew how to get at the weak side of Ferdinand. The -Moors, he urged, had been converted by thousands; and so far, his work -had been successful. But rebellion on the part of subjects could never -be condoned, no matter what the cause, and he appealed to both -sovereigns only to pardon Granada for its revolt on condition that every -Moor should become a Christian or leave Spain. It was a shameful -violation of a sacred pledge given only seven years before, but the -rising of the Albaicin was the salve which Jimenez applied to the -wounded honour of his Queen and King. - -To Granada he returned triumphant, with the fell decree in the pocket of -his shabby grey gown. More converts flocked in than ever when the -alternative was presented to them. But up in the wild Alpujarras, the -Moslem villagers and farmers looked with hatred and dismay at the lax -townsmen abandoning Allah and his only prophet at the bidding of a -ragged, sour-faced priest who broke his monarch’s word. Like an -avalanche the mountaineers swept down from their fastnesses upon Malaga, -beating back the Christian force from Granada which came to rescue the -city. But Ferdinand from Seville and the greatest soldier in Europe, -Gonzalo de Cordova, hastened with an army to crush the desperate handful -who had defied an empire; and every Moor in arms, with many women and -children, were pitilessly massacred. The repression was carried out with -a savage ferocity and heartlessness only equalled by the despairing -bravery of the insurgents; but at last, by the end of 1500, the few who -were still left unconverted were brought to their knees: all except the -fierce mountaineers of Ronda, a separate African tribe, notable even -to-day for their lawlessness and indomitable independence. From their -savage fortress over the gorge they repelled one Christian force after -another, until Ferdinand himself, with vengeance in his heart against -all rebels, came with an army strong enough to crush them. A ruinous -ransom and instant conversion were dictated to them, and confiscation -and death, or deportation to Africa, for those who hesitated. - -Then came the turn of Granada itself. Jimenez and the new -Inquisitor-General, Deza, the friend of Colon, demanded of Isabel and -Ferdinand the establishment of the Inquisition in the city. This was -considered too flagrant a violation of all promises; but what was -refused in the letter was granted in the spirit; and the Inquisition of -Cordova was given power to extend its operations over Granada. What -followed will always remain a blot upon the name of Isabel, who with -Jimenez was principally responsible. In July 1501, she with her husband -issued a decree forbidding the Moslem faith throughout the kingdom of -Granada, on pain of death and confiscation; and in February 1502, the -wicked edict went forth, that the entire Moslem population, men, women, -and all children of over twelve years, should quit the realm within two -months, whilst they were forbidden to go to a Mahommedan country. -Whither were the poor wretches to go but to Africa, opposite their own -shores? and some found their way there. This was a pretext a few months -afterwards for prohibiting any one to emigrate from Spain at all; and -such Moors as still remained in Spain had only the alternatives of -compulsory conversion or death.[87] By the end of 1502 not a single -professed Moslem was left in Spain; and Isabel, with saintly joy in her -heart, could thank God that she had done her duty, and that in her own -day the miracle had come to pass: the Jews expelled, the Moors -‘converted,’ the Inquisition scourging religious doubt with thongs of -flame; all men in very fear bowing their heads to one symbol and -muttering one creed. This was indeed a victory to be proud of, and it -made Spain what it was and what it is. - -To Isabel, in broken health and sad bereavement, it was the one ray of -glory that gilded all her sorrow. Not the least of her troubles were -those arising from her new domain across the sea. The impossible terms -insisted upon by the discoverer had, as we have seen, been accepted with -the greatest unwillingness by Ferdinand, and probably with no intention -of fulfilling them; and when Colon began to prepare his second -expedition on a great scale, and thousands of adventurers craved to -accompany him, the King realised the danger that threatened his own -plans in Europe if such an exodus continued; and, at the same time, the -tremendous power that this foreign sailor, now Admiral of the Indies and -perpetual Spanish Viceroy, with riches untold, would hold in his hands. -So the process of undermining him began. The Council of the Indies was -formed to control all matters connected with the new domain, and the -priests that ruled it obstructed and thwarted the Admiral at every turn. -Isabel was mainly concerned in winning her new subjects to Christianity; -and four friars went this time in the fleet to baptise. All of them but -his friend Marchena were disloyal to the chief, and so were the crowd of -Aragonese who accompanied the expedition. Of the fifteen hundred -adventurers who at last were selected, the great majority were greedy, -reckless men whom the end of the Moorish war had left idle. - -At first the news from Colon on his second voyage were bright and -hopeful. New lands, richer than ever, were discovered, and the prospects -of coming wealth from this source, whilst delighting the King, only made -the downfall of the Admiral more inevitable. But soon the merciless -violence of the colonists provoked reprisals, and every ship that -returned to Spain brought to Isabel bitter complaints of Colon’s -rapacity and tyranny; whilst he, on his side, denounced the want of -discipline, of industry, and of justice, on the part of those who were -rapidly turning a heaven into a hell. At length the complaints, both of -friars and laymen, against the high-handed Admiral of the Indies, became -so violent that the sovereigns summoned him to Spain to give some -explanation of the position. Colon saw the Queen at Burgos in 1496, and -found her, at least, full of sympathy for him in his difficulties, and -still firmly convinced that his golden hopes would be fulfilled. But the -reaction had set in against the extravagant expectations aroused by his -second expedition. The idlers, many of them, had come back disappointed, -fever-stricken and empty-handed, and had much evil to say of the -despotic Italian who had lorded over land granted by the Viceregent of -Christ at Rome to the Spanish sovereigns; and though Isabel herself, -full of zeal for winning all Asia, as she thought, for the faith, did -her best, the treasury was empty after the wars of Granada and Italy, -and the heavy expense of the royal marriages then in progress. - -Amidst infinite obstruction from the Council of the Indies, and with -little but frowning looks from Ferdinand, Colon’s third expedition was -painfully and slowly fitted out. Few adventurers were anxious to go now; -and condemned criminals had to be enlisted for the service; but, withal, -at length in May 1498, the Admiral sailed on his third voyage to his new -land. When he arrived at his centre, the isle of Hispanola (Haiti), he -found that a successful revolt of the lawless ruffians he had left -behind had overturned all semblance of order and discipline. The mines -were unworked, the fields untilled, the natives atrociously tortured, -and violence everywhere paramount. Isabel’s verbal instructions to the -Admiral when she took leave of him had been precise. Her first object, -she said, was to convert the Indians to Christianity, and to carry to -them from Spain, not slavery and oppression, but the gentle, Christian, -virtues. This doubtless to some extent was the desire of Colon himself, -with his mystic devotional soul, though wholesale slavery of natives was -part of his system, and he set about his work of the reconciliation of -the Indians, whose horrible sufferings had driven them to armed -opposition or flight. The undisciplined Spaniards had the whip hand, and -the Admiral could only with much diplomacy, and perhaps unwise -concessions to them, at length bring some semblance of peace and order -to the colony. But mild as his methods were on the occasion, they were -bitterly resented by arrogant Spaniards, indignant that a foreigner -should wield sovereign powers over them in their own Queen’s territory. - -Complaints and accusations more bitter than ever came to the King and -Queen by every ship. The men who returned to Spain assured Ferdinand -that Colon was sacrificing every interest to his own insatiable greed; -and Isabel, favourably disposed as she was to the discoverer generally, -at length lost patience when she found that he was shipping cargoes of -Indians to Spain to be sold for slaves. To enslave infidels was not -usually held to be wrong, and Colon considered it a legitimate source of -profit: but Isabel’s new subjects, mild and gentle as they were, had -been looked upon by her as actual or potential Christians, and her -indignation was great when she saw that Colon was treating them -indifferently as chattels of his own.[88] At length it was decided to -send an envoy to Hispanola, with full powers to inquire into affairs and -to take possession of all property and dispose of all persons in the new -territories. The man chosen thus to exercise unrestrained power was -Francisco de Bobadilla, probably a relative of the Queen’s great friend, -Beatriz de Bobadilla, Marchioness of Moya; but in any case an intolerant -tyrant, who considered it his business, as, by Ferdinand, it was -probably intended to be, to degrade the Admiral in any case. With -unexampled insolence and harshness, he loaded the great explorer with -manacles almost as soon as he arrived in Hispanola; and then, whilst -Colon lay in prison, the whole of the charges against him were raked -together, and, without any attempt to sift them judicially, were -embodied in an act of accusation, and sent to Spain by the same caravel -as that which carried in chains the exalted visionary, whose dream had -enriched Castile with a new world. - -The shameful home-coming of Colon in December 1500, struck the -imagination and shocked the conscience of the people; and Isabel herself -was one of the first to express her indignation. She and Ferdinand were -at Granada at the time, and sent to the illustrious prisoner a dignified -letter of regret, ordering him at once to be released, supplied with -funds, and to present himself before them. The Queen received him in her -palace of the Alhambra, and as he stood before his sovereign, with his -bared white head bowed in grief and shame for the insult that had eaten -into his very soul,[89] Isabel lost her usual calm serenity and wept, -whereupon the Admiral himself broke down, and he cast himself at the -foot of the throne that he had so nobly endowed. The title of Admiral -was restored to him: though in his stead as Viceroy was sent out Nicolas -de Ovando, with thirty-two vessels and a great company of gentlemen. But -disaster overtook the fleet; and, though Ovando arrived, most of the -ships and men were lost, and thenceforward Isabel’s zeal for maritime -adventure grew cooler. - -The cost and drain of men for the enterprise had been very great. The -fame of the discovery had rung through the world, and had exalted Isabel -and Castile as they had never been exalted before, but up to this period -the returns in money had been insignificant, whilst the unsettling -influence of the adventure upon the nation at large had been very -injurious. Ferdinand, for reasons already explained, always regarded it -coldly; and the loss of Ovando’s fleet seemed to prove him right. When, -therefore, Colon begged for the Queen’s aid to sail with a fourth -expedition early in 1502, she was unwilling to help; though she was -sufficiently his friend still to prevent others from hindering him; and -he sailed for the last time in March 1502, to see his patroness no more; -for when he came back, two years and nine months later, broken with -injustice, and with death in his heart, Isabel the Catholic was dead. - -Even greater sorrows than those of America came to Isabel in her last -years, troubles that stabbed her to the very heart, and from which one -of the great tragedies of history grew. From Flanders came tidings of -grave import for the future of the edifice so laboriously reared by -Ferdinand and Isabel. The heiress of Spain, the Archduchess Joan, with -her cynical, evil-minded husband, Philip the Handsome, were daily -drifting further away from the influence of Joan’s parents. Dark -whispers of religious backsliding on the part of the Court of Brussels -were rife in the grim circle of friars and devotees that accompanied -Isabel. It was said that Joan and her husband openly slighted the rigid -observance of religious form considered essential in Spain, and that the -freedom of thought and speech common in Flanders was more to the taste -of Joan than the terror-stricken devotion of her Inquisition-ridden -native land. Isabel had dedicated her strenuous life and vast ability to -the unification of the faith in Spain. She had connived at cruelty -unfathomable, and had exterminated whole races of her subjects with that -sole object. Throughout her realms and those of her husband no heresy -dared now raise its head, or even whisper doubt; and the thought that -free-thinking, mocking Burgundian Philip, with his submissive wife, so -alienated from her own people that she refused to send a message of -loving greeting to her mother, should come and work their will upon the -sacred soil of Castile, must have been torture to Isabel. To Ferdinand -it must have been as bad; for it touched him, too, in his tenderest -part. His life dream had been to realise the ambitions of Aragon. For -that he had plotted, lied, and cheated; for that he had plundered his -subjects, kept his realms at war, bartered his children and usurped his -cousin’s throne. But it would be all useless if Castile slipped through -his fingers when his wife died, and his deadly enemy, his son-in-law, -became king of Castile in right of his wife Joan. - -The difficulty became more acute when Joan gave birth to her son at -Ghent in February 1500, because, according to the law of succession, the -child christened Charles, a name unheard of in Spain before, would -inherit, not Castile and Leon alone, but Aragon as well, with Flanders, -Burgundy, Artois, Luxembourg, the Aragonese kingdoms in Italy, and, -worst of all, Austria and the empire. Where would the interests of -Aragon, nay, even of Spain, be amongst such world-wide dominions; and -how could such a potentate devote himself either to aggrandising Aragon, -or to carrying the Cross into the dark places of Moorish Africa? What -added to the bitterness in Ferdinand’s case was, that Philip was even -now intriguing actively with the Kings of France, Portugal, and England -against Aragon; and was, with vain pretexts, evading the pressing -invitations of his wife’s parents to bring her to Spain, to receive with -him the oath of allegiance as heirs of the realms. - -It was necessary somehow to conciliate Philip and Joan before they went -too far; for Philip’s plan, to marry the infant Prince Charles to a -French princess, struck at the very root of Ferdinand’s policy. Envoy -after envoy was sent to Flanders to expedite the coming of Philip and -Joan, if possible, with the infant Charles; but the Archduke had no -intention of becoming the tool of his astute father-in-law, and was -determined to be quite secure before he placed himself in his power. He -was anxious enough to obtain recognition as heir of Castile jointly with -his wife, but desired to leave Spain immediately afterwards, which did -not suit Ferdinand, who wished to have time to influence him towards his -policy, and alienate him from his Flemish and French favourites.[90] -Joan herself flatly refused to come without her husband; of whom, with -ample reason, she was violently jealous; and neither would allow the -infant Charles to come without them. At length, after Joan had been -delivered of her third child, a daughter named Isabel, the prayers and -promises of Queen Isabel and her husband prevailed, and the Archduke and -Archduchess consented to come to Spain. But it was under conditions that -turned the heart of Ferdinand more than ever against his son-in-law. -They would travel to Spain through France, and ratify in Paris the -betrothal of their one-year old son Charles, heir of Spain, Flanders, -and the empire, with Claude of France, child of Louis XII. Philip went -out of his way during the sumptuous reception in Paris to show his -submission to the King of France; and even did homage to him as Count of -Flanders; but Joan, mindful for once, at least, that she belonged to the -house of Aragon, and was heiress of Spain, refused all tokens implying -her subservience. - -On the 7th May 1502, Joan and her husband entered the imperial city of -Toledo with all the ceremony that Castile could supply. At the door of -the great hall in the Alcazar, Isabel stood to receive her heirs. Both -knelt before her and tried to kiss her hand, but the Queen raised them, -and embracing her daughter, carried her off to her private chamber. Soon -afterwards the Archduchess and her husband took the oath as heirs of -Castile in the vast Gothic Cathedral; and the splendid festivities to -celebrate the event were hardly begun before another trouble came in the -announcement of the death of Arthur, Prince of Wales, husband of -Isabel’s youngest daughter, Katharine. The event immediately changed the -aspect of the game. The next heir of England was a boy of eleven, who -might be married to a French princess, and thus cause one other blow to -Ferdinand’s carefully arranged schemes. This made it more necessary than -ever that Joan and Philip should be brought into entire obedience to -Spanish views. War broke out between France and Spain at once, and -strenuous efforts were made by Ferdinand to expel from Spain the -councillors of Philip, who were known to be in the French interest.[91] -The Archduchess and her husband were then taken to Aragon, to receive -the homage of the Cortes there as heirs of Ferdinand, and then Philip, -in spite of all remonstrance, hurried back again to his own country. -Isabel gravely took her son-in-law to task when he announced his -intention to return to Flanders by land through France whilst Spain was -at war. It was, she said, his duty to recollect, moreover, that he was, -in right of his wife, heir to one of the greatest thrones in the world, -and should stay at least long enough in the country to know the people -and their language and customs. To her entreaties the Archduchess, now -far advanced in pregnancy, and unable to travel, added her prayers and -tears. But all in vain; Philip, against the respectful protest even of -the Cortes, would go, and insisted upon travelling through France, the -enemy of Spain.[92] So, almost in flight, Philip of Burgundy crossed the -frontiers of his father-in-law, leaving his wife Joan and their unborn -child in Castile, in December 1502. - -Never in their lives had Ferdinand and Isabel suffered such a rebuff as -this. That the man, who on their death would succeed them, was a -free-living German Fleming, who cared nothing for Spain, to promote -whose glory they had lived and laboured so hard, was bitter enough for -them. But that he should be so lost to all duty and respect towards them -and to their country as to leave them thus, to rejoice with the enemy in -arms against them, convinced them that under him and his wife Spain and -the faith had nothing to expect but neglect and sacrifice for other -interests. Isabel’s frequent conversations with her daughter Joan, -during the months she had been in Spain, had more than confirmed the -worst fears she had formed from the reports sent to her from Flanders. -Joan, though of course a Catholic, obstinately refused to conform to the -rigid ritual of Castile; and, both in acts and words, showed a strange -disregard of, and, indeed, captious resistance to, her mother’s wishes. -She was inconstant and fickle; sometimes determined, notwithstanding her -condition, to go and rejoin her husband, sometimes docile and amiable. - -It had become evident to Isabel and her husband not many weeks after -Joan and Philip’s arrival, that these were no fit successors to continue -the policy that was to make Spain the mistress of the world and the -arbiter of the faith; and to the Cortes of Toledo, which took the oath -of allegiance to Philip and his wife, it was secretly intimated that the -Queen wished that, ‘if, when the Queen died, Juana was absent from the -realms, or, after having come to them, should be obliged to leave them -again, or that, although present, she might not choose, or _might not be -able to reign and govern_,’[93] Ferdinand should rule Castile in her -name. This was a serious departure both from strict legality and from -usage, and has been considered by recent commentators to indicate that, -even thus early, Isabel wished to exclude her daughter from the throne, -either for heresy or madness, or with that pretext. That Joan was -hysterical, obstinate, and unstable, is evident from all contemporary -testimony, and that she defied her mother in her own realm is clear from -what followed; but it seems unnecessary to seek to draw from these facts -the deduction that Isabel at this juncture meant to disinherit her -daughter _in any case_. Philip’s flagrant flouting of what Isabel and -her husband considered the best interests of Spain, and his laxity in -religion, as understood in Castile, furnished ample reason for the -desire on the part of Isabel, when she felt her health failing, to -ensure, so far as she could do it, that the policy inaugurated by her -and her husband should be continued by him after her death, instead of -allowing Spain to be handed over by an absentee prince to a Flemish -viceroy. The suggestion that Joan _might not be able_ to govern, even if -she was in Spain, was not unnatural, considering that her conduct, as -reported to Isabel from Flanders, had certainly been strangely -inconsistent, whilst her behaviour since she had arrived in Spain had -not mended matters.[94] - -Joan gave birth in March 1503 at Alcalá de Henares to a son, who, in -after years, became the Emperor Ferdinand; and immediately after the -christening in Toledo Cathedral the Archduchess declared that she would -stay in Spain no longer, but would join her husband in Flanders. Isabel -humoured her as best she could, persuading her to accompany her from -Alcalá to Segovia, on the pretext that it would be more easy to arrange -there the sea voyage from Laredo. The Princess was held in -semi-restraint under various excuses for a time, but at last she -extracted from her mother a promise that she would let her go by sea -(but not through France, with which they were still at war), when the -weather should be fair, for it was still almost winter. - -From Segovia the Queen took her daughter to Medina del Campo, as she -said, to be nearer the sea; but there the worry of the situation threw -Isabel into some sort of apoplectic fit, and for a time her life was -despaired of. Ferdinand was with his successful army on the French -frontier; and the physicians, in their reports to him of his wife’s -illness, attribute the attacks she suffered entirely to the life that -Joan was leading her. ‘The disposition of the Princess is such, that not -only must it cause distress to those who love and value her so dearly, -but even to a perfect stranger. She sleeps badly, eats little, and -sometimes not at all, and she is very sad and thin. Sometimes she will -not speak, and in this, and in some of her actions, which are as if she -were distraught, her infirmity is much advanced. She will only take -remedies either by entreaty and persuasion, or out of fear, for any -attempt at force produces such a crisis that no one likes or dares to -provoke it.’[95] This trouble, the doctor adds, together with the usual -constant worries of government, is breaking the Queen down entirely, and -something must be done. The Secretary, Conchillos, writing at the same -time, gives the same testimony. ‘The Queen,’ he says, ‘is better, but in -great tribulation and fatigue with this Princess, God pardon her.’[96] - -Isabel soon had to travel to Segovia, after praying her daughter not to -leave Medina until her father returned. But she took care to give secret -instructions to the Bishop of Cordova, who had charge of Joan, ‘to -detain her, if she tried to get away, as gently and kindly as possible.’ -Nothing, however, short of force would suffice to prevent Joan from -joining her husband, who, on his side from Flanders, constantly urged -her coming, and protested against delay.[97] At last Joan became so -clamorous that a message was sent to her from her mother, saying that -the King and herself were coming to see her at Medina, and ordering her -not to attempt to leave until they arrived. Joan seems to have taken -fright at this, and, horses being denied her, she attempted to escape -alone and on foot from the great castle of La Mota, where she was -lodged. Finding when she arrived at the outer moat that the gates were -shut against her by the Bishop of Cordova, she fell into a frenzy and -refused to move from the barrier where she was stayed. All that day and -night, in the bitter cold of late autumn, the princess remained -immovable in the open, deaf to all remonstrance and entreaty, refusing -even to allow a screen of cloth to be hung for her shelter. Isabel was -gravely ill at Segovia, forty miles away, but she instantly sent Joan’s -uncle, Enriquez, to pacify the princess and persuade her at least to go -to her rooms again. But neither he nor the powerful Jimenez, Cardinal -Primate of Spain, could move her, and at last Isabel, sick as she was, -had to travel to Medina, and prevailed upon her daughter again to enter -the castle, where she remained on the assurance of the Queen that she -should go and rejoin her husband in Flanders when the King arrived. - -In the meanwhile peace was made with France, and Isabel and her husband -tried their hardest to persuade Philip to send the infant Charles to -Spain to replace his mother. Promise after promise was given that -Charles should go to his grandparents; but Philip had no intention of -entrusting his heir to Ferdinand’s tender mercies, and all the promises -were broken. Isabel’s death was seen to be approaching, and already a -strong Castilian party, jealous of Aragon and of the old King, was -looking towards Isabel’s heiress in Flanders and drifting away from -Ferdinand. The detention of Joan against her will at Medina was regarded -sourly by Castilians generally, and at length the scandal had to be -ended. In March 1504, the princess therefore was allowed to leave her -place of detention at Medina, and after two months further delay in -Laredo, took ship for Flanders, to see her mother no more. - -No sooner was she safe in her husband’s territory than the plot that had -long been hatching against her father came to a head. In September 1504 -Philip, his father Maximilian, Louis XII., and a little later the Pope, -joined in a series of leagues, from which Ferdinand was pointedly -excluded. It was intended as a notice to Ferdinand, that when his wife -died he would no longer be King of Spain, but only King of Aragon, -unable to hold what he had grasped; and, though the wily King fell ill -and was like to die at the news, he was not beaten yet, and in time to -come was more than a match for all his enemies. But Isabel was sick unto -death. A united orthodox Spain had been her life’s ideal. With labour -untiring she and her husband had attained it, and now she saw the -imminent ruin of her work through the undutifulness of her daughter’s -foreign husband. It was no fault of Isabel’s, for she had been -single-minded in her aims; but Ferdinand had been brought to this pass -by his own overreaching cleverness. In yoking stronger powers than -himself to his car he had enlisted forces that he could not control, and -which were now pulling a different way from that in which he wanted to -go. Those that he depended upon to be his prime instruments had been -removed by death, whilst those who he had hoped to make subsidiary -factors in his favour were now principals and against him. - -The accumulating troubles at length, in the autumn of 1504, threw Isabel -into a tertian fever, which was aggravated by the fact that Ferdinand, -being also ill in bed, could not visit his wife. Isabel’s anxiety for -her husband was pitiable to witness; and though her physicians assured -her that he was in no danger, his absence from her bedside increased the -fever and threw her into delirium. Symptoms of dropsy, and probably -diabetes, since constant insatiable thirst and swelling of the limbs are -mentioned as symptoms, ensued, and for three months the Queen lay -gradually growing worse and worse. Rogations for her recovery were -offered up in every church in Castile, but by her own wish, after a -time, this was discontinued, and the heroic Queen, strong to the last, -faced death undismayed, confident that she had done her best, yet humble -and contrite. When the extreme unction was to be administered she -exhibited a curious instance of her severe modesty, almost prudery, by -refusing to allow even her foot to be uncovered to receive the sacred -oil, which was applied to the silken stocking that covered the limb -instead of to the flesh. - -To the last she was determined that, if she could prevent it, Joan and -her husband should not rule in Castile as absentee sovereigns whilst -Ferdinand lived. Her will, which was signed in October, is a notable -document, showing some of Isabel’s strongest characteristics. She would -be buried very simply, and without the usual royal mourning, in the city -of her greatest glory, the peerless Granada; ‘but if the King, my lord,’ -desires to be buried elsewhere, then her body was to be laid by the side -of his. Her debts were to be paid, and many alms distributed and -religious benefactions founded, and all her jewels were to be given to -Ferdinand, ‘that they may serve as witness of the love I have ever borne -him, and remind him that I await him in a better world, and so that with -this memory he may the more holily and justly live.’ What does not seem -so saintly a provision was, that all the royal grants she had given, -except those to her favourite Beatriz de Bobadilla, were cancelled on -her death. With a firm hand she signed this will later in October 1504, -providing in it also that her daughter Joan should succeed her on the -throne of Castile:[98] but before she died, almost indeed in the last -act of her life, her fears for Spain conquered her love for her -daughter. In a codicil signed on the 23rd November, three days before -her death, she left to Ferdinand the governorship of Castile in the name -of her daughter Joan; and enjoined him solemnly to cause the Indians of -America to be brought to the faith gently and kindly, and their -oppression to be redressed. - -With trembling hands and streaming eyes she handed the codicil to -Jimenez, solemnly entrusting him with the fulfilment of all her wishes, -a trust which he obeyed far better than did her husband, and then Isabel -the Catholic had done with the world. Thenceforward she was serene; -eyewitnesses say as beautiful as in youth. ‘Do not weep,’ she said to -her attendants, ‘for the loss of my body; rather pray for the gain of my -soul.’ - -And so at the hour of noon, on the 26th November 1504, the greatest of -Spanish queens gently breathed her last, a dignified, devout, great lady -to the end. Days afterwards, when Ferdinand was busy plotting how he -could oust his daughter from her heritage, the body of Isabel was -carried across bleak Castile, with soaring crucifixes and swinging -censers, by a great company of churchmen to far away Granada, there to -lay for all time to come, under the shadow of the red palace that she -had won for the cross. As the velvet hearse with the body of the Queen -of Castile, dressed in death as a Franciscan nun, wound its way over the -land she had made great, the wildest tempest in the memory of man roared -her requiem. Earthquake, flood and hurricane, scoured the way by which -the corpse was borne: skies of ink by night and day for all that three -weeks’ pilgrimage lowered over the affrighted folk that accompanied the -bier, convinced that heaven itself was muttering mourning for the mighty -dead. But it is related that when at last Granada was reached, and the -Christian mosque received the corpse of its conqueror, the glorious sun -burst out at its brightest for the first time, and all the vega smiled -under a stainless sky. - -Isabel the Catholic was a great queen and a good woman, because her aims -were high. She was not tender, or gentle, or what we should now call -womanly. If she had been, she would not have made Castile one of the -greatest powers in Europe in her reign of thirty years. She was not -scrupulous, or she would not have been so easily persuaded to displace -her niece the Beltraneja. She was not tender-hearted, or she would not -have looked unmoved upon the massacre or expulsion, in circumstances of -atrocious inhumanity, of Jews and Moors, to whom she broke her solemn -oath upon a weak pretext. She was none of these pleasant things; nor was -she the sweet, saintly housewife she is usually represented. If she had -been, she would not have been Isabel the Catholic—one of the strongest -personalities, and probably the greatest woman ruler the world ever saw: -a woman whose virtue slander itself never dared to attack; whose saintly -devotion to her faith blinded her eyes to human things, and whose -anxiety to please the God of mercy made her merciless to those she -thought His enemies. - - - - - BOOK II - JOAN THE MAD - - -On the same day (26th November 1504) that Isabel died, Ferdinand, with -sorrow-stricken face, and tears coursing down his cheeks, sallied from -the palace of Medina del Campo, and upon a platform hastily raised in -the great square of the town, proclaimed his daughter Joan Queen of -Castile, with the usual ceremony of hoisting pennons and the crying of -heralds: ‘Castile, Castile, for our sovereign lady Queen Joan.’ Then the -clause of the dead Queen’s will was read, giving to Ferdinand power to -act as King of Castile whenever Joan was absent from Spain, or was -unable or unwilling to govern, and enjoining upon Joan and her husband -obedience and submission to Ferdinand. Castile was in a ferment; for all -men knew that the death of the Queen opened infinite possibilities of -change. The Castilian nobles, so long humbled by Isabel, dared again to -hope that better times for them might come in the contending interests -around the throne; and there were not a few, especially Aragonese, that -counselled Ferdinand to claim the throne of Castile for himself[99] by -right of descent, instead of governing in his daughter’s name. - -But Ferdinand’s way was always a tortuous one, and the letters from him -the same night that carried to Flanders the news of his wife’s death -were addressed to Joan and Philip, by the grace of God Sovereigns of -Castile, Leon, Granada, Princes of Aragon, etc., etc.’; whilst every -city in the realms was informed that henceforward the title of King of -Castile would be borne no more by Ferdinand, but only that of -Administrator for Joan.[100] The step was profoundly diplomatic, for all -Europe and half Spain was distrustful of Ferdinand, and the open -usurpation of Castile would have been forcibly resisted. And yet, as we -shall see, he intended to rule Castile; and in the end had his way. -Philip and Joan, in reply to their loving father, declined to commit -themselves as to Ferdinand’s proceedings, and announced their coming to -take possession of their realm of Castile. They were equally cool to -Ferdinand’s envoy, Fonseca, Bishop of Cordova, whom Joan had no reason -to love. In the meanwhile, Cortes was convoked at Toro (January 1505) in -the name of Joan; and there Ferdinand played his first card, by -claiming, under the clause in Isabel’s will, the right to govern Castile -until Joan should be present and demonstrate her fitness to rule.[101] -The nobles of Castile, already jealous of Aragon, were determined to -resist this, though the Cortes agreed; and Juan Manuel, the most notable -diplomatist in Castile, descended from the royal house, and Ferdinand’s -deadly enemy, was sent to Philip, over whom his influence was complete, -as the envoy of the Castilian nobles; thenceforward from Flanders to -animate and direct the diplomatic campaign against Ferdinand. - -The situation thus became daily more strained. Ferdinand’s confidential -agents endeavoured to sow discord between Joan and her husband, not a -difficult matter; and on one occasion the Queen, in a fit of jealousy, -was persuaded by the Aragonese Secretary Conchillos to sign a letter -approving of her father’s acts. The messenger to whom it was entrusted -betrayed it to Philip, and Conchillos was cast into a dungeon; all -Spaniards were warned away from Court, and Joan completely isolated, -even from her chaplain. Thinking that in the palace of Brussels Joan was -too easy of access, Philip arranged that she should be secretly removed. -Whilst the Burgomaster and Councillors were discussing at dead of night -in the palace the details of the secret flitting, poor Joan herself -learnt what was in the wind; and being denied an interview with the -Spanish bishop who attended her, she peremptorily summoned the Prince of -Chimay. He dared not enter her chamber alone; but accompanied by another -courtier he obeyed the Queen’s summons. They found her in a violent -passion, and with difficulty escaped personal attack; with a result -that, though the Queen was not immediately removed, she was -thenceforward kept strictly guarded in her chambers, a prisoner.[102] - -When news came of the decision of the Cortes of Toro that Joan was unfit -to rule, Philip prevailed upon his wife to sign a remarkable letter[103] -for publication in Castile. ‘Since they want in Castile to make out that -I am not in my right mind, it is only meet that I should come to my -senses again, somewhat; though I ought not to wonder that they raise -false testimony against me, since they did so against our Lord. But, -since the thing has been done so maliciously, and at such a time, I bid -you (M. de Vere) speak to my father the king on my behalf, for those who -say this of me are acting not only against me but against him; and -people say that he is glad of it, so as to have the government of -Castile, though I do not believe it, as the King is so great and -catholic a sovereign and I his dutiful daughter. I know well that the -King my Lord (_i.e._ Philip) wrote thither complaining of me in some -respect; but such a thing should not go beyond father and children! -especially as, if I did fly into passions and failed to keep up my -proper dignity, it is well known that the only cause of my doing so was -jealousy. I am not alone in feeling this passion; for my mother, great -and excellent person as she was, was also jealous; but she got over it -in time, and so, please God, shall I. Tell everybody there (_i.e._ in -Castile) ... that, even if I was in the state that my enemies would wish -me to be, I would not deprive the King, my husband, of the government of -the realms, and of all the world if it were mine to give.’...—Brussels, -3rd May 1505. - -We can see here, and in the several reports sent, that Joan had little -or no control over herself. In the conflict, daily growing more bitter, -between her husband and her father, she swayed from one side to another -according to the influences brought to bear upon her. Her gusts of -jealous rage and frenzied violence gave to both sides the excuse of -calling her mad when it suited them to do so, or to declare that such -temporary fits were compatible with general sanity when they wanted her -sane. Joan’s affection for her husband was fierce, and monopolous, and -his influence over her was great, especially when he appealed to her -pride and her rights as Queen of Castile, but her sense of filial duty -was also high; and whenever she understood that a measure was intended -to be against her father, she indignantly refused to countenance it. -Ferdinand knew that the King of France had been enlisted by Philip and -Maximilian against him; and that an army was being mustered in Flanders; -whilst a project was on foot for Philip to come to Castile without Joan. -This he was determined to prevent; and warned his son-in-law that he -would not be allowed to act as King without his wife. To this warning -Philip retorted by ordering his father-in-law to leave Castile, and -return to his own realm of Aragon. - -In this contest poor hysterical Joan was but a cypher, with her gusts of -jealous passion and her lack of fixed resolution. When she had arrived -in Flanders after her detention in Spain, she had discovered that her -husband, whose coolness she noted from the first, was carrying on a -liaison with a lady of the court. We are told that she sought out the -lady in a raving fury and seriously injured her; as well as causing all -her beautiful hair, of which she was proud, to be cut off close to the -scalp. This led to a violent scene between Philip and Joan, in which not -only hard words but hard blows were exchanged; and Joan took to her bed, -seriously ill both in body and mind. These scenes continued at -intervals, either with or without good reason, but with the natural -result that Philip in his relations with his father-in-law acted almost -independently of his wife; who, as Ferdinand afterwards said, was really -a good dutiful daughter, proud of Spain and her people. - -Ferdinand had at his side at this juncture the great Cardinal Jimenez. -The stern Franciscan had been no friend of the King, who had opposed his -appointment as primate; but he was a patriotic Spaniard, and could not -fail to see that if Flemish Philip was paramount in Spain, the work of -Isabel for the faith would be in peril. Ferdinand, he knew, was an able -and experienced ruler, who would not greatly change the existing system; -and he threw all his powerful influence on the side of an arrangement -that might leave Ferdinand real power in Castile, without entirely -alienating Philip. Above all, Jimenez was determined to prevent the -ambitious Castilian nobles from again dominating the government; which -they hoped to do if an inexperienced foreigner like Philip took the -reins. It was, indeed, quite as much a struggle between Ferdinand and -Jimenez and the Castilian nobles, as between Ferdinand and his -son-in-law. But Jimenez’s patriotic efforts met with little success, so -far as Philip was concerned; and, in the meantime, Ferdinand, whilst -ostensibly solacing himself in hunting, was quietly planning a -characteristic stroke at his enemy. - -He was fifty-five years of age and still robust, and he bethought -himself that he might yet win the game by a second marriage. It was -almost sacrilege to contemplate such a thing in the circumstances; but -to Ferdinand of Aragon any crooked way was straight that led him to his -goal. So he sent his natural son, Hugo de Cardona, to propose secretly -to the King of Portugal that the forgotten Beltraneja should leave her -convent and become Queen of Aragon, joining her claims to Castile to -those of Ferdinand and ousting Joan and Philip.[104] It was a wicked -cynical idea, for it made Isabel a usurper; but neither the King of -Portugal nor his cousin, the Beltraneja, would have anything to say to -it; so Ferdinand turned towards a solution, which, if not quite so -iniquitous morally, was even more inimical to the interest of Spain as a -nation. This was nothing less than to outbid Philip for the friendship -of the King of France, upon which he mainly depended to frustrate his -father-in-law’s plans. Ferdinand had broken all his former covenants -with Louis XII. The French had been turned out of Naples, and the great -Gonzalo de Cordova was there as Ferdinand’s viceroy. He was a Castilian; -and already Ferdinand’s spies had reported that the Castilian nobles, in -union with Philip and France, were tampering with Cordova’s loyalty and -endeavouring to establish the claim of Castile, instead of Aragon, to -Naples. Ferdinand, with what sincerity may be supposed, rapidly patched -up an alliance with Louis XII., by which the widowed King of Aragon was -to marry the niece of the King of France, Germaine de Foix, a spoiled -and petted young beauty of twenty-one. Any heirs of the marriage were to -inherit Aragon, Sicily, and Naples; but in the case of no children being -left, Naples was to be divided between France and Aragon; great -concessions were made at once to the French in Naples, and a million -gold crowns were to be paid by Ferdinand to France as indemnity for the -late war. - -This, it will be seen, quite isolated Philip, threatened again to -separate Aragon and Castile, and at one blow to undo the work both of -Isabel and her husband. But as Ferdinand never kept more of a treaty -than suited him at the moment, it may be fairly assumed that he signed -this only to bridge his present difficulty and with such mental -reservation as was usual with him. When the news reached Brussels -Maximilian himself was there with his son, and they at once tried their -best to deal a counterstroke. When certain papers were presented to Joan -for signature denouncing to the Castilian people Ferdinand’s treaty and -second marriage, she stood firm in her refusal to sign. Philip exerted -the utmost pressure upon his wife; but at last, worn out by his and -Maximilian’s importunity, the unhappy lady burst into ungovernable rage, -flinging the papers from her and crying that she would never do anything -against her father. The isolation and close guard over the Queen was -indeed working its natural effect upon her highly wrought nervous -system; and Ferdinand’s ambassadors, who had come to announce his -marriage with his French bride, and to offer terms of friendship to his -son-in-law, were scandalised at the treatment of their Queen. When, -after much difficulty, they were allowed to see her at the palace of -Brussels it was only on condition that they should have no conversation -with her. - -Shortly afterwards, in September 1505, Joan was delivered of a daughter -(Maria, afterwards Queen of Hungary and Governess of the Netherlands), -and Philip then decided that the time had come to carry her to Castile -and claim the throne. First issuing a manifesto to the Castilian nobles -and towns, ordering them not to obey Ferdinand in anything, he made -overtures to the King of France to allow him to pass overland to Spain. -This was flatly refused. The French princess, Germaine, was now -Ferdinand’s wife, and all the help that Louis XII. could give would be -against Philip and Joan. It was therefore decided to make the voyage by -sea, and a large fleet of sixty ships, with a retinue of three thousand -persons, was mustered in one of the ports of Zeeland. In the meanwhile -ceaseless intrigue went on both in Spain and abroad. France having -abandoned him, Philip turned to England. Juan Manuel’s sister, Elvira, -was the principal lady-in-waiting upon Katharine, Princess of Wales, and -through her and Katharine secret negotiations were opened for a marriage -between Henry VII. and Philip’s sister, the Archduchess Margaret, the -widow of Juan, Prince of Asturias and of the Duke of Savoy, with an -alliance between England and Philip—though Katharine probably did not -understand at first how purely this was a move against her father. So, -although Henry VII. still professed to be on Ferdinand’s side in the -quarrel, he was quite ready for a secret alliance with Philip and Joan -against him and the King of France. - -The King and Queen of Castile left Brussels early in November to join -the waiting fleet, but from the slowness of their movements and the -ostentatious publicity given to them, it is clear that their first -object was to prepare Castile in their favour. Philip, for a time, -scouted all idea of arrangement with Ferdinand. He knew that the -Castilian nobles were on his side, and that his wife’s legal right was -unimpeachable. The wily old King of Aragon saw that his best policy was -to temporise, and to do that he must seem strong. His first move was to -declare to the Castilians that Joan was sane, but was kept a prisoner by -her husband, and he proposed to send a fleet to rescue her and bring her -and her son Charles to Castile. Philip’s Flemish subjects were -discontented at his proposed long absence, and also threatened trouble. -Then Ferdinand hinted that he would mobilise all his force to resist -Philip’s landing. - -This series of manœuvres delayed the departure of Philip and his wife -month after month; until Ferdinand, by consummate diplomacy, managed to -patch up an agreement with Philip’s ambassadors at Salamanca at the end -of November; which, though on the face of it fair enough, was really an -iniquitous plot for the exclusion of Joan in any circumstances. Philip -and Joan were to be acknowledged by Castile as sovereigns, and their son -Charles as heir; but, at the same time, Ferdinand was to be accepted as -perpetual governor in his daughter’s absence: and in the case of Queen -Joan being unwilling or unable to undertake the government, the two -Kings, Ferdinand and Philip, were to issue all decrees and grants in -their joint names. The revenues of Castile and of the Grand Masterships -were to be equally divided between Philip and Ferdinand. - -When once this wicked but insincere agreement was ratified there was no -further need for delay, and Philip’s fleet sailed for Spain on the 8th -January 1506 to engage in the famous battle of wits with his -father-in-law, which only one could win. All went well until the Cornish -coast was passed, and then a dead calm fell, followed by a furious -south-westerly gale which scattered the ships and left that in which -Philip and Joan were without any escort. To add to the trouble a fire -broke out upon this vessel, and a fallen spar gave the ship such a list -as to leave her almost waterlogged. Despair seized the crew, and all -gave themselves up for lost. Philip played anything but an heroic part. -His attendants dressed him in an inflated leather garment, upon the back -of which was painted in staring great letters, ‘The King, Don Philip,’ -and thus arrayed, he knelt before a blessed image in prayer, alternating -with groans, expecting every moment would be his last. Joan does not -appear to have lost her head. She is represented by one contemporary -authority[105] as being seated on the ground between her husband’s -knees, saying that if they went down she would cling so closely to him -that they should never be separated in death, as they had not been in -life. The Spanish witnesses are loud in her praise in this danger. ‘The -Queen,’ they say, ‘showed no signs of fear, and asked them to bring her -a box with something to eat. As some of the gentlemen were collecting -votive gifts to the Virgin of Guadalupe, they passed the bag to the -Queen, who, taking out her purse containing about a hundred doubloons, -hunted amongst them until she found the only half-doubloon there, -showing thus how cool she was in the danger. A king never was drowned -yet, so she was not afraid, she said.’[106] - -At length, mainly by the courage and address of one sailor, the ship was -righted, the fire extinguished, and the vessel brought into the port of -Weymouth on the 17th January 1506. Henry VII. of England had been -courted and conciliated by Philip for some time past, but it was a -dangerous temptation to put in the wily Tudor’s way to enable him to -make his own terms for an alliance. Above all, he wanted to get into his -power the rebel Earl of Suffolk, who was in refuge in Flanders, and this -seemed his opportunity. Philip had had enough of the sea for a while. We -are assured by one who was there that he was ‘fatigate and unquyeted in -mynde and bodie,’ and he yearned to tread firm land again. His -councillors urged him to take no risk, but Philip and Joan landed at -Melcombe Regis to await a fair wind for sailing again. From far and near -the west country gentry flocked down with their armed bands, ready for -war or peace, but when they found that the royal visitors were friendly -their hospitality knew no bounds. Sir John Trenchard would take no -denial. The King and Queen must rest in his manor-house hard by until -the weather mended; and, in the meanwhile, swift horses carried the news -to King Henry in London. - -As may be supposed, when he heard the news, ‘he was replenyshed with -exceeding gladnes ... for that he trusted it should turn out to his -profit and commodity,’ which it certainly did. But Philip grew more and -more uneasy at the pressing nature of the Dorsetshire welcome. The armed -bands grew greater, and though the weather improved, Trenchard would not -listen to his guests going on board until the King of England had a -chance of sending greeting to his good brother and ally. At length -Philip and Joan realised that they were in a trap, and had to make the -best of it, which they did with a good grace, for they were welcomed by -Henry with effusive professions of pleasure. Philip was conveyed with a -vast cavalcade of gentlemen across England to Windsor, where he was met -by Henry and his son, the betrothed of Katharine, Joan’s sister. Then -the King of Castile was led to London and to Richmond with every -demonstration of honour. But, withal, it was quite clear that Henry -would not let his visitors go until they had subscribed to his terms, -whatever they might be. And so the pact was solemnly sworn upon a -fragment of the true cross in Saint George’s Chapel, Windsor, by Philip -and Henry, by which Suffolk was to be surrendered to his doom, Philip’s -sister Margaret, with her fat dowry, was to be married to the widowed -old Henry, and England was bound to the King of Castile against -Ferdinand of Aragon. - -Joan was deliberately kept in the background during her stay in England. -She had followed her husband slowly from Melcombe, and arrived at -Windsor ten days later, the day after Philip, with great ceremony, had -been invested with the Order of the Garter and had signed the treaty. On -her arrival at Windsor on the 10th February she saw her sister -Katharine, though not alone, and Katharine left the next day to go to -Richmond. Three days later, on the 14th February, Joan set out from -Windsor again towards Falmouth, whilst Philip joined Henry at Richmond; -and soon after the King of Castile was allowed to travel into the west -and once more take ship for his wife’s kingdom. The cynical exclusion of -Joan from all participation in the treaty with England,[107] and the -fact that she was only allowed to see her sister once, and in the -presence of witnesses in the interests of Philip, seems to prove that -she was purposely kept in the dark as to the real meaning of the treaty, -which was directed almost as much against herself as against her father, -because, with England on his side, Philip could always paralyse France -from interfering with him in Spain; and it is clear that, whether Joan -was really incapacitated at the time or not, both Ferdinand and Philip -had already determined to make out that she was. - -Like a pair of wary wrestlers the two opponents still played at arms’ -length. Ferdinand, after celebrating his second marriage—as he had -celebrated his first, nearly forty years before—at Valladolid, awaited -at Burgos, so as to be near on arrival of his daughter and her husband -at one of the Biscay ports, as was expected. But nothing was further -from Philip’s thoughts than to land at any place near where Ferdinand -was waiting. His idea was to go to Andalucia, so as to be able to march -through Spain before meeting the old King, and to gather friends and -partisans on the way. Contrary winds, however, drove the fleet into -Corunna, on the extreme north-west of the Peninsula, on the 26th April; -and Ferdinand, when he got the news, for a moment lost his smooth -self-control, and was for flying at his undutiful son-in-law sword in -hand. But the outbreak was not of long duration, for the circumstances -were serious, and needed all the great astuteness of which Ferdinand was -capable. He was determined to rule Castile whilst he lived for the -benefit of his great Aragonese aims. - -He had, indeed, some cause for complaint against fortune; for, with the -exception of the kingdom of Naples, he had not yet gathered the harvest -that he had reckoned upon as the result of the union of the realms. His -son-in-law, now that, by the death of other heirs, Joan had become Queen -of Castile, was an enemy instead of an ally, and his defection had -rendered necessary the pact between Ferdinand and France, which had -stultified much of the advantage previously gained by the Castilian -connection. At any cost Castile must be held, or all would be lost. If -Joan herself took charge of the government, as was her right, then -goodbye to the hope of Ferdinand employing for his own purposes the -resources of Castile; for around her would be jealous nobles hating -Aragon; whereas, with Philip as King, it was certain that his -imprudence, his ignorance of Spain, and the Castilian distrust of -foreigners, would soon provoke a crisis that might give Ferdinand his -chance. Both opponents, therefore, were equally determined to keep Joan -away from active sovereignty, whatever her mental state; and as Philip -and his wife rode through Corunna, smiling and debonair, gaining friends -everywhere, but surrounded with armed foreigners, German guards, -archers, and the like, strange to Spaniards, as if in an enemy’s -country, the plot thickened between the two antagonists. - -Everywhere Philip took the lead, and Joan was treated as a consort.[108] -In the verses of welcome it was Don Philip’s name that came first; and -Joan showed her discontent at the position in which she was placed by -refusing to confirm the privileges of the cities through which they -passed until she had seen her father, though Philip promised readily to -do so. No sooner did Philip find himself supported by the northern -nobles, than he announced that he would not be bound by the treaty of -Salamanca, and generally gave Ferdinand to understand that he, Philip, -alone, intended to be master. Ferdinand travelled forward to meet his -son-in-law, making desperate attempts at conciliation and to win Juan -Manuel to his side, but without success: whilst Philip tarried on the -way and exhausted every means of delay in order to gain strength before -the final struggle. To Philip’s insulting messages Ferdinand returned -diplomatic answers; in the face of Philip’s scornful rejection of -advances, Ferdinand was amiable, conciliatory, almost humble; he who, -with the great Isabel, had been master of Spain for well nigh forty -years. But he must have chuckled under his bated breath and whispering -humbleness, for he knew that he was going to win, and he knew how he was -going to do it. - -Slowly Ferdinand travelled towards the north-west, sending daily -embassies to Philip soliciting a friendly interview, and at every stage, -as he came nearer, his son-in-law grew in arrogance. When Ferdinand left -Astorga in the middle of May, Juan Manuel sent a message to him that if -he wished to see the King of Castile, he must understand three things: -first, that no business would be discussed; second, that Philip must -have stronger forces than he; and third, that he must not expect that he -would be allowed to obtain any advantage by, or through, his daughter, -Queen Joan, as they knew where that would lead them to. Therefore, -continued Manuel, King Ferdinand had better not come to Santiago at all. -In the meanwhile the inevitable discord was brewing in the Court of Joan -and Philip at Corunna. The proud Castilian nobles, greedy and touchy, -who had flocked to Philip’s side, found that Flemings and Germans always -stood between them and the throne, and intercepted the favours for which -they hungered. The Teutons, who thought they were coming to Spain to -lord over all, found a jealous nobility and a nation convinced of its -own heaven-sent superiority, ready to resist to the death any -encroachment of foreigners, whom they regarded with hate and scorn. - -The Castilians deplored most the isolation of Joan, and endeavoured by a -hundred plans to persuade her to second her husband’s action towards her -father. Philip ceased now even to consult her, since she had refused to -oppose Ferdinand; and in the pageantry of the entrance into Santiago and -the triumphal march through Galicia, with a conquering army rather than -a royal escort, Joan, in deepest black garments and sombre face, passed -like a shadow of death. As the Kings gradually approached each other, -Ferdinand, in soft words, begged Philip to let him know what alterations -he desired to make in the agreement of Salamanca. After much fencing, -Philip replied that if his father-in-law would send Cardinal Jimenez -with full powers, he would try to arrange terms. The great point, he -wrote, was that of Queen Joan; and the King of Aragon knew full well -that upon this point the issue between him and Philip would be joined. -Ferdinand had little love or trust in the great Castilian Cardinal, -Jimenez, though the latter was faithful to him, not for his own sake, -but for the good of Spain; but the Cardinal went to Philip with full -powers, and bearing a private letter, saying that, as Joan was -incapacitated from undertaking the government, Ferdinand besought Philip -to join and make common cause with him, in order to prevent her, either -of her own accord or by persuasion of the nobles, from seizing the -reins. This was the line upon which Philip was pleased to negotiate, and -Cardinal Jimenez found a ready listener. Ferdinand, however, was ready -with the other alternative solution if this failed. If Philip would not -join with him to exclude Joan, he would join Joan to exclude Philip, and -all preparations were quietly made to muster his adherents at Toro, make -a dash for Benavente, the place where Philip was to stay, rescue Joan, -and govern, with her or in her name, to the exclusion of -foreigners.[109] But it was unnecessary. Jimenez’s persuasion and -Ferdinand’s supple importunity conquered; and, though with infinite -distrust and jealousy on all sides, the Kings still slowly approached -each other, stage by stage, whilst the negotiations went on. - -The Teutons and Castilians were at open loggerheads now; Queen Joan, -reported Jimenez, was more closely guarded and concealed than ever, and -Philip less popular in consequence. But, at length, the two rival Kings, -on the 20th June 1506, found themselves in neighbouring villages; and on -that day at a farmhouse half-way between Puebla and Asturianos they met. -Ferdinand, in peaceful guise, was attended only by the Duke of Alba and -the gentlemen of his household, not more than two hundred in all, mostly -mounted on mules and unarmed; whilst Philip came in warlike array with -two thousand pikemen and hundreds of German archers in strange garments -and outlandish headgear, whilst the flanks of his great company of -nobles were protected by a host of Flemish troops. When Philip -approached his father-in-law, with steel mail beneath his fine silken -doublet, and surrounded by armed protectors, it was seen that his face -was sour and frowning, whilst Ferdinand, almost alone and quite unarmed, -came smiling and bowing low at every step. When the Castilian nobles -came forward one by one shamefacedly, to kiss the hand of the old -monarch they had betrayed, Ferdinand’s satiric humour had full play, and -many a sly thrust pierced their breasts, for all their hidden armour. -After a few empty polite words between the Kings the conference was at -an end, and each returned the way he came; Ferdinand more than ever -chagrined that he had not been allowed even to see his daughter. - -For the next few days the Kings travelled along parallel roads towards -Benavente; Philip continuing to treat his father-in-law as an intruder -in the most insulting fashion. At length their roads converged at a -small village called Villafafila, at the time when the long discussed -agreement had been settled by their respective ministers; and here, in -the village church, the two rivals finally met to sign their treaty of -peace on the 27th June 1506. It was a hellish compact, and it sealed the -fate of unhappy Joan whatever might happen. Ferdinand came, as he said, -with love in his heart and peace in his hands, only anxious for the -happiness of his ‘beloved children,’ and of the realm that was theirs: -and, after warmly embracing Philip, he led him towards the little -village church to sign and swear to the treaty. With them, amongst -others, were Don Juan Manuel and Cardinal Jimenez, and when the treaty -was signed and the church cleared, the great churchman took the arm of -Manuel, and whispered, ‘Don Juan, it is not fitting that we should -listen to the talk of our masters. Do you go out first, and I will serve -as porter.’ And there alone, in the humble house of prayer, the two -Kings made the secret compact which explains the treaty they had just -publicly executed. In appearance Ferdinand gave up everything. He was, -it is true, to have half the revenues from the American discoveries, and -to retain much plunder from the royal Orders and other grants of money, -but he surrendered completely all share and part in the government of -Castile, and allied himself to Philip for offence and defence against -the world. - -The secret deed, the outcome of that sinister private talk between two -cruel scoundrels in the village church, allows us to guess, in -conjunction with what followed, the reason for Ferdinand’s meek -renunciation of the government. ‘As the Queen Joan on no account wishes -to have anything to do with any affair of government or other things; -and, even if she did wish it, it would cause the total loss and -destruction of these realms, having regard to her infirmities and -passions, which are not described here for decency’s sake’; and then the -document provides that, ‘if Joan of her own accord, or at the instance -of others, should attempt to interfere in the government or disturb the -arrangement made between the two Kings, they will join forces to prevent -it.’ ‘And so we swear to God our Lord, to the Holy Cross, and the four -saintly evangelists, with our bodily hands placed upon His altar.’ And -the two smiling villains came out hand in hand, both contented; each of -them sure that the best of the evil bargain lay with him, and Ferdinand -made preparations for departure to his own Aragon, and so to his realm -of Naples and Sicily, delighted that his ‘beloved children’ should -peacefully reign over the land of Castile. - -It was more than two years and a half since Ferdinand had seen his -daughter Joan. During that time both he and Philip had alternately -declared she was quite sane and otherwise, as suited their plans. Now -both were agreed, not only that she did not _wish_ to govern her -country: but that if ever she _did_ wish, or Castilians wished for her -to do so, then her ‘passions and infirmities,’ so vaguely referred to, -would make her rule disastrous. It ensured Philip being King of Castile -_so long as he lived_, and Ferdinand being master if he survived, and -until the majority of his grandson Charles. There is no reason to deny -that Joan was wayward, morbid, and eccentric; subject to fits of jealous -rage at certain periods or crises, and that subsequently she developed -intermittent lunacy. But at this time, according to all accounts, she -was not mad in a sense that justified her permanent exclusion from the -throne that belonged to her. Philip, heartless, ambitious, and vain, -wished to rule Castile alone, according to Burgundian methods, which -were alien to Spain and to the Queen. Ferdinand knew that, in any case, -such an attempt could not succeed for long; and by permanently excluding -Joan he secured for himself the reversion practically for the rest of -his life. And so Joan was pushed aside and wronged by those whose sacred -duty it was to protect and cherish her, and as Joan the Mad she goes -down to all posterity. - -But old Ferdinand had not yet shot his last bolt, for symmetry and -completeness in his villainy was always his strong point. On the very -day that the secret compact was signed, he came again to that humble -altar of Villafafila, accompanied this time only by those faithful -Aragonese friends who would have died for him, Juan Cabrero, who had -befriended Colon, and his secretary, Almazan. Before these he swore and -signed a declaration that Philip had come in great force whilst he had -none, and had by intimidation and fear compelled him to sign a deed so -greatly to the injury of his own daughter. He swore now that he had only -done so to escape his peril, and never meant that Joan should be -deprived of her liberty of action: on the contrary, he intended when he -could to liberate her and restore to her the administration of the realm -that belonged to her: and he solemnly denounced and repudiated the -former oath he had just taken on the same altar. And then, quite happy -in his mind, Ferdinand the Catholic went on his way, having left heavily -bribed all the men who surrounded doomed Philip, including even the -all-powerful favourite Juan Manuel. - -Philip lost no time. Before Ferdinand had got beyond Tordesillas, a -courtier reached him from his son-in-law giving him news of Joan’s anger -and passion when she learnt that she was pushed aside and was not to see -her father. What would Ferdinand recommend? asked Philip. But the old -King was not to be caught; he would not be cajoled into giving his -consent to Joan being shut up, but he sent a long sanctimonious -rigmarole enjoining harmony, but meaning nothing. Philip then appealed -to the nobles one by one, asking them to sign a declaration assenting to -Joan’s confinement. The Admiral of Castile, Ferdinand’s cousin, led a -strong opposition to this, and demanded a personal interview with the -Queen to which Philip consented, and the Admiral and Count Benavente -went to the fortress of Murcientes, where Joan and her husband were -staying. At the door of the chamber stood Garcilaso de la Vega, a noble -in Philip’s interest, and Cardinal Jimenez was just inside; whilst in a -window embrasure in the darkened room sat the Queen alone, garbed in -black with a hood which nearly obscured her face. She rose as Admiral -Enriquez approached, and with a low curtsey, asked him if he came from -her father. ‘Yes,’ he replied, ‘I left him yesterday at Tudela on his -way to Aragon.’ ‘I should so much have liked to see him,’ sighed poor -Joan; ‘God guard him always.’ For many hours that day and the next the -noble spoke to the Queen, saying how important it was to the country -that she should agree well with her husband, and take part in the -government that belonged to her. He reported afterwards that in all -these conferences she never gave a random answer. - -The Admiral was too important a person to be slighted, and Philip was -forced to listen to some plain warnings from him. He must not venture to -go to Valladolid without the Queen, or ill would come of it: the people -were jealous already, and if Joan was shut up their fears would be -confirmed. So Joan was borne by her husband’s side to Valladolid in -state, though her face was set in stony sorrow beneath the black cowl -that shrouded it. Near there one other interview took place between the -two kings with much feigned affection, but no result as regards Joan. On -the 10th July 1506, Joan and her husband rode through the city of -Valladolid with all the pomp of Burgundy and Spain. Two banners were to -be carried before the royal pair, but Joan knew she alone was Queen of -Castile, and insisted that one should be destroyed before she would -start. She was mounted upon a white jennet, housed in black velvet to -match her own sable robes, and a black hood almost covered her -face.[110] Shows, feasts and addresses were arranged for their -reception, but they rode straight through the crowded, flower-decked -streets without staying to witness them; and this joyous entry, we are -told by an eyewitness, meant to be so gay, was blighted by an -all-pervading gloom, as of some great calamity to come. - -On the following day the Cortes took the oath of allegiance to Joan as -Queen, and to Philip only as consort, and she personally insisted upon -seeing the powers of the deputies. The ceremonies over, Philip came to -business. Great efforts were made to persuade the Cortes to consent to -Joan’s confinement and Philip’s personal rule; and Jimenez did his best -to get the custody of her.[111] But the stout Admiral Enriquez stood in -the way, and insisted that this iniquity should not be, so that Philip -was obliged to put up with the position of administrator for his wife, -since he could not be King in her stead. Flemings, Germans and -Castilians, in the meanwhile, vied with each other in rapacity. Philip -was free enough with the money of others, but even he had to go out -hunting by stealth to escape importunity when he had given away all he -had to give and more. But of all the greedy crew there was none so -rapacious as Juan Manuel, little of body but great of mind, who, like -the Marquis of Villena forty years before, grabbed with both hands -insatiate. Fortresses, towns, pensions, assignments of national revenue, -nothing came amiss to Manuel, and at last his covetous eyes were cast -upon the fortress-palace of Segovia, still in the keeping of that stout -Andrés Cabrera and his wife, Beatriz de Bobadilla, Marchioness of Moya, -the lifelong friend of the great Isabel. Philip gave an order that the -Alcazar of Segovia was to be surrendered to Manuel. Surrender the -Alcazar! after fifty years of keeping! No, forsooth, said big-hearted -Dona Beatriz; only to Queen Joan will we give the fortress that her -great mother entrusted to our keeping. - -And so it happened that Philip, with Joan still in black by his side, -rode out of Valladolid in August towards Segovia, to demand the fortress -from its keeper. When the cavalcade reached Cogeces, half way to -Segovia, Joan would go no further. They were taking her to Segovia, she -cried, to imprison her in the Alcazar, and she threw herself from her -horse writhing upon the ground, and refused to stir another step on the -way. The prayers and threats of Philip and his councillors, whom she -hated, were worse than useless, and all that night she rode hither and -thither across country refusing to enter the town. When the morning came -Philip learnt that Cabrera had surrendered the Alcazar of Segovia to -Manuel; and as there was no reason now for going thither, they rode back -to Burgos. As they travelled through Castile, brows grew darker and -hearts more bitter at this fine foreign gallant with his fair face and -his gay garments, who kept the Queen of Castile in durance in her own -realms, and packed his friends and foreign pikemen in all the strong -castles of the land. When Burgos was reached on the 7th September, -Philip deepened the discontent by ordering the immediate departure of -the wife of the Constable of Castile, an Enriquez by birth, and -consequently a cousin of Ferdinand, in order that Joan should have no -relative near her, although they lodged in the Constable’s palace. The -Admiral of Castile and the Duke of Alba were also attacked by Philip, -who demanded their fortresses as pledges of loyalty; and soon all -Castile was in a ferment, clamouring for the return of the old King -Ferdinand, and the liberation of their Queen Joan. - -The King, not content with conferring upon his favourite Manuel the -Alcazar of Segovia, now entrusted to his keeping the castle of Burgos, -where it was determined to celebrate the surrender by entertaining -Philip at a banquet. After the feast the King was taken ill of a -malignant fever, it was said, caused by indulgence or over-exercise, and -Philip lay ill for days in raging delirium. Joan, dry-eyed and cool, -never left his side, saying little, but attending assiduously to the -invalid. At one o’clock on the 25th September 1506 Philip I., King of -Castile, breathed his last, in his twenty-eighth year: but yet Joan, -without a tear or a tremor, still stayed by his side, deaf to all -remonstrance and condolence, to all appearance unmoved. She calmly gave -orders that the corpse of her husband should be carried in state to the -great hall of the Constable’s palace upon a splendid catafalque of cloth -of gold, the body clad in ermine-lined robes of rich brocade, the head -covered by a jewelled cap, and a magnificent diamond cross upon the -breast. A throne had been erected at the end of the hall, and upon this -the corpse was arranged, seated as if in life. During the whole of the -night the vigils for the dead were intoned by friars before the throne, -and when the sunlight crept through the windows the body, stripped of -its incongruous finery, was opened and embalmed and placed in a lead -coffin, from which, for the rest of her life, Joan never willingly -parted.[112] - -Joan, in stony immobility, dazed and silent, gave no indication that she -understood the tremendous importance of her husband’s death; but -courtiers and nobles, Castilians and Teutons alike, did not share her -insensibility. Dismay fell upon the rapacious crew, fierce denunciations -of poison,[113] scrambling for such plunder as could be grasped,[114] -and dread apprehensions as to what would happen to them all when the -King of Aragon should return. Joan had to be forcibly removed from the -corpse; and for days remained shut up in a darkened room without -speaking, eating, or undressing. When, at length, she learnt that the -coffin had been carried to the Cartuja de Miraflores, near Burgos, she -insisted upon going thither, and ordered an immense number of new -mourning garments fashioned like nun’s weeds. Arriving at the church, -she heard mass, and then caused the coffin to be raised from the vault -and broken open, the cerecloths removed from the head and feet, which -she kissed and fondled until she was persuaded to return to Burgos, on -the promise that the coffin should be kept open for her to visit it when -she pleased; which she did thenceforward every few days whilst it -remained there. - -The Flemish chronicler, whom I have quoted several times, gives a -curious description of Joan’s jealous amorous obsession for her husband. -Philip is represented as being libidinous to the last degree, as well as -being the handsomest man of his time; whilst Joan herself is praised for -her beauty, grace, and delicacy. ‘The good Queen fell into such jealousy -that she could never get free from it, until at last it became a bad -habit which reached amorous delirium, and excessive and irrepressible -rage, from which for three years she got no repose or ease of mind; as -if she was a woman possessed or distraught.... She was so much troubled -at the conduct of her husband that she passed her life shut up alone, -avoiding the sight of all persons but those who attended upon and gave -her food. Her only wish was to go after her husband, whom she loved with -such vehemence and frenzy, that she cared not whether her company was -agreeable to him or not. When she returned to Spain, she would not rest -until all the ladies that had come with them were sent home, or she -threatened to make a public scandal. So far did she carry this mania, -that it ended by her having no woman near her but a washerwoman, whom, -at any hour that seized her caprice, she made to wash the clothes in her -presence. In this state, without any women attendants, she kept close to -her husband, serving herself like a poor, miserable woman. Even in the -country she did not leave him, and went by his side, followed sometimes -by ten thousand men, but not one person of her own sex.’[115] - -The frantic jealousy of her husband during life, together with the -knowledge that he was determined to confine her as a lunatic, whilst -ruling her kingdom at his will, turned into gloomy misanthropy and -rebellion at her fate at his death; and her refusal to sign the formal -documents presented to her as Queen in the first days of her widowhood, -made evident to the few nobles who kept their heads that some sort of -government would have to be improvised, pending the return of Ferdinand -from Naples. Juan Manuel, fiercely hated by every one, kept in the -background; only hoping to save his life and some of his booty; but the -stern old man in his coarse grey frock, to whom money and possessions -were nothing, though, next to the Pope, he was the richest churchman in -Christendom, Cardinal Jimenez, who perhaps was not taken by surprise by -the opportune disappearance of Philip, had everything ready, even before -the King died, for the establishment of a provisional government; and on -the day of the death a meeting of all the nobles and deputies in Burgos -confirmed the arrangements he had made. All parties of nobles were -represented upon the governing council; but Jimenez himself was -president, and soon became autocrat by right of his ability. Order was -temporarily guaranteed, and all the members, in a self-denying -ordinance, undertook not to try to obtain possession of the Queen or of -her younger son, Ferdinand, who was in Simancas Castle,[116] the elder, -Charles, being in Flanders. Joan, sunk in lethargy, refused to sign the -decrees summoning Cortes; and the latter were irregularly convoked by -the government. But when they were assembled, carefully chosen under -Jimenez’s influence in favour of Ferdinand, Joan would not receive the -members, until, under pressure, she did so only to tell them to go home -and not meddle with government any more without her orders. Thus with a -provisional government, whose mandate expired with the year 1506, a -Queen who refused to rule, and already anarchy and rebellion rife in the -South, Castilians could only pray for the prompt return of King -Ferdinand, who, but a few short weeks before, had been expelled with -every circumstance of insult and ignominy the realm he had ruled so -long. - -No entreaty could prevail upon Joan to fulfil any of the duties of -government. Her father would see to everything, she said, when he -returned; all her future work in the world was to pray for the soul of -her husband, and guard his dead body. On Sunday, 19th December 1506, -after mass at the Cartuja, Joan announced her intention of carrying the -body for sepulture in the city of Granada, near the grave of the great -Isabel, in accordance with Philip’s last wish.[117] The steppes of -Castile in the depth of winter are as bleak and inhospitable as any -tract in Europe. For scores of miles over tableland and mountain the -snow lay deep, and the bitter blast swept murderously. The Queen cared -for nothing but the drear burden that she carried upon the richly -bedizened hearse; and with a great train of male servitors, bishops, -churchmen, and choristers, she started on her pilgrimage on the 20th -December.[118] The nights were to be passed in wayside inns or -monasteries, and at each night’s halt the grisly ceremony was gone -through of opening the coffin that the Queen might fondle and kiss the -dead lips and feet of what had been her husband. At one point on the -way, when after nightfall the cortège entered the courtyard of the -stopping place, Joan learnt that, instead of being a monastery for men, -it was a convent of nuns. Instantly her mad jealousy of women flared up, -and she peremptorily ordered the coffin to be carried out of the -precincts. Through the crude winter’s night Joan and her attendants kept -their vigil in the open field over the precious dust of Philip the -Handsome, until daylight enabled them to go again upon their dreary way. -Such experiences as this could not be long continued, for Joan was far -advanced in pregnancy; and when she arrived at Torquemada, only some -thirty miles from her starting-place, the indications of coming labour -warned her that she could go no further; and here, on the 14th January -1507, her youngest child, Katharine, was born. - -There is no doubt whatever that Joan was throughout carefully watched by -the agents of her father and Jimenez; and that, although ostensibly a -free agent, any attempt on her part to act independently or enter into a -political combination would have promptly checked. Her mental malady was -certainly not minimised by her father or his agents; who were as anxious -to keep her in confinement now as her husband had been. Nevertheless, -when every deduction has been made, it is indisputable that in her -morbid condition it might have been disastrous to the country to have -allowed her to exercise full political power at this time, even if she -had consented to do so; though if Ferdinand had not been, as he was, -solely moved by his own interests, the unhappy woman might after his -arrival have been associated with him in the government, and have -retained, at least, her personal liberty and ostensible sovereignty. - -Jimenez, in the meanwhile, kept his hand firmly on the helm of State. -The great military orders, of which Ferdinand was perpetual Grand -Master, were at his bidding, and enabled him to hold the nobles in -check,[119] as well as the Flemish party, which claimed for the Emperor -Maximilian the regency of Castile as representing the dead King’s son -Charles. The great Cardinal, far stronger than any other man in Spain, -thus kept Castile from anarchy until the arrival of Ferdinand in July -1508. His methods were, of course, arbitrary and unconstitutional; for -the Queen either would not, or was not allowed to, do anything; but, at -least, Jimenez governed in this time of supreme crisis, as he did at a -crisis even more acute on the death of Ferdinand eight years later: and -when Ferdinand eventually came from Naples everything was prepared for -him to govern Castile as he listed for the ends of Aragon. - -So far Ferdinand had triumphed both at home and abroad. The death of -Philip made it necessary for Henry of England to change his attitude and -court the friendship of the King of Spain. Katharine of Aragon, the -neglected and shamefully treated widowed Princess of Wales, once more -found her English father-in-law all smiles and amiability. To please him -further she consented to try to bring about a marriage between Henry -VII., recently a widower by the death of Queen Elizabeth of York, and -poor Joan, languishing by her dead husband’s side at Torquemada. The -proposal was a diabolical one; for Joan’s madness and morbid attachment -to her husband’s memory had been everywhere proclaimed from the -housetops: but Katharine of Aragon made no scruple at urging such a -match, in order to improve her own position in England. Ferdinand gently -dallied with the foul proposal. It was a good opportunity for gaining -some concession as to the payment of Katharine’s long overdue dowry, -without which Henry threatened to break off her match with his son and -heir. So Ferdinand wrote in March 1507 from Naples, praying that the -proposal to marry Joan should be kept very secret until he arrived in -Spain, or Joan ‘might do something to prevent it’; but if she ever -married again he promised that it should be to no one but to his good -brother of England. - -Whatever may have been Ferdinand’s real intention, and it would appear -very unlikely that he would have permitted so grasping a potentate as -Henry Tudor to gain a footing, as regent or otherwise, in Castile, his -agent in England was quite enamoured of this plan for getting Joan out -of the way in Spain. ‘No king in the world,’ he wrote on the 15th April -1507, ‘would make so good a husband (as Henry VII.) for the Queen of -Castile, whether she be sane or insane. She might recover her reason -when wedded to such a husband; but even in that case King Ferdinand -would, at all events, be sure to retain the Regency of Castile. On the -other hand, if the insanity of the Queen should prove incurable, it -would perhaps be not inconvenient that she should live in England. The -English do not seem to mind her insanity much; especially as it is -asserted that her mental malady will not prevent child-bearing.[120] - -Whilst Katharine in England was, as she says, ‘baiting’ Henry VII. for -her own benefit with the tempting morsel of the marriage with Joan, and -the King of France was offering the hand of a French prince, the Queen -of Castile remained in lethargic isolation at Torquemada, though the -plague raged through the summer in the over-crowded village. Joan had -been told by some roguish friar that Philip would come to life again -there, and she obstinately stayed on in the face of danger; saying when -she was urged to go to the neighbouring city of Palencia, where there -was more accommodation, that it was not meet that a widow should be seen -in public, and the only move she would consent to make was to a small -place called Hornillos, a few miles from Torquemada, in April.[121] She -spoke little, and with the exception of listening to music, of which she -was fond, she had no amusement; but it is evident from at least one -incident that, however strange her conduct might be, she was not -deprived entirely of her reason. Jimenez had obtained from her a decree -dismissing all the Councillors appointed by Philip. These favourites of -her husband were naturally furious, and demanded audience of the Queen -at Hornillos. They were received by her in the church where the corpse -of Philip was deposited. ‘Who put you into the Council?’ she asked them. -‘We were appointed by a decree issued and signed by your Highness,’ they -replied. An angry exchange of words then took place, and Joan, turning -to the Marquis of Villena,[122] who was behind her, told him that it was -his smartness that brought such affront as this upon her. Then she -declared in a resolute tone that it was her wish that every one should -return to the office or position he held before she and her husband -landed in Spain; so that when King Ferdinand arrived he should find -everything as it used to be in his time. This, of course, was a victory -for Ferdinand’s party, but it is clear that Joan knew what she was -talking about on this occasion.[123] - -At length, in the early autumn of 1507, came the happy news that King -Ferdinand had landed at Valencia; and, accompanied by a large force, was -entering Castile; being generally welcomed by nobles and people.[124] As -soon as Joan learnt that her father had entered her realm, she caused a -_Te Deum_ to be sung in the church of Hornillos, and set forth to -receive him, carrying always the corpse of her husband, and travelling -only by night, as was now her custom. At a small place called Tortoles, -about twenty-five miles beyond Valladolid, father and daughter met. The -King approached, surrounded and followed by great crowds of nobles and -prelates. He was met at the door of the house by Joan, attended by her -half-sister and the Marchioness of Denia; and as he doffed his cap she -threw back the black hood which she wore as a Flemish widow, and bared -the white coif with which her hair was covered. Casting herself upon her -knees she sought to kiss her father’s hand; but he also knelt and -embraced her tenderly; leading her afterwards by the hand into the -house. Every sign of dutiful submission was given by Joan to her father; -and after several long private conferences between them, Ferdinand -announced that she had delegated to him the government of Castile. - -[Illustration: - - JOAN THE MAD WITH THE UNBURIED BODY OF HER HUSBAND. - - _After a Painting by Pradilla._ -] - -A few days afterwards the whole court moved to another small place, -called Santa Maria del Campo, a few miles nearer Burgos, Joan, as usual, -travelling by night, accompanied by the coffin; and here, at Santa -Maria, the grand anniversary funeral service for Philip was celebrated -(25th September 1507), and Jimenez received the Cardinal’s hat, though -Joan would not allow that joyous ceremony, as she said, to be held in -the church that held her husband’s remains. With infinite trouble -Ferdinand at length persuaded his daughter to accompany him to a larger -town, where more comfort could be obtained, and in early October they -set forth, Ferdinand travelling by day and Joan by night. Suddenly, -however, Joan guessed that they were taking her to Burgos, that dreadful -city where Philip had died. No consideration would induce her to go -another step in that direction; and she took up her residence at Arcos, -a few miles away, whilst Ferdinand established himself at Burgos with -his young French wife, whom Joan received politely. - -At Arcos Joan, with her two children, Ferdinand and Katharine, lived her -strange, solitary life for eighteen months, broken only when Ferdinand, -going in July 1508 to reduce Andalusia to order, decided to take his -favourite little grandson and namesake with him. Joan flew into a fury -when she learnt that her child was to be taken from her; and there is no -doubt that the disturbance thus caused aggravated her malady for a time, -although it is said that she forgot the boy in a few days. A curious -idea of her life at Arcos is given in a letter sent on the 9th October -1508 by the Bishop of Malaga, her confessor, to the King. ‘As I wrote -before, since your Highness left, the Queen has been quiet, both in word -and action; and she has not injured or abused any one. I forgot to say -that since then she has not changed her linen, nor dressed her hair, nor -washed her face. They tell me also that she always sleeps on the ground, -as before.’ There follow some medical details, from which the Bishop -draws the conclusion that the Queen would not live long. ‘It is not -meet,’ he says, ‘that she should have the management of her own person, -as she takes so little care of herself. Her lack of cleanliness in her -face, and they say elsewhere, is very great, and she eats with the -plates on the floor, and no napkin. She very often misses hearing mass, -because she is breakfasting at the hour it is celebrated, and there is -no opportunity of her hearing it before noon.’[125] - -Before leaving to suppress the revolt in Andalucia, Ferdinand took -effective measures to prevent Joan from being made a tool of faction. He -had tried without success to prevail upon her to remove to the remote -town of Tordesillas, on the river Douro, where there was a commodious -castle-palace fit for her habitation, and the climate was good; but he -posted around Arcos strong forces, commanded by faithful partisans, with -orders that if the Queen at last gave way to the persuasion of her -attendants, and removed to Tordesillas, the troops were to guard her -just as closely and secretly there. But Joan obstinately refused to -move; and Ferdinand found her still there when he returned from the -South in February 1509. Whilst he had been absent, the great magnate in -whose district of Burgos Arcos was situated, the Constable of Castile -(Count de Haro) had been coquetting with the Emperor Maximilian to -displace Ferdinand by his grandson Charles, now nine years old; and the -possession of the person of Joan was of the highest importance. -Ferdinand decided, therefore, that, either willingly or unwillingly, -Joan should be placed where she would be safe from capture by surprise. -When he visited her at Arcos, he found her thin and weak with the cold, -unhealthy climate.[126] ‘Her dress was such as on no account could be -allowed, or is fit even to write about, and everything else looked -similarly, and as if it would be totally impossible for her to go -through another winter if she continued to live in the same way.’ - -The King stayed with her for some days, without broaching the sore -subject of removing her; but on the 14th February 1509, he had her -aroused at three o’clock in the morning—since he knew she would not -travel in daylight—and told her she must prepare to be gone. She offered -no resistance, but only pleaded for one day to prepare, which was -granted; and she consented to cast away the filthy rags which she had -been wearing, and don proper garments before setting out on the journey -to her new home; carrying her little daughter, Katharine, with her; the -corpse of Philip on its great hearse drawn by four horses, as usual, -leading the way. Although it was evening when she started, great crowds -of people had flocked over from Burgos to see their Queen, who had been -invisible for so long, and was by many thought to be dead. - -As the morning sun on the third day was glinting with horizontal rays -the bare brown cornlands that stretch for many miles around Tordesillas -on both sides of the turbid Douro, the wan and weary cavalcade rode over -the ancient bridge. Between the main street and the river stood a -fortress-palace with frowning walls and little windows looking across -the road at the convent of Saint Clara, with its florid Gothic church -and cloisters. Into the palace rode, by her father’s side, with her face -shrouded, Joan, Queen of Castile; and thenceforward, for forty-seven -dreary years, the palace was her prison, until, an old, broken woman of -seventy-six, but wayward and rebellious to the last, she joined her -long-lost husband in the splendid sepulchre in Granada. From the windows -of Joan’s early apartment in the palace, she could see the coffin of -Philip deposited in the convent cloister, and in the first years of her -confinement, she kept her vigil over the corpse in most of her waking -hours, as well as on rare occasions, and closely guarded, attending -commemoratory services in the convent in honour of the dead, until her -undutiful son, the Emperor Charles, either overcoming her resistance, or -perhaps finding the dismal caprice outworn, transferred the mouldering -remains of Philip the Handsome to its last abiding place; whilst Joan -the Mad waited for her release with fierce defiance in her heart, and -revilings on her tongue for all that her oppressors held sacred. - -It would not be profitable, even if it were possible, to follow closely -the monotonous life of Joan during her long years of confinement; but, -at certain crises in the political history of her country, her -personality assumed temporary importance, and on these occasions a flood -of light is thrown upon her, which, to some extent, will enable us to -see the reality and extent of her malady, and to judge how far her -laxity in religious observance was the cause of her continued -incarceration. Mr. Bergenroth, in his introduction to the early volumes -of the Calendars of Spanish State Papers, very forcibly urges the view -that Joan was not really mad at all, and that she was sacrificed solely -to the ambition of her husband, her father and her son, in succession. -After carefully considering all the documents adduced by my learned -predecessor as Editor of the Calendars, and many in the Spanish Royal -Academy of History which were unknown to him, I find myself unable to -come to the same conclusion. The separate accounts of her behaviour are -so numerous, and many of them so disinterested, as to leave in my mind -no reasonable doubt that after Philip’s death, whatever may have been -the case before, Joan was not responsible for all her actions. She -appears to have been able on many occasions to discuss complicated -subjects quite rationally, as is not infrequent with people undoubtedly -insane, but her outbursts of rage against religious ceremonies, her -neglect of her person, her persistence for days in refusing food, and -other aberrations, are not only clearly indicative of lunacy, but were -the symptoms repeated exactly in the case of her great-grandson, Don -Carlos, who was undoubtedly insane. At the same time it is clear to see -that there was no reason for keeping her closely confined and isolated -under strong guard, except the dread of Ferdinand, and afterwards of -Charles, that leagues of nobles might make use of her to weaken the -power of the Castilian crown.[127] That this fear was not groundless has -already been shown, and at one point, as will be related presently, the -peril was imminent. That Joan did not seize the opportunity when it was -offered to her after her bitter complaints of her treatment is, in my -view, the best proof that she was not capable of independent rule. - -Ferdinand died in January 1516, leaving the whole of his realms to his -grandson Charles in Flanders, in view of Joan’s ‘mental incapacity.’ He -tried almost with his last breath to divide Spain for the benefit of his -younger son, Ferdinand; but was overborne by the remonstrances of his -Council. Jimenez was appointed to be Regent until the new King arrived; -and when Cardinal Adrian, Charles’s ambassador, claimed the Regency in -virtue of a secret authority he produced, Jimenez accepted him as -colleague, but made him a cypher. Up to this period Joan had been under -the care of Ferdinand’s faithful Aragonese friend, Mosen Ferrer, the man -whom rumour accused of having poisoned Philip: whilst her principal lady -in waiting was the Dowager Countess of Salinas. The personal guard of -the Queen was entrusted to the incorruptible _Monteros de Espinosa_, and -there were some companies of Castilians on duty in, and around, the -palace. Mosen Ferrer was hated, especially by the townspeople of -Tordesillas and by the Castilian attendants of Joan, because it was -asserted that he had treated the Queen cruelly, and had not attempted to -cure her. He gave strict orders that Joan should not be told of her -father’s death; but such news could not be hidden, for all Castile was -astir to know what was coming next. - -Many of the nobles were around young Ferdinand, and were claiming -Castile for him, in accordance with the old King’s penultimate wish; and -not a few were looking towards Queen Joan. When she first heard the news -she was disturbed to know that Jimenez was not on the spot when the King -died, but was tranquilised to learn that he was on the way, and would -promptly assume the government. No sooner was it known in Tordesillas -that Ferdinand was dead than the townspeople and the Castilian guards -endeavoured to enter the Queen’s apartments and expel Mosen Ferrer: but -the latter and the _Monteros de Espinosa_[128] stood firm, and for weeks -the feud continued. The Guards brought an exorcising priest to cast out -the devils that afflicted the Queen; but Ferrer would not let them enter -the room; though they got into an ante-chamber, where, quite unknown to -the Queen, the exorciser performed his futile incantations through a -hole in the door. As soon as Jimenez had established himself in the -regency, he sent the Bishop of Majorca to set matters right in -Tordesillas. Ferrer, intensely indignant at the accusations against him, -wrote a letter to the Regent, which, being read between the lines, tells -us much. How could he hope to cure the Queen when her own father could -not do so? and how could he be so bad a man as they say, if wise King -Ferdinand entrusted his daughter to his care? This does not seem very -convincing: but when he tries to excuse himself Ferrer makes matters -much worse. It was, he says, only to prevent the Queen from starving -herself to death that he had put her to the torture (_dar cuerda_). He -complains bitterly that though he is not dismissed he is not allowed to -go near the Queen, for fear he should injure her health. Jimenez, -probably recognising that Ferrer had thought more of Aragonese interests -than of the health of Joan, thereupon let him go, and appointed the Duke -of Estrada to be her Keeper. - -The first instructions sent by the new King Charles, whose age was -barely sixteen, to the Regent Jimenez concerned Joan. Her custody was so -important, he said, that he agreed, in view of the dissensions amongst -Spaniards, that a Fleming should guard her. Until one was appointed he -directed that ‘whilst she was to be very well treated, she was to be so -closely guarded that if any body should attempt to thwart my good -intentions they may not be able to do it. It is more my duty than that -of any one to care for the honour, contentment, and solace of the Queen; -and if any one else attempts to interfere it will be with an evil -object.’[129] Nevertheless many did attempt to interfere by whispering -doubts to Joan of her Flemish eldest son, in the interests of his young -brother Ferdinand, whom his mother and all Spaniards loved best; and -when in September 1517 one of the _monteros_ approached her and said: -‘Madam, our sovereign lord King Charles, your highness’ son, has arrived -in Spain,’ Joan burst forth in a great rage. ‘I alone am Queen: my son -Charles is but the prince,’ and she always resisted calling him King -thenceforward. - -Charles and his sister Leonora came to Tordesillas to see their mother -in December. Charles’s tutor and counsellor, Chièvres, first saw Joan to -break to her the news of the presence of her children; and when, -immediately afterwards, they entered the room and knelt before their -mother, she was overcome with joy to see those whom she had left as -little children twelve years before, now in the best period of -adolescence. When Charles and his sister had retired, Chièvres lost no -time in saying that in order to relieve the Queen, and accustom Charles -to rule, it would be well to entrust the government of Spain to him. -Joan made no great objection to this; but it is clear that her intention -was, that he should administer the government for her and not rule on -his own account as he subsequently did; and when, a few months -afterwards, Charles met the Cortes at Valladolid they would only confirm -his power as joint sovereign, jealous as they were of Flemings, on -condition that he swore that if ever Joan recovered her faculties he -would resign the government to her.[130] Thenceforward Joan, though her -name appeared for years on decrees and proclamations, was politically -dead. - -During his stay at Tordesillas, Charles was distressed to see the sad -fate of his young sister, Katharine, now aged eleven. Joan was fiercely -attached to her, and would hardly let her out of her sight. The child’s -rooms were behind those of the Queen, and could only be reached with -Joan’s knowledge; little Katharine’s sole amusement being to look -through a window which had been specially cut for her, and watch the -people going to the opposite church, and the children playing in the -side lane that led to the river, who were encouraged by money to play -there for her amusement. She never left the palace, and was dressed in -mean rags, such as the Queen herself wore, and Charles, knowing that the -Queen would never let the child go willingly, somewhat cruelly planned -to have her kidnapped. He caused a way into her apartment to be broken -through a tapestry-covered wall from an adjoining gallery; and the girl -and her female attendants were carried away at dead of night to a large -force of horsemen and ladies awaiting her on the opposite side of the -bridge across the Douro; and thence spirited away to Valladolid, where, -dressed in fitting splendour, she was lodged in her sister Leonora’s -palace. When, in the morning, Joan discovered her loss, she was -inconsolable. She would neither eat, drink, nor sleep, she said, until -her child was restored to her, and after two days had passed, and she -still stood firm, the King had to be asked what was to be done. He was -loath to give up the education of his sister; for princesses were -valuable dynastic and international assets; but there was no other way -but to send her back. Charles accompanied her to Tordesillas, and made -terms with Joan; the girl must have proper companions and attendants, -she must dress suitably to her rank, and she must be allowed some little -relaxation and liberty outside the palace. To this Joan consented, and -Katharine lived with her until her marriage with the King of Portugal -six years later. - -In March 1518, Charles appointed to the custody of the Queen, the -Marquis of Denia, who held her until his death, and was succeeded by his -son. Soon after his appointment, he wrote a letter to the King which -lifts the veil considerably on Joan’s condition. She tried, he says, -persistently and with artful words, remarkable for one in her condition, -to persuade him to take her out of her prison, and to summon the nobles -of Castile, as she was discontented at the way she was being kept out of -the government, and wished to complain. He details the excuses with -which he put her requests aside, and evidently looks upon her -blandishments as wiles to escape; but assures Charles, as he did for -many years afterwards, that ‘nothing should be done against his -interests,’ whatever that may have meant. But even in this letter we see -signs of Joan’s undoubted madness. A day or two before she had thrown -some pitchers at two of her women, and hurt them; and when Denia went -with a grave face to her and said, ‘How is this, my lady? This is a -strange way to treat your servants; your mother treated hers better;’ -Joan rose hurriedly, and the very act of her rising sent her servants -scurrying off in a fright. ‘I am not so violent as to do you any -injury,’ she said; and so began again, and for the next five hours, to -try by wheedling to get him to take her out, ‘for she could not bear -these women.’ - -In reply to this, Charles warned Denia that his conversations with the -Queen must never be overheard by anybody, and that all his letters about -her must be strictly secret. Thus every few days news of his mother -reached the young King, sometimes reporting improvement, sometimes the -reverse; but always harping upon her desire to get out, her dislike of -her woman attendants, and her extreme irregularity in getting up and -eating, which she often did only at intervals of two days. At this time, -too, began to develop her great repugnance to attend mass. The women -seem to have been a great source of trouble to every one. They were, it -appears, always gadding about the town, telling people of what passed in -the palace, and what the Queen said, especially about religion, and her -desire to go out, and to summon the grandees. What was worse, they -defied Denia to dismiss them, until the King gave him full authority -over them, and brought them to reason. In the autumn of the same year, -1518, there was a visitation of plague in the country, though -Tordesillas had not suffered much, owing to the scrupulous care taken to -isolate the place. The removal of the Queen, however, had to be -considered. ‘If it be necessary,’ wrote the Marquis, ‘we shall want -saddle mules with black velvet housings for the Queen and the -Infanta.... It will also be necessary to take the body of the King, your -father, and if this has to be done, we must put into proper order the -car in which it was brought here, as it is now dismantled. Charles was -against any removal if it could possibly be avoided, but if quite -unavoidable, the Queen might be taken to the monastery of St. Paul at -Moralejo, near Arevalo. If she refused to go, she must be taken by -force; but with as much respect as possible, and with every precaution -against her endeavouring to stay in the open on the way. If she wanted -the corpse of Philip to go with her, a dummy coffin might be made up and -carried, whilst the real one with the body remained behind at -Tordesillas. - -The plague passed away, and the move was not made; and so things passed -with Joan as before. Squalid and unhappy, she resisted as obstinately as -ever the pressure put upon her to attend mass, though more than once she -was violently desirous of going over in Holy Week, or other -anniversaries, to the convent church of St Clara, and on several -occasions had her clothes washed in preparation for the great event; -which Denia himself was inclined to allow, under strict guard, as people -in the town were tattling about her being kept a prisoner. Great efforts -were made by Juan de Avila, the chaplain, to bring Joan to a better -frame of mind about religion; and in June 1519 he writes a curious -letter to the King, beseeching him to do his duty by his mother; -‘especially for the salvation of her soul.’ Perhaps in answer to this -Charles ordered Denia to insist that the Queen should hear mass. She had -wished it to be said at the end of a corridor, instead of in a special -room adjoining her own, as Denia desired, and, at last, rather than she -should not hear it at all, she was allowed to have her way; and an altar -and chapel were screened off by black velvet hangings at the end of the -corridor. She went through the service with great devotion until the -_evangelium_ and the _pax_ were brought to her, when she refused them, -but motioned that they should be administered to her daughter. - -This attendance at mass continued for some time, to the immense -jubilation of Denia and the priests; but as the day approached when -Charles was to leave Spain for Germany to claim the imperial crown, in -consequence of Maximilian’s death (January 1519), the effervescence and -discontent in Castile at the prospect of an absentee King drawing money -from Spain for foreign purposes, penetrated in some mysterious way the -prison-palace of Joan the Mad. For hours the Queen railed at Denia for -not having summoned the Grandees, as she had requested him to do so -often. She was being disgracefully treated, she said; everything -belonged to her, and yet she was being denied what she required. She -excitedly summoned the treasurer, and demanded money of him, which he -was not allowed to give her. So vehement did she become, that at last -Denia forbade any one to speak to her at all. She would go to -Valladolid, she said; and at another time she would dress to go over to -the convent church, though she was not allowed to go. She ordered Denia -to write to her son, asking that she should be better treated; and that -the grandees should come to her to consult about the realm. Denia, at -his wit’s end to pacify her, on one occasion, for, as he says, ‘she uses -words fit to make the very stones rise,’ had the inspiration to mention -her father, as if he were still alive, and at the head of affairs; and -for a time all the disagreeable answers given to her were said to be by -order of King Ferdinand, for whose wisdom she had a great respect. But -this lie gave her a new idea. If her father were alive, he could help -her; and she ordered Denia to write and tell him that she could no -longer stand the life she led. She was badly treated, and as a prisoner, -her son, Ferdinand, had been taken away from her, and she feared they -were going to rob her of her daughter Katharine; but, if they did, she -would kill herself. Denia fell more and more into her black books, as -the discontent at Charles’s departure grew in the country, and echoes -reached the Queen’s prison of the public indignation at her seclusion, -and wild rumours of intentions to rescue her. On one occasion (July -1520) she ordered Denia to open a doorway from her apartments into the -corridor where mass was said. He was suspicious and refused, whereupon -she fell into a violent rage with him, and heaped upon him outrageous -words without measure. No wonder the poor man deplores that everybody -believes he keeps her prisoner (as indeed he did, though he says not), -and he advocates her entire seclusion, although the best way to -undeceive the people, he says, would be to let them see her, and -recognise her sad condition. - -Charles sailed from Corunna on 20th May 1520. During the time he had -been in Spain he, or rather his rude, greedy gang of Flemings, had -driven Castilians to desperation. Jimenez, who had held the country for -him in his absence in the face of the nobles and young Ferdinand, had -been contemptuously dismissed—and probably poisoned on Charles’ arrival: -young Ferdinand had been packed off to Flanders: Flemings had crowded -all the great posts, to the exclusion of Spaniards: Joan was not -presented before the Cortes as Queen jointly with her son, as she should -have been; and now, to crown all, the Constitution of Castile had been -violated by the insolent young foreigner who was to rule, not Spain -alone, but half the world. He had held a Castilian Cortes outside the -limits of Castile itself, and had coerced the deputies to vote him large -sums of money to be spent away from Spain. The nobles were already -seething with discontent, and now the people in the towns, who paid all -the taxes, rose and hanged some of the deputies who had voted away their -money for an absent king. - -Then, like a well-laid train, all Castile blazed into revolt. It was a -great social, industrial and political struggle, which ended in the -financial impotence of the Cortes of Castile, and the decadence of the -Castilian nobility. The complicated details of the revolt cannot here be -told, but only those points in which Joan was personally concerned. The -governing committee of the revolutionary Comuneros met at Avila at the -end of July 1520, headed by the gentry, and, to some extent, secretly -encouraged by the great nobles. The Flemish Regent, Cardinal Adrian, was -paralysed with dismay at the extent of the rising, and did nothing; -whilst to the cry of ‘Long live the King and Queen: down with evil -ministers,’ every Spanish heart responded. The manifesto published by -the committee announced that the revolutionaries had risen in the -interests of the imprisoned Queen Joan; and early in August a committee -of the council of Castile, the supreme executive body of the Regent’s -government, with its president, Bishop Rojas, presented themselves -before Joan in her palace of Tordesillas, to beg her to sign decrees -against those who were in arms. Joan was to all appearance calm, and -replied to the demand for her signature, ‘It is now fifteen years that I -have been kept from the government and badly treated; and this marquis -here’ (pointing to Denia), ‘is he who has lied to me most.’ Denia, -confused, replied: ‘It is true, my lady, that I have lied to you, but I -have done so to overcome certain prejudices of yours. I may tell you -now, that your father is dead, and I buried him.’ The Queen shed tears -at this, and turning to Rojas, murmured between her sobs, ‘Bishop, -believe me, all that I see and hear is like a dream.’ Rojas pressed his -point. ‘My lady, I can assure you that your signature to these papers -will work a greater miracle than Saint Francis; for, after God, in your -hands now rests the salvation of these realms.’ ‘Rest now,’ replied the -Queen, ‘and come back another day.’ - -On the morrow the committee of the council saw the Queen again, and as -there was no seat but hers in the room, the president mentioned that it -was not meet that they should be kept standing. ‘Bring a seat for the -council,’ directed the Queen; but, as the attendants were bringing in -chairs, she said, ‘No, no, not chairs, but a bench; that was the rule in -my mother’s time: but the bishop may have a chair.’ After another long -conference the Queen directed the committee to return to Valladolid and -discuss again, in full council the papers to which they requested her -signature; and thus, unsatisfied, the members left her, only to find -themselves prisoners at Valladolid, which was now in the hands of the -rebels, who were rapidly marching upon Tordesillas at the urgent request -of the townspeople of the latter place, to save Queen Joan from being -carried away by the government party. - -The rebels had no time to communicate with Joan as to their aims before -they appeared outside the walls of the town on the 29th August. As soon -as Joan learnt of their coming she ordered the townspeople to welcome -them; and so, amidst salute of cannon and enthusiastic cheers, Padilla, -the rebel leader, and his host were escorted into the town, and passed -before the Queen, who stood in a balcony of the palace. After resting -and changing their garments, Padilla and other chiefs sought audience of -the Queen. Joan received him smilingly. ‘Who are you?’ she asked, as he -knelt before her. ‘I am Juan Padilla, my lady,’ he replied, ‘son of the -captain-general of Castile, a servant of Queen Isabel, as I am a servant -of your Highness.’ And then the insurgent chief told the astonished -Queen all that had happened since old King Ferdinand died: how the evil -foreign advisers of young Charles had brought all Spain into revolt, and -that Padilla and the commons of Castile were ready to die in the service -of their own Queen Joan. She expressed her wonderment at all this. She -had been kept a prisoner, she said, for nearly sixteen years, and Denia, -her gaoler, had hidden everything from her. If she had been sure of her -father’s death she would have gone forth and have prevented some of this -trouble in her realm. Then, addressing Padilla, she said: ‘Go now; I -order you to exercise the authority of captain-general of the realm. -Look to all things carefully, until I order otherwise.’ - -Joan thus made herself the ostensible head of the revolution; and on -many subsequent occasions conferred with the leaders in arms at -Tordesillas, fully approving of their proceedings and aims. She tried to -exonerate Charles on account of his youth and inexperience of Spain, but -clearly indicated her intention to govern for herself in future. Most -important of all, she authorised the leaders to summon the Cortes to -meet at Tordesillas. The weak, foreign Cardinal Regent could only -ascribe Joan’s attitude to her madness; though, as he wrote to Charles, -the people regard it as a proof of her sanity. Denia was now almost a -prisoner, but the revolutionary leaders could never persuade Joan to -sign his formal dismissal, though they, on their own authority, turned -both the marquis and his wife unceremoniously out of the town when -Tordesillas became the centre of the rebel government in September, and -the Cortes held its sittings there.[131] - -Joan met her Parliament in the hall of the palace, and listened -patiently to the lengthy harangues of the deputies. In her reply, which -seems to have been extempore, she spoke at great length of her father, -whose death had been concealed from her. During his life she was at -ease, because she knew no one would dare to do harm. But she now saw how -the country and herself had been abused and deceived, to the injury of -the people whom she loved so much. She wished she were in some place -where she could direct affairs better; but as her father had placed her -there, either because of the woman who took her mother’s place, or for -some other reason, she could do no more than she had done. She wondered -that the Spaniards had not avenged themselves before upon the foreigners -who had come with her son. She thought at first that these foreigners -had meant well to her boys; whom they had, she was told, taken back to -Flanders; but she saw differently now, and she hoped no one here had any -evil meaning towards her sons. Even if she were not the Queen she ought -to have been better treated, for, at least, she was the daughter of -great sovereigns; and she was in favour of the Comuneros, because she -saw they were anxious to remedy the abuses of which she complained. All -this seemed quite sane, but at the end of the speech there is a pathetic -ring of self-distrust that tells the sad tale. ‘To the extent of my -power I will see to affairs, either here or elsewhere. But if, whilst I -am here, I cannot do much it will be because I am obliged to spend some -time in calming my heart and strengthening my spirit, on the death of -the King, my husband. But as long as I am in disposition for it, I will -attend to affairs.’[132] - -The democratic excesses of the revolutionary Committee, together with -the diplomacy of Charles, were gradually enlisting the great nobles on -the side of the government. Although Joan’s attendants generally were in -her favour, and continued to assert her sanity now they had got rid of -the Denias, her confessor, Juan de Avila, was always secretly faithful -to the Regent; and whispered warnings constantly in the Queen’s ear. It -was evident after a short time also to the revolutionary junta that Joan -was not sane; as they wrote from Tordesillas to the city of Valladolid -saying that they had summoned all the best physicians in Spain to her; -and, apparently finding human aid powerless, they had ordered -processions and prayers for her restoration to health. The Regent, -indeed, writing to Charles in October, says that the Queen cannot last -long if she does not escape from the power of the rebel government; as -she was much worse after Denia went. She no longer sleeps in a bed, he -says, nor eats regularly, but keeps her food all around her cold until -it goes bad. At another time, after she had eaten nothing for three -days, she was given the accumulated food of the whole period at once. -The government party asserted that all the poor woman’s crazy caprices -were acceded to, and even threats resorted to by the junta, in order to -get her to sign the decrees necessary to legitimise their action; but -she continued obstinate in her refusal to put her hand to anything.[133] - -The junta began to grow desperate; for the forces against them were -growing daily, whilst they made no progress, depending, as they did, for -legality upon obtaining the signature of a lunatic. They tried to bribe -the poor woman to sign by promising to take her away from Tordesillas; -but that was fruitless: on another occasion, in the middle of the night, -a hue and cry was raised that the Constable of Castile with a great -force of government troops was outside, and the Queen was told that the -‘tyrants’ had come to seize her. ‘Tell the Constable,’ she replied, ‘not -to do anything until the daylight comes; and then I will see about it.’ -Things thus went from bad to worse for the rebellion. This was the one -chance of Joan’s life, and she missed it. For months she trifled and -smiled upon the rebel junta, but would sign nothing; and early in -December the government troops were strong enough to make a dash for -Tordesillas, which they took by assault after four hours of desperate -fighting; the rebel junta flying in a panic from the place. Joan -welcomed the victors with a smiling face. She had been expecting and -wishing they would come, she said; and had ordered that the nobles -should be admitted before the fight began. - -During the battle she with the Infanta had left the palace, carrying her -jewels with them, and had ordered the corpse of Philip to be taken from -the church and carried with them out of the town. Before it could be -done, in the confusion, the royal troops entered, and they found the -Queen and her daughter crouched in the doorway of the palace trembling -with fright. The great nobles who came to the capture of Tordesillas -were full of lip service to Joan, and she, flattered apparently by their -deference, professed delight at their coming; but from the moment the -rebel junta fled before the Constable’s troops at Tordesillas without -her signature, Joan was a closely watched prisoner. Denia and his wife, -with their harsh methods, came back, to the loudly expressed disgust, -not only of Joan, but of some of the greatest of the Castilian nobles, -who saw how his presence irritated her;[134] but Charles would permit no -change in his mother’s keeper, for he knew he could depend upon Denia to -keep her close. - -In April 1521, the Comuneros were finally crushed at the battle of -Villalar, and the yoke of imperialism forged unwittingly by Ferdinand -the Catholic, and open-eyed by Charles the Emperor, was fixed upon the -neck of Spain until it strangled her. Thenceforward Joan was but a -shadow in the world, to which she no longer appertained. - -The person most to be pitied, until marriage rescued her in 1524, was -the poor young Infanta Katharine. The Denias came back vowing vengeance -against every one who they thought had been polite to the rebels, and -the Infanta, as well as the Queen, had to feel their petty tyranny. The -girl wrote indignantly to her brother of the wretched straits to which -she was reduced by them, and also of the persecution of her mother by -them. Amongst other complaints, the following may be quoted. ‘For the -love of God, pray order that if the Queen wishes to walk in the gallery -looking on to the river, or in the matted corridor, or to leave her -chamber for pastime, they shall not prevent her from doing so. And pray -do not allow the servants and daughters of the marchioness, or others, -to go to my closet through the Queen’s rooms, but only the persons who -serve; because, in order that the Queen may not see them, the -marchioness orders the women to shut the Queen up in her chamber, and -will not allow her to go into the passages or hall, but keep her in the -chamber where there is no light but candles; for there is nowhere else -for her to go, and she will not leave the chamber until she is dragged -out: or, if she would, the women are there to prevent her.’ This is the -Infanta’s own version; but the Denias’ story is that the young princess -is not allowed by her mother to see any one but a common servant, and -has not the fit company of ladies. To make matters worse for the girl -the Denias accused her of favouring the rebels, which she indignantly -denied, and made peace successfully with her brother. Her departure from -Tordesillas for her marriage afflicted Joan greatly, and for the rest of -the Queen’s life there was no one to stand between the emperor and her -gaolers. - -During the long years of Joan’s seclusion, the principal feature of her -aberration was its anti-religious tendency. It is true that she often -demanded the summoning of the nobles, and continued her eccentricity in -eating and sleeping, but the strange antipathy she showed, and often -violently expressed, to the services of her church, was a scandal worse -than any in a country where thousands of people were being burnt for a -tenth part of what the Queen allowed herself to say and do. The whole of -the emperor’s system was based upon the enforcement of universal -religious orthodoxy by Spain: and it was a bitter affliction for him to -know that his mother, and rightful Queen, was madly opposed, at -intervals, to the ceremonies imposed upon the rest of Spaniards. Denia -in his letters to the Emperor, on several occasions, drops dark hints -that torture should be applied—as it evidently had been applied to Joan -years before by Mosen Ferrer. Speaking of her obstinacy soon after the -rebel defeat, and advising that she should be transferred to the -fortress of Arevalo, which he thought safer and more loyal to Charles, -he says: ‘Your Majesty may be sure that this will not be done with the -Queen’s goodwill, for it is not to be expected that a person who refuses -to do anything beneficial, either for her body or her soul, but does -quite the contrary, will agree to this. And, in good truth, if your -Majesty would use pressure[135] upon her in many things, you would serve -God and benefit her Highness, for people in her condition really need -it. Your grandmother, Queen Isabel, served her Highness, her daughter, -in this way, but your Majesty will do as you think best.’ - -Denia, whilst recommending the employment of force for the removal of -the Queen, did not wish to appear personally as the instrument, but -recommended that the President of the Council of Castile should be sent -with the Emperor’s order for her to submit, and if she resisted, to have -her seized and put into a litter by force in the night time, and carried -off. The removal of the Queen, often urged by Denia for years, on the -ground of the accessibility of Tordesillas to disaffected people, does -not seem ever to have taken place.[136] Denia’s desire to lodge Joan in -a strong isolated fortress is also explained by him on the ground of the -scandal caused by the Queen’s religious attitude. In the letter just -quoted, where he recommends torture, he relates that on Christmas night, -whilst early matins were being sung in the presence of the Infanta, the -Queen came in search of her daughter, and screamed out in anger for them -to clear the altar of everything upon it; and she had to be forcibly -taken back to her rooms. He relates also that: ‘She often goes into the -gallery overlooking the river, and calls to any one she sees to summon -the troops to kill each other. Your majesty may judge from all this what -is best to do, and what we have to put up with.’ - -These hints at personal punishment of the Queen are repeated again and -again over a series of years by Denia, though, so far as can be gathered -from the Emperor’s replies, he gave no instructions for it to be done. -In 1525 Denia writes: ‘Nothing would do so much good as some pressure -(_i.e._, punishment or torture), although it is a very serious thing for -a subject to think of applying such to his Sovereign. Perhaps it will be -best to try what effect a good priest would have upon Her Highness ... a -Dominican would be best, as she does not like Franciscans.’ On another -occasion soon afterwards, when Charles had decided to have his mother -secretly carried by night to the impregnable castle of Toro, not far -from Tordesillas, Denia remarks that he had taken measures that no -persons should be in the streets to witness her arrival, ‘for, in good -truth, I myself am ashamed of what I hear and see.’ - -And so from year to year the Queen’s religious aberrations consigned her -to constantly increased seclusion to avoid scandal. The Emperor and his -only son Philip visited the Queen at least on one occasion at -Tordesillas, and during the regency of Philip in 1552, whilst Charles -was in Germany, the Prince, much more rigidly devout even than his -father, and shocked at the continued refusal of his grandmother to -attend the services of the Church and fulfil her religious duties, sent -to Tordesillas the saintly Jesuit Francis of Borgia, Duke of Gandia, to -exert his influence upon the Queen. His success was very small. For -weeks Joan refused to conform, until, at last Borgia persuaded her to -make what is called a ‘general confession,’ and he thereupon gave her -absolution;[137] but directly he left she relapsed into her former -indifference again. - -When Philip was leaving Spain to marry Mary, Queen of England, in 1554, -he sent Father Borgia again to try to bring Joan to her religious -duties. She heard the good father patiently, and when he had finished -his exhortations, she endeavoured to make terms. Yes, she would hear -mass, and confess, and receive absolution, and the rest of it, if the -women attendants upon her were sent away, as they always mocked her -whilst she was at her devotions. ‘If that be so,’ replied Father Borgia, -‘the Inquisition shall deal with them as heretics;’ and he at once wrote -to Philip recommending that they should pretend to hand the women over -to the Holy Office, place crosses and images of saints about the Queen’s -rooms, say daily mass on the corridor altar, and if the Queen objected, -tell her that it was done by the order of the Inquisition. He also -proposed to bring some priestly exorcisers to cast out the devils that -afflicted the Queen; but this Philip would not allow. The effect of -Borgia’s efforts on this occasion was, that when Prince Philip on his -way to Corunna to sail for England called at Tordesillas, he found Joan -to his delight going through the ordinary religious rites without -resistance. But her devotion was clearly only on the surface, and her -new confessor Friar Luis de la Cruz, soon reported that he dared not -expose himself to the peril of committing a grave act of sacrilege by -administering the sacraments to the Queen, and resigned his office. It -appears, amongst other things, that she always shut her eyes at the -elevation of the Host at the mass, and on one occasion she violently -told her attendants to throw away the blessed tapers they carried before -her, as she said they stank. - -Since the summer of 1553, Joan, then an old woman, had suffered from -swelling of the lower limbs, which almost crippled her; and in February -1555, after a bath of very hot water, the legs broke out into open -wounds. Thenceforward the course of her illness presented an -extraordinary resemblance to that which proved mortal in the case of her -grandson, Philip II. Dreadful gangrenous sores, which she refused to -have dressed or washed, caused her the most awful torment. She paid no -heed to the directions of doctors or nurses; and when her -grand-daughter, the Infanta Joan, came over from Valladolid with the -best medical men procurable, the Queen violently refused to see them or -allow them to examine her. Thus, lying in repulsive squalor and filth, -the poor creature was told that Father Borgia had come to see her. She -angrily refused to listen to him at first, but she was weak, and his -persistence seems finally to have conquered. By and bye she admitted -that she was sorry for her errors, and deplored the divagations of her -spirit. At the request of Borgia she repeated the apostle’s creed and -confessed; but just as he was about to administer the _viaticum_, she -expressed some scruple at receiving it. Learned theologians were -summoned in haste from Salamanca; and a few days afterwards, on the 11th -April 1555, the famous Dr. Soto was closeted with her for hours. His -report was that, though she had privately told him things that consoled -him, the Queen was not fit to receive the Eucharist; though extreme -unction might be administered. - -That same night the last rites were performed. Leaning over the dying -woman with a crucifix, the priest told her that the last hour for her -was come, and that it behoved her to ask God for pardon. By signs and -gestures of grief and contrition, she expressed what her poor palsied -tongue refused to utter; and Father Borgia, believing her beyond speech, -asked her to signify whether he should recite the creed for her. To the -astonishment of every one she suddenly recovered her power of utterance, -and replied, ‘You begin it, and I will repeat it after you.’ When the -last amen was said, the saintly Jesuit placed a crucifix to the lips of -the dying woman. ‘Christ crucified aid me,’ she had strength yet to say, -and then Joan the Mad passed to the land where all are sane. For twenty -years her body lay in the Convent of St. Clara, opposite her prison -palace; upon the same spot where the coffin of her husband had rested -for so many years; and then, in 1574, she was carried at last to the -sumptuous tomb at Granada, to join for the rest of time the dust of him -that she had loved not wisely but too well. - -The foregoing account of the life of this most unfortunate of queens, -gathered entirely from the contemporary statements of persons who knew -her, tends irresistibly to the conclusion that her early rigid training, -followed by her life in Flanders, had implanted in her mind a dislike of -the stern bigotry which characterised the religion of Spain under the -influence of the Inquisition; and that this dislike grew to hatred when -her mind became permanently unsettled. Her strict seclusion and cruel -treatment do not appear to have been so necessary for her own health, or -even primarily for the public welfare, as for the interests of her -father and son, whose autocratic power was threatened by any combination -of nobles acting in her name, and whose policy largely depended upon the -maintenance of strict religious orthodoxy. To leave at liberty and -accessible a feeble-minded Queen who desired to govern through the -nobles, and hated the religion of the Inquisition, would have been to -invite disaster to the very basis upon which the vast edifice of Spanish -autocratic power at its grandest was erected. It might have been better -for Spain in the long run, but it would have been ruin for Ferdinand and -Charles; and to their interests successively Joan the Mad was -sacrificed. - - - - - BOOK III - I - MARY TUDOR - QUEEN OF ENGLAND AND SPAIN - - -In the noble gallery at the Prado there hangs the full-length seated -portrait of a lady of peculiarly modern aspect, painted by Titian from -sketches and descriptions in his extreme old age.[138] Her sad, sweet -smile, vague, lymphatic eyes, and high prominent forehead, give to the -face a character of far away ideality, such as marked so many of the -members of her house: for this is Isabel, the consort of the Emperor, -and she, like the greater Isabel’s mother, belonged to the fated royal -family of Portugal, whose tainted blood so often carried to its -possessors the mysticism that degenerates into madness. Throughout the -poor lady’s life of barely thirty-six years, she was overshadowed by the -tremendous responsibility of being the mother of the Cæsar’s children. -During the long and frequent absences from Spain of Charles V. in his -life-struggle against France and heresy on the one side, and the powers -of Islam on the other, the Empress Isabel, as Regent, controlled by a -council mainly of churchmen, had to squeeze funds for the imperial wars -from the commons of Castile, well nigh crushed into financial impotence -since the defeat of the parliamentary champions at Villalar. - -Like all those who came into immediate contact with Charles in his -imperial capacity, his wife was humbly subordinate to the overwhelming -magnitude of the policy which he directed, and she had no share in -moulding events. For her the glory was sufficient to have borne her -husband a son who lived, besides daughters and two boys who died of -epilepsy in infancy. The mother of Philip of Spain looked with -reverential awe upon her own child, so great and important to mankind -was held to be the inheritance to which he was to succeed; and when she -flickered out of life in 1539, the boy of twelve was her main -contribution and justification to a world which had only known her as -Cæsar’s wife, and only remembered her as Philip’s mother. - -In the atmosphere of hushed reverence and rigid sacrifice to imperial -ends that filled the monastic court of Spain in the absence of the -Emperor, Philip was never allowed to forget for an hour the destiny, -with all its duties, its responsibilities, and its power, for which he -was taught that God had specially selected him as son of his father. As -a boy regent in the Emperor’s first great trial of strength with the -German Lutherans, his heart had ached at the sufferings of Spain from -the cruel drain of blood and treasure for the war in which she had no -direct concern; but when he dared, almost passionately, to remonstrate -with his father at the ruin which he himself was forced to impose upon -the people he loved, he was coldly reminded that it was the cause of God -that he and his were fighting, and all earthly considerations must be -sacrificed for its triumph. Philip was the son of his forbears, and he -learnt his lesson well. Like his grandmother Isabel, he had no love of -cruelty for its own sake, but like her he held the mystic belief that he -and the Most High were linked in community of cause, and that the -greater the suffering the greater the glory. He never spared himself or -others when the cause for which he lived, the unification of the faith, -demanded sacrifice; but fate was cruel in the era she chose for him. The -age when Charles and his son were pledged to force all men to take their -faith unquestioned from Rome at the tips of Spanish pikes was that in -which the rebellious Monk of Wittemburg had challenged Rome itself, and -the world was throbbing with the new revelation, that beyond the -trappings that man had hung upon the church, there was a God to whom all -were equal, and to whom all might appeal direct. - -So, throughout the century of strife, both Charles and his son, rigid as -they were, were always obliged to conciliate England, whatever its faith -might be; for France, and heresy in their own dominions, were ever the -nearest enemies; and for England permanently to have thrown in its lot -with either of them would have consigned Spain to impotence. Henry VIII. -might defy the Pope, despoil the Church, and insultingly repudiate his -blameless Spanish wife, but the Emperor dared not quarrel with him for -long together, or provoke him too far. But, withal, it was a hard trial -for the champion of orthodoxy to have to speak fair and softly to his -heterodox, excommunicated uncle, and welcome alliance with the power -that was a standing negation of the cause for which he lived. Still -harder was it when Henry was dead; for his personal prestige was great, -and his professions of orthodoxy were emphatic, apart from his personal -quarrel with the Papacy. But to him there succeeded a child-king ruled -by men of small ability, determined to alter the faith of England -itself, and make a durable friendship with Spain impossible. - -Then almost suddenly the whole aspect of affairs changed. It had been -known for some time that the young King of England, Edward VI., was -failing, and would probably die without issue; but the uncertain element -had been the extent of the Duke of Northumberland’s power and the -strength of English Protestantism. Edward VI. died on the 7th July 1553, -and the undignified collapse of Northumberland at once decided the -Emperor’s plans. The treachery of Maurice of Saxony had brought Charles -to the humiliating peace of Passau, and had made for ever impossible the -realisation of the great dream of making Philip Emperor as well as King. -It was the heaviest blow that Charles had ever suffered; and, if he -could have appreciated its significance, he would have seen that it -proved the impossibility of the task he had undertaken. He was still at -war with the enemy, France, who had supported his Lutheran princes, and -he was burning to avenge the crowning disaster of Metz, when the death -of the boy King of England opened to his mind’s eye the gates of a -shining future. The hollow crown of the Empire might go, with its poor -patrimony and its turbulent Lutheran subjects, the fat Portuguese dowry -he coveted for his son Philip might be cheerfully sacrificed; but if -only rich England could be joined in lasting bonds to Spain, then France -would indeed be in the toils, Flanders and Italy safe, the road to -unlimited expansion in the East open, and Spain, supreme, might give -laws to Latin Christendom, and to heathendom beyond. The prize was worth -bidding for, and Charles lost no time. - - * * * * * - -In the brilliant summer weather of late July in 1553, a faded little -woman with a white pinched face, no eyebrows, and russet hair, rode in a -blaze of triumph through the green-bordered roads of Suffolk and Essex -towards London. Around her thronged a thousand gentlemen in velvet -doublets and gold chains, whilst a great force of armed men followed to -support if need be the right of Mary Queen of England. It was not much -more than a fortnight since her brother had died, but into that time the -poignant emotions of a century had been crammed. The traitors who had -proclaimed Queen Jane had tumbled over each other to be the first to -betray some of their companions, and all to disown the despotic craven -who had led them, the wretched Northumberland; Protestant London, even, -had greeted with frantic joy the name of the Catholic Queen, whose right -it knew, and whose unmerited sufferings it pitied; but at thirty-seven, -an old maid, disillusioned and wearied by years of cruel injustice, Mary -Tudor came to her heritage resigned rather than elated. - -Amongst the crowds of officials and gentlemen who rode out of London to -pay homage to the new Queen, were two men, each pledged to outwit the -other in his quest. They were of similar age, about fifty, both -Frenchmen, though one was born in the Burgundian territory of the -Franche Comté, and both were ambassadors; one, Simon Renard, -representing the Emperor, and the other, Antoine de Noailles, the King -of France, and they went racing towards Chelmsford, each to try to win -Queen Mary to the side of his master. Noailles was the more courtly and -aristocratic; and his insinuating grace made him a dangerous rival, for -it hid a spirit that stopped at no falsity or treachery if it would -serve his turn. But in gaining Mary Tudor he was fatally handicapped, -though when she received him at New Hall she spoke so fairly that he -thought he had succeeded.[139] For Simon Renard represented the power -that throughout all the bitter trials of her life Mary had looked to as -her only friend. Again and again the imperial ambassadors alone had -dared to claim better treatment for her and her outraged mother; and had -threatened her father with vengeance if ill befell her; whilst France -had always taken the opposite side, and egged King Henry on to work his -own will in despite of Spain and the empire. So, though Mary was -diplomatic to Noailles she was friendly to Renard, for to him and his -master she looked to keep secure her trembling throne. - -Already it was seen that the Queen must marry. She had been betrothed -times out of number as an instrument of policy, but of her own will she -desired no husband; and when Renard, in a long private chat with her at -New Hall on the 1st August, broached the subject, she told him that she -knew her duty in that respect and would do it, but prayed for the -guidance of the Emperor in her choice of a husband. She was no longer -young, she said, and hoped that too youthful a husband would not be -recommended to her. Renard knew that already English people had chosen -as the Queen’s prospective bridegroom young Courtenay, still in the -Tower as a prisoner; and that failing him, some had thought of Cardinal -Pole; but he knew well, as did the Emperor, that Mary was too proud to -marry a subject, and looked to her marriage as a means of strengthening -her throne; and soon afterwards even Noailles saw that Courtenay had -spoilt his chance by dissoluteness of life, though he continued to make -use of him as a tool for conspiracy against Mary and her Spanish -friends. - -On the 3rd August the new Queen, dressed in violet velvet, and mounted -on a milk-white pony, came to her city of London through the gaily -decked portal of Aldgate, and so to the Tower, where she released those -who had lain there in prison to suit the policy of the men who had ruled -Edward VI. Events moved apace. Gardiner from a prison was suddenly -raised to the post of chief minister. Bonner, the hated Bishop of -London, came from the Marshalsea to his throne in Saint Paul’s; and -everywhere, though yet illegal, the mass was already being introduced. -The Emperor kept warning Mary to be moderate, and to walk warily; whilst -the churchmen, burning with zeal to come upon their own again, were -obstinately shutting their eyes to all that had happened since bluff -Henry’s death. Renard it was who almost daily saw the Queen with these -messages of modern counsel from his master; and the subject of marriage -was mentioned more than once. Noailles and Gardiner were pushing as hard -as they might the suit of Courtenay; but on the 7th August Mary told -Renard that she saw no fit match for her in her own country, and had -decided to marry a foreigner. - -Then gently and tentatively the ambassador mentioned the Emperor’s only -son Philip. She affected to laugh at the idea, for the Prince was only -twenty-seven—the same age as Courtenay, by the way—and, as she said on -another occasion, most of the bridegrooms they offered her might have -been her sons. But Renard saw that his suggestion was not altogether an -unwelcome one, and hastened to ask his master for further instructions. -‘Do not overpress her,’ wrote Granvelle, ‘to divert her from any other -match; because if she have the whim she will carry it forward if she be -like other women.’ But Mary Tudor’s birth and trials had made her not -like other women; and she listened to the tale of marriage, not because -she hankered for a husband, but because she hungered for a son to -present to her people. - -Noailles soon got wind of the plan to marry Mary to the Emperor’s son, -and wherever French gold or interest could reach the enemies of the new -regime they were plied with hints of the terrible results that would -come if Spain ruled England by Torquemada’s methods. A gust of panic -swept over London at the idea of an Inquisition; for the Queen had come -at first with promises of toleration, and already the zeal of the -churchmen had darkened the horizon. On the eve of the Queen’s -coronation, on the 1st October, a Spanish resident in London, whilst -professing to despair of the probability of the match, writes words that -show how well aware even private citizens were of the advantage that it -would bring to Spain. ‘And if the Lord vouchsafed us to behold this -glorious day, what great advantage would befall our Spain, by holding -the Frenchmen in check, by the union of these kingdoms with his Majesty. -And if it were only to preserve Flanders his Majesty and his son must -greatly desire it, ... for when the Lord shall call his Majesty away the -Low Countries will be in peril of the Frenchmen attacking them, or of -the Germans (_i.e._, Lutherans) invading them by their help, the succour -from Spain being so remote, and the people (_i.e._, of Flanders) not -being well affected towards our nation. It would also be most -advantageous to Spain, because if aught should happen to the Prince’s -son (_i.e._, Don Carlos) the son born here would be King of both -countries, and, in sooth, this would be advantageous to the English -also.’[140] - -We may be sure that Mary’s coyly sympathetic attitude was not lost on -the Emperor. But Philip was a man of twenty-seven, a widower since his -boyhood, with a mistress (Isabel de Osorio) whom he loved; and for many -years past he had been his own master, and practically King of Spain, -though nominally only Prince Regent. His marriage, moreover, to a -Portuguese cousin with a rich dowry was in active final negotiation, and -the Emperor could not be sure how the Prince would receive the -suggestion of marriage with an unattractive foreign woman more than ten -years his senior, and living in a far country. He need have had no -distrust. Philip under his system had been brought up from his birth to -regard sacrifice to his mission as a supreme duty. He was a statesman -and a patriot, and he saw as clearly as his father the increment of -strength that the union with England would bring to the cause to which -their lives were pledged; and his reply, given, as Sandoval says, ‘like -a second Isaac ready to sacrifice himself to his father’s will and for -the good of the church,’ was, ‘I have no other will than that of your -Majesty, and whatever you desire, that will I do.’ - -Promptly on the heels of the courier that bore the dutiful letter to the -Emperor went two nobles of Philip’s household, Don Diego Hurtado de -Mendoza and Don Diego de Geneda, to offer congratulations and greetings -to the new Queen of England in his name. Geneda bore a secret message to -her of a warmer character than mere greeting; and before the sumptuous -coronation in Westminster Abbey on the 1st October, Mary had practically -made up her mind to marry her second cousin. She knew that England, -under Noailles’ artful incitement, was in a ferment of alarm at the -idea; but she was a Tudor; she had some long scores to settle, she -needed strength to do it, and opposition only made her firmer. -Parliament met on the 5th October, and, under pressure from Mary, made a -clean sweep of all the anti-Papal laws that had severed England from -Rome; but when, influenced by Gardiner and prompted by Noailles, the -House of Commons voted an address to the Queen praying her not to marry -a foreigner, Mary sent for the members to wait upon her. The Speaker and -a deputation of twenty parliament men stood trembling before her and -presented their humble address, whilst the angry Queen muttered that she -would be a match for Chancellor Gardiner’s cunning. Her reply to the -Speaker was haughty and minatory: ‘Your desire to dictate to us the -Consort whom we shall choose we consider somewhat superfluous. The -English parliament has not been wont to use such language to its -sovereigns, and when private persons on such matters suit their own -tastes, sovereigns may reasonably be allowed to choose whom they -prefer.’[141] This was the true Tudor way of dealing with the Commons, -and Mary having obtained the religious legislation she needed to -legalise her own position on the throne, promptly dissolved the -parliament she had flouted. - -It was only after much prayerful heart-searching that Mary had so far -made up her mind to prefer the Prince of Spain. At first she had tried -to make it a condition that the Emperor should not ask her to marry any -candidate before she had seen him; but this in Philip’s case was -impossible. He was too great a catch to be trotted out for inspection -and approval, and when this was gently put to her by Renard, she -tearfully implored the ambassador, whose hands she seized and held -between her own, not to deceive her with regard to the Prince’s -character. Was he really well conducted and discreet, as he had been -described to her? The ambassador emphatically protested on his honour -that he was; but still the Queen, almost doubting still, wished that she -might see him before she gave her word. A good portrait by Titian was -sent to her, representing the Prince rather younger than he was, a -good-looking young man with the fair Austrian skin and yellow hair, the -slight curly beard hardly masking the heavy jaw and underlip he -inherited from his father. The portrait appears to have banished the -last doubts in Mary’s mind. She had never had a love affair before, -often as she had been betrothed: even now her idea had been to marry -because her position entailed it. But the contemplation of the face of -him who was to be her husband, and Renard’s reiteration of his good -qualities, gradually worked in her mind an intense yearning for the -affection for which she had hungered in vain during her persecuted -youth. - -On Sunday evening, the 31st October, she summoned Renard to a room -containing an altar upon which the monstrance with the Host was placed. -The Queen was alone, except for her devoted nurse Mrs. Clarencius, when -the ambassador entered; and with much emotion she told him that since he -had presented the Emperor’s letter asking her hand for Philip, she had -been sleepless, passing her time in weeping and prayers for guidance as -to her choice of a husband. ‘The Holy Sacrament is my resource in all my -difficulties,’ she said, ‘and as it is standing upon the altar in this -room, I will appeal to it for counsel now;’ and, kneeling, as did Renard -and Clarencius, she recited _Veni Creator Spiritus_ almost below her -breath. After a short silent prayer she rose, calm and self-possessed, -and told the ambassador that she had chosen him for her father confessor -with the Emperor. She had considered carefully all that had been told -her about Philip, and had consulted Arundel, Paget, and Petre[142] on -the subject; and, bearing in mind the good qualities and disposition of -the Prince, she prayed the Emperor to be indulgent with her, and agree -to the conditions necessary for the welfare of her realm; to continue to -be a good father to her, since henceforward he would be doubly her -father, and to urge Philip to be a good husband. Then solemnly upon the -altar, before the Sacred Presence, she promised Renard that she would -marry Philip, Prince of Spain, making him a good and faithful wife, -loving him devotedly without change.[143] She had wavered long in doubt, -she said, but God had illumined her, and her mind was now made up: she -would marry Philip and no one else. - -Renard was overjoyed at the news, which he sent flying to the Emperor, -but kept inviolably secret from all others. But though no one knew, -every one suspected; and the muttering of coming trouble sounded on all -sides. Lady Jane Grey, Northumberland’s three sons, Cranmer, Ridley, and -others, were tried and condemned to death. Risings here and there in the -country burst out sporadically, for disaffection was everywhere; -Noailles’ confabulations with Elizabeth and Courtenay were discovered -and denounced; Pole was stopped by the Emperor on his way to England; -and Gardiner, kept in the dark as to the Queen’s irrevocable promise, -still battled against the project of a Spanish match. But the secret had -to be let out at last, and the Spanish adherents in Mary’s council were -obliged to consult Gardiner as to the marriage treaty. They drove a hard -bargain, notwithstanding all the bribes and blandishments, for they were -determined that the marriage should not mean the political subjugation -of England by Spain; and the King Consort’s power was so fenced around -by safeguards and limitations that when Philip finally heard the -conditions, he was well nigh in despair, for he knew that if they were -fulfilled to the letter the marriage would be useless to Spanish -interests, and that his sacrifice would be in vain. But of this the -populace knew nothing. What they did know was, that a Spaniard was -coming to be their King, and London at least shuddered at the plenteous -hints that Noailles had spread, that the Inquisition and the _auto de -fe_ were coming too. - -So when, on the 1st January 1554, a troop of foreign servants and -harbingers rode through the city of London to prepare the lodgings of -the brilliant imperial embassy that was to arrive next day, even the -’prentices gathered as they passed and greeted them with curses and -volleys of snowballs.[144] The brilliant Count of Egmont and his train -landed duly at the Tower wharf on the morrow, to ask formally for the -hand of the Queen for the Emperor’s son. ‘They were met by Sir Anthony -Browne, he being clothed in a very gorgeouse apparel. At the Tower Hill -the earle of Devonshire (_i.e._, Courtenay), with the lorde Garrett and -dyvers others, receyved him in most honorable and famylier wyse; and so -the lorde of Devonshire, gevyng him the right hand, brought him -thoroughte Chepsyde, and so fourthe to Dyrram Place (_i.e._, Durham -House in the Strand), the people nothing rejoysing, helde downe their -heddes sorrowfully.’[145] The formalities were soon got through with a -few solemn banquets and courtly ceremonies, and on the 13th January -Gardiner, with as good a face as he could put upon the matter, made an -oration in the Chamber of Presence at Westminster to the lords and -officials, declaring the Queen’s purpose to marry Philip of Spain: ‘in -most godly lawfull matrimonye: and further, that she should have for her -joynter xxx.^{mil}.. ducketes by the yere, with all the Lowe Country of -Flanders; and that the issue betweene them two lawfully begotten -shoulde, yf there were any, be heir as well to the Kingdome of Spayne, -as also to the sayde Lowe Country. He declared further that we were much -bounden to thanck God that so noble, worthye, and famouse a prince, -would vouchsafe so to humble himself in this maryadge to take upon him -rather as a subject than otherwise: and that the Quene should rule all -thinges as nowe: and that there should be of the Counsell no Spanyard, -nether should have the custody of any fortes or castells, nether have -rule or offyce in the quene’s house or elsewhere in all England.’[146] -Gardiner made the best of it, but the bare fact was enough to send the -friends of the late regime, and not a few of those who had profited by -the plunder of the church, into a delirium of fear. Carews, Wyatts, and -Greys protested, rebelled and collapsed, for England, in the main, was -loyal to Mary, and the vast majority of the people, except in and about -London, bitterly resented the iconoclastic changes of Edward’s reign. -The Queen knew her own mind too, and in the face of danger was as firm -as a rock, for in her sight the Spanish marriage meant the resurrection -of her country and the salvation of her people. Charles and his son -doubtless thought so too in a general way, but that was not their first -object. What they wanted was to humble France permanently by means of -their command of English resources, and to make Spain the dictatress of -the world. - -On the very day that poor Wyatt’s ‘draggletayles,’ all mud-stained and -weary with their march from Kingston Bridge, were toiling up Fleet -Street to final failure and the gallows, a dusty courier rode into -Valladolid with the news for Philip, that the offer of his hand had been -accepted by the Queen of England. The prince was at Aranjuez, a hundred -miles away, planning his favourite gardens, when the news reached him, -with the premature addition that the Earl of Bedford was already on the -way to Spain with the marriage contract. Philip stopped his pastime at -once and started the same day for Valladolid with his bodyguard of -horsemen in the scarlet and gold of Aragon. In haste the old city put -itself into holiday garb, and organised tourneys, cane-tiltings and -fireworks, to celebrate the agreement which was to make the beloved -Prince of Spain King of England. The looms and broidery-frames of all -the realms were soon busy making the gorgeous garb and glittering -trappings to fit out the nobles and hidalgos who were to follow their -prince to England, each, with Spanish ostentation, bent upon -outstripping his fellows in splendour. Alba, Medina Celi, Aguilar, -Pescara, Feria, Mendoza and Enriquez, and a hundred other haughty -magnates, were bidden to make ready with their armies of retainers all -in fine new clothes, in spite of Renard’s warning that: ‘_Seulement sera -requis que les Espaignolez qui suyuront vostre Alteze comportent les -façons de faire des Angloys, et soient modestes._’ - -Philip’s steward, Padilla, was sent hurrying to the coast to receive the -Earl of Bedford, who did not start from England for another month; and -the Marquis de las Novas, loaded with splendid presents from Philip to -his bride, set out for England. Mary was conspicuously fond of fine -garments and jewels, and Philip in his youth, and on state occasions, -wore the richest of apparel; but even they must have been sated at the -piled-up sumptuousness for which their wedding was an excuse. Philip’s -offering to Mary, sent by Las Novas, consisted of ‘a great table -diamond, mounted as a rose in a superb gold setting, valued at 50,000 -ducats; a collar or necklace of eighteen large brilliants, exquisitely -mounted and set with dainty grace, valued at 32,000 ducats; a great -diamond and a large pearl pendant from it (this was Mary’s favourite -jewel, and may be seen in the accompanying portrait), the most beautiful -gems, says a contemporary eyewitness, ever seen in the world, and worth -25,000 ducats; and then follows a list of pearls, diamonds, emeralds and -rubies, without number, sent to Mary and her ladies by the gallant -bridegroom.[147] - -Whilst all these fine preparations were going on in Spain, the Emperor -more than once questioned the wisdom or safety of allowing his son to -risk himself amongst a people so incensed against the match as the -English, and in partial rebellion against it; and Renard held many -anxious conferences with Mary and her council on the subject. The Queen -declared again and again that she would answer for Philip’s safety; and -she put aside, as gently as she could, Renard’s incessant promptings of -greater severity upon Elizabeth, Courtenay and the rest of the suspects -and rebels. Once, at the end of March, Renard told her that if she was -so lenient to rebels, he doubted whether Prince Philip could be trusted -in her realm, ‘as he could not come armed; and if anything befell him it -would be a most disastrous and lamentable scandal. Not only would the -person of his Highness suffer, but also the lords and gentlemen who -accompanied him: and I could not help doubting whether she had taken all -the necessary steps to ensure safety.’ To this she answered, with tears -in her eyes, ‘that she had rather never been born than that any outrage -should happen to the Prince; and she fervently hoped to God that no such -thing would occur. All the members of her Council would do their duty in -their reception of the Prince, and were going to great expense about it. -Her Council shall be reduced to six members, as Paget and Petre had -advised; and she would do her best to dispose the goodwill of her -subjects who wish for the Prince’s coming.’[148] - -Mary was overwhelmed with anxiety. ‘She had neither rest nor sleep,’ she -said, ‘for thinking of the means of security for Philip in England.’ But -she would not sacrifice Elizabeth for all the clamouring of Renard, and -even of Gardiner. She knew that the French were almost openly -subsidising rebellion against her; and that her people grew more -apprehensive daily that her marriage with Philip would mean a war with -France for Spanish objects, but she had now set her mind upon the -marriage, and nothing in the world would shake her. Philip, though he -was not personally brave, was equally firm about coming, even at risk of -his life; for his was a spirit of sacrifice and his marriage was a -sacred duty. From duty Philip never shrank, whatever the suffering it -entailed. - -On the 14th May 1554 Philip rode out of Valladolid with nearly a -thousand horsemen in gaudy raiment. First going south west to near the -Portuguese frontier to meet his sister Joan, who had just lost her -husband, the Prince of Portugal, he turned aside to take a last farewell -to his grandmother, Joan the Mad, in her prison-palace at Tordesillas, -and then passed on from town to town, through Leon and Galicia; his -puny, hydrocephalic heir, Don Carlos, by his side, towards Santiago and -Corunna. Loving greeting and good wishes followed him everywhere; for -was he not going to fix upon yet another land, and that a rich one, the -seal that marked it as within the circle of the Spanish realms? Proud -were these hidalgos who rode behind him, proud the Spaniards, high and -low, who welcomed him and sped him on his way, proud the very lackeys in -the smallest squireling’s train; for they were all Spaniards, and they -felt that this was a Spanish victory. - -On the vigil of St. John, 23rd June, Philip was received at the gates of -Santiago by kneeling citizens with golden keys as usual; and as he and -his train, all flashing in the southern sun, pranced through the streets -of the apostolic capital, two English lords, Bedford and Fitzwalter, sat -at a window with their mantles before their faces, watching the progress -of their future King. The next morning the English special envoys were -publicly led into Philip’s presence. He met them at the door of the -chamber leading into the great hall, and as the Englishmen bent the knee -and doffed their bonnets the Prince uncovered and bowed low. Bedford, ‘a -grandee and a good Christian,’ we are told by an eyewitness, then handed -the marriage contract to him, and kissed hand, as did his colleagues. On -leaving the room one Englishman said to another, apparently delighted at -Philip’s demeanour, ‘O! God be praised for sending us so good a King as -this’; and the Spaniard who heard the remark and understood English was -only too glad of an opportunity of repeating it to his gratified -compatriots. The envoys had good reason to be pleased with Philip, for -though he was usually a bad paymaster to those who served him, he could -be very liberal when it suited him; and on the day after the state -interview a splendid piece of gold plate, magnificently worked, and -standing nearly five feet high, was presented to Bedford, all the rest -of the Englishmen being dealt with in similar generous fashion. - -In the harbour a fine fleet of vessels rode at anchor with several -English royal vessels; and Bedford prayed that Philip would make the -voyage in one of the latter. This, however, was not considered prudent -or dignified; but the English envoys were given the privilege of -choosing amongst the Spanish vessels that which should carry the King. -It was a fine ship they selected, belonging to Martin de Bertondona, one -of the first sailors in Spain; and when Philip went to inspect it the -next day it must have presented a splendid sight, with its towering -gilded poop and forecastle, its thousand fluttering pennons; and over -all the proud royal standard of crimson damask thirty yards long.[149] -At length, after much ceremonious junketing, the heralds announced that -the King would embark the next day, 12th July. There were over a hundred -sail, fully armed and carrying a body of over six thousand men to -reinforce the Emperor, besides six thousand sailors; and when the King -stepped upon his beautiful twenty-four-oared galley, all decked with -silk and cloth of gold, with minstrels and rowers clad in damask -doublets and plumed bonnets to go on board the ship that was to bear him -to England, the ‘Espiritu Santo,’ the great crowd on shore cried aloud -to God and Santiago to send the royal traveller a safe and happy voyage, -and confusion to the French. On the fifth day out a Flemish fleet of -eighteen sail hove in sight off the Land’s End, and convoyed the Prince -past the Needles with some ships of the English navy; and on Thursday, -19th July 1554, the combined fleets anchored in Southampton Water amidst -the thunderous salutes of the English and Flemish ships at anchor there -to greet them. - -The English and Flemish sailors had not got on well together during the -stay of the Flemish fleet at Southampton. The officers suspected the -Lord Admiral of England (Lord William Howard) of intriguing with the -French to capture Philip on his way; and reported that he made little -account of the Flemish Admiral, de la Chapelle, and called his ships -mussel shells. When some of the Flemings had landed the English soldiers -had hustled and insulted them in the streets; and by the time Philip -arrived in Southampton water the two naval forces were not on speaking -terms.[150] On shore things were no better. The nobility of England, -usually so lavish, except those around the Queen, were for the most part -sulking as much as they dared. They were too poor, they declared, to -make great and costly preparations to receive the King, and even a -majority of the Queen’s Council were suspected of plotting in favour of -Elizabeth; whilst Noailles was tireless in his efforts to spread alarm -and disaffection. - -Bedford had reported that Philip was a bad sailor, but fortunately the -voyage had been a calm one, and he remained at anchor for twenty hours -before he landed for the first time in England; so that he was quite -able to carry out the instructions of his father, and the -recommendations of Renard, to conciliate the English in every possible -way. During his visit years before to Germany and Flanders he had -offended the subjects there by his cold precision of manner and his -Spanish abstemiousness; but from the first hour of his stay in England, -his whole behaviour underwent a change, for at the call of duty he was -even willing to sacrifice all his usual tastes and habits. A crowd of -English nobles and courtiers who were to be Philip’s household came off -at once to salute him on board the ‘Espiritu Santo’; and when the next -day he stepped into the magnificent royal barge that was to bear him to -land, the Earl of Arundel invested him with the badge of the Garter in -the name of the Queen. With him, besides the English lords, there went -in the barge a stately crowd of Spanish grandees, Alba, Feria, Ruy -Gomez, his only friend, Olivares, with Egmont, Horn, and Bergues; but no -soldier or man-at-arms was allowed on shore on pain of death. Philip had -learnt from Renard the agony of distrust felt in England of Spanish -arms, and at the same time came the even less welcome news that the -Emperor had suffered a defeat in Flanders, and needed urgently every -soldier that could be sent to him. So the Spanish fleet was not even -allowed to enter the port of Southampton, but after some delay and much -grumbling on the part of the Spaniards at what they considered churlish -treatment, was sent to Portsmouth to revictual for their voyage to -Flanders. - -As Philip stepped ashore, Sir Anthony Browne in a Latin speech announced -that the Queen had appointed him her consort’s master of the horse, and -had sent him the beautiful white charger, housed in crimson velvet and -gold, that was champing its bit hard by. The King would have preferred -to walk the short distance to the house prepared for him; but Browne and -the lords in waiting told him that this was not usual, and the former -‘took him up in his arms and placed him in the saddle, then kissing the -stirrup, marched bareheaded by the side of his new master to the Church -of Holy Rood.’ The King must have looked a gracious figure as he passed -through the curious crowd smiling and bowing, dapper and erect on his -steed, with his short yellow beard and close-cropped yellow head; -dressed as he was in black velvet and silver, with massive gold chains -and glittering gems on his breast, around his velvet bonnet, and at his -neck and wrists; and every one around him, so far as fine clothes went, -was a fit pendant to him. All the English guards, archers, and porters -wore the red and yellow of Aragon; and the nobles in attendance, both -English and Spanish, were splendid in the extreme; but beneath the silk -and jewels beat hearts full of hate. The Spanish servants, 400 of them, -who landed, were not allowed by the jealous English to act for their -master in any way; and at Philip’s public dinner the day before he left -Southampton, Alba forcibly asserted his right to hand the napkin to his -master; whilst all the lowlier courtiers stood by, idly scoffing and -sneering at the clumsy service of their English supplanters. - -During the four days of Philip’s stay at Southampton, whilst his -belongings were being landed, splendid presents and loving messages -passed almost hourly to and fro between Mary and her betrothed. Hundreds -of gaily clad servitors, with finely houselled horses, diamond rings and -gold chains galore, came from the Queen at Winchester, though a -continuous pelting rain was falling; and on Monday, 23rd July, the great -cavalcade set out from Southampton 3000 strong. To the disgust of the -Spaniards the King was surrounded by Englishmen alone; and on the way -600 more English gentlemen in black velvet and gold chains met him, sent -by the Queen as an additional bodyguard; followed a few miles further on -by another embassy from her of six pages clad in crimson brocade and -gold sashes, with six more beautiful horses.[151] The rain never ceased, -and soon Philip’s felt cloak failed to keep dry his black velvet surcoat -and his trunks and doublet of white satin embroidered with gold. So wet -was he, indeed, that he had to stay at St. Cross to don another suit -just as splendid, consisting of a black velvet surcoat covered with gold -bugles, and white velvet doublet and trunks. And so clad he and his -train rode to the stately cathedral of Winchester to hear mass; and then -to the Dean’s house close by, where he was to lodge. - -That night at ten o’clock, after he had supped, the Earl of Arundel came -and told him that the Queen awaited him at the Bishop’s palace on the -other side of the Cathedral. Once more he donned a change of garments: -this time of white kid covered with gold embroidery; and with a little -crowd of English and Spanish nobles, he crossed the narrow lane between -the two gardens, and entered that of the Bishop by a door in the -wall.[152] A private staircase gave access to the Queen’s apartment, and -there Philip saw his bride for the first time. The apartment was a long -narrow gallery, where Gardiner and several other elderly councillors -were assembled; and as Philip entered the Queen was pacing up and down -impatiently. She was, as usual, magnificently dressed, with many jewels -over her black velvet gown, cut high, with a petticoat of frosted -silver. When her eyes lighted on him who was to be her husband, she came -rapidly forward, kissing her hand before taking his, whilst he gallantly -kissed her upon the mouth, in English fashion. - -In her case, at all events, it was love at first sight. The poor woman, -starved and hungry for love all her life, betrayed and ill-treated by -those who should have shielded her, with a soul driven back upon itself, -at last had found in this fair, trim built, young man, ten years her -junior, a being whom she could love without reproach and without -distrust. He confronted the match in a pure spirit of sacrifice; for to -him it meant the victory of the cause for which he and his great father -lived. It meant, sooner or later, the crushing of France, the -extirpation of heresy, and the hegemony of Spain over Europe; and though -Mary was no beauty, Philip was a chivalrous gentleman, and, having -decided to offer himself as a sacrifice for the cause, he did so with a -good grace. Sitting under the canopy side by side, the lovers chatted -amicably; he speaking in Spanish and she in French, though she made some -coquettish attempts to teach him English words. - -The next day brought fresh changes of gorgeous raiment, this time of -purple velvet and gold, and the public reception of Philip by his bride -in the great hall. There, under the canopy of state, the betrothed -pledged each other in a cup of wine, whilst the Spanish courtiers -sneered at everything English, and the Englishmen frowned at the -Spaniards. On the day of St. James, the patron saint of Spain (25th -July), the ancient cathedral was aglow with brilliant colour. All the -pomp that expenditure could command, or fancy devise, was there to -honour a wedding which apparently was to decide the fate of the world -for centuries. The Queen, we are told, blazed with jewels to an extent -that dazzled those who gazed upon her, as she swept up to her seat -before the altar, with her long train of cloth of gold over her black -velvet gown sparkling with precious stones. Philip wore a similar -mantle, covered with gems, over a dress of white satin almost hidden by -chains and jewels. Upon a platform erected in the midst of the nave, -Philip and Mary were made man and wife by Bishop Gardiner, who -afterwards proclaimed to the assembly that the Emperor had transferred -to his son the title of King of Naples. - -At the wedding banquet in the bishop’s palace that afternoon Mary took -precedence of her husband. She sat on the higher throne, and ate off -gold plate, whilst Philip was served on silver; and Spaniards scowled at -the idea that their prince should be second to any. The solid -sumptuousness and abundance of everything struck the Spaniards with -amazement, both at the banquet and at the ball and supper which -followed. But the richer the country the greater their disappointment. -Already they were grumbling that the sacrifice the King had made was -vain. Philip, after all, was not to be master in England, and must go to -a council to ask permission to do anything with English resources. Nay, -said the courtiers, so far from being master, it is he who has to dance -as these Englishmen play: he must bend to their prejudices and caprices, -not they to his, as was fitting for vassals. The English, on their side, -were just as dour under the terrifying predictions of French agents; and -as the royal lovers travelled to Basing, and so to Windsor, Richmond and -London, matters grew worse and worse. - -Philip and Renard did their best to smooth ruffled susceptibilities. All -acts of clemency were ostentatiously coupled with Philip’s name, and the -King surpassed himself in amiability and generosity.[153] Mary, in the -meantime, was perfectly infatuated with her young husband, and he was -kind and gentle to her, as he was to each of his wives in turn. ‘Their -Majesties,’ writes a Spanish courtier, ‘are the happiest couple in the -world, and are more in love with each other than I can say. He never -leaves her, and on the road is always by her side, lifting her into the -saddle and helping her to dismount. He dines with her, publicly -sometimes, and they go to mass together on feast days.’ Then the same -writer continues: ‘These English are the most ungrateful people in the -world, and hate Spaniards worse than the devil. They rob us, even in the -middle of the city, and not a soul of us dares to venture two miles away -for fear of molestation. There is no justice for us at all. We are -ordered by the King to avoid disputes and put up with everything whilst -we are here, and to endure all their attacks in silence.... We are told -that we must bear everything for his Majesty’s sake.’[154] - -Spanish nobles were openly insulted in the streets of London, and -Spanish priests stoned in the churches: but this was not the worst. What -galled most was the growing conviction that all this humiliation was in -vain. Instead of a submissive people ready to bow the neck to the new -King and his countrymen, the Spaniards found a country where the -sovereign’s power was strictly circumscribed, and where a foreigner’s -only hope of domination was by force of arms. ‘This marriage will, -indeed, have been a failure if the Queen have no children,’ wrote one of -Philip’s chamberlains. ‘They told us in Castile that if his Highness -became King of England we should be masters of France ... but instead of -that the French are stronger than ever, and are doing as they like in -Flanders. Kings here have as little power as if they were subjects; the -people who really govern are the councillors, who are the King’s -masters.... They say openly that they will not let our King go until -they and the Queen think fit, as this country is quite big enough to -satisfy any one King.’ - -But still Philip struggled on, gaining ascendency over his wife and -gradually influencing the councillors by gifts and graciousness.[155] -The fifty gallows that had borne as many dead sympathisers of Wyatt were -cleared from the streets, and the skulls of the higher offenders were -banished from London Bridge, so that the triumphant entry of Philip and -Mary into the capital should be marred by no evil reminders; but though -London was loyal to Mary, it hated Spaniards more than any city in the -realm; and the crowd that hailed the Queen effusively when, on the 18th -August, she and her husband went in state from Southwark through the -city to Whitehall, listened and believed the wild and foolish rumours -that a great army of Spaniards was coming to fetch away the crown of -England; that a Spanish friar was to be Archbishop of Canterbury, that -English treasure was being sent from the Tower to fill the Emperor’s -coffers, and much else of the same sort that French agents set afloat; -so, withal, there were few who smiled upon the Queen’s consort, let him -smile as he might upon them. Fair pageants decked the street corners, -and far-fetched compliments were recited to the King and Queen by -children dressed as angels, for the corporation of London had been -warned that there must be no lack of official signs of welcome; but to -prove how sensitive and apprehensive both the court and the people were, -the story is told of how the Conduit in Gracechurch Street was decked -with painted figures of kings, one of whom, Henry VIII., was represented -with a bible labelled ‘_Verbum Dei_’ in his hand; whereupon Gardiner, in -a towering rage, thinking this quite innocent representation was -intended as an insult to the Catholic idea of the Bible, sent for the -painter and threatened him with all sorts of punishments. - -Philip’s patience, however, was gradually breaking down the distrust -entertained in him. It was seen that wherever his influence was exerted -it was on the side of moderation; though of course it was not understood -that this and all his sweetness was only part of the deep plan of the -Emperor to obtain for his son full control of English policy. Mary’s -position at the time was a most difficult one. She was deeply in love -with her husband; and she desired fervently the aggrandisement of Spain, -which would mean the triumph of Catholicism over heresy and security for -her throne; but she was an English Queen, determined if she could to -rule for the good of her people, and to bring about peace with France -before she was drawn into the war. When Noailles saw Mary to give his -tardy and insincere congratulations on the marriage that he had tried so -hard to thwart, she assured him that her friendship with France was -unchanged, and Philip immediately afterwards added his assurance that he -would maintain intact all the alliances contracted by England, whilst -they were for England’s good.[156] - -After Pole had been made to understand that the full restitution of -church property in England must not be pressed, or revolution would -result, he was allowed to come to England as legate, and the country -formally returned to the pale of the church in November 1554. On the -very day that Pole arrived it was officially announced that the Queen -was pregnant; and all England, and still more all Spaniards, greeted the -great news as a special favour vouchsafed by heaven. To Philip and his -father it meant very much; for if a son was born the hold of Spain over -England would be complete for generations, at least long enough for the -great task of unification of the faith to be effected. Its significance, -even in anticipation, was made use of by Philip at once, and during the -jubilation to which it gave rise, he caused his spokesman in parliament -to propose the sending of an armed English contingent to aid the Emperor -in the war against France, and the appointment of himself as Regent of -England in case the expected child outlived his mother. The zeal of -Bonner and Gardiner, however, spoilt it all. They had already begun -their fell work of religious persecution; and the reaction that -naturally resulted against Spain compelled the Queen to dissolve -parliament in a hurry before Philip’s turn was served. - -Not only was Philip personally opposed to the persecution in England, -which he saw would injure his object, but he caused his chaplains openly -to denounce from the pulpit the policy pursued by the English bishops. -Renard ceaselessly deplored in his letters to the Emperor this over zeal -of the English churchman, whose one idea of course was to serve, as they -thought, their church, and not Spanish political ends. For six months -Philip stood in the breach and dammed the tide of persecution: but his -father was growing impatient for his presence in Flanders. The deadly -torpor was creeping over him, though he was not yet old, as it had crept -over others of his house; and he had begged for months that his son -should come and relieve him of his burden. Philip had waited week after -week in the ever deluded hope that Mary’s promise of issue would be -fulfilled; but, at last, even the unhappy Queen herself had become -incredulous, and her husband could delay his departure no longer. By -August 1555 the rogations and intercessions to the Almighty for the safe -birth of a prince were ordered to be discontinued, and the splendid plot -of the Emperor and Philip to bring England and its resources permanently -to their side against France and heresy, was admitted to be a failure. - -The conviction that she was to be childless was only gradually forced -upon Mary; for she had prayed and yearned so much for motherhood that -she could hardly believe that heaven would abandon her thus. In her mind -a son born of her and Philip would have made England, as she said, -Catholic and strong for ever; and as the bitter truth of her barrenness -came home to the Queen she sank deeper into gloomy despondency, -increased by the knowledge that her beloved husband, polite and -considerate though he was to her, was obliged to leave her, with the -tacit understanding that their marriage had failed in its chief object. -Mary passionately longed to bring about peace between her husband’s -country and France. She knew that the revolutionary movement in and -about London was being actively fomented by French intrigue; that the -crowd of pamphlets and scurrilous publications attacking her and her -faith were being paid for with French money; and that unless peace was -soon made or the agitation stopped England would be drawn into the war -and her throne would be in peril. But her efforts towards peace met with -little real aid from the French, for any step that consolidated her -position and gave time for Spaniards and Englishmen to settle down under -one system would have meant ruin to France; and Mary’s Council, and more -reluctantly Mary herself, was obliged to turn to the other alternative, -and attempt to suppress the organised manifestations of rebellion -against her rule. - -The burning of heretical and treasonable books, and even of the Edward -VI. prayer book, was but a prelude to the burning of bodies, and Renard -warned the Emperor that before Philip had been gone six months from -England the holocaust would begin. It matters little whether the -persecutions were religious or political—the apologists of Mary and -Elizabeth respectively strive to prove that their victims in each case -were political criminals; and doubtless, according to the letter of the -law, they were—but it was clear to Philip and his father, that whatever -excuse might be advanced for the burning of Englishmen by Mary’s -Council, the executions would increase the ill-feeling against Spain, -and make English resources less available to them against France. But -notwithstanding this Charles would wait no longer for his son, and -peremptorily ordered him to return to Flanders. - -Philip accompanied his wife in state through London from Hampton Court -to Greenwich[157] for the farewell; and there urged her—as he did her -Council—to be moderate in punishment. Mary herself was kindly and -gentle; but she was a Tudor Queen, and she lived in an age when the life -of the individual was considered as nothing to the safety of the State -as constituted. Moreover, counsels of moderation coming from Philip of -Spain, the patron of the Inquisition, could hardly have sounded very -convincing; though they were sincere in the circumstances, for Philip -was a statesman before all things, and persecution in England at the -time was contrary to his policy. In any case Philip did his best to keep -his hand on the brake before saying goodbye to his wife. Mary was in the -deepest affliction when she took leave of him on the 29th August 1555, -though she struggled to retain her composure before the spectators of -the scene. With one close embrace she bade him farewell, and sought -solitude in a room of which the window commanded a view of the Thames. -So long as the barge that bore him to Gravesend was in sight Mary’s -tear-dimmed eyes followed it yearningly; whilst Philip, courteously -punctilious, continued waving his hand and lifting his plumed cap to her -until a turn in the river shut him from her sight. - -Renard was right. No sooner had Philip gone than the fires blazed out. -Hooper, Rogers, Saunders and Tayor, were burnt a fortnight afterwards; -then Ridley and Latimer some weeks later, to be followed in a few months -by Cranmer and the host of others less distinguished. Gardiner, Mary’s -prime minister and only able councillor, died in November, just after -the opening of parliament; and then, with Pole, practically a foreign -ecclesiastic, as her only guide, with a divided Council, and herself in -utter despondency, Mary sank deeper and deeper into impotence. Philip -had ordered before he left that minutes of all the Council meetings -should be sent to him, but he soon found it difficult to control, for -his own ends, the action of ministers far away; and when soon afterwards -he began to press for English ships to fight the French at sea, he found -the Queen’s Council tardy and unwilling. The ships, they said, were not -ready; but as soon as possible some would be sent to guard the Channel. -This did not suit Philip. The ships must be instantly fitted out and -commissioned; not at Dover, as the Council had promised, but at -Portsmouth, to guard the Emperor’s passage to Spain. This, of course, -was the thin end of the wedge; what he really needed—and it was now the -only benefit he could hope for from his marriage—was that an English -fleet should be at his disposal to attack France. The coolness of the -English Council and the continued refusal to accede to Mary’s request -and give him the crown matrimonial of England, soon changed Philip’s -attitude, and the suavity that had so remarkably characterised him in -England gave way to his usual dry _hauteur_ towards Englishmen whom he -met in Brussels. - -He had found his father in the last stage of mental and bodily -depression. All had gone ill with him; and the burden of his task, as -far from fulfilment as ever, was greater than he could any longer bear. -‘Fortune,’ he said, ‘is a strumpet, and reserves her favours for the -young;’ and so to the young Philip he had determined to transmit his -mighty mission of Christian unification as a means of Spanish -predominance. In October 1555, in perhaps the most dramatic scene in -history, the Emperor solemnly handed to Philip the sovereignty of -Flanders; and on the 16th January 1556, the assembly of Spanish -grandees, in the great hall of the palace of Brussels, witnessed the -surrender of the historic crowns of Castile and Aragon by Charles V. to -his beloved only son. Heart-broken Mary Tudor from that day was Queen of -Spain, as well as Queen of England. The title was a hollow one for her, -though, for her mother’s sake and her own, she loved the country which -alone had succoured them in their trouble; for Philip’s accession made -the return of her husband to her side more than ever remote. Philip had -promised faithfully to come back, and in his letters to her he repeated -his promise again and again. On one occasion when he was indisposed, -Mary sent a special envoy with anxious inquiries after his health. There -was nothing more the matter than the result of some little extra gaiety -on Philip’s part; and he reassured his wife and announced his immediate -visit to England. The English messenger, overjoyed at the good news, -said to some of Philip’s gentlemen, that, though he was delighted to be -able to bear the glad tidings to the Queen, he would take care not to -tell her that his Majesty had exposed himself twice to the dreadful -weather then prevailing, and of his dancing at weddings, as the Queen -was so easily upset and was so anxious about him that she might be too -much afflicted.[158] - -But still Philip came not; and soon afterwards Mary was thrown into -despair by the order from Brussels, that the King’s household in England -was to proceed to Spain. The English people followed the Spanish -courtiers with reviling when they embarked, for the fear of being drawn -into the war was stronger than ever; but to the Queen their departure -was a heavy blow, for it meant that her husband would live in England no -more. For a few months in the early part of 1556, the alliance of the -Pope and the King of France against the Emperor and Philip was broken up -by the settlement of a truce between the latter and the French King; and -for a time matters looked more hopeful for Mary; but in the summer of -1556, the war with France broke out again, and Philip found himself face -to face with a powerful coalition of the Papacy, France and the Turk. It -meant a war over half of Europe, and now if ever England might aid its -Spanish King Consort. Philip wrote constantly urging the English Council -to join him in the war against France; but met only with evasions. Mary -was breaking her heart in sorrow and disappointment, but was willing to -do anything to please Philip. She had, moreover, her own grudge against -France; for Noailles and his master had left no stone unturned to ruin -her from the first day of her accession. But her Council, and above all, -her subjects, had always dreaded this as a result of her Spanish -marriage, and were almost unanimously opposed to the entrance of England -into a strife which mainly concerned the supremacy of Spain over Italy. -Mary, moreover, was in the deepest poverty, owing to her own firm -resolve against all advice to restore to the church the forfeited tenths -and first fruits; and the forced loans collected from the gentry, it was -untruly said at the instance of the Spaniards for the purposes of their -war, had caused the deepest discontent in the country. - -It was clear that nothing more could be got from England for Spanish -objects unless some special effort were made, and Philip was forced to -undertake the journey himself to try the effect of personal pressure. -Mary’s joy at the news of his coming was pathetic in its intensity, -though Pole warned her that, as had happened on other occasions, Philip -might not be able to come after all. The hope of seeing her husband -again seemed to give her new life, and she hurried to London, visiting -Pole at Lambeth on the way, and exerting herself to the utmost to win -him to her side. Thenceforward for weeks, whilst the King’s voyage was -pending, the English Council sat nearly night and day, and couriers -incessantly hurried backwards and forwards to and from London, Brussels, -and Paris.[159] The French reinforced their troops around Calais and -Guisnes, and all the signs pointed to the approach of a war between -England and France at the bidding of Philip. - -The King landed at Dover on the 18th March 1557, and again all his -haughty frigidity gave way to genial smiles for all that was -English.[160] To the Queen’s delight he spent two quiet days with her -alone at Greenwich, and then rode through London to Whitehall by her -side as she sat in her litter. Their reception by the citizens was -polite, but cold; for though Philip personally was not unpopular, the -idea of going to war with France for another nation’s quarrel was -distasteful in the extreme to Englishmen of all classes. What -complicated the situation infinitely was that Philip was at war with the -Pope—that violent, headstrong enemy of his house and nation, Cardinal -Caraffa, Paul IV.—and Pole, as legate, could not even greet the King, -much less acquiesce as a political minister in a war against the Papacy -on the part of England. Mary, too, was torn between her devotion to the -Church on the one hand and her love for her husband on the other. Her -idea, and that of her Council, was to provide a subsidy and an English -contingent to Philip, without entering into a national war; and this -much, under the existing treaty between Charles v. and Henry VIII. in -1543, Philip had a right to claim if he was attacked by France. - -But the King wanted more from his wife’s country than that which he -could have claimed even if he had not married the Queen, and he -ceaselessly urged upon Mary, and upon her Council, heavily bribed to a -man, the granting of much greater aid than that offered. He was at last -successful in this, though it was still arranged that there was to be no -declaration of war by Mary against France, the English forces being used -only for the defence of Flanders and the territory of Calais. There were -to be 8000 infantry and 1000 horse, and an English fleet with 6000 -fighting men was to be raised and maintained, half at the cost of -England and half by Philip. - -When this had been arranged, France struck her counterblow, for it was -clearly better for her to be at open war, in which she could adopt -reprisals on the Scottish border, than to fight English contingents in -Philip’s service. The English Protestant exiles in France were made much -of and subsidised; and hare-brained Stafford and his crew of foolish -young gallants sailed from Dieppe on Easter Sunday to seize the crown of -England for himself. He captured Scarborough, but himself was captured -directly afterwards, and incontinently lost his head. It was a silly, -hopeless business; but the rebels had started from France, and had been -helped by the French King, and the fact was argument enough. On the 6th -June 1557, war was declared between England and France, and Philip, at -last, saw some return for his marriage in England. He hated war, and his -methods were in all things different from those of a soldier; but his -best chance of securing a durable peace was to show his strength whilst -his hold over English resources lasted, and it was clear from Mary’s -declining health that this would not be long. - -At the beginning of July, Philip rode for the last time from Gravesend -through Canterbury to Dover, his ailing wife being carried in a litter -by his side. On the 3rd July he bade her farewell as he stepped into the -barge that carried him to the galleon awaiting him, and Mary, with death -in her heart, turned her back to the sea, and went desolate to her home -in London. - -The combined army in Flanders was commanded by the brilliant young -soldier, Emanuel Philibert of Savoy, who had 50,000 men, whilst the -French army, under Constable Montmorenci, reached barely half that -number. Savoy began the campaign by several rapid feints that deceived -the French, and then suddenly invested St. Quintin, into which Coligny -with 1,200 men just managed to enter before Savoy reached it. Finding -himself in a trap, Coligny begged Montmorenci to come to his relief. The -first attempt at this failed; and on the the 10th August the French main -body made a desperate effort to enter the town by boats over the Somme. -This was found impossible, and Montmorenci’s force was surprised and -taken in the rear by Savoy’s superior strategy. The order to retire was -given too late, and the French retreat soon became a panic-stricken -rout. Six thousand Frenchmen were killed, and as many more captured, -with all the artillery and Montmorenci himself; and there was no force -existent between Savoy’s victorious army and the gates of Paris. Philip -was at Cambrai during the battle; and if he had been a soldier, like his -cousin Savoy, or even like his father, he might have captured the -capital, and have brought France to her knees. But he turned a deaf ear -to Savoy’s prayers, and lost his chance, as he did all his life, by -over-deliberation. _Te Deums_ were chanted, votive offerings promised, -joy bells rung, but Philip’s host moved no further onward. St. Quintin -itself held out for a fortnight longer; and murder, sack, and pillage, -by the rascal mercenaries of Philip, held high saturnalia, in spite of -his strict command, and to his horror when he witnessed the havoc -wrought: and then, with the fatal over-deliberation that ruined him, he -tamely quartered his men in the conquered territory instead of pressing -his victory home. - -The Germans, discontented with their loot, quarrelled and deserted by -the thousand; the English, sulky and unpaid, grumbled incessantly; and -the Spaniards asserted that they had shown no stomach for the fight -before St. Quintin. Their hearts, indeed, were not in the war, for it -concerned them not, and they demanded to be sent home. In London, the -most was made of the victory of St. Quintin by the Queen’s Government. -Bonfires blazed in the streets, free drink rejoiced the lieges, and -Pole, in the Queen’s name, congratulated Philip upon so signal a mark of -divine favour; but the people wanted to gain no victories for -foreigners, and obstinately refused to be glad. Philip, as usual, was -pressed for money, and rather than keep the unruly English contingent -through the winter, he acceded to their request to be allowed to go -home. - -Whilst Philip’s forces were melting away in idleness the fine French -army under Guise, who were fighting the Spaniards outside Rome, were -suddenly recalled by Henry II. to the Flemish frontier. The Pope was -then obliged to make terms with Alba, and withdrew from the war, leaving -the greater antagonists face to face. The English fortress of Calais had -been neglected, and at the declaration of war Noailles, on his way back -to France, had reported that it might be captured without difficulty. -Guise and his army from Italy suddenly appeared before the fortress, and -stormed and captured the Rysbank-fort on the sandy island forming Calais -harbour. The news, when it came the next day (4th January 1558), to -Mary, found her again in high hopes of a child; and she received it -bravely, setting about means to reinforce the town without the loss of a -day. Lord Pembroke was ordered to raise a force of 5000 men and cross to -Philip’s town of Dunkirk. But before they were ready matters were -desperate, for treachery was at work within and without the fortress of -Calais. Lord Grey de Wilton at Guisnes was also in evil case; ‘clean cut -off,’ as he says, ‘from all aid and relief. I have looked for both out -of England and Calais, and know not how to have help by any means, -either of men or victuals. There resteth now none other way for the -succour of Calais, and the rest of your Highness’s places on this side, -but a power of men out of England, or from the King’s Majesty, or from -both.’ A first attempt to storm the citadel of Calais failed, but a few -days later a great force of artillery was brought to bear. Wentworth, -the governor, and Grey, the governor of Guisnes, sent beseeching -messages to Philip for relief, but the time was short, and no sufficient -force to attack Guise could be raised. Philip from the first had been -impressing upon the English Council the need for strengthening Calais; -but, as we have seen, they were overburdened, without money, and without -any able leader. Calais had been left to its fate, and on the 8th -January 1558 the place cheerfully surrendered to the French. A few days -afterwards Guisnes fell, and the last foothold of the English in France -was gone for ever. - -When Guise had first approached Calais, Philip instructed his favourite -Count de Feria to hasten to England and insist upon reinforcements being -sent. Before his departure Calais fell, and on arriving at Dunkirk to -embark he learnt of the loss of Guisnes; whereupon he delayed his -departure for a day, in order not to be the bearer of the last bad news. -The tidings of the English defeats had fallen like a thunderbolt upon -Mary and her advisers; but there was no repining yet, so far as the -Queen was concerned, for God might yet, she hoped, send her a son, and -then all would be well. She would, she said, have the head of any -councillor of hers who dared to talk about making peace without the -restitution of the captured fortresses; and church and laymen alike -opened coffers wide to provide funds for avenging English honour and -protecting English soil. - -Feria arrived in London on the 26th January, though the primary reason -of his mission had disappeared when Calais fell. He saw Mary -immediately, and found her stout of heart and hopeful, desirous of all -things to please her husband, though doubtful about the goodwill of her -Council. Two days afterwards Feria met the Council in Pole’s room, and -presented his master’s demands. Mary had told the ambassador that both -they, and the people at large, were murmuring that the war was of -Philip’s making, and she thought that it would be well boldly to face -and refute that point before it was advanced by the councillors. The -Council listened politely to the King’s message, and recognising that -they had before them the ideas not only of King Philip, but of their own -Queen as well, took time to reply. A day or two afterwards the Council -visited Feria, and Archbishop Heath, the chancellor, delivered their -answer. It was couched in submissive language towards Philip, and told a -sorry story. Far from being able to send any troops across the sea, they -badly wanted troops for their own defence. The coast and the Isle of -Wight were at the mercy of the French, and an invasion was threatened -over the Scottish Border. But if King Philip would send them 3000 German -mercenaries, for which they would pay, they would quarter them in -Newcastle to protect the north country, and they would then arm a -hundred ships in the Channel with a considerable force of men, some of -whom might be used, at need, for Philip’s service. Feria reported that -the 5000 Englishmen he had seen at Dover, intended for embarkation, were -disorderly rascals, useless as soldiers, and he and his master agreed -that nothing could now be expected from England in the form of a -military contingent for foreign service. - -The country, says Feria, is in such a condition that if a hundred -enemies were to land on the coast they could do as they liked.[161] -Confusion was spreading throughout all classes in England, owing to the -dislike of the war for the sake of Spain, and to the disquieting news of -the Queen’s health. Not a third of the usual congregation go to church -since the fall of Calais, reported Feria; and when, in a conversation -with the Queen, the ambassador explained to her how the Spanish nobility -were bound to contribute so many mounted men each, in case of war, Mary -sadly shook her head at the idea of applying any such rule to England. -‘Not all the nobility of England together,’ she said, ‘would furnish her -with a hundred horse.’ Parliament was sitting, and at the demand of -money tongues began to wag that it was to send across the sea to the -Queen’s Spanish husband, whose proud envoy could only sneer and scoff at -the clumsy English way of raising funds for their sovereign, and tell -everybody that he would be only too glad if he could prevail upon them -to raise the necessary money for their own defence, for his master -wanted none of it from them. - -Philip did not go so far as that, for he was very hard pressed indeed, -and urged upon Mary some other way of collecting funds besides the -parliamentary vote. In vain Gresham tried to borrow £10,000 in Antwerp -on the Queen’s credit; attempts to cajole more money from the church and -the nobles were made with but small result. The money from the -parliamentary grant and other sources that could be got together was -sent to Flanders to pay for the raising of German levies for the English -service; and at once the murmurs in London grew to angry shouts, that -English money was being sent out for King Philip. The fitting out of the -English fleet, ostensibly for coast defence, was hurried forward, for -the distracted English councillors were deluded into the idea that a -great combined movement would be made to recover Calais: they were -frightened by a false rumour that there was a strong French fleet at -Dieppe, that the Hanse Towns and Denmark would descend on the east -coast; anything to get them to push forward a strong fleet, really, -though not ostensibly, for Philip’s purpose. But Philip took care when -the fleet was ready that Clinton should use it as he desired;[162] and -the much talked of 3000 German mercenaries never came to England, but in -due time were incorporated in Philip’s army. It is curious to see how -cleverly Feria and his master worked off the Queen against her -councillors, and vice versa. With regard to these mercenaries, for -instance, though the King was constantly sending letters and messages to -his wife, he purposely refrained from mentioning his desire to make use -of the Germans, for whom she had paid. ‘I am writing nothing of this to -the Queen,’ he wrote; ‘I would rather that you (Feria) should prudently -work with the councillors to induce them to ask _us_ to relieve them of -these troops.’[163] - -Mary’s hopes of progeny were once more seen to be delusive; and she, in -deep despondency now, was seen to be rapidly failing. Pole also was a -dying man, said Feria; and all the other councillors, though constantly -clamouring for Spanish bribes, were drifting away from the present -regime. ‘Those whom your Majesty has rewarded most are the men who serve -the least: Pembroke, Arundel, Paget, Petre, Heath, the Bishop of Ely and -the Controller.’ Even Philip himself was ready now to turn to the rising -sun, and away from his waning wife. ‘What you write (he replied to -Feria) about visiting Madam Elizabeth before you leave England, for the -reasons you mention, seems very wise; and I am writing to the Queen that -I have ordered you to go and see the Princess, and I beg the Queen also -to order you to do so.’[164] When Feria had frightened the Queen and -Council out of all that was possible, he went to Hatfield to see -Elizabeth, with all manner of kind messages and significant hints from -Philip; and sailed from England in July, leaving as his successor a -Flemish lawyer named D’assonleville. - -Mary had lost all hope. She knew now, at last, that she would never be a -mother: the persecutions for religion, and above all the war for the -sake of Philip, had made her personally unpopular, as she never had been -before; she had not a single, honest capable statesman near her, Pole -being now moribund, but a set of greedy scamps who looked to their own -interests alone; and the doomed Queen saw that not for her was to be the -glory of making England permanently Catholic, and ensuring uniformity of -faith in Christendom. As the autumn went on the Queen’s condition became -more grave, and constant fever weakened her sadly. In the last week of -October D’assonleville wrote to Philip that the Queen’s life was -despaired of, and Feria was instructed to make rapidly ready to cross, -and stay in England during the period of transition that would supervene -on her death. On the 7th November D’assonleville wrote again, urging -that, as Parliament had been summoned to consider the question of the -succession, it would be well that Philip himself should if possible be -present. This was true; but Philip had his hands full, and, even for so -important an errand as this, he could not absent himself from Flanders; -for the peace commissioners from England, France, and Spain were in full -negotiation, and peace to him now was a matter of vital importance. - -Feria arrived in London on the 9th November, and found Mary lying in her -palace of Saint James’s only intermittently conscious. She smiled sadly -as the ambassador handed her Philip’s letter, and greeted her in his -name; but she was too weak to read the lines he had written, though she -indicated that a favourite ring of hers should be sent to him as a -pledge of her love. Her faithful Clarentius and beloved Jane Dormer, -already betrothed to Feria, whom she afterwards married, tended her day -and night: but most of the others who had surrounded her in the day of -her glory were wending their way to Hatfield, to court the fair-faced -young woman with the thin lips and cold eyes who was waiting composedly -for her coming crown. Feria himself took care to announce loudly his -master’s approval of Elizabeth’s accession when her sister should die; -and did his best to second the Queen’s efforts to obtain some assurance -from the Princess that the Catholic faith and worship should be -maintained in England. Elizabeth was cool and diplomatic. She knew well -that she must succeed in any case, and was already fully agreed with her -friends as to the course she should take, careful not to pledge herself -too far for the future; and when Feria, leaving the Queen’s deathbed, -travelled to Hatfield to see the Princess, she was courteous enough, but -firmly rejected every suggestion that she should owe anything to the -patronage of the King of Spain. - -Mary in her intervals of consciousness was devout and resigned, -comforting the few friends who were left to sorrow around her bed, and -exhorting them to faith and fortitude. It was the 17th November, and the -light was struggling through the murky morning across the mist upon the -marshes between Saint James’s and the Thames, when the daily mass in -Mary’s dying chamber was being celebrated. The Queen was sick to death -now, but the sacrament she ordered for the last time riveted her -wandering brain, and the clouds that had obscured her intelligence -passed away, giving place to almost preternatural clearness. She -repeated the responses distinctly and firmly; and when the celebrant -chanted ‘_Agnus Dei qui tollis peccatur mundi_,’ she exclaimed with -almost startling plainness, ‘_Miserere nobis! Miserere nobis! Dona nobis -pacem_‘; then, as the Host was elevated, she bowed in worship, with -closed eyes that opened no more upon the world that for her had been so -troubled. - -And so, with a prayer for mercy and peace upon her lips, and her last -gaze on earth resting upon the holy mystery of her faith, Mary Tudor -went to her account.[165] Her life was but a passing episode in the -English Reformation; for she was handicapped from the first by her -unpopular marriage, and the unstatesmanlike religious policy of her -ecclesiastical advisers. Like her mother, and her grandmother Isabel, -she would deign to no compromise with what she considered evil. ‘Rather -would I lose ten crowns if I had them,’ she exclaimed once, ‘than palter -with my conscience’; and, though to a less exalted degree, this was -Philip’s attitude of mind also. Fate cast them both in an age when -rigidity of belief was breaking down before the revival of ancient -learning, and the widened outlook of life growing from the renaissance. -They were pitted against rivals whose convictions were as wax, but who -were determined not only to win but to appear right in this world, at -any sacrifice of principle; and the fight was an unequal one. Mary could -not change—only once under dire compulsion did she even pretend to give -way in the matter of religion—Elizabeth changed as often and as -completely as suited her purpose: Philip had only one invariable set of -convictions and methods, his rivals had none, but invented them and -abandoned them as occasion served. - -And so Mary Tudor failed; pitiably, because she was naturally a good -woman, who did her best according to her conscience. But the defects of -her descent were too strong for her: she was a Tudor, and consequently -domineering and obstinate; she was a grand-daughter of Isabel the -Catholic, and as a natural result mystically devout and exalted, caring -nothing for human suffering in the pursuit of her saintly aims; she was -an English Queen, proud of her island realm; a Spanish princess, almost -equally proud of the land of the Catholic kings; and, to crown all, she -was the consort of Philip II., pledged to the cause for which he lived, -the unification of the Christian faith and the destruction of the power -of France. Within a year of her death England was a Protestant country, -and Philip was married to a French princess. - - - - - BOOK III - II - ISABEL OF THE PEACE - (ELIZABETH DE VALOIS) - - -When Mary Tudor lay dying at Saint James’s, and all England was in the -throes of coming change, Feria archly hinted to Elizabeth that she might -secure her succession and consolidate her throne by marrying her Spanish -brother-in-law when her sister should die. Elizabeth loved such hints -and smiled, though she did not commit herself; and for the next few -weeks the main endeavour of Philip and his agents was to perpetuate his -hold over England by means of the marriage of the new Queen. They all -failed at first to gauge her character. Feria was certain that if she -decided to marry a foreigner, ‘her eyes would at once turn to your -Majesty’; and, at length, after his usual tedious deliberation and -endless prayers, Philip once more donned the garb of matrimonial -martyrdom and bade Feria offer his hand to the daughter of Anne Boleyn. -The conditions he laid down were ridiculous, for even he quite -misunderstood the strength of Elizabeth and the new national spirit of -her people. She must amongst many other things become a Catholic, and -obtain secret absolution from the Pope. ‘In this way it will be evident -that I am serving the Lord in marrying her, and that she has been -converted by my act.’ Elizabeth keenly enjoyed the compliment conveyed -by the offer; but she neither wished nor dared to accept it, and she -played with the subject with delightful skill until the latest possible -moment. While the question was pending, Philip kept open the peace -negotiations with France, in order that, if he had his way in England, -pressure might be exerted to obtain the restitution of Calais; but as -soon as it became clear that he was being used by this cunning young -woman as a cat’s paw, he gave her clearly to understand that he intended -to make peace himself, Calais or no Calais; and the treaty of Cateau -Cambresis was signed on the 2nd April 1559, leaving the erstwhile -English fortress in the hands of France. - -Throughout the negotiations that followed Elizabeth’s accession, -Philip’s advisers urged upon him incessantly the vital need for him to -retain his hold over England by conquest and force if other means -failed. The new Queen, they said, was not yet firmly established; the -country was unsettled, and now was the time to act if ever. Philip was -well aware that the friendship of England was of greater importance to -him than ever, but he hated war, and the growth of protestantism in -Europe, especially now that Elizabeth was Queen of England, had -suggested to him a combination that exactly suited his diplomatic -methods. When the peace negotiations had first been broached in the -summer of 1558, Henry II. of France had suggested that a close league of -the great Catholic powers might be formed to withstand the growth of -heresy throughout Europe. Such combinations had been attempted several -times before, but had never been sincerely carried out; national -traditions had always been too strong. It had been further proposed at -the ephemeral truce of Vaucelles in 1556, that the friendship of France -and Spain might be cemented by the marriage of Philip’s only son Carlos -to Henry’s eldest daughter Elizabeth of France. - -The idea slumbered and the truce was broken; but at the beginning of the -peace negotiations of Cateau Cambresis the marriage was again brought -forward, and in principle accepted by Philip. When it became evident -after Mary Tudor’s death that England under the new Queen might stand -aside, or even permanently oppose Spain on religious grounds, Philip -decided that an entire change of policy that should isolate Elizabeth -would suit him better than war. So a close union with France was -adopted; Philip’s name was substituted for that of his son in the -treaty, and the widower of thirty-two became the betrothed husband of -the most beautiful and gifted princess in Europe, the dainty eldest -daughter of Henry II. and Catharine de Medici. It was a clever stroke of -policy; for it not only bound France to Philip against heresy -everywhere, as it was intended to do, but it enabled him to counteract -from the inside any attempt on the part of his allies to depose -Elizabeth of England in favour of Mary Queen of Scots, the next Catholic -heir and the betrothed wife of the Dauphin of France. So far as France -was concerned, the substitution of Philip for his son as a husband of -the princess was an advantage. Don Carlos, though of the same age as the -bride (14), was a deformed, stunted epileptic, who probably for years to -come, if ever, would not possess any political power; whereas Philip, in -the prime of manhood, was by far the most powerful sovereign in the -world at the time, and could, if he chose, at once render any aid that -France might need in suppressing the reformers. - -Elizabeth of Valois, or Isabel of the Peace, as the Spaniards called -her, was the flower of an evil flock. Tall, graceful, and well formed, -even in her precocious youth, she had been destined from her birth for -splendid marriage. ‘My daughter, Elizabeth, is such that she must not be -married to a duchy. She must have a kingdom, and a great one,’ said her -proud father once, when his younger daughter Claude was married to the -Duke of Lorraine; and the Spanish ambassador, describing her magnificent -christening feast at Fontainebleau, in July 1546, says that: ‘Isabel was -chosen for her name, because of the hope they have at a future time of a -marriage between her and the Infant (_i.e._ Don Carlos), and Isabel is a -name beloved in Spain.’[166] We may doubt the correctness of this; for -the Princess’s sponsor was Henry VIII. of England, and probably he chose -the name after his own mother, Elizabeth of York. - -Isabel grew up by the side of her sister-in-law, the young Queen of -Scots; and although the latter was four years the senior of her -companion, they were close rivals in the learning then becoming -fashionable for young ladies of rank. The curious Latin and French -didactic letters written by Mary Stuart, aged ten or eleven, to her -little sister-in-law, although prim and priggish according to our -present ideas, throw a flood of light upon the severe and systematic -training for their future position that the young princesses underwent. -After making all allowances for inevitable flattery on the part of such -a courtier as Brantome, it is evident that Isabel was a beauty of the -very first rank. ‘Her visage was lovely and her eyes and hair black, -which contrasted with her complexion, and made her so attractive, that I -have heard say in Spain that the gentlemen did not dare to look at her, -for fear of falling in love with her, and to their own peril making the -King jealous. The churchmen also avoided looking at her for fear of -temptation; as they did not possess sufficient strength to dominate the -flesh on regarding her.’ In 1552 she was betrothed to Edward VI. of -England, and this danger to Spain, averted by Edward’s death, made -Philip and his father all the more eager to keep a firm hold upon -England as soon as Mary’s accession made an alliance possible. - -It was this young beauty of fourteen whose portrait by Janet was sent to -Philip in the early days of 1559. He was always an admirer of women, and -had been twice an affectionate husband; but his first wife he had -married when he was but a boy, and she died within a year; and his -second wife, Mary Tudor, was, as we have seen, married to him for -political reasons alone. Doña Isabel de Osorio, who had been his -acknowledged mistress for years, and had borne him children, had retired -into a convent, and was, of course, now out of the question. The sight -of this radiant young French beauty seems to have stirred Philip’s heart -to as much eagerness as he was capable of feeling.[167] But though the -bride was an attractive one, and her own family exhausted eulogy in her -praise, as well they might, for no princess of her time excelled her, -the marriage was regarded on both sides as a political event of the -first importance, though, as we shall see, it became really more -important even than was anticipated. It was vital for Philip that he -should have some control over French policy now that friendship with -England was denied him; whilst to have his own clever daughter by the -side of Philip was to the King of France a guarantee that no step -inimical to him would be taken in Spain without his knowledge, and that -he could depend upon the help, or at least the neutrality, of Spain if -he had to deal with the French and Scotch reformers, who seemed to -threaten the basis of authority. Thenceforward the Catholic sheep were -to stand apart from the Protestant goats throughout the world. - -So, when the saturnine Duke of Alba, with his train of gallant -gentlemen, rode into Paris on the 19th June 1559 to wed Isabel, as proxy -for Philip, the court and capital, all swept and garnished in its gayest -garb, were impressed with the knowledge that these brilliant nuptials -were intended to mark a new departure in the politics of Christendom. -Led by the princes of the blood royal of France, the Spaniards and -Flemings who represented Philip rode through the crowded and jubilant -city to the Louvre, heralded by triumphal music, and were received at -the door by Henry II. and his court. Alba dismounted and knelt at the -King’s feet, but was raised and embraced by Henry, and, arm in arm, -Philip’s proxy and his erstwhile enemy entered the great hall where the -Queen Catharine and her daughter sat in gorgeous state, surrounded by -their ladies. As Alba knelt and kissed the hem of the girl’s robe, it -was noticed that the colour fled from her cheek, and she rose from her -chair and remained standing whilst the Duke read to her Philip’s -message, and handed to her the splendid casket of jewels he had sent -her. One of the gifts was a portrait of the bridegroom in a superb -diamond locket, which Isabel pressed to her lips. - -On the next day, 20th June, the same great hall of the Louvre was -crowded with the princes and nobles of France, whilst the solemn -betrothal ceremony was performed that gave to Isabel the title of Queen -of Spain: and on Thursday, 21st June, the capital was alive from early -dawn for the marriage itself. Frenchmen and Spaniards alike could speak -of nothing but the dignity and beauty of the bride. Even Alba, dour as -he was, broke into exclamations at the perfections of the new Queen, and -grew almost romantic in her praises in his letters to Philip. Isabel, -indeed, had been well schooled by her mother, whom she feared and -admired more than any other person in the world. Catharine de Medici was -still, to some extent, in the shade, for the Duchess of Valentinois was -the real Queen; but she was profoundly wise, and had moulded her -favourite daughter well for the character she was destined to play. -Isabel herself was fully conscious of the great position she was called -to fill, and was proud of the triumph that was hers. - -She bore herself throughout the trying ceremonies with a composure and -grace which she knew were fitting for the Queen of Spain; and as she -glided, holding her handsome father’s hand, along the gorgeous raised -and covered gangway leading from the bishop’s palace to the great door -of Notre Dame, she presented a vision of beauty adorned with such -stately magnificence as can rarely have been surpassed, even at the -marriage of her friend and sister-in-law, Mary Stuart, in the same place -shortly before. The texture of Isabel’s robe was literally interwoven -with pearls. Round her neck was suspended Philip’s portrait, and the -great pear-shaped pearl which was the greatest treasure in the crown -jewels of Spain. Her mantle was of blue velvet, enriched with a border -of bullion embroidery a foot wide. The train of this gorgeous robe was -borne by her sister Claude, Duchess of Lorraine, and Mary Stuart, Queen -of Scots, and, as she foolishly called herself, Queen of England. Isabel -wore an imperial crown which, we are told, cast a halo of light around -her as she walked, so refulgent were the jewels of which it was -composed.[168] Alba, in cloth of gold and with the royal insignia, -personated his absent master, and in his name was married to the -Princess by Cardinal de Bourbon. Splendour truly seems to have excelled -itself in that sumptuous court on this occasion; the long-standing -enemies, France and Spain, each trying to outdazzle the other in its -lavish magnificence. - -But scowling faces there were not a few, for this was the triumph of the -house of Lorraine, and the debonair Duke of Guise and his brothers took -no pains to hide their elation, whilst the princes of the blood of the -house of Bourbon, the Montmorencis and the reformers were full of -foreboding, for they knew now that their enemies could look across the -Pyrenees, almost certain of aid from the most powerful potentate on -earth. Queen Catharine, too, clerical though she was, smiled with a -bitter heart, for she had no love for the house of Guise. For days the -festivities went on: masque and banquet, ball and tournament following -each other with wearisome brilliancy, for another daughter of France, -Margaret, was wedded at the same time to the Duke of Savoy, and the -double nuptials called for double display. - -At length the last and greatest of the gallant shows was held under the -shadow of the Bastille, hard by the gate of St. Antoine, on the 30th -June. In gorgeous tribunes under broidered silken canopies sat the Queen -of France and Spain, Catharine and her dearest daughter; and the -Duchesses of Lorraine and Savoy, with the fairest court in Christendom, -gathered around the great parallelogram of the lists to witness the -tournament. The glittering courtiers, gay as they looked, who stood -behind the ladies in the seats, knew that the wedding feast really -celebrated a political event of the first consequence. It foreboded the -suppression of Protestantism in Scotland by France, a war with England, -and the crushing of reform in France itself and in Flanders; for there -was to be no more paralysing rivalry between Philip and his new -father-in-law, and it made the Catholic Guises the masters of France. - -But none could tell that the stroke that was to set all these events -into immediate motion was to fall so soon. Henry II., shallow and vain -of his unquestioned preeminence in the gallant sport, rode into the -lists upon a big bay war horse, decked, like its rider, with the black -and white devices and interlaced crescents of Diane de Poitiers, Duchess -of Valentinois. The King of France was determined in the presence of the -Spanish grandees to show that he, at least, was no carpet knight, like -their King Philip, and he rode course after course victoriously with -princes and nobles, until the light began to wane. Catharine, desirous -of ending the dangerous sport, sent a message from her tribune to pray -her husband to tilt no more for that day. Henry laughed to scorn such -timid counsel. He would run once more against the Franco-Scot -Montgomerie, Sieur de L’Orge, who tried his best to avoid the encounter -without success. At the first shock Montgomerie’s lance carried away the -King’s visor, but the shaft broke with the force of the impact and a -great jagged splinter pierced the eye and brain of Henry of Valois, who, -within three days, was dead. - -The whole political position was changed in a day. The new King Francis -and his wife, Mary Stuart, were little more than children; and the young -Queen’s uncles the Guises would rule France unless Catharine the Queen -Dowager could beat them on their own ground. For her, indeed, the hour -had now come, or was coming. For years she had been patient whilst the -King’s mistress held sway; but if she could combine the enemies of the -Guises now she might be mistress of France. The alliance with Spain was -no longer to be used if she could help it as a means for crushing -Protestantism; for to Protestantism she must partly look to crush the -Guises; but if by diplomacy and the efforts of her daughter Isabel she -could win Spanish support to her side on personal grounds, then she -might triumph over her foes. It needed, as we shall see, consummate -skill and chicanery, and, in the end, it did not succeed; for Philip -would naturally in the long run tend towards the Guises, the enemies of -reform, and he was easily led by a woman. - -And thus the mission of Isabel of Valois in marrying Philip was changed -in a moment by Montgomerie’s unlucky lance thrust from a national and -religious to a personal and political object. But Philip was a difficult -man to be used for the ends of others; what he had needed was French -neutrality whilst he tackled heresy, and he had no desire to forward the -interests of an ambitious Italian woman whom he hated; though at first -there was just one element that made him inclined to smile upon -Catharine, doubtfully orthodox though she was. The Queen of Scots and -France was Catholic heiress of England; and the Guises were already -preparing to employ French national forces to oust Elizabeth in favour -of their niece. This Philip could never have permitted: better for him a -Protestant England than a French England: so again national interests -overrode religious affinities, and before the ink of the treaty of -Cateau Cambresis was well dry the spirit that inspired the agreement was -as dead as the king who had conceived it. - -Philip was still at Ghent when the news of Henry’s death reached him, -yearning to get back again to his beloved Spain, and full of anxiety -that even there the detested heresy was raising its head in his absence. -His Netherlands dominions would clearly have to be taught submission; -Elizabeth of England was positively insolent in her disregard of him, -and if Spain failed in orthodoxy then indeed would he and his cause be -lost. His most pressing need therefore, for the moment, was to keep the -alliance with France intact for the purpose he had in view, whilst -restraining the activity of the Guises in England on behalf of their -niece, Mary Stuart. All went well in this respect at first. The -Montmorencis and the princes of Bourbon were divested of political -power, the ultra-Catholic party was paramount, and even the -Queen-Mother, Catharine, was working in apparent harmony with the -Guises. But to keep his hand firmly upon the machine of government in -France, it was desirable for Philip to have at his side at the earliest -possible day his young French wife. Whilst Isabel was yet in mourning -seclusion with her mother, Philip continued to press for her early -coming, and in July the French ambassador, the Guisan Bishop of Limoges, -told the impatient bridegroom that the Princess now only awaited the -instructions of her future husband to commence the journey towards the -Spanish frontier. - -As usual, the smallest detail was discussed and settled by Philip with -his Council at Ghent; the choice of the Queen’s confessor, the exact -etiquette to be followed on her reception in Spanish territory and -afterwards, the number of her French household, the amount of baggage -she and her suite might bring, and even the exact manner in which she -was to greet the Spaniards who went to receive her. On the 3rd August -Philip wrote from Ghent to the Cardinal Archbishop of Burgos to make -ready with his brother, the Duke of Infantado, to proceed to the -frontier for the new Queen’s reception soon after the King himself -should arrive in Spain. But Isabel’s departure from her own land could -not be arranged hurriedly. There was a prodigious trousseau to be -prepared, so enormous, indeed, as to strike with dismay the Spanish -officers who had to arrange for its conveyance over the Pyrenees and the -rough bridle paths of Spain; Catharine, too, was loath to let her -daughter go before she had indoctrinated her with her new task in Spain, -and she insisted upon her attending the coronation of her brother, -Francis II., at Rheims in mid September. - -Philip, always impatient for the coming of his bride, arrived in Spain -by sea on the 8th September 1559; and signalised his arrival by the -great _auto de fe_ at Valladolid, that was to indicate to Europe that -heresy was to be burnt out of the dominions of the Catholic king. Full -of far-reaching religious plans, for which it was necessary that he -should be sure of France, the presence of his French wife by his side -was more than ever necessary, and in October he sent a special envoy, -Count Buendia, to France to demand that the bride should start at once: -‘first, because of the great desire of his Majesty to see and keep the -Catholic Queen in his realm as soon as possible, he begs most earnestly -his good brother the Christian King and Queen Catharine, to arrange so -that, in any case, the Queen should start at once, and arrive at Bayonne -by the end of November.’[169] Another letter from the King to the same -effect was written to Isabel herself, and she in reply promised through -the French ambassador in Spain to delay her departure no longer. - -But week followed week, and yet the bride came not. Splendid presents -and loving messages from Philip went to her frequently, and kind replies -were returned from Isabel and her mother. But intrigue was already rife -in the French court, and Catharine was trying to gain promises from -Philip to support her against those who, she said, were bent upon -disturbing her son’s realm. So every excuse was seized upon to keep -Isabel in France, until Philip had promised what was required. The -French found him anything but compliant, and at length, in the depth of -winter (17th December), Isabel, with her mother and brother, and a great -train of courtiers, left Blois on her long journey south. The household -of the new Queen appointed by her mother was extremely numerous, -notwithstanding the remonstrances of Philip’s agents, who broadly hinted -that they would not be allowed to remain in Spain. Three of the Bourbon -princes of the blood, Anthony, Duke of Vendome, husband of Jeanne -d’Albret, titular Queen of Navarre, his brother, Cardinal de Bourbon, -and the Prince of Roche sur Yon, were to accompany her to the frontier, -a good excuse for sending them away from Paris, and two Bourbon -princesses, the Countess d’Harcourt (Madame de Rieux), and her niece, -Anne of Bourbon, were to go with her into Spain. - -All these great personages and scores of others needed long lists of -servitors and trains of baggage, and the journey over the snowy winter -paths was long and tedious. The greatest difficulty was foreseen, -however, in the transport over the Pyrenees of the vast mass of -impedimenta taken by Isabel and her ladies. Much of it was sent by sea, -and was only received in Spain after long delay and continued annoyance -to the ladies, who had to appear in the ceremonies without their fine -clothes. The girl lost heart as the time grew near to bid farewell to -her mother. She loved France dearly, with an ardour she never lost to -the last day of her life, and the French people returned her devotion. -Along the roads to Chatellerault crowds stood in tears, invoking -blessings upon the angel who was to be sacrificed on the altar of peace. -France and Spain had been at war for generations: Philip’s cold, haughty -demeanour, which had earned him the dislike of Flemings, was equally -distasteful to Frenchmen, and stories current of the gloomy rigidity of -his monastic court struck the heart of the bright young beauty with fear -and dread. - -For some days Catharine and her daughter stayed at Chatellerault, loath -to say goodbye; but at last, on the 29th November, the parting could be -delayed no longer, and, heartbroken, mother and daughter took a tearful -farewell. Isabel had been reared in the poetical court in which Ronsard -sang, and every courtier wooed in verse. Mary Stuart throughout her life -showed the effects of such training, and so did Isabel. She and her -mother had exchanged poetical letters during the months of their -mourning, and continued to do so afterwards; and on her lonely way from -Chatellerault Isabel solaced herself by inditing a letter in verse to -the beloved mother whom she had just left. As poetry it leaves much to -be desired. The poem is too long to quote, but in it the writer compares -her desire to see her husband with the much stronger natural love for -her mother, who, she says, is to her father, mother, and husband in one. -The epistle ends thus:— - - ‘Tantost je sens mon œil plorer puis ryre, - Mais la fin est toujours d’estre martyre, - Qui durera sans prendre fin ne cesse, - Jusques á tant que je reprenne adresse - Pour retourner vers vous en diligence: - Lors oblyant la trop facheuse absence - Je recevrai la joye et le plaisir, - Et joyrez de mon parfait desir - D’ensemble veoir père mère et mari.’[170] - -The next morning brought Isabel a similar poem of regretful adieu from -her mother, and some really poetical lines from Mary Stuart, in which -the following occur:— - - ‘Les pleurs font mal au cœur joyeux et sain, - Mais au dolent, ils servent quasi de pain: - Car si le mal par les pleurs n’est allegé - A tout moins il en est soulagé.’ - -Through snow-clad France the long cavalcade slowly made its way. Endless -questions of etiquette, prompted by pride and jealousy on both sides, -occupied French and Spanish officials the while. Philip, as usual, saw -to the smallest point himself. The proud Mendoza Cardinal objected to -give precedence to the King of Navarre, as he was not a real king, and -the Doge of Venice had always given place to Cardinal Mendoza. ‘The -Prince of Roche sur Yon may be called “lordship,” because he is of royal -blood, but he must have only the privileges of an ambassador whilst in -Spain.’ The Countess of Ureña, who was to be Isabel’s mistress of the -robes, a proud dame in Philip’s entire confidence, was to keep close to -the Queen, and decide all points of feminine etiquette; whilst Lopez de -Guzman, Isabel’s Spanish chief steward, was to arrange everything -according to Spanish etiquette in her table service. Cardinal Mendoza -was instructed to alight and salute the Queen humbly when he first -approached her, and his brother the Duke was to kiss her hand, -notwithstanding any reluctance she might show. Each morning the Cardinal -was to visit her, whereupon she was to receive him standing, and order -an arm-chair to be brought for him, and he was to be seated whilst he -stayed with her. The Duke of Infantado, chief of the Mendozas, was only -to be received by the Queen standing the first time he visited her, and -for him was to be brought a red velvet stool upon which to sit; but the -Duke was warned that this privilege was only to last during the journey, -and was to cease when Isabel joined her husband.[171] And so on, down to -the smaller courtiers in gradation, the honours to be given and received -are all set down in minute detail, that of itself was sufficient to -strike awe in a young girl of fifteen, who had passed her life in the -gay poetical court of her father. - -It was a cruel irony that sent Anthony de Bourbon, the shadowy King -Consort of Navarre, to deliver the French Consort of the real King of -Navarre to her husband on the frontier of the little mountain kingdom, -and he probably only accepted the mission in the hope that the -long-pending negotiations with Spain, for giving him some adequate -compensation, such as the title of King of Sardinia, might be -advantageously pushed on such an occasion. Philip fooled poor vain -Anthony as long as it suited him, but without the remotest intention of -giving any satisfaction to the house of Navarre. When, therefore, in -deep snowdrifts the Queen’s cavalcade reached the little frontier town -of St. Jean Pied de Port on the last day in the year 1559, and France -was all behind them, Anthony and the other Bourbon princes were on the -alert to resent any slight that might be offered to them by the -Spaniards. The exchange of the Queen to the custody of her husband’s -envoys was to be made at a point between St. Jean and the Spanish hamlet -of Roncesvalles, but the inclement weather and heavy snow made it -impossible to reach the elevated spot agreed upon; and for three days -Isabel and her French suite tarried weatherbound at St. Jean. For the -first time she donned there the Spanish dress, and received some of her -Spanish household; and on the 3rd January 1560 she started on horseback -towards the frontier, for she refused to enter her new realm in a -litter, and thus, with her veritable army of attendants and -baggage-train, she tramped through the savage pass and into the valley -of Valcarlos into Spain. - -The cold was intense, and through the elevated mountain paths the -snowstorm drove furiously, yet she pushed bravely on until she could -gain the shelter of the monastery church of Our Lady of Roncesvalles in -Spanish territory. It was a great concession for the French to make, and -Anthony de Bourbon would not have crossed the frontier first but for the -insistence of Isabel, and the impossibility of carrying out the -ceremonious programme of handing over the Queen in a Pyrenean pass in a -mid-winter snowstorm. Further than Roncesvalles he was determined he -would not go, though only five miles further, at the village of Espinal, -the Cardinal and the Duke with the Spanish train were lodged. At the -gate of the Augustinian monastery, where the King of Navarre helped the -almost frozen Queen to alight, there stood beside the prior and -dignitaries a group of Spanish nobles who had ridden over from Espinal -unofficially to greet their new Queen; and after the religious ceremony -and prayers in the beautifully decorated church, these nobles and their -followers almost came to open fight with the Frenchmen. As Isabel left -the church to enter the apartments in the monastery assigned to her, the -Spaniards, jealous that in their own country Frenchmen alone should -attend the Queen, flocked in unbidden after her, and had to be forcibly -ejected by those in attendance upon her.[172] - -Distrust and suspicion prevailed on all hands. It had been arranged, -after much courtly wrangling, that the transfer of the custody of the -Queen should take place at a point exactly midway between Roncesvalles -and Espinal, but King Anthony made the weather an excuse—probably a -perfectly good one—for urging the Spaniards to come the whole way to -Roncesvalles, rather than expose the Queen and themselves to a long -ceremony in an open field three feet deep in snow. But Infantado was -shocked at the idea that he and his brother the Cardinal should be asked -to go a step further than the Frenchmen, and refused. Anthony -remonstrated, but in vain; and in the lone monastery in the Pyrenean -valley Isabel passed two more days waiting for either the pride or the -snow to melt. At length she lost patience. She was as tenacious of -French honour as any one, but she well knew that the success of her -mission depended upon her winning the affections of the Spaniards, and -on the 5th January she sent for Navarre and told him that she intended -herself to ride to the spot agreed upon for the exchange. The French -nobles were indignant, and at first inclined to shirk the journey, but -Isabel, young as she was, could be imperious and insisted; and in -torrents of sleet the great cavalcade, with the ceremonial finery -already bedraggled, had prepared to start, when the welcome message came -from Espinal that the Duke and the Cardinal had relented, and were now -on their way to Roncesvalles to obey, as they said, the summons of their -Queen. - -The utmost confusion then ensued, for the whole of the baggage, with -hangings, furniture and dresses had been packed, and much of it had -already started forward, especially the best frocks and furbelows of -Isabel’s crowd of ladies, who saw their beds and finery no more for many -a long day. The light was failing in the stormy winter day when Cardinal -Mendoza and his brother Infantado, preceded by sixty Spanish nobles in -brave attire, marched side by side up the great torch-lit hall, at the -end of which Cardinal de Bourbon stood upon a canopied dais, surrounded -by French ecclesiastics and nobles. Under the cloth of state, blazoned -with the lilies of France, the powers of the envoys were exchanged and -read; and then, with much stately salutation and stilted verbiage, the -Spanish nobles were led to the chamber where, upon a raised throne, -Isabel awaited them with King Anthony and the two Bourbon ladies. But -the place, a solitary mountain monastery, was unfit for courtly -ceremonies; and the Spaniards were so eager to do homage to their new -Queen that soon all seemliness was lost, and a jostling crowd filled the -presence chamber, each Spaniard trying to get the best place and -hustling rudely aside the French, and even the French ladies in -attendance, until the latter had to retire. - -Isabel remained calm and dignified, determined to say nothing to offend -the Spaniards; but when the Mendozas advanced, and the actual exchange -was to be made, she turned pale as she stood to receive and greet them. -Through the interminable pompous speeches that accompanied her transfer -she remained outwardly unmoved, but when Navarre had actually handed to -the custody of Spaniards ‘this princess, whom I have taken from the -house of the greatest king in the world to be delivered to the most -illustrious sovereign upon earth,’ and the Bourbon princes came forward -and knelt to say farewell, the girl’s strength broke down, and she wept -bitterly. Cardinal Mendoza, apparently to improve the occasion, advanced -and chanted the verse, _Audi filia et vide inclina aurem tuam_, and the -response was intoned by another Spanish priest, _obliviscere populum -tuum, et domum patris tui_. She loved her people and the home of her -fathers dearly; she was going, almost a child, to live the rest of her -life amongst strangers who had been the enemies of her house for -generations, to wed a man she had never seen, but of whom she could have -heard little but evil; and, as the words of the versicle were croaked by -the ecclesiastic, they seemed to the overwrought girl a sentence of -doom, and in an agony of tears she threw herself into the arms of -Anthony of Navarre and his brother the Cardinal. She was led away gently -by Infantado, with some chiding words that she, the Queen of Spain, -should so condescend to the Duke of Vendome. In the midst of her grief -she answered with spirit that she did so by order of her brother, and, -‘as to princes of the blood, and after the fashion of the nation to -which, up to that moment, she had belonged.’[173] And, so still in -tears, the beautiful black-eyed girl was led to the Spanish litter -awaiting her, and through the heavily-falling snow was carried, to the -sound of many hautboys and trumpets, to the wretched village of Burgete, -where she was to pass the night; even there, comforted by the beds, -hangings, lights, food and delicacies, sent by her French countrymen to -furnish forth her poor quarters.’[174] - -There is no space here to follow the Queen step by step through her new -country to join her husband. It was a progress full of jealousy and -bitterness between the French household of the Queen, that still -accompanied her, and the Spanish courtiers. At Pamplona, the capital of -Navarre, where the company passed three days, Isabel charmed all hearts -by her grace and beauty as she was carried through the thronged -thoroughfares from the cathedral to the royal palace where she was to -lodge. At the foot of the grand staircase stood a lady of fifty, stern -and haughty in appearance, but now all smiles as she kissed the hand of -the Queen and delivered to her a letter from King Philip. It was the -Countess of Ureña, daughter of the Alburquerques and the Toledos, and -one of the greatest ladies in Spain, who had been chosen by Philip as -the guide, philosopher and friend of his new consort. She looked sourly -upon the two Bourbon princesses whom she was obliged to salute; and on -the departure from Pamplona after three days of rejoicing Isabel, -desirous of propitiating the Countess of Ureña, whom Philip had praised -inordinately in his letters, offered her a seat in her own litter. This -she thought fit to refuse, as she was panting for the fray to establish -her precedence next to the Queen; and when the cavalcade was starting -her lackeys, violently hustling aside the equipage of the elder Bourbon -princess Madame de Rieux, intruded that of the countess into the place -in front of it. An affray resulted, and an appeal to the Queen, who -decided politely in favour of the blood royal of France until King -Philip himself should give his orders—which he subsequently did by -placing the countess between Madame de Rieux and her unmarried niece. -But the proud dame stored up in her mind the memory of the slight, and -many a troubled hour for Isabel grew out of this incident. - -The young Queen’s life in Spain may now be said to have commenced, and -already she had shown the tact and diplomacy so extraordinary in a girl -of fifteen. Her hold upon the affection of the Spaniards was tenacious -from the first, owing partly, of course, to her great beauty and -sweetness, but also to her prompt adaptability and acceptance of Spanish -customs. From her childhood she had studied Spanish, and a very few -weeks after her entrance she spoke it fluently. But she never forgot her -own people and her own tongue. ‘To Frenchmen she always spoke in -French,’ wrote Brantome, ‘and would never consent to discontinue it, -reading always in French the most beautiful books that could be got in -France, which she was very curious to obtain. To Spaniards and other -foreigners she spoke Spanish very correctly. In short, this princess was -perfect in everything, besides being so splendid and liberal as never -was seen. She never wore a dress twice, but gave them all after once -wearing to her ladies; and God knows what rich and splendid dresses they -were; so rich and superb, indeed, that the least of them cost three or -four hundred crowns, for the King, her husband, kept her very lavishly -in such things. Every day she had a new one, as I was told by her own -tailor, who went thither a poor man and became richer than anybody, as I -have seen with my own eyes. She was always attired with extreme -magnificence, and her dresses suited her beautifully: amongst others, -those with slashed sleeves with laced points, and her head-dress always -matched, so that nothing was wanting. Those who saw her thus in a -painted portrait admired her, and I will leave you to guess the delight -it was to see her face to face with her sweetness and grace.... When she -went walking anywhere, either to church or to the monasteries or -gardens, there was such a great press and crowds of people to gaze upon -her that it was impossible to stir; and happy indeed was the person who -could say after the struggle, “I have seen the Queen.” Never was a queen -so beloved in Spain as she; not even the great Queen Isabel herself. The -people called her the Queen of peace and goodness, and our Frenchmen -called her the “olive branch.”‘[175] - -Philip at Guadalajara, the town of the Mendozas, waited impatiently the -coming of his bride. With him from Toledo had come his sombre widowed -sister Joan, and when they learned, at the end of January 1560, that the -Queen’s cavalcade was approaching, it was made known that the King -wished special efforts to be made by the city to welcome his bride. -Through artificial flowering woods with tethered birds and animals, -through lines of gaily decked booths amply supplied with good cheer for -the free refreshment of her suite, by kneeling aldermen in crimson -velvet and white satin, and through an admiring populace, Isabel of the -Peace rode into the city between the Cardinal of Burgos and the Duke of -Infantado. At the door of the famous palace of the Mendozas, where -Philip lodged, stood Princess Joan, who half knelt and kissed the hem of -the girl’s garment; then led her by the hand into the large hall, at the -end of which a sumptuous altar was erected. Before it, in a gilded -chair, sat Isabel’s husband, grave of aspect beyond his thirty-three -years. He saluted his bride ceremoniously; and after mass at the altar -the marriage was performed by Cardinal Mendoza. - -Philip’s impatience for his bride had been more political than personal, -for he needed above all things to be sure of France, and there was at -first little cordiality between the newly wedded pair. The first -afternoon, as the sovereigns sat in their tribune witnessing the bull -fight and cane tourneys held in the great square of Guadalajara to -celebrate the wedding, the frightened girl gazed so fixedly in the face -of her husband that Philip became annoyed, and turned to her curtly and -said: ‘What are you looking at? To see whether I have grey hair.’[176] -Through the tedious feasting that followed, the marriage still looked -unpromising. The girl was unformed and inexperienced, and was -overwhelmed with the importance of the task her mother had confided to -her. Around her there raged incessant jealousy, both between the -Countess of Ureña and her French ladies, and amongst the French ladies -themselves, and it needed all the authority of Catharine de Medici, and -the fear with which she inspired her daughter, to keep Isabel on the -right path amidst the contending factions. - -The letters that passed between them show how absolute was the command -that at first Catharine exercised over her daughter, a command that -later was to a great extent replaced by that of Philip. Isabel in the -quarrels of her French ladies had sided with Madame Vimeux against her -principal attendant, Madame de Clermont, and, girl like, had made -friends with some of her younger French maids. Upon this her mother -wrote to her as follows: ‘It really looks very bad for you in the -position you occupy to show that you are such a child still as to make -much of your girls before people. When you are alone in your chamber in -private, you may pass your time and play with them as much as you like, -but before people be attentive to your cousin,[177] and Madame de -Clermont. Talk with them often and believe what they say; for they are -both wise, and aim at nothing but your honour and well being; whereas -those other wenches can only teach you folly and silliness. Therefore do -what I tell you, if you wish me to be satisfied with you and love you, -and to show me that you love me as you ought.’[178] - -From Guadalajara Philip and his Consort passed on to Toledo for the -completion of the festivities, and to present his son Don Carlos to the -Cortes, to receive their oath of allegiance as heir to the crowns of -Castile. The capital received the Queen with unusual pomp, and after the -public reception was over Isabel retired to her chamber with her -favourite French maids, who for pastime danced before her. Soon the -Queen, flushed and excited, rose and danced several times herself. Her -high colour was noticed by some of the elder ladies, who had been -instructed by Catharine to watch the precious health of her daughter -closely; and in the morning Philip found that his girl wife was in a -burning fever, which was soon pronounced to be smallpox. - -Up to this time Philip had not been particularly demonstrative towards -his French bride; and she had not quite got over her fear of him. But -her dangerous illness struck both him and her mother with dismay. Each -of them was determined to use her as a means to keep a hold upon the -other, and her death threatened to be disastrous for both; but, apart -from this, her mother was devotedly attached to her, and Philip was -beginning to love her as he loved no other person in the world, except, -years afterwards, his elder daughter by her. Couriers galloped backwards -and forwards between Paris and Toledo with daily news of the progress of -the malady. No fear for his health, no remonstrance from his courtiers, -could persuade Philip to keep away from his sick wife; and for long -periods during the most dangerous stages of her illness he would not -leave her side. Catharine was almost beside herself with anxiety. For -her everything depended upon her daughter’s success in gaining influence -over her husband, and for this Isabel’s beauty was as necessary as her -life. The attack proved to be light, and the patient was soon out of -danger; but Catharine showered upon the ladies in attendance questions -and counsels innumerable, as to the marks left by the fell disease. The -many remedies she sent appear, according to Brantome, to have given way -to the one which he mentions as having saved the Queen from -disfigurement; namely, the covering of the exposed skin with fresh white -of egg. Though Isabel was soon out of danger her convalescence was long -and tedious, and the intimate details of her bodily habit and condition -that passed between Catharine and Madame de Clermont, frank to the -extreme of coarseness, show how increasingly the Queen-Mother was -depending upon her Spanish son-in-law to sustain her amidst the warring -interests that were rapidly dividing France. - -The irregularities so frequently reported by Madame de Clermont in -Isabel’s health, at one time seem to have suggested to her distracted -mother that her disorder was the outcome of the dreadful disease which -it was stated she had inherited from her grandfather Francis I.; and -Catharine alternated scolding with prayers to her daughter to be -circumspect, until Isabel trembled with very fear when she opened one of -her mother’s letters.[179] ‘Recollect’ (wrote Catherine), ‘what I told -you before you left. You know very well how important it is that no one -should know what malady you have got; for if your husband were to know -of it he would never come near you.’[180] France had abandoned almost -every thing at the Peace of Cateau Cambresis in order to gain the -support of Spain against religious reform, and Catharine now looked to -her daughter to bring the same influence upon her side in any case. -Everything depended upon this girl’s being able to captivate her -experienced husband and to lead him as she liked. Philip, it is true, -was now in love with her; but his policy was founded upon a fixed -principle: it was never swayed by personal affection; and Isabel was -really as powerless to move him as all others who tried to do so. - -Catharine had impressed particularly upon her daughter that she was to -use every effort to draw the ties between France and Spain closer, by -bringing about a marriage of her young sister Margaret[181] with Don -Carlos: or, in any case, to oppose to the utmost his marriage with an -Austrian cousin; even if it were necessary to marry him to his aunt -Joan. When Isabel entered Toledo she saw for the first time Philip’s -heir. He was within a few months of her own age, a lame, epileptic -semi-imbecile; already vicious and uncontrollable. When he approached -his stepmother for the first time he was yellow and wasted with -intermittent fever, and it was noticed that she caressed and petted him -more than he had been accustomed to; for he had never known a mother. -The passionate ill-conditioned boy had been told only a year ago to call -this young beauty his wife, and now to see her the wife of the father, -whom he feared and hated, turned his heart to gall. During her illness -and convalescence he was ceaseless in his inquiries about her; and when -her health again allowed her to resume her family life, she went out of -her way to entertain and please him. It was probably the only gentle -feminine influence he had ever experienced, for his widowed aunt Joan, -whom he alternately loathed and adored, was a gloomy religious mystic, -almost old enough to be his mother; and Isabel was not only just his own -age, beautiful and French, but for the purposes of her mother exerted -all her charms to gain his goodwill. - -[Illustration: - - ISABEL OF VALOIS. - - _After a painting by Pantoja._ -] - -The romantic story that makes her fall in love with this poor -unwholesome boy may be put aside as baseless; but it is probably true -that her own charms, added to his jealousy and hate of his father, made -him fall in love with her. The letters Isabel wrote to her mother at the -time all speak of Philip as a most affectionate husband, and of Don -Carlos simply with pity for his ill-health; whilst Catharine’s replies -constantly urge her to incline her stepson to a marriage with her sister -Margaret; ‘or you will be the most unfortunate woman in the world if -your husband dies, and the Prince (Carlos) has for a wife any one but -your own sister.’ Unfortunately the youth was unable to hide his -extravagant affection for his young stepmother; and soon all the French -ladies were nodding and shrugging their shoulders at the romance that -was passing before their eyes, which probably Isabel herself hardly -understood. - -The need for Catharine to draw personally nearer to Spain was greater, -and yet more difficult, than ever after the death, in November 1560, of -her young son Francis II. There was no fear now of France being drawn -into war again for the benefit of Mary Stuart, but, on the other hand, -Mary Stuart herself, being a widow, might marry Don Carlos, and become, -by Spanish aid and the efforts of the English Catholics, Queen of Great -Britain, in which case France would be isolated indeed.[182] Cardinal -Lorraine, and afterwards Mary herself, bade briskly for this match; but, -though Philip shrank from saying so, Carlos was, he knew, unfit for -marriage altogether. In answer to Catharine’s constant pressure upon her -daughter to persuade Carlos to marry Margaret, Isabel repeatedly assured -her that she would do her best, and she appears to have made a sort of -alliance with his aunt Joan to forward _her_ cause if the marriage with -Margaret was found impossible. - -Philip’s sister, the wife of Maximilian, heir to the empire, wrote to -Isabel early in 1561, asking her to lend her help to the suit then being -pressed by the imperial ambassador for the marriage of Carlos with one -of his Austrian cousins, the Archduchess Anne,[183] and Isabel, in -giving an account of this to her mother, says that she showed the letter -to Princess Joan, who had received a similar letter, and angrily -expressed her opinion to Isabel that the plan was directed against her -(Joan); with which opinion Isabel agreed. ‘I spoke to the King about -it,’ wrote Isabel to her mother, ‘telling him that the Queen of Bohemia -had made one exception (before her daughter’s claim was put forward), -whereas I made two; namely, first my sister, and, secondly, the Princess -(Joan). He replied that his son was yet so young, and in such a -condition, that there was plenty of time for everything yet, though the -Prince has got over his quartan fever.’[184] To the imperial ambassador -Philip gently hinted also that his son’s infirmity of mind and body made -it impossible to arrange seriously for his marriage; but Catharine was -not to be put off easily, and Isabel did her best to obey her. - -The Queen-Mother, sending her own portrait and that of her son, the new -boy King of France, Charles IX., to her daughter, included in the parcel -a likeness of her daughter Margaret; and one of Isabel’s maids writes of -the joy that the pictures of her dear ones gave to the Queen; who, she -says, after having recited her prayers at night in church, went to her -chamber, and said them again before her mother’s portrait. When the -precious portraits were unwrapped Princess Joan was there to admire -them, and soon Don Carlos came in. ‘Which is the prettiest of them?’ he -was asked. ‘The _chiquita_,’ he naturally replied; whereupon one of the -ladies drove home the lesson by saying, ‘Yes, you are quite right, for -she is the most fit for you’; whereupon he burst out laughing.[185] -Isabel herself wrote joyfully to her mother that Carlos was pleased with -Margaret’s portrait, and had repeated to her three or four times -laughing that the ‘little one was the prettiest; if she was like that;’ -whereupon Isabel assured him that she was ‘_bien faite_,’ and officious -Madame de Clermont interjected that she would make a good wife for him, -to which the lad, though he giggled, made no reply. Philip also, -probably to please his wife, confessed that the portrait of her younger -sister was very beautiful: but it was noticed that, simultaneously with -these transparent matrimonial intrigues, he suddenly began to pay -ostentatious attention to his sister Joan, whose marriage with her -nephew Carlos was always a possibility to play off against other matches -proposed. - -The kindliest relations were now established between Philip and his -young wife, and though he was usually absorbed in governmental detail -early and late, Isabel’s life was not a gloomy one. The two boys of -Maximilian, King of the Romans, the future emperor, and of Philip’s -sister Maria, were being brought up in the Spanish Court; and though -they were kept very close to their studies, they were allowed to come -and see Isabel and her ladies every afternoon to dance and romp as they -pleased. Carlos also took every opportunity of being in the company of -his stepmother, and the brilliant young Don Juan of Austria, Philip’s -half-brother, and Alexander Farnese, his nephew, were frequent visitors, -all being lively handsome youths except, indeed, poor fever-wasted -Carlos, fretting his weak wits to frenzy in unrequited love and impotent -spite. - -In the summer of 1561 hopes were entertained that the Queen might fulfil -her husband’s dearest wish and make him the father of another son, and -the King’s delight at the prospect was unbounded. He caused to be made a -solid silver sedan chair in which to carry his wife to Madrid, and -overwhelmed her with attentions. But to Isabel’s grief the hope was -fallacious, and Philip was tenderly solicitous to solace his wife’s -disappointment. ‘Il avait toute la peine du monde de la consoler, et lui -tenir beaucoup plus privée et plus ordinaire compagnie que n’avait -jamais fait, de manière qu’il n’a été que bon que tous deux ayent eu -cette opinion. Il me fit l’honneur de me prier que je l’allasse -consoler, et lui dire qu’elle lui volust donner ce contentement et -plaisir de ne s’en fachier, et mesme quand on seroit à Madrid, que ma -femme le lui allast aussi dire, et user de tous ses bons offices qu’elle -scavoit bien faire en son endroit. Elle est aujourd’hui, Madame, en tel -estat pres du roy son mari que Votre Majesté, et tous ceux qui aiment -son bien et sommes affectionnés à son service, en devront remercier -Dieu.’[186] - -In the midst of this happy and harmonious life in Spain, the girl Queen -tactfully did her best to obey her mother and serve the France she -always held dear, but it was inevitable that as time went on and the -influence of her husband over her grew, she should take a more purely -Spanish view of affairs. The death of young Francis II., and the fall of -the Guises, had made the friendship between Spain and France more -difficult than ever, for the profound religious divisions in the latter -country forbade any possibility of the national power being used, as had -been contemplated in the Peace of Cateau Cambresis in the suppression of -heresy everywhere; whilst Catharine’s now ostentatious friendship with -the Bourbons and the reforming party, by which she hoped to -counterbalance the Guises, deeply offended her son-in-law. Philip, -however, at this time was in the depth of penury: his own Netherlands -were simmering into revolt; he had suffered a terrible defeat at the -hands of the Turk on the coast of Tunis (February 1560), and the -Christian power in the Mediterranean was in the balance. Elizabeth of -England, too, was more obstinate than ever in her adherence to the -anti-Catholic policy, now that the strength of the Huguenot party in -France banished the fear of a Catholic coalition of France and Spain -against her. Much as Philip frowned at, and Isabel remonstrated against, -Catharine’s proceedings, the King of Spain was not in a position to make -war upon France, and for a time was obliged to dissemble with his -mother-in-law. So far, therefore, the Treaty of Cateau Cambresis had -been a failure, and Isabel had been sacrificed in vain. France and Spain -could not make common cause against Protestantism, and Isabel could not -win Don Carlos for her sister nor make her astute husband the tool of -her mother’s plans, deeply as he loved his charming young wife. - -With regard to the marriage of Carlos, Isabel was indefatigable in her -efforts, but the prince grew more reckless than ever. In the spring of -1562 he was studying at the University of Alcalá, when, in descending a -dark stairway to keep a secret assignation, he fell and fractured his -skull. Philip and his wife were at Madrid when they received the news, -and the King at once set out, travelling through the night full of -anxiety for his son. He found him unconscious and partially paralysed: -the doctors, ignorant beyond conception, treated him in a way that seems -to us now nothing less than murderous. Purges, bleeding, unguents, -charms, and, finally, the laying upon the bed of the unconscious lad the -mouldering body of a monkish saint, Diego, were all tried in vain, until -at last an Italian surgeon was bold enough to perform the operation of -lifting the bone of the cranium that pressed upon the brain, and Don -Carlos recovered his consciousness. But if he had been a semi-imbecile -before, he became at intervals after this accident a raving homicidal -maniac. The prince himself, and those who surrounded him, attributed his -recovery to the mummy of the dead monk, and promised to give for -religious purposes in recognition of the miracle four times his own -weight in gold. When he was weighed for the purpose it was found that, -although he was seventeen years old, he only weighed seventy pounds. - -But, no matter how weak or vicious Carlos might be, the struggle to -obtain his hand in marriage was waged as keenly as ever by Isabel and -her mother on the one hand, and by the Austrian interest on the other, -with the Princess Joan, the lad’s aunt, as a permanent candidate, to be -used by Philip when he needed a diversion. Hardly had the grave anxiety -about Carlos subsided when Isabel herself fell grievously ill, and was -like to die. At the time that the physicians had abandoned hope of -saving her (August 1562), Philip sent the Duke of Alba with a long -message to the French ambassador, of which the latter wrote a copy to -Catharine. He prefaces his letter by saying that the Queen was truly a -bond of peace since she ‘possède le roi son mari, et est aujourd’hui en -toute privauté et autorité avec lui.’ The message was to the effect that -it had always been the rule when Spanish queens were ill, even slightly, -to urge them to make their last dispositions in good time. On account, -however, of the great love and extreme affection which he (Philip) bore -to his wife, he had not allowed her in her present serious illness to be -spoken to on the subject, so as not to distress or alarm her. For, as he -said, he had in very truth good reason to love her dearly, and to take -great care of her; and if this loss should befall him, he would have -reason to say that it was the greatest and most important he had ever -suffered in his life, and that which most nearly touched his heart, -seeing the shining virtues and noble qualities with which his wife was -endowed. He makes a great point of honouring and pleasing her, and -preventing her from being troubled in any way; but since the physicians -said that she had reached such an extremity that her life could no -longer be expected to last,[187] he would regret that his love for her, -and his sorrow for her loss, should stand in the way of the duty she -owed to her position and reputation to make a will.’ He assured the -French ambassador that his friendship for his wife’s brother and mother -would not be diminished by her death, and he proposed that she should -leave two-thirds of her possessions to her mother, and the remainder be -employed in pious uses and in rewarding her very numerous servants.[188] -This letter is of great interest in showing how truly Philip loved and -respected his young wife, and every testimony shows that their affection -continued to increase as the time went on, though all around them, both -in public and private life, was full of bitterness and anxiety. Don -Carlos grew more and more outrageous in his disregard of all decency and -respect; and more than one miscarriage of Isabel seemed to threaten the -King with the misfortune of a childless marriage. - -But what was a source of greater trouble perhaps than anything to Isabel -at this period, was the terrible infliction that was scourging her own -country. The first war of religion in France had ended with the death of -Guise and Anthony of Navarre, and the hollow edict of Amboise had been -issued by Catharine, giving toleration to the Huguenots in certain -towns. This was a heavy blow to Philip and his cause, and he tried to -parry it in his characteristic fashion by the aid of the Guisan party. -Jeanne d’Albret and her son (afterwards Henry IV.) had retired to mourn -the death of Anthony in their castle of Pau. Henry was heir to the crown -of France after Catharine’s sons, and his mother was a strict Calvinist, -so the Catholic party planned, with Philip’s aid, to kidnap Jeanne -d’Albret, Queen of Navarre, and her hopeful son, to prevent the danger -of a Huguenot ever being king of France. All was arranged for the _coup -de main_ when the principal conspirator, Captain Dimanche, fell ill in a -poor hostelry in Madrid. Isabel had always been accustomed to keep -herself well-informed of all cases of trouble amongst her own countrymen -in Spain, and hearing from her servants that a Frenchman was alone and -suffering, had him brought from his squalid lodging to the house of one -of her servants, to be well cared for by one of her own doctors. -Dimanche, in the course of his illness, divulged his conspiracy to his -host, who, though a Catholic, was shocked at the wickedness of the plan, -and told it to a higher officer, and afterwards to Isabel, who, he knew, -was deeply attached to Jeanne d’Albret. The Queen listened to the story -with horror, and cried, with tears in her eyes, ‘God forbid that such a -crime should be committed.’ As fast as a confidential courier could -gallop went the news from Isabel to her mother; how the Catholic party -and Spain were plotting to ruin the house of Navarre, and overthrow the -equilibrium in France; and Jeanne d’Albret and her son, also warned by -Isabel, escaped from Pau into central France. - -Philip probably never knew that it was his wife who had upset so -promising a plan; but that her intervention was not from any love of -Protestantism is clearly seen by her subsequent action. Her Catholicism, -indeed, was more Spanish than French in its character; and that her -politic mother should call to her councils at all those whose orthodoxy -was doubtful, appeared to her nothing short of abominable, though for a -short time after the first Huguenot war, Catharine had managed to bring -about an appearance of harmony between the two great French factions. -But Condé, the chief of the Bourbons, after Anthony’s death, was rough -and imperious, and personally disliked by Catharine: Cardinal Lorraine -returned to France from the Council of Trent early in 1564, thirsting to -revenge the murder of his brother Guise, and soon Catholic intrigue was -busy in the French Court. - -Isabel wrote to her mother an extraordinary letter at this time (the -summer of 1564), evidently inspired by Philip, and forming a part of the -Lorraine intrigues to win Catherine to the ultra-catholic party. ‘If,’ -wrote Isabel, ‘you will cause Frenchmen to live as good catholics, there -is nothing you can ask of my husband that he will not give you. He begs -you will not compromise with the evil people, but punish them very -severely. If you are afraid because of their great number ... you may -call upon us, and we will give you everything we possess, and troops as -well, to support religion. If you do not punish these men yourself, you -must not be offended if the King, my husband, listens to the demands of -those who crave his help to defend the faith, and gives them what they -ask. He is, indeed, obliged to do so, for it touches him more than any -one. If France becomes Lutheran, Flanders and Spain will not be far -behind.’[189] And so, for page after page of her long letter, Isabel -urges her mother to crush the Huguenots for once and for all. Catharine -loved intrigue and crooked ways; and, although it was no part of her -plan to have only one party in France, she feared the Guises less now -that the Duke was dead, and it doubtless seemed to her a good -opportunity for drawing closer to Spain, in order to effect the marriage -of her daughter Margaret with Don Carlos, and gain some advantage by -marriage or otherwise for her darling son Henry (Duke of Orleans). - -The effect of Cardinal Lorraine’s action was soon seen in the long -progress through the east and south of France undertaken by Charles IX. -and his mother. Catharine had been trying, ever since the death of -Francis II., to arrange an interview with Philip, and bring her personal -influence to bear upon him, though he had shown no eagerness to discuss -the matter; but now that the Court of France, with Lorraine pulling the -wires, was to visit the south, there seemed a chance of effecting at -last what the treaty of Cateau Cambresis had failed to do. The Court -left Paris in the spring of 1564, and at Nancy, the scheme of Lorraine -for a Catholic league to suppress heresy was first broached to Charles -IX. He was a mere lad, and was apparently alarmed at the idea; but in -the meanwhile, active negotiations were going on to induce Philip and -his wife to meet Catharine when she approached the frontier with her -son. The French ambassador in Spain was a strong Guisan partisan, and -worked hard to bring about the interview, as did Isabel herself, who was -sincerely attached to her kinsfolk, and yearned to embrace her mother -again. Philip was anxious to forward the formation of a Catholic League, -but he distrusted Catharine, and after much negotiation, he consented to -Isabel’s going as far as Bayonne to greet her mother; the political -negotiation, however, being entirely left to the Duke of Alba. - -Philip was not enthusiastic, for he knew that Catharine was surrounded -by ‘politicians,’ and he was determined that if nothing came of the -interview, it should not be said that he had been deceived. He would -not, he said, go to any expense on the occasion, and no gold or silver -was to be worn on the dresses on either side: and the Queen was to be -kept to the most rigid etiquette in her communications with her mother -and brother. She left Madrid with a great train of courtiers in April -1565, bearing with her powers from her husband to ratify the -arrangements that Alba might make. What these arrangements were may be -seen by the memorandum given by Philip to Alba for his guidance.[190] -The object aimed at was a league, in which each party should be pledged -to employ all his force and means to sustain Catholic orthodoxy, to -allow no toleration whatever to any other religion, in public or -private, and to expel all persons but catholics from the realms, within -five months, on pain of death, and forfeiture for them and their -abettors, to publish and enforce the decisions of the Council of Trent, -to purge all the offices, commands, and services, of every suspicion of -heresy, and to deprive of their dignities, titles, and authority, every -person not firmly attached to the faith. - -With this fateful mission Isabel travelled slowly towards the north, -through Burgos, in the spring of 1565. She had in her train more than -sixty Spanish nobles with their gaudily garbed followers; and, though -Philip’s orders with regard to bullion ornaments had been obeyed, there -was no lack of costly show. On the 14th May, in a heat so suffocating -that many of the soldiers died, Catharine and her son with the French -Court rode at early morning out of Saint Jean de Luz, to reach the -little river Bidasoa which divides France from Spain. For two hours the -royal party rested under a green arbour on the banks, whilst the Spanish -baggage was being ferried across; and just as the burning sun was -beginning to decline, a burst of trumpets heralded the approach of the -Queen of Spain. From the ancient castle of Irun the royal procession -could be seen winding down the hill to the shore, Isabel being borne in -a litter. Catharine at once entered her waiting boat, and swift oars -brought her to the Spanish side just as her daughter’s litter reached -the edge. Both Queens were beside themselves with joy. Isabel bent low -enough to kiss her mother’s knee, but was raised and tenderly embraced, -again and again, and then, overcome by their emotions, both Catharine -and Isabel burst into tears of joyful excitement, which continued -unabated until the boat had landed them on the French bank, where -Charles IX. awaited them amidst saluting volleys of musketry.[191] - -The pompous rejoicings, the tourneys, comedies, balls, and banquets, -which followed at St. Jean de Luz and Bayonne; the splendour with which -each Court tried to dazzle the other, and the grave political -conferences between Alba and the French ministers and Catharine, cannot -be dwelt upon here; but the picture drawn of Isabel herself in the midst -of this memorable interview by Brantôme, who was present, is too -interesting to omit. ‘When she entered Bayonne she rode upon a pony very -superbly and richly harnessed with a cloth completely covered with -pearls embroidered, which had belonged to the Empress, and was used by -her when she entered towns in state; it was said to be worth one hundred -thousand crowns and more. She was quite bewitching on horseback, and was -worth gazing upon; for she was so lovely and sweet that every one was -enchanted. We were all ordered to go and meet her and accompany her on -her entrance ... and she was most gracious to us when we paid our -respects to her, and thanked us charmingly. To me, especially, she was -kind and cordial; for I had only taken leave of her in Spain four months -before, and I was greatly touched that she should thus favour me over my -fellows.... She was also familiar to the ladies and maids at the Court, -exactly the same as before her marriage, and took notice of those who -were absent or had got married; and about those who had come to Court -since she left she made many inquiries.’ - -In the discussions with the political ministers it was soon evident to -Catharine, as she had probably foreseen from the first, that to throw -herself entirely into the hands of the extreme Catholic party as Philip -desired, would be disastrous to her, and probably also to her son’s -throne. But it did not suit her to quarrel with her powerful son-in-law, -or to send her daughter back empty-handed to Madrid, after the much -heralded interview; so, although an arrangement was signed which -ostensibly bound France and Spain together for a religious end, -Catharine took care to leave a sufficient number of knotty points open -to give her a loophole to escape. When she returned to Paris she soon -began to raise difficulties about the ratification, and wrote to her -ambassador in Madrid (Fourquevault), ‘Je lui dis que en faisant ces -mariages, et donnant quelque état à mon fils d’Orleans, qu’il nous -falloit tous joindre ensemble: c’est à savoir le Pape, l’Empereur, et -ces deux rois, les Allemands et autres que l’on avisera: et que le roi -mon fils n’etait pas sans moyens pour aider de sa part, à ce qui serait -avisé quand les dits mariages seroient faits, et la dite ligue conclüe.’ -It will be seen that she makes here so many conditions as to render the -league quite impossible. Not only is her daughter Margaret to marry -Carlos, and her son Henry a daughter of the Emperor with an independent -State, but all the other Catholic powers are to join the league before -France is to be bound to anything. - -Indeed, it is clear that the power of the Huguenot and ‘politician’ -nobles in France, and the old jealousy between France and Spain, -together with the persecution by the Inquisition of French residents and -visitors in Spain, and the massacre in the following year of the French -expedition to Florida by Philip’s orders, made a sincere co-operation -between the two countries in such a league impracticable;[192] and -though appearances were saved at Bayonne, Philip, when he joyfully met -his wife after her nineteen days’ absence from him, must have known that -again his dream of a Catholic league had failed. ‘Je ne fis qu’arriver -hier (writes the French ambassador to Catharine on Isabel’s return) de -baiser la main de la reine, la quelle j’ai trouvée si joieuse et -contente de la bonne venue du roy son mari, et de la démonstration de la -bonne affection et amitié qu’il lui fait.’ Though the personal affection -between the husband and wife was without a cloud, it was certain that -the political results of the marriage were insignificant. Isabel fought -hard for some satisfaction to the outrage to France in Florida, but -without result; Coligny, to her and Philip’s indignation, was growing -powerful in the French government; and the second war of religion was -seen to be inevitable, whilst the issue was already joined between -Philip and his Dutch subjects; pledged, as they were, to stand together -to resist him to the death. - -In the midst of these public causes for anxiety Philip was overjoyed to -learn that his wife, whose age was nearly twenty-one, was likely to -become a mother.[193] The King, as usual, arranged every small detail -himself of, ‘le régime dont elle devoit user pour conduire son fruit à -bon port’; and his demonstrations of affection and pride for his wife, -and rejoicing at his hopes for a time, even in public, overcame his -natural frigid dignity. Nor was Catharine less delighted, for to her, -should the child prove a son, the event was of the highest importance, -in view of the growing incapacity of Don Carlos; and she also sent by M. -de Saint Etienne a parcel to her daughter: ‘Où il y a tout plein de -recettes, dont elle peut avoir de besoin’; and she wrote personally to -the physician in attendance, urging him to make use of these recipes, -which she assured him would do Isabel good. - -Every day the smallest incident of the Queen’s condition were recounted -by courier to her mother; and Philip could hardly tear himself from her -side whilst he disposed of his usually beloved business. At length, on -the 1st August 1566, a daughter was born, at Balsain, near Segovia, to -Philip and Isabel. The child was christened Isabel, after the great -Queen and her mother, Clara because she was born on the day of the -Saint, and Eugénie, out of gratitude to the efficacious body of St. -Eugène—and the sumptuous ceremony of baptism was not allowed to pass -without a jealous wrangle between the Archbishop of Santiago and the -Bishop of Segovia, as to which should have the honour of performing the -rite, which was eventually celebrated by the Nuncio Castaneo, afterwards -Pope Urban VII. It would doubtless have been more satisfactory to Philip -had a son been born; but his joy and gratitude were nevertheless -intense, and the French ambassador, writing to Catharine a few days -afterwards, says that when he went to congratulate him, he had him (the -ambassador) led to the Queen’s room: ‘Voulant que je visse la fille -qu’il avoit plu Dieu lui donner, de laquelle il est tant aise qu’il ne -peut le dissimuler, et l’aime, à ce qu’il dit, pour le présent mieux -qu’un fils.’ This deep affection for his elder daughter lasted to the -King’s dying day; and the famous Infanta, designated by him to be in -succession Queen of England and France, became by his will sovereign of -the Netherlands, and inherited from her father not only the ancient -domains of his paternal house but his views, his methods, and his -obstinacy. - -The Queen lay apparently at the point of death for some days after her -delivery, but as soon as her life was safe, the great project, so long -discussed, of a voyage of the royal family to insurgent Flanders, was -again taken in hand. Philip was for going alone, leaving, it was hoped -by Catharine, his wife Regent, though Isabel herself begged hard that -she might be allowed to accompany her husband: ‘Car vraiment, je serois -trop marrie de demeurer par deçà après lui; je ferai ce qui sera en moi -qu’il ne m’y laisse point.’ There was another who desired as ardently as -she to go to Flanders with the King. This was his only son Don Carlos. -The young man’s frantic excesses had grown more scandalous than ever as -he became older. The struggle to obtain his hand in marriage was still -going on between the Austrian and French interests; but Philip continued -to put the matter gently aside on the ground of his son’s ill-health. - -The afflicted father had done his best to wean the Prince from his -violence and dissoluteness. He himself had been a dutiful son, ready to -sacrifice everything for the task confided to him, and his grief was -profound that this son of his youth should openly scandalise his court -by his disobedience and insolence to his father and sovereign. Like his -great-grandmother, Joan the Mad, the Prince lived in constant revolt -against authority, sacred and mundane. His conduct in the Council of -State, where his father had placed him to accustom him to business, had -shocked every one. Apparently out of sheer wrong-headedness he had -openly expressed his sympathy with the Netherlanders, who were defying -the will of his father, and he had extorted a semi-promise that he -should accompany the King to Flanders. Whether the Prince had entered -into any communication with the agents of the Flemings is doubtful; but -even if such were the case, and the ambition of Carlos to obtain an -early regency of Flanders was the end he had in view, it is a mere -travesty of history to represent that he seriously held reformed -opinions, any more than did Joan the Mad, when she reviled the mass and -the sacred symbols. - -In any case, Philip abandoned his intention, if he ever really held it, -of going in person to the Low Countries; and decided to send the -ruthless Alba with a great army to scourge the stubborn ‘beggars’ into -humble submission to his will. When Carlos heard this, and that he, too, -was to remain in Spain, his fury passed all bounds. He attempted to stab -Alba himself when he went to take leave; and when the Cortes of Castile -petitioned the King that the heir to the throne should be kept in Spain, -Carlos made an open scandal, and threatened the deputies with death. - -By this time, the autumn of 1567, Isabel was again pregnant, and -Philip’s hopes ran high that another son would be born to him. It is -clear that the great mission to which he and his father had devoted -strenuous lives could not safely be passed on to Carlos; and in -September, Ruy Gomez, Philip’s only friend, told the French ambassador -that if the Queen gave birth to a son, the future of Carlos as heir -would have to be reconsidered. The Prince was insatiable for money, -which he scattered broadcast on evil doings, he was openly insolent to -his father, and the latter suspected a design to escape clandestinely to -join the enemies of his State: and there is no doubt that if Isabel’s -second child had been a son, he would have been placed in the succession -before Don Carlos. Philip exceeded himself in tender solicitude for his -wife, but at last, on the 17th October 1567, the child that all Europe -was breathlessly expecting, was born—another daughter. - -Thereafter the romance of Don Carlos unfolded rapidly. Philip had been -patient and longsuffering under the affliction of such a son, but he at -length despaired, and his attachment to his heir gave place to antipathy -and disgust: especially when his physicians had definitely assured him -that his line could never be continued by Carlos.[194] The Prince, on -the other hand, hated his father bitterly, and was morose with his aunt -Joan, whom he formerly loved, and with the young Austrian Princes, -though he had now been formally betrothed to their sister Anna. The only -person who influenced him was Isabel: ‘Il fait semblant de trouver bon -tout ce que la reyne votre fille fait et dit, et n’y a personne qui -dispose de lui comme elle, et c’est sans artifice ni feinte, car il ne -sçait feindre ni dissimuler.’[195] - -Matters came to a head at the end of the year 1567. Philip and Isabel -had gone to pass Christmas at the newly commenced Palace of the -Escorial, when Carlos decided to make his long contemplated attempt to -escape from Spain. On the 23rd December, he whispered to his young -uncle, Don Juan of Austria, that he needed his help to get horses; and -Juan, recognising the seriousness of the situation, at once rode the -thirty odd miles to the Escorial to tell the King. As in all his great -calamities, Philip remained outwardly unmoved, and though he took such -measures secretly as would frustrate the flight, he did not return to -Madrid until the day previously fixed, the 17th January 1568. The next -day he went with Carlos to mass; but still made no sign. In the interim, -the Prince had even attempted to kill Don Juan; and it was time for his -father to strike, in order to prevent some greater tragedy, for Carlos -had admitted to his confessor that he had an ungovernable impulse to -kill a man. Whom? asked the confessor. The King, was the reply. For once -Philip broke down utterly when, with Ruy Gomez and other intimate -councillors, he deliberated what should be done. Late that night, when -the Prince slept, the afflicted father, with five armed gentlemen and -twelve guards, obtained entrance into the chamber, in spite of secret -bolts and locks; and when the Prince, disturbed, sprang up and sought -for his weapons, the weapons were gone. In rage and despair, he tried to -strangle himself, but was restrained; and, recognising that he was a -helpless prisoner, he flung himself upon his bed in an agony of grief, -and sobbed out, ‘I am not mad, not mad, only desperate.’ - -From that hour he was dead to the world, which saw him no more. The -position was a humiliating one for Philip, but he made the best of it, -by explaining to all the courts that the prince’s mental deficiency -necessitated his seclusion. To his own nearest relatives he did not hide -his bitterness. ‘It is not a punishment,’ he wrote, ‘would to God it -were, for it might come to an end: but I never can hope to see my son -restored to his right mind again. I have chosen in this matter to -sacrifice to God my own flesh and blood, preferring His service and the -universal good to all human considerations.’ Some sort of trial or -examination of the prince was held, but all professed accounts of the -proceedings must be accepted with caution. Certain it is that they -dragged on wearily, whilst the charges of treason, of conspiracy, of -disloyalty, and perhaps of heresy, were laboriously examined in strict -secrecy. Neither Isabel nor his aunt Joan was allowed to see Carlos, and -Don Juan was forbidden even to wear mourning for the calamity. By all -accounts the prince’s malady grew rapidly worse, as well it might in -such circumstances. Like Joan the Mad before him, he would starve for -days, and then swallow inedible things, he would alternately roast and -freeze himself, and he attempted suicide more than once. The end came on -the 25th July 1568, and the immense weight of testimony is in favour of -his having died in consequence of his own mad fancies in diet and -hygiene. - -When Fourquevault conveyed the news of Carlos’s death to Catharine, he -wrote that the Queen Isabel was suffering from fainting fits and -headache; but it was her wish that great signs of mourning should be -made for the Prince in France, to show the King of Spain that they -(_i.e._, the French) were sorry for his loss; ‘as the Spanish people -attach so much importance to appearances.’ Isabel in weak health, for -she was again pregnant, was deeply touched by the trouble around her. -The French ambassador was gleefully reminding her mother that the death -of Don Carlos was a very good thing for her, and praising her beauty, -which the deep Spanish mourning set off to advantage, whilst he indulged -in brilliant hopes for the birth of a son to Isabel. But the young -Queen’s heart was heavy, not for Carlos alone, but for the scenes of -horror which were flooding Flanders with blood under the flail of Alba. -Egmont and Horn had been treacherously sacrificed in Brussels, Montigny -in Spain, and her own dear France was reft in twain by fratricidal war. -She was a catholic as sincere as Philip himself, but that the faith -should need wholesale murder for its assertion shocked and frightened -her; and she languished in the atmosphere of gloomy determination which -surrounded Philip. - -Catharine wrote often in reply to the depressing news from her daughter, -arousing her hopes for a son who should, in his time, put all things -right; but Isabel at twenty-three had lost her gay elasticity, and the -advance of her pregnancy meant the advance of her exhausting malady. -Philip, as usual, was tenderly solicitous for her ease and happiness; -full of hope, too, that a son at last was to be born to him, for upon -this everything depended. The lying stories which long afterwards the -traitor Antonio Perez wove with hellish skill in the safe refuge of -Essex House, accusing Philip of jealousy of his wife with Don Carlos, -and subsequently with one Pozzo, are hardly worth more credit now than -the sentimental romance of the Abbé de St. Real about her love for -Carlos. Perez, whose only wish was to blacken Philip indelibly to please -his enemies, and his own paymasters in England and France, hints that -Philip himself connived at his beloved wife’s murder by poison: but even -if the confidential letters of her French friends now before us did not -disprove this, the fact that nothing could be so unfortunate for -Philip’s policy as Isabel’s death would give it the lie. - -Isabel had been suffering for months from heart failure and bodily -irregularities; and on the 3rd October 1568, the violent remedies -administered to her by her doctors caused a miscarriage. The poor Queen -knew that she was doomed, for when before daybreak Philip, heartbroken, -came and sat by her bed, she calmly took a last farewell of him, praying -him to be good to their two little girls, to be friendly with Catharine -and King Charles IX., and kind to the attendant ladies who had served -her so well: ‘with other words worthy of admiration, and fit to break -the heart of a good husband, such as the King was. He answered her in -the same way; for he could not believe that she was so near her end, and -promised all she asked him; after which he retired to his room in great -anguish, as I am told.’[196] The dying woman had confessed and received -extreme unction during the night; and early in the morning the French -ambassadors were summoned to her chamber. ‘She knew us at once, and -said, Ah! ambassador, you see me well on the road out of this unhappy -world into a better one ... pray my mother and brother to bear my loss -patiently, and to be satisfied with what pleases me more than any -prosperity I have enjoyed in this world, to go to my Creator, where I -may serve him better than I can here. I shall pray Him that all my -brothers and sisters may live long and happily, as well as my mother and -brother Charles: and I beg you to beseech them to look to their realm, -and prevent heresy taking root. Let them all take my death patiently, -for I am very happy.’ ‘O!’ replied the principal ambassador, ‘your -Majesty will live a long time yet, to see France good and happy.’ ‘No, -no, ambassador,’ she whispered, shaking her head with a faint smile. ‘I -do hope it will be so, but I do not wish to see it. I would much rather -go and see what I hope very soon to see.’ - -After much more tender talk of her own land and people, the dying Queen -took farewell of her countrymen and prayed awhile with her ghostly -comforters: then fell into slumber for a short ten minutes. At midday, -‘she suddenly opened her eyes, bright and sparkling, and it seemed to me -as if she wished to tell me something more, for they looked straight at -me:[197] and then Isabel of the Peace passed quietly into the world her -gentle soul longed for. ‘We left the palace all in tears, for throughout -the people of this city there is not one, great or small, that doth not -weep; for they all mourn in her the best Queen they have ever had.’ -Philip in grief hid himself from the world in the monastery of Saint -Jerome; but his task in the world was greater to him even than his -sorrow or his love. The hopes of the French alliance to extirpate heresy -had failed, failed utterly and completely. England, helping the -insurgent Flemings with all her might, had drifted further, and ever -further, away from him. In France the reformation was growing, and only -two lives—and bad ones—stood between the throne and a Huguenot King. -There was no male heir to inherit the thorny inheritance of championing -orthodox Christianity throughout the world. Whither could Philip turn -for sympathy and a mother for the heir he yearned for? Not to England; -not to France, for both had failed him. Where but to his own kin in -Austria; to his niece Anna, the betrothed of his dead son Carlos: and on -the second anniversary of Isabel’s death Anna of Austria landed in Spain -to marry her uncle Philip. Isabel of the Peace politically had lived in -vain. - - - - - BOOK IV - I - ISABEL OF BOURBON - - -The niece wife of Philip II. bore him many children, of whom one -weakling alone survived to inherit the oppressive crown of his father. -Anna was a homely, devout soul, submissive and obedient to her husband, -ever busy with her needle and her household cares; and, like the other -members of her house, overpowered with the vastness and majesty of the -mission confided by heaven to its chief.[198] On the voyage to Portugal -in 1580 Philip fell ill at Badajoz, and when his life was despaired of -Anna fervently prayed that he might be saved, even if she had to be -sacrificed instead. Her prayer was heard; and as the husband of -fifty-three recovered the wife of thirty sickened and died, leaving -Philip broken and lonely to live the rest of his weary life for his work -alone. The struggle to prevent the victory of reform in France, which -occupied Philip’s later years, and consummated the ruin of his country, -rendered impossible a renewal of the idea of a French and Spanish -coalition, except, indeed, by the conquest of France by Philip, which -many years of fruitless war proved to be impossible, whilst the gallant -cynic, Henry of Navarre, could hold up the national banner of France as -a rally point against the foreign invader. - -Once Philip, in sheer despair, turned, when it was too late, to England -again in the hope of bringing it into his system by force, if intrigue -and subornation of conspiracy and murder failed: but with the defeat of -the Armada that hope fled too; and again there was no possible bride but -an Austrian cousin for Philip’s heir, Philip III., and no feasible -policy from Philip’s point of view but a continuance of the close family -alliance with the German Habsburg descendants of Joan the Mad. The -Emperor, it is true, was forced to tolerate his Lutheran princes; but he -and his house made common cause with the Philips when the French cast -greedy eyes towards Catholic Flanders or Italy. Margaret of Austria -brought to sickly, scrofulous Philip III. an anæmic body and a stunted -mind to rear his children. She implored her mother passionately to save -her from the terrifying honour of sharing the gloomy throne of her -cousin, for in her Styrian home she lived the life of a nun, devoted -only to the humble care of the poor and sick of her own land: but she -was sternly told that all must be sacrificed to the supreme duty that -was hers; and thenceforward she, too, lived in the awestricken -atmosphere of religious abnegation, which was the mark of her Spanish -kindred.[199] In besotted, conventual devotion, and frivolous trifling -in turns, her monkish husband and she passed their lives; their -children, of whom they had several, all bloodless decadents of low -vitality, with big mumbling jaws and lack-lustre eyes, brought up in the -same pathetic tradition that to them and Spain—poor, ruined, desolated -Spain now—was confided the sacred duty and honour of upholding religious -orthodoxy throughout the world at any cost or sacrifice. - -So long as Henry IV. was King of France, even though he had ‘gone to -mass,’ the close union with Spain was impossible: but on the fateful day -in May 1610 when, in the narrow Paris lane, the dagger of Ravaillac -pierced the heart of the great ‘Béarnais,’ all was changed. The -Queen-Regent of France was one of the Papal Medici, imbued, as they all -were, with the tradition of Spain’s orthodoxy and overwhelming might. -Her marriage with Henry had been a victory for the extreme Catholic -party in Europe; but so long as Henry lived he had prevented violent -reaction. Now that he was gone, with his Huguenot traditions, France and -Spain, it was thought, might again be joined in a Catholic league, and -together impose their form of faith upon the world, either by armed -force or political pressure. It was a foolish, impracticable plan, for -Frenchmen were too far advanced now to be used to play the game of -impotent bankrupt Spain, powerful only in its pride and its traditions. - -But James I. of England had been toadying and humiliating himself to -gain Philip’s aid in favour of his son-in-law, the Palatine in Germany, -and it doubtless seemed a good stroke of policy on the part of France -and Spain to leave him and the Lutherans isolated. In any case no time -was lost, and before Henry IV. had lain in his tomb at St. Denis a year -it was agreed that the Spanish Infanta, Anna, should marry Louis XIII. -of France, and that Isabel, or Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of Henry -IV. and Marie de Medici, should become the wife of Philip, Prince of -Asturias, the son and heir of the Spanish King. All the betrothed were -children of tender age, and it was agreed that the exchange of brides -should be deferred until the Infanta was twelve years old (1613). -Pompous and lavish embassies went through the solemn farce of paying -honour to the girl-children respectively as Queen of France and Princess -of Asturias. The Duke of Mayenne, of the house of Guise, ruffled and -swaggered in Madrid with a marriage embassy so splendid in 1612, that -the cost of entertaining him beggared the capital for years; and so keen -was the emulation in sumptuousness of dress and adornments during the -interminable festivities in Madrid to celebrate the double betrothals, -that the Spanish nobles came to dagger-thrusts on the subject in the -palace itself. - -In Paris Ruy Gomez’s son, the Duke of Pastrana, paid similar court to -the dark-haired girl of nine who was betrothed to young Philip, heir of -Spain, two years younger. Three years more had to pass, notwithstanding -the impatience of the French, before the backward little Infanta Anna, -in October 1615, was conveyed with a pomp and extravagance that ill -matched the penury of her father’s realm, to the frontier of France, -there to be exchanged for Isabel of Bourbon, her brother’s bride.[200] -On the 9th November 1615 all the chivalry of France and Spain were once -more assembled on either bank of the little stream of Bidasoa that -separated the two countries. Wasteful luxury and vain magnificence had -been squandered wantonly by the Spanish nobles, determined, as usual, to -put the French to shame. At Behovia, the point where the ceremony was to -take place, sumptuous banqueting-halls had been erected upon rafts -moored on each side of the stream, whilst in mid-current another raft -supported a splendid pavilion covered with velvet and cloth of gold, and -carpeted with priceless silken carpets from the East. Here the Duke of -Guise delivered Isabel of France to the Duke of Uceda, in exchange for -Anna of Austria, thenceforward Queen of France. The romantic and -turbulent career of the latter is related elsewhere: here we have to -follow the fortunes of the beautiful dark-haired girl of twelve who, -like Isabel of the Peace fifty-four years before, turned her back upon -her native land to cement the Catholic alliance between France and -Spain.[201] - -The circumstances were widely different, for the battle of religious -liberty in Europe was practically won, though the blind faith and vanity -of Philip III. refused, even now, to recognise the fact, or his own -poverty-stricken impotence. The Medici Queen-Regent of France, moreover, -was a very different person from her kinswoman Catharine. She was not -playing her own game so much as that of the cunning Italians who -directed her, and it was soon evident, under Richelieu, that Frenchmen -were no longer to be made the playthings of foreign ambitions. Isabel, -child as she was, had a stout heart and a high spirit, as befitted her -father’s daughter. She was willing enough to be a queen upon the most -pretentious throne in Europe; but she was not made for martyrdom, and, -as we shall see, her marriage was even less influential in securing -lasting peace and co-operation between France and Spain than that of the -previous Isabel had been. - -Through Fuenterrabia, San Sebastian and Vitoria, Isabel travelled -towards Burgos, where she was to meet her boy bridegroom. Dressed in -Spanish garb from Vitoria onward, she won all hearts by her gaiety and -brightness; and, as an eyewitness says of her, ‘even if she had French -blood in her veins she had a Spanish spirit.’ Philip III. and his son -met the bride a league from Burgos, and we are told that the prince of -eleven years old was so dazzled with her beauty that he could only gaze -speechless upon her. The next day Burgos was all alive with the -splendour of the welcome of the future Queen, who entered the city on a -white palfrey with a silver saddle and housings of velvet and pearls; -and so, from city to city, smiling and happy, the girl, in the midst of -the inflated Court, slowly made her way to Madrid. On the afternoon of -19th December 1615 Isabel rode from the monastery of St. Jerome[202] -through Madrid to the palace upon the cliff overlooking the valley of -the Manzanares. An eyewitness describes her appearance as she rode -through the mile of crowded narrow streets of old Madrid, under -triumphal arches, past thousands of peopled balconies, hung with -tapestries, with songs and music of welcome all the way. ‘Her Highness -was dressed in the French fashion, with an entire robe of crimson satin -embroidered with bugles, a little cap trimmed with diamonds, and a ruff -beautifully trimmed in French style, and with a rosette and girdle of -diamonds of great size. She went her way, bright and buxom, full of -rejoicing. Her aquiline face was wreathed in smiles, and her fine eyes -flashed from side to side, looking at everything, to the great delight -of the populace.’[203] - -It was five years after this, on the 25th November 1620, at the palace -of Pardo, that young Philip and Isabel began their married life -together. Philip was yet barely sixteen when (in March 1621) the low -vitality of his father flickered out, and the monarch, who should have -been a monk, passed, in alternate paroxysms of fear and ecstacies of -hope, from the world in which he had meant so well and done so ill. The -corruption and waste under Lerma and his crew of parasites had bled -Spain to the white, and utter ruin was now the lot of whole populations. -The tradition of the King’s wealth which still lingered could hardly be -kept up now, though at the fall of Lerma some of the worst robbers had -been made to disgorge their booty. The King had been beloved and revered -for his saintliness, but all saw the desolation that his idle dependence -upon favourites had caused. Spain now looked only to the sallow, -long-faced boy, Philip IV., with the light blue eyes and lank flaxen -hair, to save the people from starvation. Not to him, but to the man at -his side, it soon learned to look. He was a big-boned powerful man of -thirty-three, with a great square head, heavy stooping shoulders, fierce -black eyes, burning like live coals in an olive face; and his upturned -twisted moustache added to the haughty imperiousness of his mien. This -was the man, Gaspar de Guzman, Count of Olivares, Duke of St. Lucar, who -made a clean sweep of all the corrupt gang that had fattened upon Spain, -the brood of Rojas and Sandoval, and replaced them with his own -creatures. Philip, like his father, meant well, and was naturally a much -more able man; but he was idle, pleasure-loving, and pathetically unable -to resist temptation, each constantly recurring transgression being -followed by an agony of remorse, only to be again committed when the -first poignancy of regret had passed. - -Following the advice of Olivares, he attempted to mend matters by -cutting down expenses alone, instead of changing the system of taxation -and finance; and the ‘spirited foreign policy’ which he adopted soon -involved him in expenditure, which later completed the downfall of the -country. The foolish old dream that catholic unity might be won by -Spanish arms still kept him at war with the Dutch, whilst the Moors were -harrying the Spanish coasts and commerce, and France and Spain were -already at loggerheads again, now that Marie de Medici and her crew had -been thrust into the background. Instead of recognising facts and lying -low to recuperate, Olivares and Philip, with the blinded nation behind -them, were as boastful and haughty as their predecessors had been in the -days of Spain’s strength. The weak poltroon who reigned unworthily in -England, was ever ready to truckle to apparent strength. He had -sacrificed Raleigh at Spain’s bidding, he had been contemptuously used -and scorned by Lerma and Philip III. when he had tried to marry his heir -to a Spanish Infanta, and he had been cleverly kept from an alliance -with France by hopes and half promises. But the Palatinate was still -unrestored, and when Philip III. had died, James made another attempt -with the new King to win Spain’s friendship by a marriage. - -The hare-brained trip of Prince Charles and Buckingham to Madrid, to win -the hand of the Infanta and the alliance of Spain, has often been -described, and can hardly be touched upon here. The Prince suddenly -appeared disguised at the English embassy at Madrid on the 7th March -1622, and the next day, to the dismay of Olivares, the awkward visit was -known to all the capital. He and young Philip made the best of a bad -business. To abandon Austria and the Palatinate for the sake of -protestant England did not suit them, but they could be polite. All the -edicts ordering economy of dress, eating, and adornments, were -suspended, and whilst Charles stayed in Madrid a tempest of prodigality -prevailed. Isabel and the Infanta played their parts in the farce with -apprehension and reluctance, for the former knew that the besought -alliance was directed against France, and the Infanta was horrified at -the idea of marrying a heretic. But they did their best to keep up -appearances, especially Isabel, who treated Charles most graciously. The -day after his arrival, Philip and his wife and sister, the latter with a -blue ribbon round her arm to distinguish her, rode in a coach to the -church in the Prado, and Charles, of course quite by accident, met them -both coming and going, to his great satisfaction. Soon after Isabel sent -to the English prince a fine present of white underwear, a nightgown -beautifully worked, and several scented coffers, with golden keys, full -of toilet requisites, probably guessing that in his rapid voyage he had -not brought such luxuries with him; and at the great bull fight at the -Plaza Mayor in honour of the Prince, she sat in brown satin, bordered -with gold, in the fine balcony of the city bread-store overlooking the -Plaza, as Charles, in black velvet and white feathers, rode his fine bay -horse into the arena by the side of Philip, to take his place in an -adjoining box. - -Before the masked ball on Easter Sunday, given by the Admiral of Castile -in Charles’s honour, Isabel in white satin, covered with precious -stones, dined in public; and then, changing her dress to one of black -and gold, awaited the English Prince to lead her to the ballroom. There -during the entertainment, and on all other occasions, he sat at her -right hand under a royal canopy, with Philip on her left; whilst the -Earl of Bristol, on his knees before them, interpreted the small talk -suitable to the occasion. And so, with comedies and cane tourneys, -banquets and balls, Charles and Buckingham were beguiled by Olivares for -well nigh six months, until the farce grew stale, and Charles wended his -way home again, nominally betrothed to the Infanta, but really outwitted -and his country humiliated. The defeat was softened by much loving -profession and splendid presents from Philip and his courtiers to the -English Prince; and it is somewhat curious that, on the departure of -Charles, the present given to him by Isabel again took the form of white -linen garments, fifty amber-dressed skins, two hundred and fifty scented -kidskins for gloves, a large sum in silver crowns, and other -things.[204] - -Philip and his wife had now settled down to their regular life in the -most brilliant court in Europe. It was the Augustan age of Spanish -literature and the drama, and a perfect craze for comedies and satirical -verse seized upon the Spanish people, under the influence of the King -and Queen, both of them passionately fond of the theatre and diversions -of all sorts. Isabel, like her husband, was conventionally devout, and -her religious benefactions were constant, as well as her attendances at -the ceremonies of the church;[205] but in her devotion she had none of -the gloomy monastic character which had afflicted her husband’s family, -and the social demeanour of the courtiers and of the townspeople -generally underwent a complete change in her time. Her manners, indeed, -were so free and debonair as to have given rise to some quite -unsupported scandal as to her faithfulness to her husband. Madrid was a -perfect hotbed of tittle-tattle; everybody considered it necessary to be -able to spin satirical verses, and as these were generally anonymous and -in manuscript, the reputation of no one, high or low, was safe from -attack. - -The reaction from the rigid propriety of previous reigns led the Court -of Philip IV. to assume a licence that quite shocked foreigners. Much of -the day was passed in parading up and down the Calle Mayor (High Street) -in coaches, and much of the night in summer in promenading in the dry -bed of the river. Gallantry became the fashion, and ladies, very far -from resenting, welcomed broad compliments and doubtful jests addressed -to them by strangers in the streets.[206] The palace itself, especially -the new pleasure palace of the Buen Retiro, built in the Prado for -Philip by Olivares in 1632, was a notorious focus of intrigue; -encouraged by the example of Philip himself, by far the most dissolute -king of his line. From his early youth he had delighted in amateur -acting, and under a pseudonym (Un Ingenio de esta Corte), wrote comedies -himself, and delighted in the society of dramatic people. - -Isabel was as keen a lover of the stage as her husband, and from the -first days after the mourning for Philip III. was over, she began her -favourite diversion of private theatricals in her own apartments. From -October 1622, every Sunday and Thursday during the winter, as well as on -holidays, comedies were performed by regular actors in her private -theatre. Some of these comedies may be mentioned to show the taste of -the Queen in such matters. ‘_The Scorned Sweetheart_,’ ‘_The Loss of -Spain_,’ and ‘_The Jealousy of a Horse_,’ were three plays by Pedro -Valdés, for which Isabel paid 300 reals (£6) each, the previous price -having been £4. ‘_Gaining Friends_,’ ‘_The Power of Opportunity_,’ and -‘_How our Eyes are Cheated_,’ ‘_The Fortunate Farmer_,’ ‘_The Woman’s -Avenger_,’ and ‘_The Husband of His Sister_,’ were others; and the total -number of such plays represented in the Queen’s apartments in the palace -during the winter of 1622–23, was forty-three, the fees for which -reached 13,500 reals (£270).[207] - -Whilst the Prince of Wales was in Madrid the theatres in the palace, and -the two public courtyard theatres in the capital, had a busy season. -James Howell, writing from Madrid at the time,[208] says, ‘There are -many excellent poems made here since the Prince’s arrival, which are too -long to couch in a letter. Yet I will venture to send you this one -stanza of Lope de Vega: - - “Carlos Estuardo soy, - Que, siendo amor mi guia, - Al cielo de España voy, - Por ver mi estrella Maria.” - - “Charles Stuart here am I - Guided by love afar, - Into the Spanish sky - To see Maria my star.” - -‘There are comedians once a week come to the palace, where, under a -great canopy, the Queen and the Infanta sit in the middle, our Princeps -and Don Carlos on the Queen’s right hand, the King and the little -Cardinal (_i.e._ the King’s boy-brother, Ferdinand) on the Infanta’s -left hand.’ - -Philip’s notorious and scandalous infidelity to his wife, to whom, -nevertheless, he was devotedly attached, did not prevent him from being -violently jealous of any appearance of special loving homage to her -beauty and charm. At one of the great cane tourneys to celebrate his -accession in the summer of 1621, it was noticed that when Juan de -Tassis, Count of Villamediana, rode with his troop of horsemen into the -arena, he was wearing a sash covered with the silver coins called -_reales_ (royals), and flaunting as his motto, ‘My loves are reals’ (or -royal). The Count was a spiteful poetaster, neither good looking nor -young, but boastful and presumptuous; and the quidnuncs of the capital -who flocked ‘Liar’s parade,’[209] began to whisper that this was a -challenge to the love of the Queen; and that the King, when his wife had -remarked that Villamediana aimed well, had replied, ‘Yes, but he aims -too high.’ It is now fairly certain that Villamediana’s homage was not -intended for the Queen, but for another lady, named Francisca de Tavara, -with whom the King was carrying on an intrigue at the time;[210] and -beyond her usual jovial heartiness there is no ground for supposing that -Isabel gave Villamediana any encouragement. - -But in the following spring of 1622, when the Court was at Aranjuez, a -far more serious matter happened which produced tragic results for -Villamediana. There was a great festival to celebrate Philip’s -seventeenth birthday, and one of the attractions was a temporary theatre -of canvas and wood erected in the ‘island garden,’ and beautifully -adorned, in which was to be represented at night a comedy in verse -written by the Count of Villamediana, and dedicated to the Queen. The -comedy was called ‘_La Gloria de Niquea_,’ and Isabel was to represent -the part of the goddess of beauty. All the Court was assembled, the King -being in his seat with his brothers and sister, and the Queen in the -retiring rooms behind the stage. The inside of the flimsy building was -of course lit brilliantly with wax candles and lamps, whilst in the -densely wooded gardens outside all was dark, when suddenly, at the -moment that the prologue had been finished, a cry went up from behind -the curtain: and then a long tongue of flame licked up the side, and -immediately the whole of the stage was aflame. Panic seized upon the -gaily bedizened crowd, and there was a rush to escape. In the confusion -the King with difficulty found his way out, only to rush to the back of -the edifice in search of his wife. Villamediana had been before him, and -Philip found his wife half fainting in the Count’s arms. - -Whatever may be the truth of the matter, it was soon noised about by the -scandalmongers of Madrid that Villamediana had planned the whole affair, -and had purposely set fire to the place that he might have an excuse for -clasping the Queen in his arms. This was on the 8th April 1622; and -when, in August of the same year, Villamediana was assassinated in his -coach at nightfall in the Calle Mayor, within a few yards of his own -house,[211] all fingers pointed to Philip himself as the instigator of -the crime; and the current jingle ascribed to Lope de Vega, in which it -says that ‘_el impulso fué soberano_’ echoed public opinion on the -matter. No blame, however, in any case can be ascribed to Isabel, nor -did Philip ever cease to hold her in affection and esteem. - -She was a true daughter of her father, sage in counsel, bold in action, -but with a gaiety of heart that often made her pleasures look frivolous -and unbecoming. More Spanish than the Spaniards, she loved the bullfight -and the theatre with an intensity that delighted her husband’s subjects, -who were crazy for both pastimes, but in her boisterous vitality she -would often countenance amusements contrived for her which we should now -think coarse. Quarrels and fights between country women would be -incited, or nocturnal tumults by torchlight in the gardens of Aranjuez -or the Retiro, arranged for her to witness; snakes or other noxious -reptiles would be secretly set loose on the floor of a crowded theatre -to the confusion of the spectators, whilst the Queen almost laughed -herself into a fit, at one of the windows overlooking the scene. The -Court indeed during the first years of her married life was a merry one, -notwithstanding its ostentatious devotion; and, although Olivares more -than once urged the King to take a more active interest in the -government and give less time to his amusements, the minister’s enemies, -and he had many, averred that there was nothing he really liked better -than to keep the young monarch immersed in pleasure, that he himself -might rule supreme.[212] - -Much as Isabel herself loved pleasure, she began to be anxious, as -troubles at home and abroad accumulated, at the complete abandonment of -public affairs to the minister, and she urged Philip most earnestly to -give more time to his duties. She had good reason to be distrustful, for -she saw how weak to resist his impulses Philip was. His love affairs -were legion, and as in the case of most of his courtiers, gallantry -became a habit with him. There was, however, one affair of Philip’s that -gave his wife more disquietude than most of the others. Olivares, it was -said, in pursuance of his system, had agents all over Spain to send to -Madrid the most talented actors and attractive actresses that could be -found; and in 1627 there appeared as a member of a very clever troupe at -the ‘Corral de la Pacheca’[213] a girl of sixteen named Maria Calderon. -She was no great beauty, but of extraordinary grace and fascination, -with a voice so sweet, and speech so captivating, that she subdued all -hearts. Philip saw her on the stage, and fell in love with her at once. -She was summoned to the room overlooking the courtyard that served the -King for a private box, in order that he might listen more closely to -the cadence of her lovely voice, and the inflammable heart of Philip -grew warmer still. From the Corral to the palace was but a step when the -king willed it, and the ‘Calderona’ became Philip’s acknowledged -mistress. Gifts and caresses were piled upon her by the love-lorn King; -and the Calderona, proud of her position, turned a severe face to all -other lovers, needing, as she said, no favour but royal favour. - -On the 17th April 1629 she had a son by the King, to the great delight -of Philip. The child Juan of Austria was the handsomest member of his -house, and Philip’s affection for him from the first was intense; -somewhat to Isabel’s chagrin when she herself bore him a son six months -afterwards.[214] But from the worthy ‘Calderona’ she had no more rivalry -to fear. As soon as the actress could go out she sought the King, and, -throwing herself at his feet, craved permission, humbly and tearfully, -to devote the rest of her life to religion in a convent, now that she -had been honoured by bearing a son to the King. Philip loved her still -and hesitated, but she firmly refused to cohabit with him again; and -with sorrow he gave way, and the Calderona became a nun.[215] - -Isabel’s children were many, five who died at, or soon after, their -births having preceded the looked-for heir of Spain, Don Baltasar -Carlos, that chubby, sturdy little Prince (born in October 1629) who -prances his fat pony for ever upon the canvas of Velazquez. The fastuous -taste of the King and Court was satisfied to the full in the baptism of -Baltasar Carlos. The Countess of Olivares, who was as supreme in the -palace as her husband was in the country, held the babe at the font, -seated, as we are told by an eyewitness, upon ‘a seat of rock crystal, -the most costly piece of furniture ever seen in Europe’; and presents -were showered upon the midwife to the value of thirteen thousand ducats. -As soon as the Queen was able to appear, her birthday (21st November) -was celebrated on this occasion as it had never been before. Masquerades -on horseback, torchlight parades, cane contests and bullfights succeeded -each other, in all of which the King made a sumptuous appearance with -his brother, Don Carlos; and the Queen, who had given an heir to the -crown, was honoured to the full. - -This splendid Court, strutting and posturing in rich garments upon the -brink of the slope which was leading to Spain’s overthrow, had the -advantage of being immortalised upon canvas by the greatest master of -portraiture that ever lived, and laid bare to the very soul by some of -the keenest satirists who ever wielded pen. The battue parties, in which -Philip and his wife delighted, for the killing of stags in an enclosure, -are brought before us as if we were present by the great picture in -which Velazquez has portrayed the scene.[216] In the park of Aranjuez, -with the afternoon sun glinting through the trees, dark against a -cloudless sky, the white canvas enclosure is erected. Into its gradually -narrowing limits the frightened deer have been driven by mounted -beaters, and at the only exit through the neck of the funnel are -stationed the gentlemen, beneath a sort of platform of leafy boughs -decked with red cloth, in which the ladies sit. The central figure of -the twelve ladies, seated upon a crimson cushion, the better to see the -sport, is the Queen, Isabel of Bourbon, dressed in a yellow robe, and -wearing a white bow upon her head. Beneath the platform there await, -mounted, the onrush of the deer, Philip and his two brothers, Carlos and -Ferdinand, and, of course, Olivares. With their hunting knives, they -slash at the deer as they fly past underneath the ladies’ bower, killing -some, ham-stringing others, and leaving the rest that escape to be dealt -with by the hounds awaiting them beyond. The ground beneath the bower is -drenched with the warm blood of the butchered beasts, and the ladies -smile approval at the sickly spectacle, whilst groups of courtiers, -servants, and beaters, crowd the foreground and discuss the King’s -prowess. - -Another hunting scene, a little less repugnant to modern ideas, is the -famous ‘Boar Hunt’ in the National Gallery in London. Here the canvas -enclosure is in the hunting seat of the Pardo, and Philip, on his -prancing mount, is just thrusting his forked javelin into the flank of a -passing boar, whilst around him are his courtiers and companions in the -sport, with Olivares nearest; and in the arena there are some clumsy -blue carriages, with partially curtained windows innocent of glass -except in front, in one of which sits Queen Isabel. The mules of her -coach have, of course, been unharnessed and put out of harm’s way; but -as the boars are agile and fierce, and had been known to leap into the -coaches, the ladies themselves are armed with light javelins to repel -them. Every detail of the life of this pleasure-loving Court has been -fixed for us by the great painter: the ladies and gentlemen in the garb -in which they lived, the dwarfs and buffoons who amused them, the -palaces in which they intrigued; and, as a running accompaniment always, -the sated weary face of the King from youth to age. - -Fair and lymphatic, with dull blue eyes, and colourless sallow face, -Philip had inherited the tradition that in all public appearances the -King of Spain must never smile: and, mad votary of pleasure as he was, -he never moved a muscle either in delight or annoyance whilst he was -behind the footlights. Isabel was more spontaneous, and Spanish -etiquette never crushed her. But as time went on and the clouds piled up -for the coming tempest, her face grew heavier and her eyes more sad. Her -portrait was painted many times by Velazquez, though only one specimen -remains in the Museo del Prado, the equestrian figure, painted at about -the time of Baltasar’s birth before misfortune had spoilt her life. -Another likeness of her, now at Hampton Court, was painted ten years -later (1638), shows the change wrought by trouble: but in all -Velazquez’s representations of the Queen, we see the same -characteristics: the large, expressive black eyes, the broad spacious -forehead, and the strong full jaw; and, though the general aspect was -more like her buxom mother than her clever father, Isabel’s countenance -is alive with intelligence. In the later portraits the face grows weary, -and the lower part is flaccid and heavy, but in all the painted -portraits of Isabel by Velazquez, we have the woman herself before us; -not a sensuous idealisation of her, like that painted by Rubens, and now -at the Louvre. - -[Illustration: - - ISABEL OF BOURBON. -] - -If the painter has handed to us by his genius the exact reflection of -this Court in a way that makes it live for us more vividly, perhaps, -than any other, Quevedo and his followers, especially Velez de Guevara -in _El Diablo Cojuelo_, have left in biting prose records no less -faithful of its amusements, its follies, and crimes. By the light held -up by the satirists we see an utterly decadent society, sunk, from the -King downwards, into a slough of apathetic despondency of ever bettering -things, whilst each individual strives madly to get as much pleasure as -he can wring out of life, by fair means or foul, before the catastrophe -overwhelms them all. Faith has decayed, and trembling superstition mixed -with scoffing irreverence has taken its place: idleness is everywhere; -poverty and squalor seek to masquerade as nobility, in order to claim -the privilege to plunder which Court and Church alone possess, and -labour is scorned as beneath the subjects of a King so wealthy and -powerful as the sovereign of Spain is still assumed to be, in the face -of all evidence to the contrary. A pretentious, hollow society it was, -where all sought to share in the scramble, even at second or third hand, -for the possessions of the State, oblivious to the fact that the State -itself could possess nothing but what the individual citizens supplied. - -Pretence was not limited to rank and material possessions. The noble -poet and satirist kept a sycophantic man of letters to supply him with -the lucubrations that moved the Court to admiration when they bore the -name of a marquis, the cities swarmed with sham students, who pattered -Latin tags, and cadged on the strength of a scholarship that was not -theirs: and when showy pageants palled upon the King, and even his -beloved comedies failed to spur his jaded wit, Philip could always find -solace in the pedantic and affected academies and poetical contests over -which he was so fond of presiding in his palace. There well-studied -impromptus were mouthed, far-fetched conceits declaimed with a pomposity -worthy of inspired prophecy, and preciosity run mad twisted and befouled -the noble Castilian speech into the bastard _Latiniparla_, at which -Quevedo gibed whilst himself revelling in it. - -It was a Court of mean shams and squalid splendour, where all was -rottenness but the fair outside. How ostentatious that outside was may -be seen in the many records of court festivities that a bombastic age -has handed to us. They are for the most part insufferably tedious -catalogues of the dress and ornaments of pompously named nobles, -courtiers, and favourites;[217] but a few details of two great feasts in -which Isabel took a conspicuous part, may be set forth here as a -specimen of the diversions of her time. An entertainment, given to the -sovereigns by the Countess of Olivares early in June 1631, in the garden -of her brother, the Count of Monterey, inspired Olivares with the idea -of outdoing all previous efforts in the same direction. The time was -short, for the night of St. John (24th June) was the day fixed. Two -comedies had to be written specially for the occasion; and Lope de Vega, -the most marvellously prolific playwright that ever lived, managed to -compose one of them in three days: whilst Quevedo and Antonio Mendoza, -put on their mettle by Lope’s rapidity, wrote another jointly in a -single day, whilst Olivarez himself snatched rare moments of leisure -from State affairs, of which he was the universal minister, to -superintend the rehearsals. - -As if by enchantment, in a few days there sprang up in the gardens[218] -a sumptuous pavilion from which the King and Queen, with their favoured -courtiers, might see the play. In front was erected the open air -theatre, crowded with crystal lights and rare flowers, whilst all around -were platforms for other guests, choristers, etc. At nine o’clock at -night, Philip and Isabel alighted from their coach, and were received by -Olivares to the sounds of soft music. When they had taken their seats, -Philip on a chair of state, and Isabel on a pile of cushions, trays of -presents were brought them, perfumes, embroidered scented handkerchiefs, -and essences in cut glass flasks,[219] Isabel being especially asked to -accept in addition a jewelled Italian fan. Quevedo’s comedy, _Quien mas -miente medra mas_ (He who lies most thrives most) was represented first, -after a musical prologue and a poetic welcome to Isabel recited by the -famous actress Maria de Riquelme. The first representation occupied two -hours and a half, we are told by an eyewitness: ‘during which many -excellent dances were introduced; and although the players, having had -little time to study, did not succeed in bringing out all the witty -invention of the verses, it is certain that in many ordinary comedies -together could not be found such an abundance of smart jests as in this -one alone; for one day’s work was sufficient for Don Francisco de -Quevedo’s wit to invent it all.’ - -When the first comedy was finished Philip and Isabel were led to the -adjoining garden of the Duke of Maqueda,[220] where there had been -erected two bowers or summer-houses of leaves and blossoms, with a great -number of coloured lights. These two arbors, one for the King and the -other for the Queen, communicated by an arched passage of foliage, and -were surrounded by similar erections for the suite, each bower being -supplied with a table of light refreshments. In the King’s bower there -was a hamper containing a long cloak of brown cloth, ornamented at the -edge by scrolls of black and silver, solid silver hanging buttons, and -loops serving for fastening. This was accompanied by a white -wide-brimmed hat trimmed with brown feathers and a white aigrette, and a -Walloon falling collar,[221] which was still occasionally worn in place -of the almost universal _golilla_. The King’s brothers were similarly -supplied with disguises; whilst in the Queen’s bower the hamper -contained a mirror, a brown woollen cloak embroidered at the bottom with -sprigs of black silk and silver, the fastenings in this case also being -solid silver hanging buttons and silver loops. The cloak was lined with -silk of the same colour, hemmed and stitched with black and silver, and -with it was a beautiful lace mantilla, a pleated lace ruff, and a white -hat adorned with brown and white plumes and spangles. The whole Court -was thus supplied with wraps and headgear against the night air. A light -supper of surpassing daintiness was then served in the arbors, and the -whole party, politely supposed to be disguised, proceeded to witness the -second comedy; the Queen in her capricious garb, ‘adding to her natural -and marvellous graciousness and beauty the extraordinary attraction of -the strangeness of attire, without losing an atom of the dignity which -distinguishes her Majesty, no less than the other admirable virtues and -perfections which shine in her.’ We are assured that the unusual hats -and garments worn by the King and his brothers were equally powerless to -spoil their dignified appearance, ‘as they unite those qualities which -vulgar censure and envy always strive to keep apart, namely, great -beauty and a noble air:’ and the writer of the account from which I -quote, nervous, apparently, at what the outside public would say to such -a derogation of royalty as to don disguises, assures us that only a very -select company was allowed to be present.[222] - -The comedy of Lope de Vega, ‘_La Noche de San Juan_,’ was then -represented on the open air stage, and a short concert followed, after -which the King and Queen were conducted to a flower-decked gallery -erected in the other adjoining garden.[223] Here, after midnight, -another delicate refection was partaken of, the Count and Countess of -Olivares serving the King and Queen, the whole banquet being so well -organised that everything went off with the utmost decorum and -quietness, except for the sweet music which enlivened the feast. When -the day was just breaking the King and Queen entered their coach and, -after a few turns in the Prado, rode home to the palace to bed. Olivares -was praised to the skies for the organisation of this lavish feast, and -the wonder is expressed that the licentious crowd of people who -frequented the Prado at night should have been so awed by the presence -of the King in the garden adjoining, that no disturbance or disorder -took place. - -This feast, fine as it was, was completely thrown in the shade by -another which took place a few yards away, two years later (1633), when, -at tremendous expense, and much unjust appropriation of other people’s -property, Olivares run up and sumptuously furnished, in an amazing short -time, the pleasure palace of the Buen Retiro, which afterwards became -Philip’s favourite place of residence, where his comedies, academies, -concerts, recitations and masquerades could be indulged in with more -propriety than in the gloomy, old half-Moorish palace on the cliff at -the other end of the town. The house warming of the Buen Retiro lasted -for a week in one continual round of tedious entertainment, in which -invention and lavishness exhausted itself; but this was only the first -of a series of such revels in the same place, for which any pretext was -seized. - -In January 1637, for instance, when Philip learnt that his -brother-in-law, Ferdinand, had been elected King of the Romans, and -future Emperor, an entertainment was ordered on a prodigious scale at -the Buen Retiro. Three thousand men were set to work to level a hill -that Pinelo (Anales) says ‘had stood since the world was made,’ for the -purpose of building a wooden enclosure 608 feet long and 480 wide. Four -hundred and eight large balconies or boxes surrounded this vast space, -which was painted to look like masonry outside, whilst the inside was -hung with silk and tapestries, and a silver railing ran round the front -of the boxes. Nine hundred huge candelabra, ‘with four lights in each,’ -illuminated the plaza; and the royal box, with its gilded roofs and -pillars, and its green and gold appointments, glittered with mirrors -which cast back the twinkling lights that fell upon them. Blazonry, -imperial and royal crowns, scutcheons of arms and ‘conceited devices,’ -were displayed on every side; and when, on the 15th February (Sunday), -Philip came to the feast in state from the house, in the Carrera de San -Geronimo, where he had robed, through a broad lane of people, with -torch-bearers standing shoulder to shoulder throughout his route, people -said that never had such a gorgeous show been seen in Spain. - -With martial music, before them rode in his train, sixteen bands of -nobles, twelve in each band, all dressed alike in black velvet and -silver, and every man carrying in his right hand a lighted wax taper, -whilst he restrained his prancing steed with the left. Last of all the -bands came those of Olivares and the King, dressed like the others, but -with some richer ornaments; and then great triumphal cars of strange and -showy designs, made by Cosme Lotti, the clever Florentine. Each of them -was 30 feet long and 46 feet high, lit with 100 torches, and contained -innumerable figures and devices; and bands of music, the weight being so -great that twenty-four bullocks were needed to draw each one, the -bullocks themselves being hung with crimson, and accompanied by men in -the garb of Orientals bearing silver torches. After them followed forty -savages, whose clubs were torches; and as the great procession entered -the enclosed space, and each party passed before Queen Isabel in the -royal box, a fanfare sounded and the men saluted the sovereign; the -whole procession, after having completed the circle, forming up in front -of the royal box, whilst the mummers on the cars represented before the -Queen ‘a colloquy of peace and war.’ - -Philip’s band of nobles in their musical ride and intricate evolutions, -of course excelled all others; and the King, acclaimed as the champion -cavalier of his realm, ascended to his wife’s box to lay at her feet the -guerdon of his prowess, and witness the rest of the feast at her side. -For ten days thereafter the feasting and vain show went on, comedies, -concerts, banquets, balls, water fetes on the lake, illumination of the -woods, bull fights by torchlight, a poetical contest and greasy poles; a -cotillon in which the party pelted each other with eggshells full of -perfume, and a hundred other devices to waste time and money,[224] and -to beguile Philip from the looming affairs of State, now wholly managed -by the strong, dark-faced man with the big head and bowed shoulders, -whom most people hated for his imperiousness and his greed, the King’s -bogey as some called him, the second King of Spain, the Count Duke of -Olivares. - -The brilliant hopes of peace and retrenchment which had greeted Philip’s -accession had all been falsified. The Catholic union with France -represented by the marriages of Philip with Isabel and of Louis XIII. -with the Infanta Anna, had failed before the marriages themselves were -complete; for the ambitious projects of Philip II. were again being -revived by Olivares, who dreamed once more that Spain, cast down in the -dust as she was, might yet hold the hegemony over the powers of Europe, -and dictate to Christendom the articles of its faith. It was a vain, -foolish, vision in the circumstances, for not of material strength alone -had Spain been stripped, but of the real secret of its short -predominance, the firm conviction of divine selection and of the -invincibility of its sacred cause. The country was as politically -heterogeneous as ever, whilst it had lost the homogeneity it had -borrowed from religious exaltation; and yet, with its rival, France, -growing daily in national solidarity and contributive capability under -Richelieu, Spain was hurried by Olivares into a perfect fever for -conquest, and to the arrogant reassertion of its old exploded claims. - -The employment of Spanish troops to overrun the Palatinate and reduce -Bohemia, and the recrudescence of the interminable war against the -Dutch, had knit the two branches of the house of Austria closer together -than ever, and strengthened the Emperor immensely. It was clear, that -unless Richelieu struck promptly and boldly, France would once again, if -Olivares had his way, be shut in by a circle of enemies. France and -Savoy, alarmed at the revived pretensions of Spain, made common cause -with the protestant powers, and soon all Europe was at war. Spain was -ruined, but at least the court nobles and the church were rich, and the -national pride was excited to the utmost. The war was primarily against -France, but Isabel of Bourbon was as fiercely Spanish as if her father -had not been Henry the Great, and she herself set the example of -sacrifice. The jewels she loved so well were sold to provide -men-at-arms; the ladies, who took their tone from the Queen, sent their -valuables the same way; the nobles, aroused by appeals to their pride, -contributed voluntarily a million ducats to the war fund; and the church -opened its hoards to the extent of raising and maintaining twenty -thousand troops. All French property in Spain was confiscated, and the -war for a time was carried on with an energy that reminded men of the -great times of the Emperor. At first the Spaniards and Austrians carried -all before them. Tilly in Germany, Spinola in Flanders, and Fadrique de -Toledo on the sea, revived the glory of the house of Austria; and -Spanish pride rose once more to crazy arrogance. Philip the Great, the -Planet King, were the titles already given to the idle young man, whom -Olivares flattered and controlled. But when the first gust of enthusiasm -was past, it was clear that Spain could not provide funds to carry on -war by land and sea the world over; and peace was made with England; -Savoy was won over, and thenceforward it was a duel to the death between -the house of Austria and the house of France, between Olivares and -Richelieu. - -For years the struggle went on with varying military phases, but with -the inevitable result of reducing poverty-stricken, idle Spain to -absolute penury. Every device to raise more money was tried, and all in -vain. Crushing taxes upon production, debasement of the coinage, -confiscation, repudiation and robbery, were but weak resources to -maintain a great foreign war by a bankrupt State; and unless Olivares -confessed failure more money must be had. The Cortes of Castile was -powerless to check the national waste, but the Cortes of Aragon, -Catalonia and Valencia, were still vigorous, and resisted all attempts -to extort money except by their votes, grudgingly given only after much -haggling. Olivares had understood as clearly as Ferdinand and Isabel had -done, that for the King of Spain to be powerful enough to cope with -France he must control the whole resources of Spain. The bond of -religious exaltation had dissolved, and could not be restored; but the -unification on political lines might be effected by weakening the -separate autonomous institutions of the outlying States. - -This was the plan of Olivares; doubtless a wise one if pursued patiently -and cautiously in times of peace and in an era of interior reforms. But -Olivares, like Ferdinand the Catholic before him, needed national unity -in a hurry, in order to obtain resources to fight France, not for the -purpose of making Spain a homogeneous peaceful nation,[225] and his -reckless attempts to obtain money for his war with France by over-riding -the autonomous privileges of Catalonia and Portugal, and extorting -taxation without parliamentary sanction, precipitated the ruin that had -long threatened. In June 1640 Barcelona flamed out in revolt against -Castile, and soon all Catalonia, and part of Aragon and Valencia, had -repudiated the dominion of Philip, and had made common cause with -France. Six months later, in December 1640, Portugal for similar reasons -proclaimed the Duke of Braganza king, and cast off for ever the yoke of -Spain. - -Philip, plunged in his pleasures, as we have seen, was kept in the dark. -The Catalan insurgents were for him merely a band of rioters, as -Olivares assured him, who would soon be suppressed; and when Portugal -proclaimed its freedom the minister had the effrontery to rush into -Philip’s chamber with an appearance of joy, and congratulated him upon -gaining a new dukedom and a vast estate. ‘How?’ asked the King. ‘Sire,’ -replied Olivares, ‘the Duke of Braganza has gone mad and revolted -against your Majesty. All his belongings are now forfeit and are yours.’ -But Philip knew better, and for once lost his marble serenity. Blow -after blow fell upon him. Starving subjects, a crippled trade, an empty -treasury, and his richest realms in revolt: these were the results of -his twenty years rule, and all he had to show was the hollow glory of -battles gained far away in quarrels not his own. - -He was good-hearted and really loved his subjects, but he had never -learnt to rule, for he had never ruled his own passions or curbed his -inclinations; and he was in despair when the truth came to him, bit by -bit. Frantic prayers; tears and vows of amendment were his way of -dealing with all the blows of fortune: but there were others at his side -who were more practical and determined than he. For years the yoke of -Olivares and his wife had galled the neck of Isabel. Fond of pleasure as -she was, she had a statesman’s mind, and her love for her promising son -Baltasar, now aged thirteen, and the pride of his parents’ heart, had -sharpened her wits as she saw his great inheritance slipping away from -him under the rule of a minister whom she personally disliked for his -rudeness even to her.[226] Again and again she had urged Philip to play -the man and head his own armies in the field. Philip was willing, even -eager, to do so; but Olivares would not hear of it, and the breach -widened between the Queen and the minister. Olivares was detested by -most of the principal nobles and churchmen. His policy of war could only -be paid for out of the plunder derived from them, since all other -classes were reduced to poverty, and the elements of discontent -gradually grouped around Isabel. - -At last Isabel’s prayers, for once, overrode Olivares’ counsel, and -Philip stood firm in his determination to lead his own armies to rescue -Catalonia from the French. Olivares left no stone unturned to defeat the -Queen. Obedient physicians certified that the voyage would injure the -King’s health, submissive Councils voted against the risk of the -sovereign’s life in war, and constitutional lawyers laid down that it -was not proper for the King to go. Philip, tired out at last, snatched a -report of the Council from the hands of the Protonotary who was about to -present it, and, tearing it into pieces, cried, ‘Bring me no more -reports about my going to Catalonia, but prepare for the journey, for go -I will.’ The royal confessor—of course a creature of Olivares—added his -remonstrance against the King’s journey, but was at once stopped by -Philip, and was told that if Olivares did not want to go he could stay -away; and if he was not at Aranjuez when the King passed through he -would not wait for him. - -It was a victory for Isabel that presaged the great minister’s fall; for -Olivares dared not leave his master’s side, and the Queen remained in -the capital as Regent. Every device was adopted to delay the King’s -progress. Money was wanted, and when that had been extorted, in many -cases by imprisonment,[227] the lavish and pompous preparations for the -journey were endless. Nine state coaches and six litters, a hundred and -three saddle horses, with crowds of courtiers, were considered necessary -for a campaign; and every grandee and titled nobleman in Spain was -warned that he must join the royal train. When, at last, after visits to -numberless altars, Philip took leave of his wife at Vacia Madrid in -April 1642, it was only to be delayed on the way for many weeks in -ostentatious feasts, hunting parties and frivolities, before he at -length arrived at Saragossa. By that time Aragon itself was half overrun -by the French, and Philip, fully awake now to the terrible condition of -affairs, grew ever more gloomy with his minister, who even now found -means to keep the King isolated at Saragossa, miles away from the -hostilities, in discounted inaction. - -In the meanwhile Isabel in Madrid, free from the terrifying presence of -the favourite, organised the party of his opponents. She had always been -a favourite with the crowd for her popular manners, but now she won -their hearts completely; for they knew she was against the man upon -whose back they laid all their woes. She visited the guards and -barracks, mustered the regiments in the capital and addressed to them -harangues, exciting their loyalty to the King and Spain. Once more she -sacrificed her ornaments, devoted herself to the comfort of the -soldiers, raised a new regiment at her own expense in her son’s name, -presided over the Councils, and infused more activity and enthusiasm in -the administration than had been seen for years. - -Isabel of Bourbon had seized her opportunity. Up to that time she had -been simply an appanage of the splendours of the idle King; now, with -the power of a Regent and the favour of the people, she became the -strongest personality in Spain. Her letters to the King were vigorous -and brave; and he thenceforward treated her with greater consideration, -as if up to that time he had never realised that his wife was a woman of -talent and spirit. Philip was kept idle at Saragossa, away from his army -and his nobles for months. Once he acted on his own initiative and -appointed a new commander-in-chief, the Marquis of Leganés, a kinsman of -Olivares; but the appointment was unfortunate. At the first engagement -afterwards Philip’s army was utterly routed before Lerida; and as winter -approached, with a badly fed, unpaid dwindling force, quarrelling -generals, and his best provinces held by France, Philip returned to -Madrid with an aching heart at the end of the year 1642. - -He found the tone in his palace very different from when he had left it. -There were four women, all of whom had Philip’s ear, and who hated -Olivares. The Queen, Anna of Austria, Queen of France, Philip’s sister, -the Duchess of Mantua (Margaret of Savoy), his cousin, who had been his -viceroy in Portugal, and who rightly blamed the minister for the loss of -the country; she, moreover, being kept in semi-imprisonment at Ocaña by -the minister’s orders, and Doña Anna de Guevara, the King’s old nurse, -who was also forbidden at Court by the same influence. These ladies were -all in communication with each other and with the nobles who were -Olivares’ enemies, led by the Counts of Paredes and Castrillo. ‘My good -intentions and my son’s innocence,’ Isabel told Paredes, ‘must for once -serve the King for eyes: for if he sees through those of the Count Duke -much longer, my son will be reduced to a poor King of Castile.’ - -A week or two after the King’s return, Isabel struck her blow at the -tottering favourite. The first sign of the event was the escape of the -King’s Savoy cousin, the Duchess of Mantua, from Ocaña, and her arrival -at Madrid late at night, after a ride of forty miles through a storm of -sleet. Olivares was furious, and kept her waiting for four hours before -he assigned her two wretched rooms in one of the royal convents. But -Isabel received her in the palace with open arms the next morning. Then -the banished nurse, Anna de Guevara, appeared in the palace in defiance -of Olivares. That afternoon Philip visited his wife’s room, and she, -kneeling before him, with little Baltasar in her arms, implored him for -the sake of their son to dismiss his evil minister before it was too -late to rescue the realms his ineptitude had lost. In a torrent of words -Isabel poured forth the pent-up complaints of years; the wars that had -ruined the country, the starving people, the lost provinces, the waste -and frivolity that had been the rule of their lives, the insults and -slights which she, personally, had suffered at the hands of Olivares and -his wife, and the shame that a king, into whose hands God had confided -so sacred a task, should delegate it to others. - -Philip was deeply moved, though he said nothing; but as he left his -wife’s chamber, he was confronted in the corridor by the kneeling figure -of his beloved foster-mother, Anna de Guevara. She, too, formed her -impeachment of Olivares in impassioned words, and Philip could only -reply, ‘You have spoken the truth.’ Then for two hours the Queen and the -Duchess of Mantua were closeted with the King, and the victory was -won.[228] That night, 17th January 1643, Olivares was dismissed. He -struggled for days to regain his influence over the King, but tried in -vain; for Philip, like most weak men, was obstinate when once his mind -was made up, and so, ruined and degraded, the Count Duke turned his back -upon the Court he had ruled, and went to madness and death, leaving -Isabel of Bourbon, the mistress of the situation, the ‘King’s only -minister,’ as he said soon after, when he asked the nuns of shoeless -Carmelites to pray for his ‘minister.’ - -Madrid went wild with joy at Olivares’ fall. ‘Isabels have always saved -Spain,’ the people cried, as the King and Queen with the Duchess of -Mantua went to the convent church of the barefoots to give thanks; -‘Philip is King of Spain, at last, and will save his country.’ But it -needed much more than shouting to save Spain. Philip, spurred by his -wife, plucked up more energy than ever before. He would be his own -minister in future, and would take the field as soon as spring came, and -wrest Catalonia from the French. Before that could be done, Philip’s -army met in Flanders with the greatest defeat it had ever sustained, a -blow from which the reputation of the famous Spanish infantry never -recovered. His young brother, Cardinal Ferdinand, had died two years -before, and his place in Flanders had been taken by the Portuguese noble -Mello. He was a good soldier; but Condé, young as he was, out-generalled -him: and the defeat of Rocroy made it certain that France, and not -Spain, would in future lead Europe. But yet the soil of Spain itself -must be redeemed from the French invaders: and again, through the summer -of 1643, Philip struggled manfully to regain his lost dominion; whilst -Isabel, as Regent in Madrid, organised, directed, and encouraged, with a -spirit and energy that won for her the fervent love of her husband’s -loyal subjects. Some success attended him, for he captured Lerida from -the French: but the war was a terrible drain, and in the campaign of the -following year, 1644, failure followed failure. - -The poor, weary, King’s heart was almost breaking under his many -troubles, when he was brought into contact with the saintly woman, who -until the end was his one refuge and solace, the Venerable nun, Maria de -Agreda, whose exhortations and prayers sustained him in his hardest -trials, which were yet to come. Philip was in Saragossa at the beginning -of October when news came to him that his wife was ill. Sending his new -favourite—for his good resolves in that respect had soon failed—Luis de -Haro, to the front, to acquaint the army of the King’s reason for -leaving, he started at once for Madrid. - -On the 28th September 1644, Isabel had suffered from some sort of -choleraic attack with much fever. She was copiously bled in the arms, -and seemed to improve, but was soon seen to be suffering from violent -erysipelas in the face; the disease soon spreading to the throat, which -was almost closed, as if by diphtheria. The patient was bled eight times -more, but still the inflammation grew; and, as usual with Spanish -doctors, when bleeding failed, the charms of the church were resorted -to. On the 4th October the last sacrament was administered, and the dead -body of Saint Isidore was brought to the sick chamber. This having -failed to effect a cure, the more sacred relic still, the miraculous -image of the Virgin of Atocha was brought in procession from its shrine -into the convent of St. Thomas, at Madrid, with the intention of placing -it for adoration by the Queen’s bed. When Isabel’s permission was asked, -she said that she was unworthy of the honour of such a visit, and Prince -Baltasar visited the image instead, to implore upon his knees that his -mother’s life might be spared. ‘There was no church nor convent in -Madrid that did not bring out in procession its crucifixes and most -sacred images in prayer for the Queen’s health, and the whole people -wailed fervently their prayers and rogations that her life might be -granted.’[229] - -On the 5th of October, the dying woman tried to make her new will; but -she was too weak, and only left verbal authority before witnesses to the -King to carry out her intentions. At noon on that day she sent for a -_fleur de lys_, which formed one of the ornaments in the crown, and in -which was encased a fragment of the true cross. This she worshipped -fervently. Her two children were brought to her, Baltasar and the girl -Maria Theresa, but she would not let them approach her for fear of -contagion, though she blessed them fervently from afar. ‘There are -plenty of Queens for Spain,’ she sighed, but princes and princesses are -scarce. The next day, as the great clock of the palace marked a quarter -past four in the afternoon, Isabel of Bourbon breathed her last, aged -forty-one. Garbed as a Franciscan nun, the body was carried that night -to the royal convent of barefoots; and thence the day after in a leaden -coffin, encased in another of brocade, it was borne back to the palace -to lie in state amidst blazing tapers, nodding plumes, and all the pomp -and circumstance of royal mourning. - -In the meanwhile, Philip was hurrying from Aragon, a prey to the keenest -anxiety. At Maranchon, about fifty miles from the capital, where the -King had alighted at a wretched inn, the news came that the Queen was -dead. The ministers and courtiers around the King forbore to tell him -for a time, out of mere pity; for the journey and anxiety had told upon -him ‘and he had only just dined.’ But a few miles further on, at -Almadrones, the news was broken to him in his carriage by those who -accompanied him. A terrible burst of grief, and an order that he might -be left alone in his sorrow, proved that Philip, for all his -faithlessness, was fond of his wife; and then, rather than enter the -city where the Queen’s body lay, he turned aside and sought solitude at -the Pardo,[230] where he was soon joined by his son Baltasar, whilst, -with the usual heavy pomp at dead of night, the body of Isabel was -carried across the bleak Castilian tableland to the new jasper vault in -the Escorial, which, from very dread, she had never dared to enter in -her lifetime. - -Three days after Isabel’s death, the sainted mystic of Agreda saw, as -she asserted, the phantom of the Queen before her, asking for the -prayers of the godly to liberate her from the pains she was suffering in -purgatory, for the vain splendour of her attire during her life.[231] To -the nun Philip’s cry of pain went up, whilst to all the rest of the -world he turned a leaden face. On the 15th November he wrote—‘Since the -Lord was pleased to take from me to himself the Queen, who is now in -heaven, I have wanted to write to you, but the great distress I am in, -and the business with which I am overwhelmed, have hitherto prevented me -from doing so. I find myself more oppressed with sorrow than seems -bearable, for I have lost in one person alone all that I can lose in -this world: and if it were not that I know, according to the faith I -hold, that God sends to us that which is best and wisest, I know not -what would become of me. But this thought, and this alone, makes me -suffer my grief with utter resignation to the will of God; and I must -confess to you that I have needed much help from on high to bring me to -bear this cross patiently. I wanted to ask you to pray to God very -earnestly for me in this dire trouble, and to aid me in asking Him to -grant me grace to offer up this sorrow to Him, and take advantage of it -for my own salvation.’[232] - -A yet more terrible trial for him came two years later; and a yet more -heartbroken appeal to the nun for prayers, and to God to save him from -rebellion against his hard fate, burst from the King’s breaking heart -when his only son died in his budding manhood, and left Philip, aged by -suffering, to face matrimony again for the sake of leaving an heir to -the crown of sorrow that was weighing him down. - -Isabel of Bourbon died bravely, as she had lived. She was a Frenchwoman, -married to bring about a friendship between France and Spain, and the -two countries were at war continually from the time that her marriage -was completed to the day of her death. In her time the sun of Spain sank -as surely as the day of France brightened, and yet she never gloried in -the triumph of the land of her birth, and kept faithful to the end to -the Spain which she loved so well. It would be unfair to credit her with -so clear and high a soul as either of the previous Isabels; but hers was -a brave, sturdy, heart that accepted things as they were if she was -unable to mend them; and, like her father before her, she enjoyed -herself as much as she could whilst doing her duty valiantly and well. - - - - - BOOK IV - II - MARIANA OF AUSTRIA - - -So long as Prince Baltasar lived Philip resisted all pressure that he -should take another wife. The spring and summer were spent in Aragon, in -the now almost despairing attempt to win back his dominions from the -French. Approaches for his own marriage were made by various interests, -but always gently put aside with a reference to his hopes being now -centred in his son, whom he kept at his side and instructed him in the -business of government. With a wretched lack of material resources his -attempts to recover Catalonia were fruitless. One defeat followed -another with wearisome reiteration, and as disaster deepened Philip -became more moody and devout; his one adviser and confidant being the -nun of Agreda, and his one resource agonised prayer. When his boy fell -ill in May 1646, at Pamplona in Navarre, on his way to the seat of war, -Philip’s invocations to heaven for his safety were almost terrible in -their intensity.[233] The lad recovered; and when he arrived with his -father at Saragossa in July, the imperial ambassadors were awaiting them -to offer in marriage to the heir of Spain his first cousin, the -Archduchess Mariana of Austria, the daughter of the Emperor. - -Philip could look nowhere else for an alliance. France was his deadly -enemy, though it was governed by his sister Anna as regent, and a -further marriage experiment in that direction was out of the question at -present, even if there had been an available French princess.[234] The -Emperor and Spain, on the other hand, had been—to Spain’s ruin—fighting -shoulder to shoulder throughout the whole of the thirty years’ war, now -dragging to its conclusion, and the treaty was promptly signed for the -marriage of Baltasar, aged seventeen, with Mariana of Austria, three -years younger. With regard to their betrothal, Philip wrote to the nun -thus: ‘My sister, the Empress, having died, I consider it advisable to -draw closer the ties between the Emperor and ourselves in this way, my -principal aim being the exaltation of the faith; for it is certain that -the more intimate the two branches of our house are, so much the firmer -will religion stand throughout Christendom.’ - -Only two months later, early in October, the blow fell, and the prince -died of smallpox. Whilst he lay ill the distracted father wrote -frantically to his correspondent, crying for God’s mercy to save him -from this last trial. But when the boy had died the King’s letters -assumed a tone of dull despair. God had not heard his prayers, and he -supposed it was for the best. He had done everything to dedicate this -grief to God; but his heart was pierced, and he knew not whether he -lived or dreamed. He was resigned, he said, but feared his constancy, -and so on; each phrase revealing a heart that almost doubted the -efficacy of prayer, and the goodness of the Almighty.[235] - -Thenceforward, for a time, his conduct changed. He had done his best and -had not spared himself. He had prayed night and day, and had fashioned -his life according to monastic counsels. But defeat, trouble, poverty -and bereavement had fallen upon him in spite of all, and Philip, in the -intervals of his poignant contrition, plunged into dissolute excesses -that shocked and scandalised the devotees about him. Philip was -forty-two, about the age when some of his forbears had developed that -strain of mystic devotion that so nearly borders madness. He had no male -heir, and only one tiny daughter of eight, and his troubles and excesses -had prematurely aged him. All Spain demanded of him a man child to -succeed to his greatness; and the remonstrances of the churchmen and the -nuns at the scandal of his life were reinforced by the Emperor’s -ambassadors, who urged that he should marry the girl-niece who had been -betrothed to his dead son. - -And so history repeated itself; and, as in the case of his grandfather, -Philip II., the King accepted for his wife the Austrian princess who had -been destined for his daughter-in-law. Of his many illegitimate children -he had only legitimised one, Don Juan José of Austria, the son of the -actress Maria Calderon. He was brilliant and handsome, and had won his -father’s regard; but he could never be King of Spain; and Philip, with -little enthusiasm, wedded an immature girl for the sake of giving an -heir to his country, and for the maintenance of the solidarity of the -house of Austria, which typified the old impossible claim of Spain to -dictate the religion of the world. It was a disastrous resolve, which -ensured the consummation of ruin to the country and the cause which it -was intended to benefit. - -Philip was straining every nerve against the French in Catalonia and -Flanders; he was, to the extent of his ability, attacking the Portuguese -on the eastern frontier; and his kingdom of Naples was in full revolt. -The long war had exhausted him, as it had exhausted all Europe: he had, -to his own destruction, fought the battles of religion in central Europe -by the side of the Emperor for many years; and his new marriage was -intended to fasten the Emperor to him in the cause of Spain. The -powerlessness of marriage bonds to resist political forces was once more -proved before Philip saw his bride. The Treaty of Westphalia (October -1648) was finally signed, and Spain, which had suffered most in the war, -sacrificed most in the peace. The religious question in Germany was -settled for good, and the dream of Charles v. was finally dissipated: -the independence of Holland, the point which had dragged Spain down and -kept her at war for nearly a hundred years, was recognised at last, out -of sheer impotence for further struggle by Philip. Alsace went to -France, and Pomerania to Sweden: the central European powers were -satisfied: there was nothing more for the Emperor to fight for, and -Spain was left face to face alone with her enemy France, and without the -imperial co-operation for which Philip had paid so dear. - -With ceremonies and pomp which would be tedious to relate the young -princess left Vienna on the 13th November 1648, travelling slowly by -coach with her brother, the King of Hungary, towards Trent, where the -representatives of Philip were to take charge of the new Queen. Endless -festivities were held at Trent and the Italian cities,[236] and -simultaneously in Madrid. Illuminated streets, bullfights, and -palace-revels, which Philip attended with dull hopeless face and heavy -heart, celebrated the announcement of the nuptials, coinciding in time -with the rejoicings for the recovery of Naples by the diplomacy of young -Don Juan of Austria, Philip’s son, in the winter of 1648. But it was -well into the autumn (4th September) of 1649 before the bride and her -Spanish household of one hundred and sixty nobles at length landed at -Denia in the kingdom of Valencia. - -At Navalcarnero, a small village some fifteen miles from Madrid, the -great cavalcade arrived on the 6th October 1649; and there it was -arranged that Philip should first meet his bride.[237] For months he had -been writing by every post to the nun, deploring and repenting his -inability to resist the temptations of the flesh, and ascribing to his -sins the wars, pestilence and misery that were scourging his beloved -people. With such qualms of conscience as this it must have been welcome -to him—weary voluptuary though he was—to enter into a licit union, -which, at least, might rescue him from temptation. Disguised, he watched -his bride enter Navalcarnero, and then went to lodge in another village -before paying his formal visit to her a day afterwards. Mariana was just -fifteen, a strong, passionate, full-blooded girl with a hard heart. On -her way from Denia the mistress of the robes, the Countess of Medillin, -had gravely remonstrated with her for laughing at the buffoons, who -sought to amuse her, and had schooled her in the etiquette that forbade -a Queen of Spain to walk in public. But Mariana made light of such -prudery, and in the insolence of her gaiety and youth went her own way, -laughing her fill at the comedy played before her at Navalcarnero, to -while away the time until supper. - -The King and Queen met for the first time in the little oratory where -their marriage was to be confirmed by the Archbishop of Toledo, and -then, after more comedies and bullfights, the royal pair proceeded to -the Escorial, lit up for the occasion by 11,000 lights, to pass the -first days of their honeymoon. From the Retiro on the 15th November -Mariana made her state entry into Madrid. The capital surpassed itself -in its signs of rejoicing, for Philip was extremely popular and his -subjects yearned for an heir to the throne. We are told that the whole -distance from the Retiro to the old palace, from one end of Madrid to -the other, the way was spanned by arches of flowers, whilst monumental -erections with devices of welcome were placed at each principal -point.[238] The Queen rode a snow-white palfrey; and as she smiled her -frank gratified smile to the lieges they welcomed her for her rosy, -painted cheeks and red pouting lips, knowing little the cold selfish -heart that beat beneath the buxom bosom. - -Philip was too busy for weeks in the delights of his honeymoon to write -to his confidante the nun, presumably also because the sins he so deeply -deplored, and so constantly repeated, did not tempt him during the first -weeks of his married life. But when, on the 17th November, he found time -to write, he expresses the utmost satisfaction at his bride. ‘I confess -to you,’ he says, ‘that I know not how I can thank our Lord sufficiently -for the mercy he has shown to me in giving me such a companion; for all -the qualities I have hitherto recognised in my niece are great, and I -find myself exceedingly content, and full of a desire to prove myself -not ungrateful for so singular a mercy by changing my mode of life and -submitting myself in all things to His will.’[239] The nun in answer to -this urged the King to live well in his new condition, ‘trying earnestly -that the Queen shall have all your attention and regard, instead of your -Majesty casting your eyes on other objects strange and curious.’ All -Spain, the nun continues, is yearning for an heir, and her own prayers -are ceaseless to that end. - -Philip was full of good resolves. He would never go astray again; but, -though he was as anxious for a son as his people were, he was in doubt -yet as to his new wife’s having arrived at sufficient maturity to have -children: ‘although others of her age, which is fifteen years, can do -so. But it is easy for our Lord to remedy this, and I hope in His mercy -that He will do it.’[240] In the meanwhile, the depositary of all these -hopes, Mariana, was diverting herself as best she could in girlish romps -with her stepdaughter of ten, who seems to have been her constant -companion. Philip, in writing of them, generally speaks of them as ‘the -girls,’ and frequently mentions Mariana’s joy at shows and gaiety. Once -more the Buen Retiro rang with light laughter. Comedies and masquerades -were again the constant diversion of the Court, though pestilence was -scourging the land, Catalonia and Portugal defied the arms of Spain, and -the French in Flanders still held the armies of Philip at bay. Pleasure, -the joy of living, absorbed the young Queen’s attention; and after the -first few months of marriage, Philip usually refers to her somewhat -wearily, and only with reference to her enjoyments or to his hopes of -progeny. After one disappointment a child was born in July 1651, a girl, -who was christened with the usual unrestrained splendour by the name of -Maria Margaret.[241] Again high hopes were entertained in due time, only -to be disappointed, and Mariana fell into melancholy; for Philip had -relapsed into his bad habits again, notwithstanding his vows and -resolves, and the delay in the coming of a son increased his coldness -towards his wife. A frenzied round of gaiety at the Buen Retiro did -something to arouse the Queen out of her depression,[242] but Philip had -now but little pleasure in his old love for glittering shows; for the -prayed for son came not, and war and pestilence still scourged Spain, as -he firmly believed for his own personal backsliding. - -[Illustration: - - MARIANA OF AUSTRIA. - - _After a Painting by Velazquez._ -] - -The life of the palace had settled down to utter monotony. Philip, -immersed in business; ‘with his pen always in his hand,’ as he says, had -little time for frivolity. His demeanour in public was like that of a -statue, and when he received ministers or deputations it was noticed -that no muscle of his face moved but his lips. Every movement was -settled beforehand; and it was possible to foretell a year in advance -exactly where the Court would be on a given day, and what the King would -be doing at a certain hour. Mariana lived in her own way, with little -show of affection for her elderly husband, or for the people amongst -whom she lived. She had fallen by this time (1657) into the stiff -etiquette of the Spanish Court, and in the intervals of her hoydenish -merriment she displayed a haughtiness as great as that of Philip himself -without his underlying tenderness or his pathetic resignation. She was -German in all her sympathies, and soon lost the love of Spaniards that -had been gained by the freshness of her youth.[243] Dressed in the -tremendous triple-hooped farthingale; with her stiff, squarely arranged -wig, and her full painted cheeks, she presented a sufficiently dignified -appearance in public; but her flat, unamiable face, hard, weary eyes, -and bulging jaw, gave her a look which repelled rather than attracted. - -The outward prudery of her Court barely veiled a state of atrocious -immorality amongst all classes. It was considered almost a reproach for -any of the ladies, all widows or unmarried, who were attached to the -palace service by hundreds, to have no extravagant gallant ready to ruin -himself for her caprices; and, as a natural consequence, assassination -was rife in the capital; and the news letters of the time are full of -scandalous stories, in which nobles, ladies and actresses are concerned -disgracefully. Corruption reigned more impudently than ever, and whilst -ships were rotting on the beach, and unpaid soldiers were starving in -the midst of war, vast sums were spent on foolish shows and revelry. -Philip now had little pleasure in it all, going through it like a leaden -automaton, only to torture himself with remorse afterwards, but withal, -habit or mere weakness led him to allow such scandals as the imposition -of a tax upon oil to pay for the new stage at the Buen Retiro, and the -robbing of the shrine of the venerated Virgin of Atocha of a great -silver chandelier for the illumination of the theatre.[244] - -In September 1654 it was announced that Mariana was again pregnant. ‘God -grant that it may be so,’ wrote a courtier: ‘but if it is going to be a -girl it is of no use to us. We do not want any of them. There are plenty -of women already.’[245] The King’s hopes rose that a son would at last -be born to him, and Mariana insisted upon accompanying him everywhere; -for in the intervals of her merrymaking she was a prey to deep -melancholy, increased when a girl infant was born only to die a few days -afterwards. The prognostications of astrologers and quacks decided in -the summer of 1655 that the prayed for son was now really on the way; -and as time went on unheard of preparations were made for the event. The -Marquis of Heliche had twenty-two new comedies written ready for -representation in the coming festivities, and large sums of money were -spent in decorations beforehand. Mariana’s lightest caprice was law, and -Philip hardly left her side. The old palace depressed her, and the Buen -Retiro became her permanent abode; Don Juan of Austria sent from -Flanders the most wonderful tapestries, and bed and bed furniture ever -seen, with a vast bedstead of gilt bronze which cost a fortune; the -bedroom furniture being a mass of seed pearl and gold embroidery upon -satin. ‘There is no getting the Queen out of the Retiro, for she frets -in the palace. She passes the mornings amongst her flowers, the days in -feastings, and the nights in farces. All this goes on incessantly, and I -do not know how so much pleasure does not pall upon her.’[246] But again -the prophets were wrong, for in December another epileptic girl child -was born and died: ‘Saint Gaetano notwithstanding.’[247] - -Mariana fell gravely ill after this, and a slight stroke of paralysis, -amongst other ailments, kept her for many weeks hovering between life -and death. Philip did his best to raise her spirits, and when the Cortes -petitioned him to have his elder daughter Maria Theresa acknowledged as -heiress, he refused, in order not to distress his wife, who, he said, -would be sure to have an heir directly. His letters to the nun show that -he, at this period, was himself in the depths of black despair, -overborne by his troubles; for Cromwell had seized Jamaica, and Spain -was at war by sea and land with England and France together. Whilst -Philip was gratifying his young wife by such entertainments as looking -on from concealed boxes in a theatre crowded with women, whilst a -hundred rats were surreptitiously let loose upon the floor;[248] he was -a prey to a morbid misery closely akin to madness, anticipating an early -death, weeping for the utter ruin that enveloped him and Spain, and the -absence of a male heir. - -One of his strange whims at this time was to pass hours alone in the new -jasper mausoleum at the Escorial, to which the bodies of his ancestors -had just been transferred. He wrote after one of these visits in -1654:—‘I saw the corpse of the Emperor whose body, although he has been -dead ninety-six years, is still perfect, and by this is seen how the -Lord has repaid him for his efforts in favour of the faith whilst he -lived. It helped me much: particularly as I contemplated the place where -I am to lie, when God shall take me. I prayed Him not to let me forget -what I saw there;’[249] and shortly after this another contemporary -records that the King passed two solitary hours on his knees on the bare -stones of the mausoleum before his own last resting-place in prayer; and -that when he came out his eyes were red and swollen with weeping.[250] - -Again, in August 1656, a girl child was born to Mariana only to die the -same day, and then depression, utter and profound, fell upon Philip and -his wife, for no ray of light came from any direction. There was no -money for the most ordinary needs. The Indian treasures were regularly -captured by the English, who closely invested Cadiz itself, whilst the -French on the Flanders frontier and in Catalonia worked their will -almost without impeachment, and the Portuguese defied their old -sovereign. Philip was ready to make peace almost at any sacrifice, at -least with the French; but the demands of Mazarin were as yet too -humiliating for a power which had claimed for so long the predominance -in Europe. At length, in the midst of the distress, hope dawned once -more, and again the wiseacres predicted that this time the Queen would -give birth to a son. Mariana’s every fancy was gratified.[251] Water -parties on the lake at the Retiro, endless farces, as usual, capricious -bull feasts, and diversions of all sorts, kept up her spirits; and Don -Juan sent another sumptuous bed and furniture more splendid than the -previous gift. Whilst this waste was going on in one direction, taxes -were being piled up in a way that made them unproductive, and such was -the penury in the King’s palace that Philip himself, on the vigil of the -Presentation of the Virgin (20th November 1657), had nothing to eat but -eggs without fish, as his stewards had not a real of ready money to pay -for anything (Barrionuevo). Exactly a week after the King was reduced to -such straits, the child of his prayers arrived. An heir was born at last -to the weary man of fifty-two, whose crown was crushing him. - -Madrid as usual went crazy with turbulent rejoicing, whilst Mariana in -the gravest danger battled for her life. Every bench and table in the -palace, we are told, was broken, and no eating house or tavern in the -town escaped sacking by the crowd of idle rogues who marched with music -and singing, whilst they stripped decent people even of their garments -to pay for their orgy.[252] Later, there were the usual bull fights, -masquerades, and the eternal comedies with new stage effects; and not a -noble in Castile failed to go and congratulate the King. Astrologists -were to the fore, as usual, foretelling by the stars that the newly born -babe would grow up to be wise, prudent and brave, and would outlive all -his brothers and sisters in a prosperous fortunate career. The proud -father was full of gratitude to the Most High for the signal favour -conferred upon him. ‘Help me, Sor Maria,’ he wrote to the nun, ‘to give -thanks to Him; for I myself am unable to do so adequately: and pray Him -to make me duly grateful, and give me strength henceforward to do His -holy will. The new-born child is well, and I implore you take him under -your protection, and pray to our Lord and His holy mother to keep him -for their service, the exaltation of the faith and the good of these -realms. And if this is not to be, then pray let him be taken from me -before he comes to man’s estate.’[253] - -Philip, like his courtiers, went into rhapsodies of admiration of the -beauty and perfection of the infant that had been born to him. So fair -an angel surely never had been seen than this poor epileptic morsel of -humanity from whom so pathetically much was expected. On the 6th -December Philip rode in State on a great Neapolitan horse through the -streets of Madrid, to give thanks to the Virgin of Atocha for the boon -vouchsafed to him, and the capital began its round of official -rejoicings. Fountains ran wine, music and dancing went on night and day, -mummers in strange disguise promenaded the streets in procession, -bullfights and the usual tiresome buffoonery testified that Madrid -shared with the King his delight that an heir had been born to him.[254] -Philip himself was in high good humour, bandying jests with his -favourite, Don Luis de Haro; and, at the brilliant ceremony of the -christening of Prince Philip Prosper, a week later, which he witnessed -hidden behind the closed jalousies of his pew, he was proudly pleased at -the vigorous squalls of the infant. ‘Ah!’ he whispered to Haro, ‘that’s -what I like to hear, there is something manly in that.’[255] It was -fortunate for Philip that he could not foresee that this babe for whom -he had prayed so fervently would be snatched from him four years later, -stricken by the calamity of its descent; and that the later child that -would succeed him, the offspring of incest too, would end the line of -the great Emperor in decrepit imbecility, matching sadly with the -decadence of his country. - -Whilst the continued and costly celebrations of the Queen’s tardy -recovery after the birth of her sickly child were scandalising the -thoughtful, national affairs were going from bad to worse.[256] Don Luis -de Haro, Philip’s prime minister, had started in January 1658 to relieve -Badajoz, closely invested by the masculine Queen of Portugal, herself a -Spaniard, and had been disgracefully routed by the despised Portuguese. -This was a humiliation that proved to the world the complete impotence -of Spain: but in June of the same year a more damaging blow still was -dealt at the power that had held its head so high in the past. The -battle of the Dunes, or Dunkirk, in which Don Juan, Condé and the Duke -of York on the Spanish side were pitted against Turenne, aided by the -troops of Cromwell, was a crushing defeat for Philip’s forces, and -placed all Flanders at the mercy of the French. It was clear that Philip -could fight no longer, for Spain had well nigh bled to death; and so -great was the depopulation of Castile that a project was adopted—though -not carried out for lack of money—to re-people the country with Irish -and Dalmatian Catholics. - -There were other circumstances that tended towards peace besides the -exhaustion of Spain. The long years of war had told heavily upon the -resources of France: the Catalans by this time had grown heartily tired -of their French king Stork, and were yearning for the return of their -Spanish king Log; and, above all, Mazarin had long cast covetous eyes on -the Spanish succession, in the very probable case of Philip’s issue by -his second wife failing. For years the Queen-regent, Anna of Austria, -had been striving for peace with her brother, but circumstances and -national pride had always defeated her. The efforts of the Emperor’s -agents in Madrid, aided very powerfully by Mariana, had also been -exerted to prevent a close agreement between France and Spain. In 1656 -M. de Lionne had been sent secretly by Mazarin to Madrid, where he -passed many months in close conference with Luis de Haro, endeavouring, -but without success, to negotiate peace. - -In one of their meetings Haro wore in his hat, as an ornament, a medal -impressed with the portrait of the Infanta Maria Theresa, Philip’s -daughter by his first wife. ‘If your King would give to my master for a -wife the original of the portrait you wear,’ said Lionne, duly -instructed by Mazarin, ‘peace would soon be made.’ Nothing more was said -at the time, for, in the absence of a son, Philip dared not marry the -heiress of Spain to his nephew Louis XIV., but when an heir was born to -Mariana, the idea of a marriage between Maria Theresa and Louis XIV. at -once became realisable. The Austrian interest still stood in the way; -and Mariana, who was as purely an ambassador for her brother as his -accredited diplomatic representative was, used all her efforts to -frustrate the plan; and a marriage was actively advocated by her between -the Infanta and Leopold, the heir of the empire. Philip for a long time -allowed himself to incline to the Austrian connection that had already -cost him so dear. - -As soon as the French match looked promising, as a result of much secret -intrigue between Mazarin and Haro, the Emperor offered to Philip a great -army in Flanders to aid in expelling the French; and when Philip was -hesitating between the persuasions of his wife Mariana, and her kinsmen -on the one hand, and the pressure of poverty on the other, which made a -continuance of the war difficult for him, Mazarin played a trump card -which won the game. Louis was taken ostentatiously to Lyons to woo the -Princess of Savoy; and, in fear of a coalition against Spain, Philip -sent his minister Haro to negotiate peace with Mazarin personally on the -banks of the Bidasoa. During all the autumn of 1659, on the historic -Isle of Pheasants in the river, the keen diplomatists fought over -details; and often their labours seemed hopeless, for the Spaniards were -as proud as ever and the French as greedy. But the frail health of the -puling babe, who alone stood between the Infanta and the Spanish -succession, at length made Mazarin more yielding: the last great -obstacle, the restoration of Condé’s forfeited estates, was overcome, -and one of the most fateful treaties in history was settled. - -It was still a bitter pill for Spain, for she lost much of her Flemish -territory and the county of Roussillon; but, at least, she regained -Catalonia, and, above all, secured peace with France. The Infanta was to -marry Louis XIV., and the Spaniards insisted that she should renounce -for ever her claim to the succession of her father’s crown, though -Mazarin made the clause ineffective by stipulating that the renunciation -should be conditional upon the entire payment of the dowry of 500,000 -crowns, which, it was more than probable, Philip could never pay.[257] -In the meanwhile Mariana had borne another son, who died in his early -infancy; and at the pompous embassy of the Duke de Grammont to Madrid, -formally to ask for the hand of the Infanta, she took little pains to -appear amiable to an embassy which she looked upon as bringing a defeat -for her and her family. - -A vivid picture of her and her husband at one of the great -representations at the theatre of the old palace is given by a follower -of Grammont, who wrote an account of the embassy.[258] ‘The great -saloon,’ he says, ‘was lit only by six great wax candles in gigantic -stands of silver. On both sides of the saloon, facing each other, there -are two boxes or tribunes with iron grilles. One of these was occupied -by the Infantas and some of the courtiers, whilst the other was destined -for the Marshal (Grammont). Two benches covered with Persian rugs ran -along the sides facing each other, and upon these some twelve of the -ladies of the court sat, whilst we Frenchmen stood behind them.... Then -the Queen and the little Infanta entered, preceded by a lady holding a -candle. When the King appeared he saluted the ladies, and took his seat -in the box on the right hand of the Queen, whilst the little Infanta sat -on her left. The King remained motionless during the whole of the play, -and only once said a word to the Queen, although he occasionally cast -his eyes round on every side. A dwarf was standing close by him. When -the play was finished all the ladies rose and gathered in the middle, as -canons do after service. They then joined hands, and made their -courtesies, a ceremony that lasted seven or eight minutes; for each lady -made her courtesy separately. In the meanwhile the King was standing, -and he then bowed to the Queen, who in her turn bowed to the Infanta, -after which they all joined hands and retired.’ - -In April 1660 Philip bade farewell to Mariana and set forth on this -famous journey to the French frontier, to ratify the peace of the -Pyrenees with his sister Anna of Austria, whom he had not seen since -their early youth more than forty years before, and to give his daughter -in marriage to the young King of France. Philip, for the sake of -economy, had ordered that as small a train as possible should accompany -him; but, withal, so enormous was his following and that of his -nobles,[259] with the huge stores of provisions and baggage, that his -cavalcade covered over twenty miles of road. Slowly winding its way at -the rate of only about six miles a day through the ruined land, greeted -by the poor hollow-eyed peasants that were left with tearful joy, -because it meant peace, the King’s procession at last arrived at the -seat of so many royal pageants, the banks of the Bidasoa, early in June. -Upon the tiny eyot in mid-river, the temporary palace that in the -previous year had been the meeting-place of Haro and Mazarin, still -remained intact; and here the sumptuous ceremony was performed that gave -to Louis XIV. the custody of his future wife, Maria Theresa.[260] - -What all the courtiers wore, and how they looked, is described _ad -nauseam_ by French and Spanish spectators; but the greatest man in all -the host, upon the Spanish side at least, was the King’s quartermaster, -whose exquisite taste and knowledge directed the artistic details of the -pageant, Diego de Silva Velazquez, whose garments may be described as a -specimen of the rest. His dress was of dark material, entirely covered -by close Milanese silver embroidery, and he wore around his neck the -golilla that had replaced the ruff, at the instance of Philip many years -before, to save the waste of starching.[261] Upon his cloak was -embroidered the great red floreated swordlike cross of Santiago, and at -his side he wore a sword in a finely wrought silver scabbard; whilst -around his neck there hung a heavy gold chain from which depended a -small diamond scutcheon with the same cross enamelled in red upon -it.[262] - -The restoration of the Stuarts in England soon after the ratification of -the Treaty of the Pyrenees, made a peace easy of negotiation between -their country and Spain, and by the beginning of 1661, Philip found -himself for the first time in a reign of forty years at peace with all -the powers outside the Peninsula. - -But rebellious Portugal had still to be reconquered. Again disaster -befell the Spaniards. Don Juan, the King’s son, was utterly routed at -Amegial after some partial successes; for Mariana had been busily -intriguing against him, and had caused the reinforcement and resources -he asked for to be denied him. - -Whilst Don Juan was struggling against the Portuguese and their English -abettors with inadequate forces and ineffectual heroism, Philip was -sinking deeper into the morbid devotional misery that afflicted in their -decline so many of his race. His only son, Philip Prosper, after a life -of four years of almost constant sickness, was snatched from him early -in November 1661, as a younger boy had been a year previously. The -bereaved father, who had watched over his son’s bed until the last, -nearly lost heart at this heavy blow; and was so much overcome, as he -confesses, as to be unable even to write for a time to his one refuge, -the nun of Agreda. When he did so, the usual self-accusing cry of agony -went up—‘I assure you,’ he wrote, ‘what troubles me most, much more even -than my loss, is to see clearly that I have offended God, and that He -sends all these sorrows as a punishment for my sins. I only wish I knew -how to amend myself and comply entirely with His holy will. I am doing, -and will do, all I can; for I would rather lose my life than fail to do -it. Help me, as a good friend, with your prayers, to placate the -righteous anger of God, and to implore our Lord, who has seen good to -take away my son, to bless the delivery of the Queen, which is expected -every day, and to keep her in perfect health and the child that is to be -born, if it be for his good service, for otherwise I desire it not. The -Queen has borne this last blow with much sorrow but christian -resignation. I am not surprised at this, for she is an angel, Oh! Sor -Maria: if I had only carried out your doctrines, perhaps I should not -find myself in this state.’[263] - -A few days after this was written, Mariana once more bore a son, a weak, -puling infant, that seemed threatened with an early death; but whose -birth threw Spain into a whirlwind of rejoicing as extravagant as any -that had gone before. But Philip was sunk too deep now into despondency, -by witchcraft the people said, to be aroused much, even by the birth of -a son; and, as the shadows fell around him, the power of Mariana grew. -With her clever German Jesuit confessor and confidant, Father Everard -Nithard, she soon managed to drag the unhappy King again into the vortex -of imperial politics, that had already well-nigh wrecked Spain, by -persuading him to maintain an army to aid Austria and Hungary against -the incursions of the Turk. Mazarin had died soon after the peace of the -Pyrenees, and the new advisers of Louis XIV. were already inciting him -to retaliate for the Austrian _rapprochement_ with Spain by fresh -aggression upon Spanish Flanders. Don Juan, bitterly opposed to the new -German interest in Spain, retired to his town of Consuegra in disgust -and disgrace; the French and English governments assumed a tone of -dictatorial haughtiness towards Spain unheard before; and Philip, in -declining health and bitter disappointment, could look nowhere now for -help and solace: for his minister Haro was dead, and the saintly nun of -Agreda, his refuge for so many years, also went to her rest in the -spring of 1665. There was no one now at Philip’s side but Mariana, -already intriguing for uncontrolled power when her husband should die, -and her German confessor Nithard, whose one aim was to use what was left -of Spanish resources for the ends of Austria. - -Others also were on the alert as to what would happen when Philip died, -and Sir Richard Fanshawe was sent to Madrid by Charles II., partly to -negotiate for the recognition of Portuguese independence; and also: ‘to -employ his utmost skill and industry in penetrating and discovering -under what model and form his Catholic Majesty designs to leave the -government there, when it shall please God that he die, which, -considering his great infirmity and weakness, may be presumed is already -projected.’[264] When Philip first received Fanshawe in June 1664, he -was so weak and weary that he could only ask him to put his speech on -paper,[265] and thenceforward all Europe regarded the King as a dying -man, whose work in the world was done. - -As Philip sank lower in despondency, the importance of Mariana rose. -Lady Fanshawe gives an account of her interview with the Queen on the -27th June 1664, at the Buen Retiro, which shows that Mariana was already -regarded almost as the reigning sovereign: ‘I was received at the Buen -Retiro by the guard, and afterwards, when I came up stairs, by the -Marquesa de Hinojosa, the Queen’s Camarera Mayor, then in waiting. -Through an infinite number of people I passed to the Queen’s presence, -where her Majesty was seated at the upper end under a cloth of state -upon three cushions, and on her left hand the Empress[266] upon three -more. The ladies were all standing. After making my last reverence to -the Queen, her Majesty and the Empress, rising up and making me a little -curtsey, sat down again; then I, by my interpreter, Sir Benjamin Wright, -said those compliments that were due from me to her Majesty; to which -her Majesty made me gracious and kind reply. Then I presented my -children, whom her Majesty received with great grace and favour. Then -her Majesty, speaking to me to sit, I sat down upon a cushion laid for -me, above all the ladies who sat, but below the Camarera Mayor; no woman -taking place (_i.e._ precedence) of her Excellency but princesses.... -Thus, having passed half an hour in discourse, I took my leave of her -Majesty and the Empress; making reverences to all the ladies in -passing.’[267] Some months afterwards Queen Mariana sent to the English -lady many messages of regard and esteem, with a splendid diamond -ornament worth £2,000, which Lady Fanshawe received with somewhat -exaggerated professions of humility, and repeated her thanks to her in -an interview soon after (8th April 1655). - -The total and final defeat of the Spaniards on the Portuguese frontier, -in June 1665, made the recovery of the lost kingdom hopeless, and broke -Philip’s heart. He had written in the spring to the dying nun, saying -that he desired no more health or life than was meet for God’s service, -and was ready to go when he was called. The call came in September 1665. -His chronic malady had been aggravated to such an extent by anxiety and -worry, that by the middle of the month his physicians confessed -themselves powerless. Then was enacted one of those ghastly farces -common at the time in Spain. It was whispered in the palace that the -King was bewitched, and the Inquisitor-General called a conference of -ecclesiastics to consider the means for exorcising the evil spirits that -held the sovereign in bondage. Philip himself gave permission for the -Inquisitor to act as might be judged best; and one day the royal -confessor, Friar Martinez, accompanied by the Inquisitor-General, -approached the sickbed and demanded of the King a certain little wallet -of relics and charms which he always wore suspended upon his breast. -After examining these carefully the wallet was returned to the King, and -from some clue therein contained, search elsewhere led to the discovery -of an ancient black-letter book of magic, and certain prints of the -King’s portrait transfixed by pins. All these things were solemnly burnt -after a service of exorcism by the Inquisitor-General at the chapel of -Atocha; and then, to assist the cure, the group of churchmen -administered to the King, who was suffering from several mortal -diseases, of which gall-stones caused the immediate danger, an elaborate -confection of pounded mallow-leaves with drugs and sugar. - -This treatment aggravated the ill, and in two or three days the King -appeared to be in _articulo mortis_, after what was described as a fit -of apoplexy. The whole Court fell into momentary confusion, and the -death-chamber was already deserted when the King revived and altered -several of his testamentary dispositions, one clause of which now -appointed Mariana regent during the minority of her son. The will, by -Philip’s orders, was then locked into a leather purse with other -important state papers, and the key, by the dying man’s orders, was -delivered to his wife. That afternoon, after taking the sacrament, -Philip bade a tearful farewell to Mariana, and blessed his two children. -He then took an affectionate leave of the Duke of Medina de las Torres -and other nobles, beseeching them with irrepressible tears to work -harmoniously together, and help the widow and the poor child to whom his -heavy heritage was passing. - -Philip struggled through the night in agony, and the next day the image -of the Virgin of Atocha was carried past the windows of the palace to be -deposited in the royal Convent of Barefoots hard by, whilst the dead -bodies of St. Diego and St. Isidro were brought to the royal chapel for -veneration;[268] and every church and convent in Madrid resounded with -rogations and processions for the health of the King. Around the bed of -the dying monarch evil passions already raged; for the Court was divided -thus early into two factions, one in favour of Mariana and the other -looking to Don Juan. The Duke of Medina de las Torres, the principal -minister, retired from the palace as soon as he had taken leave; and an -unseemly wrangle, almost a fight, took place over the deathbed between -rival friars, as to whether the viaticum might be administered or not, -until they had to be bundled out of the room by the Marquis of Aytona. - -No sooner was this scene over than Count Castrillo entered the chamber -and announced that Don Juan had come and was waiting to see his father. -Philip knew, and bitter the knowledge was, that his wife and son would -be in open strife from the day the breath left his body; but that Don -Juan should return from exile unbidden, and dared to disobey his King, -whilst yet he lived, aroused one more spark of sovereign indignation in -the moribund man. ‘Tell him,’ he said, ‘to return whence he came until -he be bidden. I will see him not; for this is no time for me to do other -than to die.’ At early dawn on Friday, 17th September, poor Philip the -Great breathed his last. ‘And curious it is,’ said a contemporary -courtier, ‘that in the chamber of his Majesty when he died, there was no -one but the Marquis of Aytona and two servants to weep for the death of -their King and master. In all the rest of the court not one soul shed a -tear for him. A terrible lesson is this for all humankind; that a -monarch who had granted such great favours and raised so many to honour, -had no sigh breathed for him when he died.’[269] - -The same night the dead body of the King was dressed in a handsome suit -of brown velvet, embroidered and trimmed with silver, with the great red -sword-cross of Santiago worked upon the breast, preparatory to the -pompous lying-in-state in the same gilded hall of the old palace at -Madrid, where the comedies the King had loved were so often played -before him. At the same time in an adjoining room the Councils of -Castile and State gathered to hear the will read by the secretary, -Blasco de Loyola, which made Mariana Queen-Regent of Spain, with the -assistance of a special council of regency, consisting of the great -dignitaries of the State, failing two of whom the Queen might appoint -two substitutes, an eventuality which partially occurred within a few -hours of Philip’s death by the decease of the Cardinal Archbishop of -Toledo, Moscoso. Don Juan, who was commended to the widow in the will, -waited to hear no more than the elevation of Mariana to the regency, and -then took horse with all speed and hurried back to the safe seclusion of -his fief of Ocaña. A few days afterwards, the sumptuous lying-in-state -being concluded, the body of ‘Philip the Great’ was carried in a vast -procession to the Escorial, to rest for ever in the jasper niche before -which he had so often prayed and wept.[270] - -Mariana, at the age of thirty-one, was now ruler of Spain for her son -Charles II., aged four, and she lost no time in showing her tendencies -when left to herself. The root of most of the calamities that affected -Spain were the traditions that bound it to the imperial house. All that -the country needed, even now, was rest, peace and freedom from foreign -complications in which Spaniards had no real concern. But Mariana was -Austrian to her finger tips; and ever since Philip’s health began to -fail she had been working for the predominance of her kindred and -weakening the bonds of friendship with France, knit by the marriage of -Maria Theresa with Louis XIV. - -There was already a large party of nobles who, seeing the national need -for peace, looked with distrust upon a policy which would still waste -Spanish resources in fighting the battles of the empire in mid-Europe: -and when to the vacancy in the Council of Regency and the -Inquisitor-Generalship, caused by the death of Cardinal Moscoso a few -hours after the King, Mariana appointed her Austrian confessor, Father -Nithard, Spanish pride flared out and protest became general. Nithard -was doubtless a worthy priest, though of no great ability, but if he had -been a genius the same detestation of him would have prevailed, for he -was a foreigner, and it was guessed at once that between him and the -Austrian Queen Spain would be sacrificed as it had been in the past to -objects that were not primarily Spanish. Observers abroad saw it too, -and although the French envoy who went to condole with Mariana on -Philip’s death assured her of the desire of Louis to be friendly with -her, the first acts of her regency gave to the French King a pretext for -asserting his wife’s right to the inheritance of Flanders, as her dowry -had not been paid, and her renunciation was asserted to be invalid. - -In May 1667 Louis invaded Flanders with 50,000 men, faced only by a -small disaffected and unpaid force under the Spanish viceroy, the result -being that the French overran the country and captured many principal -cities. Don Juan was summoned in a hurry from his exile to the Council -of State in Madrid, and he and his sworn enemy Mariana divided between -them the sympathies of the capital and the country. Pasquins and satires -passed from hand to hand on the Liars’ Parade and in the Calle Mayor, -mostly attacking Nithard and the Queen, who were blamed for the war; and -the relations between Don Juan and Mariana grew more strained every day. - -It was also evident now that Spain was powerless to coerce Portugal any -longer, and in February the humiliating treaty was signed—mainly by the -influence of Fanshawe[271] and Sandwich—in February 1668, recognising -the independence of the sister Iberian nation. Louis XIV. carried on his -attacks in Flanders with vigour, and rejected all overtures of peace -except on terms which aroused Spaniards to indignation. The Spanish -Franche Comté was occupied by the French in February 1668; and then, but -only by a supreme effort, a fresh army of nine thousand men was -collected in Spain to defend her territories. The Austrian friendship -was of little use to Spain, as usual, and Castile had once more to fight -her own battle. In these circumstances of national peril the influence -of Mariana and Nithard on the Council of Regency procured an order for -Don Juan to take command of the army and lead it to Flanders against the -French, and with an ill grace the royal bastard left Madrid on Palm -Sunday, 1668, for his rendezvous at Corunna, where the treasure ships -from Cadiz and his troops were to join him. Don Juan saw in this move an -intention of getting him away from the centre of government, and the -impression was strengthened by the almost simultaneous exile or arrest, -on various trivial pretexts, of some of those who were known to -sympathise with him, one of whom, Malladas, was strangled in prison by -Mariana’s orders. - -All through the spring Don Juan lagged at Corunna, excusing himself from -embarking on various grounds, ill-health being the principal; until, at -length, thanks to the intervention of England and Holland, Louis was -brought to sign terms of peace with Spain at Aix la Chapelle, in May -1668, that left him in possession of the Flemish territories he had -conquered. But still Mariana and Nithard were determined that Don Juan -should go and take possession of his government in Flanders, and sent -him a peremptory order to embark. This he refused to do, and a decree of -the Queen in August directed him to retire to Consuegra, and not -approach within sixty miles of Madrid. He had many friends and -adherents, especially in Aragon, and his discontent extended to them. -Those in Madrid began to clamour that Mariana and Nithard were keeping -the little King in the background away from his people, and alienating -those who might serve the monarchy best. - -Charles II. was now aged seven, and so degenerate and weak a child was -he, that he had been up to this period, and continued for some years -afterwards, entirely in the hands of women, and treated as an infant in -arms. He was dwarfish and puny, with one leg shorter than the other, his -gait during the whole of his life being uncertain and staggering. His -face was of extraordinary length and ghastly white, the lower jaw being -so prodigiously underhung that it was impossible for him to bite or -masticate food, or to speak distinctly. His hair was lank and yellow, -and his eyes a vague watery blue. This poor creature with his mother at -his side, in obedience to the clamour of Don Juan’s friends, was first -brought out in public for his subjects to see at a series of visits to -the convents and churches of Madrid in the summer of 1668.[272] Just as -the King and Mariana were about to start from the palace at Madrid on -one of these excursions, in October 1668, an officer came in great -agitation to the door of the Queen’s apartment and prayed for audience. -He was told that the coach awaited their Majesties, and the Queen could -not see him then, but would receive him when she returned. He begged in -the meanwhile to be allowed to stay in a place of safety in the palace. -This request made his visit seem important enough for Mariana to be -informed of it: and she ordered him to be introduced at once. When he -entered he threw himself upon his knees and besought that he might speak -with her alone; and for a half hour he was closeted with the Queen. - -The story he had to tell was of a widespread conspiracy of Don Juan and -his friends against the Regency, and without delay the net was cast that -swept into prison one of Don Juan’s principal agents in Madrid, Patiño, -and all his household. In a day or two a force of soldiers was -despatched to Consuegra to arrest Don Juan himself, but found the bird -flown. Behind him he had left a document addressed to the Queen, -violently denouncing Nithard as a tyrant and a murderer, whilst -protesting his own loyalty to his father’s son. Madrid began again to -murmur at the persecution of a Spanish prince in Spain by a foreign -Jesuit, and though a brisk interchange of manifestoes and recriminatory -pamphlets was carried on, the great mass of the people were -unquestionably on the side of Don Juan against the German Queen and her -Jesuit favourite. - -The Prince fled to Barcelona, where Nithard was especially hated and the -Madrid government always unpopular, and there nobles and people received -Don Juan with enthusiasm. Messages of support came to him from all parts -of Spain, and French money and sympathy powerfully aided his propaganda, -so that by the end of the year 1668 affairs looked dangerous for Mariana -and her confessor. The Queen and her Camarilla took fright and tried -conciliation, but Don Juan knew that he had the whip hand, and in a -letter written in November to Mariana peremptorily demanded the -dismissal of Nithard within fifteen days. Mariana’s friends on the -Council of Regency voted for the impeachment of Don Juan for high -treason; and for a time vigorous measures against him were like to be -taken. But the Council of Castile, the supreme judicial authority, -through its most influential member, warned the Queen that in a -controversy between the King’s brother and a foreign Jesuit Spaniards -must necessarily be on the side of the former, and the Queen must be -cautious or she would alienate the country from her. Mariana thereupon -wrote softly to Don Juan inviting him to approach Madrid that a -conference of conciliation might be held. But the prince would not trust -Nithard, who, he said, had planned his murder, and he declined to risk -coming to the capital except in his own time and way. - -Early in February 1669, Don Juan, with a fine bodyguard of two hundred -horse, rode out of Barcelona, and through Catalonia and Aragon towards -Madrid. Mariana had sent strict orders throughout the country that no -honours were to be paid to him, but his journey in spite of her was a -triumphal progress, and as he entered Saragossa in state the whole -populace received him with shouts of: ‘Long live Don Juan of Austria, -and Death to the Jesuit Nithard.’ A regiment of infantry was added by -Aragon to the Prince’s force, and on the 24th February Mariana and her -friend in the palace of Madrid were horrified to learn that Don Juan was -at the gates of the capital with an armed body stronger than any at -their prompt disposal. Whilst they made such hasty preparations as they -could to resist, all Madrid was in open jubilation at the approach of -their favourite prince. Don Juan’s force grew from hour to hour, and -with it grew his haughtiness towards the ruling authority. Mariana, in -alarm, tried every means. The Nuncio endeavoured to soften Don Juan’s -heart; the higher nobles in the Queen’s household wrote to him -deprecating violence; and, finally, the Queen herself wrote a letter of -kindly welcome. But to all blandishments Don Juan stood firm: Father -Nithard must go for good, and at once; whilst the Council of Castile -also demanded the Jesuit’s expulsion. - -On the morning of 25th February, whilst Mariana was still in bed, the -courtyards of the palace filled with gentlemen and officials in groups, -who openly declared for Don Juan and the expulsion of Nithard. The Dukes -of Infantado and Pastrana sought an interview with the Queen, for the -purpose of informing her of the general resolution, but were refused -admittance into her bedchamber. They then charged her secretary, Loyola, -to inform her, that unless she instantly signed a decree expelling -Nithard they themselves would take measures against him, as Madrid was -in a turmoil and order imperilled. Mariana with tears of rage swore that -she would not be coerced; and Nithard himself refused to stir. A hasty -meeting of the Council of Regency assembled in the forenoon, which -Nithard abstained from attending only upon the entreaty of the Nuncio, -where a decree of expulsion was drafted in the mildest form possible, -and laid before the Queen for signature as soon as she had dined. - -Mariana was at the end of her tether. The Court, the populace, and the -soldiery were all against her favourite, and she was forced to sign the -decree. But, though she did it, she never forgave Don Juan for the -humiliation, and thenceforward it was war to the knife between them. -Cardinal Nithard, with rich grants and gifts from the Queen, was with -difficulty saved from the cursing multitude that surrounded his coach as -he slunk out of the capital; and Don Juan, triumphant, begged for -permission to come and salute the Queen in thanks for his expulsion. -This, haughty Mariana coldly refused to allow, and Don Juan retorted by -demanding a thorough reform in the administration of the government, a -re-adjustment of taxation and many other innovations which he alleged -that Nithard alone had prevented. The Spanish nobles, however, were no -lovers of reform, and Don Juan’s drastic demands were regarded askance -by many. A long acrimonious correspondence was carried on by the Queen -at Madrid and Don Juan at Guadalajara, in the course of which some -financial amendments were promised by the former: but in the meantime -Mariana’s friends were raising an armed force as a bodyguard for her and -her son, which afterwards became famous as the _Chambergo_ regiment, -because the uniform was copied from those worn by the troops of Marshal -Schomberg. The formation of this standing force was bitterly resented by -the citizens of Madrid, and aroused new sympathy for Don Juan. At length -a semi-reconciliation was effected by the appointment of Don Juan as -Viceroy of Aragon in June 1669; and for several years thereafter the -Prince was piling up funds from his rich offices to strike a more -effectual blow when the time should come. - -The extreme debility of the boy King, who in 1670 was thought to be -moribund, was already dividing the courtiers, and indeed all Spain and -Europe, into two camps. If Charles II. died without issue, as seemed -probable, his elder sister Maria Theresa, wife of Louis XIV., would be -his natural successor, but for the act of renunciation signed at the -time of her marriage; an act which from the first the French had -minimised and disputed, and Philip himself had characterised as an ‘old -wife’s tale.’ It was evident that Louis XIV., daily growing in power and -ambition, had no intention of allowing the renunciation to stand in the -way of his wife’s claims if her brother died childless; and all of -Mariana’s enemies in Spain, and they were many, were ready to stand by -the claims of the elder Infanta Maria Teresa, daughter of the beloved -Isabel of Bourbon, if the succession fell into dispute. - -On the other hand, Mariana, naturally championed the cause of her own -daughter, the Infanta Margaret, married to the Emperor Leopold, and -upheld the validity of Maria Theresa’s formal renunciation of the -succession on her marriage. The Austrian connection had brought nothing -but trouble to Spain, and the brilliant progress of France, even though -it was to the detriment of their country, had gained many Spanish -admirers of the modern spirit that pervaded the methods of Louis XIV. -Mariana, therefore, to most Spaniards, represented, with her pronounced -Austrian leanings, an attempt to tie the country to the bad old times, -as well as to pass over the legitimate rights of the elder Infanta for -the benefit of her own less popular daughter the Empress Margaret. - -The Queen-Mother, well aware of the strong party against her, and that -her prime enemy, Don Juan, was only awaiting his time to strike at her, -employed all the resources she could scrape together in providing for -her own defence against her domestic opponents, leaving the frontier -fortresses divested of troops and means for repelling attack from -France; whilst, on the other hand, she provoked Louis by sending a -Spanish contingent to co-operate with the Emperor’s troops in aiding the -Dutch in their war with France; and, later, in 1673, she formed a -regular alliance with the Emperor and Holland against Louis XIV. Nothing -could have been more imprudent than this in the circumstances, for Spain -was in a worse condition of exhaustion than ever, and the hope of -beating France by force had long ago proved fallacious. The ancient -appanage of Burgundy, the Franche Comté, promptly passed for ever from -the dominion of Spain to that of France; and whilst the fighting in -Flanders and the Catalan frontier was progressing in 1674, a new trouble -assailed Mariana’s government. The island of Sicily revolted, and -invited the French to assume the sovereignty, an invitation that was -promptly accepted. Thirty-seven years before, when he was a mere -stripling, Don Juan had recovered Naples for Spain in similar -circumstances; and Mariana, almost in despair, could only beseech her -enemy to leave his government at Saragossa, and take command of the -Spanish-Dutch forces to attack the French in Sicily. But Don Juan, -knowing her desire to get him out of the way, was determined not to -allow himself to be sent far from the centre of affairs, and refused to -accept the position. - -His reasons were well founded, for events were passing in Mariana’s -palace that rendered her more unpopular than ever; and, by the will of -Philip IV., her regency would come to an end when her son attained his -fifteenth year late in the next year 1675. It had been hoped that with -the banishment of Nithard and the absence from the capital of Don Juan, -the factions that divided the Court would have held their peace during -the few years the regency lasted; and possibly this would have been the -case if the Queen had been prudent. Her unwise favour to Nithard had -already made her extremely unpopular, for foreign Queens in Spain were -always suspect; but she had learned nothing from her favourite’s -ignominious expulsion; and soon a confidant, less worthy far than -Nithard, had completely captured the good graces of the Queen. This was -a young gentleman of no fortune named Fernando de Valenzuela. He was one -of those facile, plausible, Andaluces, a native of Ronda, who had -figured so brilliantly in the Court of Philip IV. and Mariana, where the -accomplishment of deftly turning amorous verse, improvising a dramatic -interlude, or contriving a stinging epigram, opened a way to fortune. He -had been a member of the household of the Duke of Infantado, and upon -the death of the latter, had attached himself to Father Nithard, who -needed the aid of such men. - -Valenzuela was not only keen and clever, but extremely handsome, in the -black-eyed Moorish style of beauty, for which the people of Ronda are -famous, and he soon managed to gain the full confidence of both Nithard -and the Queen, whom he served as a go-between and messenger, a function -which he continued after the Jesuit had been expelled. He had married -the Queen’s favourite half-German maid, and had been appointed a royal -equerry; both of which circumstances gave a pretext for his continual -presence in the palace; and at the time of the agitation against -Nithard, and afterwards, he had been extremely useful in conveying to -the Queen all the comments that could be picked up by sharp ears in the -Calle Mayor and Liars’ Parade (the peristyle of the Church of St. -Philip). It was noticed that those who spoke incautiously of the Queen -in public were promptly denounced and brought to trouble, and the -gossips soon pitched upon Valenzuela as the spy, calling him in -consequence by the nickname, by which he was generally known, of the -‘fairy of the palace.’ The man was bold, ambitious, and unscrupulous, -and soon more than occupied the place left vacant by Nithard. - -Jealous nobles and courtiers looked with indignation at the rapid rise -of a mere provincial adventurer to the highest places in the State. Not -only was a marquisate and high commands and offices conferred upon him, -but at a time when Spain was in the midst of a great international war -that ended in the remodelling of the map of Europe at her expense, this -favourite, without special aptitude or experience, was appointed by -Mariana her universal minister for all affairs; and Valenzuela was the -most powerful man in Spain. He manfully did his best though -unsuccessfully, for he was cordially detested, to win popularity in an -impossible position, by multiplying in Madrid the feasts and diversions -its inhabitants loved, by writing comedies himself, full of wit and -malice, for gratis representation in the theatres, by re-building public -edifices, and generally beautifying the capital. He was surrounded, -moreover, by a great crowd of parasites, mostly nobodies, like himself, -who sang his praises for the plunder he could pour upon them. - -But his rise was too rapid, and his origin too obscure to be easily -forgiven, and a perfect deluge of satires, verses, pamphlets and flying -sheets, full of gross libels upon him and the Queen, came from the -secret presses and circulated throughout Spain. The general opinion was -that he was the Queen’s lover as well as her minister; but Madrid was -always a hotbed of scandal, and, although this may well have been true, -it must be regarded as non-proven. As a specimen of the view taken of -the connection by contemporaries the following description of a -broad-sheet, found one morning posted on the walls of the palace, may be -given. A portrait of the Queen is represented with her hand pointing to -her heart, with the printed legend, ‘This is given;’ whilst Valenzuela -is portrayed standing close by her side, pointing to the insignias and -emblems of his many high offices, and saying, ‘These are sold.’ The -favourite himself seems to have been anxious to strengthen the rumour -that assigned to him the amorous affection of the widowed Queen, for at -two of the Court festivals, of which he promoted many, he bore as his -devices, ‘I alone have licence,’ and ‘To me alone is it allowed.’[273] - -The unrestrained favour extended by the Queen to such an upstart as this -gave hosts of new adherents to Don Juan; and such of them as had access -to the young King, now rapidly approaching his legal majority, took care -to paint the wretched condition of the country in the blackest colours, -and to ascribe the trouble to the Queen’s bad minister. The boy, though -nearly fifteen, was still a child; backward and, at best, almost an -idiot. He could hardly read or write, for the weakness of his wits and -the degeneracy of his physique had caused his education to be entirely -neglected, and he was, even in his mature age, grossly ignorant of the -simplest facts. But, like his father, he was gentle, kind and -good-hearted, and his compassion was easily aroused by the sad stories -told him of the sufferings of his people, especially when they came from -the lips of his father confessor, Montenegro, and his trusted tutor -Ramos del Manzano. - -They, and the great nobles who prompted them, understood that the moment -had come for action when, in the late autumn of 1675, Mariana and -Valenzuela ordered Don Juan to sail in Ruyter’s fleet to Sicily and -eject the French; and what to them was just as important, leave them -with no rivals near them when the King came of age. Charles was -persuaded by his confessor, and without the knowledge of his mother, to -sign a letter recalling his half-brother to Madrid; and with this in his -hand Don Juan could refuse, as he did, to sail for Sicily. On the -morning of 6th November 1675, the day that Charles reached his fifteenth -year and the regency ended, Madrid was astir early to see the shows that -were to celebrate the new reign, though the country, in its utter -exhaustion and misery, was in no spirit to rejoice now. - -To the surprise of most was seen a royal travelling carriage rapidly -approach the Buen Retiro palace, and the escort that surrounded it -proclaimed that the occupant of the coach was no other than Don Juan. -All was prepared for the coup d’etat. The prince hurried, unknown to -Mariana, to the young King’s apartment, and kneeling, kissed the boy’s -hand; whilst a decree, already drafted, was presented to the King, -appointing his half-brother the universal minister of the crown. Mariana -had passed the night at the palace a mile away, but the coming of her -enemy to the Buen Retiro had been announced to her before he alighted. -Without losing a moment she flew to the Retiro and reached her son’s -room just as the decree that would have ruined her was about to be -signed. She was an imperious woman, and had been Queen-Regent of Spain -for over ten years: her control of her feeble son had been supreme -whilst she was with him, and her angry orders that the room should be -cleared might not be gainsaid. Left alone with her son, she led him to a -private room and, with tears and indignant reproaches, reduced the poor -lad to a condition of abject submission to her will. - -The president of the Council of Castile had already told her, that as -Don Juan had come by the King’s warrant, the same authority alone could -send him back, and Charles was induced to sign a decree commanding the -prince to return forthwith to his government in Aragon and remain there -till further orders. Now was the time when boldness on the part of Don -Juan would have won the day; for the nobles, court and people, were -mostly on his side against Valenzuela and the Queen, whose means did not -allow them to bribe everybody. But Don Juan was as vain and empty as he -was ambitious and failed to rise to the occasion. The sacrosanct -character of the King of Castile, moreover, was still a strong -tradition, and Don Juan, who knew his fellow-countrymen well, dared not -aim at ruling instead of the King, but through the King. So that night -Don Juan and his supporters met in conclave, and weakly decided to obey -the King’s new command without protest, instead of making another -attempt to override Mariana’s influence upon her son; and the prince -returned to Aragon overwhelmed with confusion and disappointment.[274] - -The triumph of Mariana was complete, and she took no pains to conceal -her joy when she attended that night in state the theatre of the Buen -Retiro, in celebration of the King’s coming of age. In a few days all -those who had had a hand in the futile conspiracy were on their way to -exile; and, to keep up appearances, Valenzuela himself was given the -rich post of Admiral of the Andalucian coast, with another rich -marquisate, as an excuse for his absence from the capital during the -first few weeks of the King’s majority. He was soon back again, -collecting new honours from the feeble King at the instance of Mariana, -and to the indignation of the other nobles. The great post of Master of -the Horse, usually held by one of the first magnates of Spain, was given -to Valenzuela; and when the jealous grandees remonstrated he was made a -grandee of Spain of the first class to match his new dignity. All this, -and the fact that Don Juan had been deprived of his viceroyalty, though -banished from Court, may testify to Mariana’s determination and -boldness, but says little for her prudence; for all Spain, high and low, -was against her, and Valenzuela was a weak reed to depend upon in the -face of so powerful an opposition. - -In the meanwhile the conspiracy against Mariana grew in strength. Don -Juan amongst his faithful Aragonese could plot with impunity, whilst the -nobles in Madrid were working incessantly to the same ends, namely, the -banishment of Mariana and the impeachment and punishment of Valenzuela. -In February 1676 all the principal grandees signed a mutual pledge to -stand together until these objects were attained; and as, in virtue of -their position, they had unrestrained access to the King, who was now -nominally his own master, the result of their efforts was soon seen. - -The object lesson to which they could point was a very plain one. -Spanish troops were still pouring out their blood upon the battlefields -of Europe without benefit to Spain: the distress in the capital itself -was appalling; even the King’s household sometimes being without food, -or means of obtaining it. On every side ruin had overwhelmed the people. -Industry had been crushed by taxation, whole districts were depopulated -and derelict, and neither life nor property was safe from the bandits -who defied the law in town and country.[275] Spain had almost, though -not quite, reached its nadir of decadence: and, though the distress was -really the result of long-standing causes described in the earlier pages -of this book, the boy monarch was made to believe that it all arose from -the mis-government of his mother and Valenzuela; and that Don Juan could -remedy all the ills and make Spain strong and happy again. - -The noble conspirators took care, this time, to neglect no precautions -that might ensure success, and obtained (27th December 1676) from the -King an order to which Mariana was obliged to consent, for Don Juan to -return to Madrid; whilst on various pretexts they kept the Queen as much -as possible from influencing her son. Valenzuela was, of course, -informed of what was going on, and, recognising that the coalition was -strong enough to crush him, had suddenly fled into hiding a few days -previously. The night of the 14th January 1677, after the King had -retired to his bedchamber in the palace of Madrid, and Mariana doubtless -thought that all was safe until the next morning, Charles, accompanied -by a single gentleman-in-waiting, escaped by arrangement with the -conspirators, down backstairs and through servants doorways, from the -old palace to the Buen Retiro, where the nobles and courtiers were -assembled. Long before dawn a decree reached Mariana in her bedroom in -the palace, ordering her not to leave her apartments without the written -permission of the King. Her rage and indignation knew no bounds, and for -the rest of the night letters alternately denouncing the undutifulness, -and appealing to the affection of her son, showered thick and fast from -the Queen in the old Alcazar to the sixteen year old boy with the long -white face, who was trying to play the King in the pleasance of the Buen -Retiro. None of her letters softened him, if ever they reached him, -which is doubtful, and all the next day the antechambers at the Retiro -were crowded with courtiers, applauding the King’s stroke of State, -whilst in the Alcazar on the cliff the Queen-Mother found herself -neglected by flatterers, a prisoner in the palace where she had reigned -so long. - -The next day news came that Don Juan, with a great armed escort and -household, had arrived at Hita, thirty-five miles from the capital; and -there the Cardinal Archbishop of Toledo and a crowd of grandees met him -with a message from the King, asking him to dismiss his armed men and -come to Court for the purpose of taking the direction of affairs. But -Don Juan had his conditions to make first, and he refused to enter the -capital until Mariana had left it, Valenzuela made a prisoner, and the -hated Chambergo regiment disbanded. He had his way in all things, and -the same night, with rage in her heart, Mariana rode out of the capital -for her banishment at Toledo; the Chambergos were hurried away for -shipment to Sicily; and then came the question where was Valenzuela. -Reluctantly, and bit by bit, it was drawn from the King that he himself -had contrived the flight of his mother’s favourite, and knew where he -was hidden amongst the friars of the palace-monastery of the Escorial. - -From his windows overlooking the bleak Sierra of Guadarrama the fugitive -favourite gazed in the gathering dusk of the 17th January 1677 in -fancied security; when, to his dismay, a large body of cavalry trotted -into the courtyard and dominated the palace. Amongst them the alarmed -Valenzuela descried his enemy the Duke of Medina Sidonia, and a group of -other grandees. Flying for refuge within the consecrated precincts, he -besought the prior to save him; and when the doors of the monastery had -been closed the prior greeted the troops and nobles in the courtyard and -demanded their pleasure. ‘We want nothing,’ they replied, ‘but that you -will deliver to us the traitor Valenzuela.’ ‘Have you an order from his -Majesty?’ asked the prior. ‘Only a verbal one,’ replied Don Antonio de -Toledo, son of the Duke of Alba, who took the lead. ‘In that case,’ -replied the monk, supported by a murmur of approval from his brethren -behind, ‘we will not surrender him, except to main force; for we shelter -him by written warrant of the King.’ Threats and insults failed to move -the monks, and an attempt at arrangement was at last made by means of an -interview in the church between Valenzuela himself and the Duke of -Medina Sidonia and Toledo. Owing mainly to the violence of the latter -the interview had no result; and, as the prior saw that the soldiery -were preparing to force the sanctuary, Valenzuela was hidden in a secret -room contrived for such eventualities where he might defy discovery. The -enraged nobles and soldiery, balked of their prey, ransacked the -enormous place, room by room, for three days, overturning altars, -insulting and violating the privacy of the monks, and committing -sacrilege undreamt of in Spain for centuries, for which they were -smartly punished afterwards by the ecclesiastical authority.[276] - -At length, on the night of 21st January, Valenzuela took fright at some -voices near, and foolishly let himself down by his twisted sheets from -the window of his safe retreat; and, though one sentry let him go, and -the monks made desperate attempts to keep him hidden, he was captured on -the 22nd January and carried with every circumstance of ignominy to -close confinement in Don Juan’s fortress of Consuegra; then after -terrible sufferings and stripped of all his honours and possessions, he -was imprisoned in Manila, and afterwards taken to Mexico to die; whilst -his unfortunate wife, treated with atrocious brutality by Toledo, was -reduced to beg from door to door for charity, until her troubles drove -her mad.[277] No sooner was Valenzuela safe behind the bars at Consuegra -than Don Juan of Austria entered Madrid in state on the 23rd January, -acclaimed by the populace as the saviour of Spain, and welcomed by the -King as the heaven-sent minister who was to make his reign brilliant and -successful. Don Juan’s vengeance knew no limit, as his soul knew no -generosity. Whatever may have been Mariana’s faults as a Queen of Spain, -or her errors as a diplomatist, the ignominy to which she was now -subjected by order of her son, at the instance of Don Juan, shows the -lack of generosity of the latter and the miserable weakness of the -former. Mariana’s turn was to come again by and bye, but with her -banishment to Toledo her life as ruling Queen of Spain came to an end. -She lived nearly twenty years afterwards, but her vicissitudes during -that time may be told more fittingly in connection with the lives of her -two successors, the wives of her afflicted son. - - - - - BOOK V - I - MARIE LOUISE OF ORLEANS - - -With Mariana, closely watched in her convent at Toledo, and all her -friends exiled from Court, Don Juan of Austria reigned supreme. For -years he had been clamouring for reform, and holding up as a terrible -example of the results of mis-government the utter prostration that had -seized upon the nation. This was his chance, and he missed it; for he, -whom a whole people had acclaimed as the strong man that was to redeem -Spain from the sins and errors of the past, proved in power to be a -jealous vindictive trifler, incapable of great ideas or statesmanlike -action. Every supporter of the Queen-Mother, from the highest to the -lowest, was made to feel the persecution of Don Juan; letters from -Toledo were opened, spies listened at every corner, and violated the -sanctity of every home, in the anxiety of the Prince to discover plots -against him. His pride exceeded all bounds, and most of his time was -occupied in intrigues to secure for himself the treatment due to a royal -prince of legitimate birth. - -Whilst Don Juan was engaged in these trifles and equally futile -government measures, such as endeavouring by decree to make the -courtiers dress in the French fashion instead of Spanish, the taxes were -as heavy as before, the prices of food higher than ever, the -administration remained unreformed, and the law was still contemned: the -Spanish troops were being beaten by the French in Catalonia for lack of -support, and King Louis still occupied Sicily. Don Juan’s own -supporters, too, soon got tired of him when they saw that he was -grudging of rewards, even to them; and pasquins and pamphlets rained -against him and in favour of the Queen-Mother. The latter and the -imperial ambassador had, before the coming of Don Juan, betrothed the -King to his niece the Archduchess Marie Antoinette, aged nine, the -daughter of the Emperor; as if the miserable Charles himself had not -been a sufficient warning against further consanguineous marriages in -the house of Austria: but Don Juan promptly put an end to that -arrangement, and proposed to marry Charles to a little Portuguese -Infanta of similar age. Peace was now an absolute necessity to all -Europe. The pourparlers between the powers at Nimeguen had already -lasted two years, and ended in an arrangement between Holland and -France, in which Spain was left out. Louis could then exact his own -terms; and, as usual, they were crushingly hard on Spain, which lost -some of the richest cities in Flanders and all the Franche Comté -(September 1678). But it was peace, and the rejoicing of the -overburdened Spanish people was pathetic to witness. - -Charles was seventeen years of age, and already his country was -speculating eagerly upon his marriage; whilst his degeneracy and -weakness aroused hopes and fears of what might happen if he died without -issue. According to the will of Philip IV., the succession fell to the -Empress Margaret, daughter of Mariana; but the French King, who from the -first had made light of his wife’s renunciation of her Spanish -birthright, and Maria Theresa herself, were not inclined to let her -claims go by default. Soon the gossips in Madrid began to whisper that a -French Queen Consort, a descendant of the house which had given them -their beloved Isabel of Bourbon, would suit Spain best, and Don Juan -himself was not unwilling to listen to such a suggestion; for, in any -case, the King must marry, and a French match would be a blow against -Mariana and the Austrian connection. The Duke of Medina Celi, Don Juan’s -principal henchman, slept, as sumiller de corps, in the King’s room; and -it was he who first broached to Charles the idea of a French wife. He -was, the Duke reminded him, a grown man now, and the Austrian -Archduchess of ten was too young for him. The Princess of Portugal, he -said, would never be consented to by the French, and she was also too -youthful: but there was at St. Cloud the most lovely Princess ever seen, -only a year younger than himself, who was a bride for the greatest king -in the world.[278] - -Her name was Marie Louise, and she was the daughter of the brother of -King Louis, the Duke of Orleans, by Henriette of England, that beautiful -daughter of Charles I. who had been so beloved in the country of her -adoption. Maria Theresa took care that miniatures of her lovely niece -should go to the Spanish Court, and when one of them was brought to the -notice of the young King, his adolescent passion was inflamed at once, -and the Marquis de los Balbeses, who had represented Spain at the -conference of Nimeguen, was instructed by Don Juan to proceed to Paris -and ask King Louis for the hand of his niece. - -Marie Louise was a spoilt beauty of the most refined and gayest court in -Europe. She had when a child lost her English mother; but every body was -in love with her, from King Louis downward; and it had long been -understood that she might marry the Dauphin, with whom she was on the -tenderest terms of affection. But the treaties of Nimeguen had -transformed the face of Europe, and Louis had other views for his son, -whilst the need for securing a footing in Spain during the critical -period approaching was evident. So, when Balbeses came to Paris with -unusual state, and Saint Germain and Saint Cloud were a blaze of -magnificence to receive him, the girl’s heart sank; for with her -precocious intelligence she guessed the meaning of the whispers and -curious glances that greeted her every appearance in the ceremonies in -honour of the King of Spain’s ambassador. - -She and the Dauphin were deeply in love with each other, and had been so -since childhood; and it was like a sentence of death for the beautiful -girl with the burnished copper-brown hair and flashing eyes, to learn -that she was to be the bride of the long-faced, pallid boy, with the -monstrous jaw and dull stare, in his gloomy palace far away from -brilliant Versailles, and from her own home at Saint Cloud. When her -father, the Duke of Orleans, and afterwards King Louis himself, gravely -told her the honour that was in store for her, she implored them in an -agony of passionate tears to save her from such a fate. To her -stepmother, Charlotte of Bavaria, to the Queen Maria Theresa, to the -King, she appealed on her knees, again and again, to let her stay in -France, where she was so happy; and not to send her far away amongst -people she did not love. She was told that her duty was to France; and -Colbert, by the order of King Louis, drew up a serious State paper for -the instruction of the frightened girl in the manner that French -interests might be served by her as Queen of Spain. - -The fine pearl necklace, worth a hundred thousand crowns, given to her -by King Louis, the magnificent diamonds brought by the Duke of -Pastrana,[279] as a present to her from her future husband, the title of -Majesty, ostentatiously given to her as soon as preliminaries were -arranged, the fine dresses and jewels, and the new deference with which -she was surrounded, only deepened the girl’s grief. Her heart grew hard -and her spirit reckless when she understood that, regardless of her own -feelings, she was to be a sacrifice: and, as the pompous ceremony of her -marriage by proxy approached, she became outwardly calm, and more -proudly beautiful than ever. On the 30th August 1679, as the new Queen -was led by her father on one hand and the Dauphin she loved on the -other, into the principal saloon at Fontainebleau for the formal -betrothal to the Prince of Conti, representing the King of Spain, all -the Court was enraptured at her peerless loveliness. Her train, seven -yards long, of cloth of gold, was borne by princesses of the blood; and -the magnificence that the Roi Soleil loved so well found its centre in -the jewels that blazed over the young Princess who was being sacrificed -for France. - -It would be tedious to recount the splendour of the betrothal, and -marriage the next day, 31st August,[280] but when, after the ceremony -with Conti that made Marie Louise the wife of Charles II., she left the -chapel in her royal crown, her purple velvet robe lined with ermine and -covered with golden fleurs de lis, and her flashing gems enveloping her -in light, King Louis and his Queen, between whom she walked in the -procession, praised and soothed her as the most perfect princess and -queen in the world. At the State concert and ball that night, and at the -ceremonies of the morrow, Marie Louise was radiant in her loveliness, -and shed no tears, for she was steeled now to the sacrifice, and -determined thenceforward to get as much sensuous joy out of life as she -could, in spite of the fate that had befallen her. - -Whilst this was happening in Fontainebleau, the plot was thickening in -Madrid. The star of Don Juan was visibly on the wane. The adherents of -Mariana grew bolder daily; some of them, like the Duke of Osuna, dared -to come to Court in spite of prohibition; and Don Juan lived in daily -fear that the King would slip through his hands and join his mother in -Toledo. In order to divert him from visiting Aranjuez, which is within -riding distance of Toledo, all sorts of pretexts were invented, and the -surveillance of the old Queen by Don Juan’s agents became more insulting -than ever. Mme. D’Aulnoy narrates a conversation with Don Juan at the -time, which may well be authentic.[281] ‘She asked him if it was true -that the Queen-Mother had written to the King requesting him to see her, -and that he had refused. The prince admitted that it was, and that this -was the sole reason that had prevented his Majesty from going to -Aranjuez, for fear that she might go there and see him, in spite of the -orders given to her not to leave Toledo. “What, sir,” I cried; “The King -refuses to see his mother!” “Say rather,” he replied, “that reasons of -State prevent monarchs from following their own inclinations when they -clash with the public interest. We have a maxim in the Council of State -always to be guided by the spirit of the great Emperor Charles V. in all -difficult questions.”‘... ‘It was quite evident to me,’ concludes Mme. -D’Aulnoy, ‘that Don Juan accommodated the genius of Charles V. to suit -his own.’[282] - -Don Juan had grown colder towards the French match as time went on. He -had, indeed, endeavoured more than once to obstruct or frustrate it by -suggesting impossible conditions; but even Charles II. had plucked up -some semblance of manhood with his approaching marriage to the original -of the portrait that had so enraptured him, and gave his half-brother to -understand that he meant to have his own way, in this and in other -things.[283] Don Juan had very soon understood that the appearance of -Marie Louise in Spain, with the influence of Louis XIV. behind her, -would mean his own downfall; and the arrival of the Marquis of Villars, -the French ambassador, with instructions from his master not to accede -to the ambitious claims of Don Juan to receive the ambassador seated and -to give his hand as a royal prince, led to infinite negotiation. Louis -was determined that the bastard of Philip IV. should not be treated by -his ambassador as royal, unless his own illegitimate offspring enjoyed -the same privilege; and Villars was instructed not to negotiate with Don -Juan at all unless he gave way.[284] Louis also instructed Villars to -proceed to Toledo and salute Mariana; and Don Juan knew that with the -Queen-Mother’s interest, the French interest, and most of Spain against -him, his government was doomed to an early extinction. - -The knowledge killed him; and before Marie Louise had reached the -Spanish frontier the news came to her that Don Juan was dead, 17th -September. He had suffered for many weeks from double tertian fevers, -and his anxiety had increased the malady. The King, he knew, was already -holding conferences of nobles, plotting to escape to his mother and -decree his half-brother’s dismissal. On all sides those upon whom he had -depended now opposed him, and some of his old enemies had already -claimed the right, in virtue of their rank and offices, to go and attend -the new Queen. In these circumstances it is not necessary to seek, as -many contemporaries did, to explain his death by accusations against -Mariana and her friends of poisoning him; but there is no denying that -his death was most opportune for them, and was welcome to the whole -nation, as ensuring some degree of harmony under the new regime that was -to commence with the King’s marriage. Don Juan’s dying ears were dinned -by the explosion of fireworks from his own windows, in celebration of -the wedding at Fontainebleau, so little regard was paid to him; and -hardly had the breath left his body when Charles ran to seek his mother -at Toledo, and, with tears and embraces on both sides, a reconciliation -was effected. It had all been the wicked bastard’s fault, and -henceforward all would go well. - -Mariana managed her triumphant return with tact and skill. She had left -the Court after Valenzuela’s fall intensely unpopular; but much had -happened since then. Don Juan had proved a whitened sepulchre; the -detested Austrian match for the King was at an end, the cordiality shown -by Mariana towards the new marriage pleased the people, and a warm -welcome greeted her as she rode in state by her son’s side in the great -swaying coach with the curtains drawn back,[285] to the palace of the -Buen Retiro which was to be her residence until her own house was -prepared. - -All the Court was eager to know what part Mariana would in future take -in the government. Would she be, as of yore, the sole dispenser of -bounty and the only fountain of power? Would she avenge herself upon Don -Juan’s friends as he had avenged himself upon hers, or would she leave -the dominating influence to her son’s young wife? Mariana had learnt -wisdom by experience, and walked warily. She was no lover of the French -match; but she knew that open opposition to it would alienate the King -and exasperate the country, and she smilingly played the part of the -fond mother who rejoiced at her son’s happiness. Everybody, moreover, -and especially the King, was so busy with the marriage that there was -neither time nor inclination for politics; and until the King’s -departure to meet his bride he was closeted every day in loving converse -with his mother, talking only of his coming happiness. Fortunately the -treasure-fleet from America arrived in the nick of time, and, for a -wonder, there was no lack of money, which not only added to the good -humour of the people, but enabled the preparations for the reception of -Marie Louise on the Spanish side to be made upon a scale approaching the -costly pageantry of former times. - -The splendid entertainments at Fontainebleau ended at last; and on the -20th September 1679, the young Queen rode out of the beautiful park on -the first stage of the long voyage to her new country. She sat silently -in the coach with King Louis and his wife, and the one man upon whom her -heart was set, the young Dauphin, whose eyes were red with tears. At La -Chapelle, two leagues from Fontainebleau, the long cavalcade stopped, -for here Marie Louise was to take an eternal farewell of most of those -she loved. As she stepped from Queen Maria Theresa’s carriage and -entered one belonging to the King that was to bear her to the frontier, -every eye was wet with tears, and the common folk who witnessed the -leave-taking cried aloud with grief. Only Marie Louise, with fixed face -and stony eyes, was mute. But when the last farewell was said, and the -Queen’s carriage with the Dauphin turned to leave, one irrepressible -wail of sorrow was wrung from the heart of the poor girl, as she sank -back fainting upon the cushions of the carriage by her father’s -side.[286] - -Through France, by short stages, and followed by a great household under -the Duke of Harcourt and the Maréchale Clerambant, as mistress of the -robes, the young Queen made her way, splendidly entertained by the -cities through which she passed; for to them the marriage meant peace -with Spain, and rich and poor blessed her for her beauty and her -sacrifice. The Marquis of Balbeses, the Spanish ambassador and his wife, -a Colonna, rode in her train, and at Poictiers the latter brought her -the news of Don Juan’s unregretted death. The Marchioness happened to be -wearing a black silk handkerchief at her neck; and, lightly touching it, -and smiling, she said: ‘This is all the mourning I am going to wear for -_him_.’[287] Thenceforward to the sad end Marie Louise had to deal with -those who, with smiling face and soft speeches, were secretly bent upon -her ruin; and she, a bright beauty full of strength and the joy of life, -hungry for the love that had been denied her, was no match, even if she -had cared to struggle with them, for the false hearts and subtle brains -that planned the shipwreck of her life. - -The household of the new Queen, which had been chosen by Don Juan before -his death, started from the capital towards the frontier on the 26th -September, and already intrigue was rife amongst the courtiers to gain -ascendency over the young consort of the King. The master of the -household, the Marquis of Astorga, was mainly famous for his gallantry, -and had been a firm friend of Don Juan; whilst the mistress of the -robes, the Duchess of Terranova in her own right, was a stern grand dame -of sixty, whose experience, like that of Astorga, had been principally -Italian, and of whom some whispered that ‘she knew more about carbines -and daggers than about thimbles and needles.’[288] However that may be, -she was imperious and punctilious to the last degree, but kept Marie -Louise in the right way as she understood it; though, as we shall see, -the roughness of her methods disgusted the young Queen and hastened the -inevitable catastrophe.[289] Close upon the heels of the official -household went some of Mariana’s friends, especially the Duke of Osuna, -appointed Grand Equerry, and an Italian priest, who aspired to the post -of Queen’s confessor; and even before she entered Spain began to whisper -to Marie Louise political counsels intended to betray her. - -Once again on the historic banks of the Bidasoa, and on the island of -Pheasants that had seen so many regal meetings, sumptuous pavilions of -silk brocade and tapestry were erected. Marie Louise at St. Jean de Luz, -a few miles away, was sick at heart, in spite of all the splendour that -surrounded her; and she could not suppress her tears as she stood upon -the last foot of French soil she was ever to touch, ready to enter the -gilded barge that was to cross the few feet of water that separated her -from the little gaily decked neutral island where the Marquis of Astorga -was to receive her on bended knee as his sovereign mistress. - -The rule of the formidable old Duchess of Terranova began the moment -Marie Louise stepped into the barge that was to land her on the Spanish -bank. The Queen was dressed in the graceful garb that prevailed in the -Court of Louis XIV. The soft yielding skirts and square cut bodice with -abundance of fine lace at neck and wrists were coquettishly feminine. -The bright brown hair of the bride was curled and frizzed at the sides -and on the brow, in artful little ringlets, and all this grace and -prettiness looked to the Spanish ladies of the old school indecorous, if -not positively indecent. Their vast wide-hooped farthingales, of heavy -brocade, their long flat bodices, their stiff unbendable sleeves, and in -the case of younger ladies, their hair, lank and uncurled, falling upon -their shoulders, except where it was parted at the side and gathered -with a bow of ribbon over one temple, formed an entire contrast to the -French feminine fashions of the time; and until Marie Louise donned the -Spanish garb, and did her hair in Spanish style, the Duchess of -Terranova looked with grave disapproval at her mistress. - -After the whole party had attended the Te Deum at Irun the journey south -began, though not before a desperate fight for precedence had taken -place between the Duke of Osuna and the Marquis of Astorga, a struggle -that was renewed on every opportunity until the Duke was recalled to the -King’s side. Long ere this the young King’s impatience to meet his bride -had over-ridden all the dictates of etiquette, and he had started on his -journey northward on the 23rd October, before even Marie Louise had -entered Spain. To one of those witty French ladies who, at the time, -wrote such excellent letters, we are indebted for invaluable information -on the events of the next two years, and the letters of Mme. de Villars, -wife of the French ambassador, will furnish us with many vivid pictures. -Writing from Madrid the day before Marie Louise entered Spain (2nd -November 1679) Mme. de Villars says: ‘M. Villars had started to join the -King, who is going in search of the Queen with such impetuosity that it -is impossible to follow him. If she has not arrived at Burgos when he -reaches there, he is determined to take the Archbishop of Burgos and go -as far as Vitoria, or to the frontier, if needs be, to marry the -Princess. He was deaf to all advice to the contrary, he is so completely -transported with love and impatience. So with these dispositions, no -doubt the young Queen will be happy. The Queen Dowager is very good and -very reasonable, and passionately desires that she (Marie Louise) should -be contented.’[290] - -As the royal couple approached each other, almost daily messages of -affection and rich gifts passed between them. First went from Marie -Louise a beautiful French gold watch, with a flame-coloured ribbon, -which she assured the love-lorn Charles had already encircled her neck. -On the 9th November she reached Oñate, where she passed the night, and -sent from there a miniature of herself on ivory set with diamonds, and -with this went a curious letter,[291] now published for the first time, -touching upon a subject which afterwards became one of the principal -sources of Marie Louise’s troubles in Spain. The letter is in Spanish, -and in the Queen’s own writing, a large, bold hand, full of character. -The Queen told Balbeses in Paris that she had learnt Spanish in order to -talk it with Queen Maria Theresa, but did not speak it much. The present -letter was probably, therefore, drafted or corrected in draft before she -wrote it (perhaps by Mme. de Clarembant, who spoke Spanish), as there -are no serious errors of syntax in it. - -‘If I were ruled by the impulses of my heart alone, I should be sending -off couriers to your Majesty every instant. I send to you now Sergeant -Cicinetti, whom I knew at the Court of France, and his great fidelity -also to your Majesty’s service. I pray you receive him with the same -kindness that I send him. My heart, sire, is so overflowing with -gratitude that your Majesty will see it in all the acts of my life. They -wished to make me believe that your Majesty disapproved of my riding on -horseback, but Remille (?), who has just come from your Majesty, assures -me that just the contrary is the case, especially as for these bad roads -horses are the best. As my greatest anxiety is to please your Majesty, I -will do as you wish; for my whole happiness is that your Majesty should -be assured that I shall only like that which you like. God grant you -many years of life, as I desire and need. Oñate, 9th November.—Your -Niece and Servant, - - MARIE LOUISE.’ - -In fact, the Duchess of Terranova, from the first day, had been -remonstrating with the Queen against her insisting upon riding a great -horse over the wretched rain-soaked tracts that did duty for roads. -Spanish ladies, she was told, travelled in closely-curtained carriages -or litters, or, in case of urgent need, upon led mules, but never upon -horses thus: and Marie Louise, who was a splendid horsewoman, had -excusably defended the custom of the Court in which she had been reared. -This was the first cause of disagreement between Marie Louise and her -mistress of the robes, but others quickly followed. - -Whilst Charles was impatiently awaiting his bride at Burgos, Marie -Louise travelled slowly with her great train of French and Spanish -courtiers over the miry roads and through the drenching winter of -northern Spain. Already her daily passages of arms with the Duchess of -Terranova had filled her with apprehension and anxiety. M. de Villars -met her at Briviesca, and found her ‘full of inquietude and mistrust, -and perceived that the change of country, and people and manners, enough -to embarrass a more experienced person than she, and the cabals and -intrigues that assailed her on every hand, had plunged her into a -condition of agitation which made her fear everything without knowing -upon whom she could depend.’[292] The ambassador did his best to -tranquillise her. All these people, he said, were intriguing in their -own interests. She need not trouble about them: only let her love the -King and live in harmony with the Queen-Mother, whom she would find full -of affection for her, and all would be well. It is clear that Don Juan’s -faction had not died with him, and even at this early stage the -household, mainly appointed by him, had done their best to make Marie -Louise fear and dread her mother-in-law. - -On the 18th November, the day after her interview with Villars, the -bride arrived at Quintanapalla, within a few miles of Burgos, where she -was to pass the night; the ostensible intention of the Spaniards being -that the marriage should take place at Burgos the next day. Everything -was done to lead the official Frenchmen to believe this; but Villars and -Harcourt were suspicious; and early on the morning of the 19th, they -arrived from Burgos at the miserable poverty-stricken village where -Marie Louise had passed the night. Assembled there they found members of -the King’s household, and taxed the Duchess of Terranova with the -intention of carrying through the royal marriage there. She replied -haughtily that the King had so commanded, and had given orders that no -one was to attend the wedding, but the few Spanish officers and -witnesses strictly necessary. The two noble Frenchmen indignantly -announced their intention of attending the ceremony, in obedience to the -orders of their own King Louis, whether the Spaniards liked it or not. -The imperious old lady thereupon flew into a towering rage; ‘_et dit -beaucoup de choses hors de propos_,’ and the ambassadors, declining to -quarrel with an angry woman, sent a courier galloping to Burgos to -demand leave for the official representatives of France to witness the -marriage of a French princess.[293] - -At eleven o’clock in the morning, the King himself arrived at the poor -hamlet of ten houses, and at the door of the apartment where she had -lodged his beautiful bride met him. She looked radiant, ‘in a beautiful -French costume covered with a surprising quantity of gems,’[294] though -Charles told her the next day that he infinitely preferred her with the -Spanish garb and coiffure, which she usually assumed thenceforward. On -the threshold of the squalid labourer’s cottage, Marie Louise made as if -to kneel and kiss the King’s hand; but he stepped forward and raised -her. Unfortunately, thanks to his mumbling speech and her agitation, and -small familiarity with spoken Spanish, they soon found that conversation -was impossible without an interpreter, and Villars stepped into the -breach and said the mutual words of greeting between the husband and -wife.[295] - -But whilst he was doing this courtly service, his keen eyes saw that the -humble living chamber of the cottage, where the ceremony of marriage was -to take place, was being filled by Spanish grandees, who had ranged -themselves in the place of honour on the right hand. Louis had broken -down the old Spanish claim to precedence before other nations, and -Villars at once demanded for Harcourt and himself the pre-eminent place. -Under protest, and with evil grace, the grandees were obliged to make -way for the Frenchmen; and there, in the squalid room, at midday, with -grey skies looming overhead, and the drizzling rain dimming the tiny -windows, Charles King of Spain was married to Marie Louise of -Orleans.[296] - -An impromptu dinner was served immediately afterwards to the King and -Queen; and at two o’clock in the afternoon they entered the big coach -that awaited them, and the whole caravan floundered through the mud to -the city of Burgos. The next morning early the bride left the city -privately to dine at the neighbouring convent of Las Huelgas, and thence -to make her state entry on horseback, and dressed in Spanish fashion. -Then, for three days, the usual round of masquerades, bullfights, and -comedies, kept the Court amused, and the dreaded hour of parting from -her French train came to Marie Louise. Loaded with fine presents and -rewards from the King, the great ladies and gallant gentlemen who had -kept up the spirits of the Queen, now perforce turned their faces -towards the north again, and, as Marie Louise saw the French carriages -depart, her composure gave way, and she broke into a paroxysm of tears. - -Spaniards generally, and especially the King, saw the French courtiers -depart with delight. For years the two countries had been constantly at -war. The splendour of France had grown proportionately as poverty and -impotence had fallen upon Spain. Old ambitions and vengeful hate were -not dead, and many Spaniards still dreamed of dictating to the world if -only France could be checked. At every step Marie Louise, who loved -France with all her heart, and had been forced to leave it, as she was -told, to serve its interests, was reminded that she must forget the dear -land of her youth and think only of her husband’s realm. It was too much -to expect that she would do it, and it is fair to say that she did not -try. She was a blithe, gay-hearted girl, in the full flower of youth and -strength, not yet eighteen: the pleasures of Versailles and St Cloud had -hitherto filled her life, and here in stern Spain, surrounded by -sinister intrigues she did not understand, and married to this -degenerate anæmic creature by her side, she did her best to play her -part properly; but she was French to her inmost soul, and she would not -forget her own folk and her old home. The harsh Duchess of Terranova -might insist upon the bright brown curls being brushed wet till they -hung flat and lank, and might cram the beautiful round bosom into the -hideous flat corset demanded by Spanish fashion; but even she could not -quite silence the frank, careless laugh, or suppress the triumphant -coquetry of a Parisian beauty overflowing with the sensuousness of -maturing passion. - -During the stay at Burgos, and afterwards, the Duchess of Terranova kept -urging upon the narrow, suspicious King that his new wife was a young -woman of free and easy manners, entirely opposed to Spanish ideas of -decorum, and that he must keep a tight rein upon her. She laid it down, -moreover, that the girl must receive no visits of any sort until after -her State entry into Madrid, which would mean some six weeks of complete -isolation.[297] At Torrejon de Ardoz, a few miles from Madrid, Charles -and his wife were met by Mariana. The Queen-Mother was wiser and deeper -than the Mistress of the Robes; and instead of frightening her -daughter-in-law she was outwardly all kindness and sweetness to her. As -we shall see in the course of this history, the Terranova way, harsh as -it was, was less disastrous to Marie Louise than the policy of letting -her go her own way, and then holding her up to reprobation. - -Mme. Villars records the coming of the newly-married pair to the Buen -Retiro palace, where the Queen was to remain whilst the preparations -were made for her state entry some weeks later. ‘Le roi et la reine -viennent seuls dans un grand carosse sans glace, à la mode du pays. Il -sera fort heureux pour eux qu’ils soient comme leur carosse.[298] On dit -que la reine fait tres bien: pour le roi, comme il etait fort amoureux -avant que de l’avoir vue, sa presence ne peut qu’avoir augmenté sa -passion.’ - -Marie Louise had now no Frenchwomen with her but two old nurses and two -maids of inferior rank; and some days after she had arrived at the Buen -Retiro she begged that Madame Villars, the ambassador’s wife, might be -allowed to come and raise her spirits by a chat in French. The Duchess -of Terranova was shocked, and refused. Neither man nor woman, she said, -should see the Queen until the state entry. Marie Louise then tried her -husband. Might not the ambassadress come in strict incognito? He seems -to have consented, and the Queen joyously sent word to Mme. Villars; but -Villars was aware of the jealousy in the palace, and before allowing his -wife to go, communicated with the Duchess of Terranova. She knew -nothing, she said, of such a permission, nor would she inquire, and the -Queen should see no one whilst she remained at the Retiro. - -Secret means were found for letting Marie Louise know why her -countrywoman did not respond to the invitation; but a few days -afterwards Mme. Villars went to the Retiro, doubtless by appointment, to -pay her respects to the Queen-Mother Mariana. She found her everything -that was kind and amiable. ‘Have you seen my daughter-in-law yet?’ the -Queen-Mother asked. ‘She is so anxious to see you, and will receive you -when you like: to-morrow if you wish.’ This was a great victory over the -Duchess of Terranova, for Marie Louise had seen not a soul but the -inhabitants of the Retiro since she entered it. Only two days before the -Marchioness of Balbeses, the late ambassadress in France, who, though an -Italian, was married to a Spanish grandee, had gone to the apartment of -the Mistress of the Robes to beg an audience of the Queen. The latter, -hearing her friend’s voice, had run into the room from her own adjoining -chamber; but the moment the scandalised Duchess of Terranova caught -sight of her she seized her roughly by the arm and pushed her into her -own apartment again. ‘These manners,’ says Mme. Villars in recounting -the incident, ‘are not so extraordinary here as they would be anywhere -else.’[299] - -The French ambassadress lost no time in availing herself of the -Queen-Mother’s hint; and on the following day went to the Retiro. The -account of her visit to the Queen may best be told in her own racy -words: ‘I entered by the apartment of the Mistress of the Robes, who -received me with all sorts of civility. She took me through some little -passages to a gallery, where I expected to see only the Queen, but, to -my great surprise, I found myself before the whole royal family. The -King was seated in a great arm-chair, and the two Queens on cushions. -The Mistress of the Robes kept hold of my hand, telling me as we -advanced how many courtesies I had to make, and that I must begin with -the King. She brought me up so close to his Majesty’s chair that I did -not know what she wished me to do. For my part, I thought nothing more -was required of me than a low courtesy; and, without vanity, I may -remark that he did not return it, though he seemed not sorry to see me. -When I told M. de Villars about it afterwards, he said no doubt the -Mistress of the Robes expected me to kiss the King’s hand. I thought so -myself, but I felt no inclination to do so.... There I was then, in the -midst of these three Majesties. The Queen-Mother, as on the previous -day, said many agreeable things, and the young Queen seemed very much -pleased to see me, though I did my best that she should show it in a -discreet way. The King has a little Flemish dwarf who understands and -speaks French very well, and he helped the conversation considerably. -They brought one of the young ladies in a farthingale, that I might -examine the machine.[300] The King had me asked what I thought of it, -and I replied, through the dwarf, that I did not believe it was ever -invented for a human form. He seemed very much of my opinion. They -brought me a cushion, upon which I sat only for a moment in obedience to -the sign made to me, but I took an opportunity immediately afterwards to -rise, as I saw so many “ladies of honour” standing, and I did not wish -to offend them; though the Queens repeatedly told me to be seated. The -young Queen had a collation served by her ladies on their knees—ladies -of the most splendid names, such as Aragon, Castile and Portugal. The -Queen-Mother took chocolate and the King nothing. The young Queen, as -you may imagine, was dressed in Spanish fashion, the dress being made of -some of the lovely stuffs she brought with her from France. She was -beautifully _coiffée_, her hair being brought diagonally across the -brow, and the rest falling loose over her shoulders. She has an -admirable complexion, very fine eyes, and a bewitching mouth when she -laughs. And what a thing it is to laugh in Spain! The gallery is rather -long, the walls being covered with crimson damask or velvet, studded all -over very close with gold trimmings. From one end to the other the floor -is laid with the most lovely carpet I ever saw in my life, and on it -there are tables, cabinets and brasiers, candlesticks being upon the -tables. Every now and then very grandly dressed maids come in, each with -two silver candlesticks, to replace others taken out for snuffing. These -maids make very great, long courtesies, with much grace. A good way from -the Queens there were some maids of honour sitting on the floor, and -many ladies of advanced age, in the usual widow’s garb, were leaning -standing against the wall. - -‘The King and Queen left in three quarters of an hour, the King walking -first. The young Queen took her mother-in-law by the hand leading her to -the door of the gallery, and then she turned back quickly, and came to -rejoin me. The Mistress of the Robes did not return, and it was evident -that they had given the Queen full liberty to entertain me. There was -only one old lady in the gallery, a long way off, and the Queen said -that if she was not there she would give me a good hug. It was four -o’clock when I arrived, and half-past seven before I left, and then it -was I who made the first move. I can assure you I wish the King, the -Queen-Mother and the Mistress of the Robes could have heard all I said -to the Queen. I wish you could have heard it too, and have seen us -walking up and down that gallery, which the lights made very agreeable. -This young Queen, in the novelty and beauty of her garments, and with an -infinitude of diamonds, was simply ravishing. Once for all do not forget -that black and white are not more dissimilar than France and Spain. I -think our young Princess is doing very well. She wished to see me every -day, but I implored her to excuse me, unless I saw clearly that the King -and the Queen-Mother wished it as much as she did.... The Mistress of -the Robes came to meet me as I left the gallery, and I found there the -Queen’s French attendants, to whom I said that they must learn Spanish, -and avoid, if possible, saying a word of French to the Queen. I know -that they are scolded for speaking it too much to her.’[301] - -In the deadly _ennui_ of such a life as that described above Marie -Louise, though she did her best to be patient, begged earnestly that her -countrywoman should be allowed to see her often. But Mme. Villars -pointed out to her how much depended upon her prudence, and avoided the -palace whenever possible, in the hope that the young Queen would fall -into Spanish ways. The King also, in his half-witted way, tried to -please his lovely wife: ‘more beautiful and agreeable,’ says Mme. -Villars, ‘than any lady of her Court,’ giving her many exquisite -presents of jewellery, and running in and out of her apartments to tell -her bits of news, and so on. But the life was deadly dull; and the gloom -within the palace could, as Mme. Villars says, be seen, tasted and -touched. Charles had no amusements other than the most childish games -and trivial pastimes: his intellect was not capable of sustaining a -reasonable conversation, and after a day of stiff monotony, he and his -wife went to bed every night at half-past eight, the moment they had -finished supper: ‘with the last morsel still in their mouths,’ as Mme. -Villars writes. - -There was some eager talk of the Queen’s pregnancy before the grand -State entry into Madrid; but when that hope disappeared, and Marie -Louise began to languish alarmingly in the dull incarceration of the -Retiro, she and her husband sufficiently relaxed their surroundings to -go to the hunting palace of the Pardo, six miles away, where the young -Queen could ride her French horses, and Charles could enjoy himself with -a little pigsticking. At length the great day for the public entry into -the capital came on the 13th January 1680. Madrid, as usual, had -squandered money sorely needed for bread in gaudy shows. At every street -corner arose monuments and arches of imitation marble; and all the -heathen mythology was ransacked for far-fetched compliments to the -people’s new idol. The King and his mother leaving the Retiro in the -morning took up a position in the central balcony of the Oñate palace, -still standing, in the Calle Mayor; and at noon Marie Louise on a -beautiful chestnut palfrey issued from the gates of the Buen Retiro, -where the aldermen of the town stood awaiting her with the canopy of -state, under which she was to ride to the palace. - -Preceded by trumpeters and the knights of the royal orders, by her -household and by the grandees of Spain, all in garments of dazzling -magnificence, rode the most beautiful woman in Spain, gorgeously dressed -in garments so richly embroidered with gold that their colour was -hidden, and covered with precious stones, but withal, as a Spanish -eyewitness observes, ‘more beautifully adorned by her loveliness and -grace than by the rich habit that she wore.’ Her horse was led by the -Marquis of Villamayna, her chief equerry; and after her came a great -train of ladies led by the Duchess of Terranova, all mounted on draped -led mules. As the new Queen passed the Oñate palace she smiled and bowed -low to the King and his mother, who could be dimly seen behind the -nearly closed jalousies; and went triumphantly forward, conquering all -hearts by the power of her radiant beauty.[302] But though she, poor -soul, knew it not, more was needed than careless beauty to win the -battle in which she was engaged, a battle not of hearts but of subtle -crafty brains. - -Bullfights, with grandees as toreros, masquerades, cane tourneys, and -the inevitable religious pageantry, at all of which Marie Louise, -glittering with gems, took her place, ran their usual course; and at the -end of a week after the entry the Queen began her regular married life -in the old Alcazar on the cliff, more gloomy and monotonous, even, than -the Retiro, in its gardens on the other side of the capital. - -The political intrigues, though they had never ceased, had been -naturally somewhat abated during the Queen’s voyage and subsequent -seclusion: but as soon as the marriage feasts were over the struggle -began in earnest. Charles, absorbed in his courtship and marriage, had -appointed no minister to succeed Don Juan, the necessary administrative -duties being performed by a favourite of his, Don Jeronimo de Eguia, a -man of no position or ability; and the first bone of contention was the -appointment of the man who was really to rule Spain. The old party of -the Queen-Mother inclined to a Board of Government, headed by the -Constable of Castile; but Mariana, in appearance, at least, held herself -aloof, and the minister ultimately chosen by the King was the first -noble in Spain, the Duke of Medina Celi, an easy going, idle, amiable -magnate, who had sided with Don Juan; but whose gentle manners had -convinced the King that he would not tyrannise over him as Don Juan had -done. The Duchess of Terranova and most of the household whispered -constantly to the young Queen distrust and suspicion of Mariana; and -after her state entry they encouraged her as much as possible to see the -French ambassadress constantly. The Queen-Mother, they said, had been -continually with the German ambassador and his wife talking German, why -should not Marie Louise do the same with the French ambassador. But both -Villars and his wife were wary, and saw that they were to be used to -form a French party at Court to oppose the Queen-Mother and the -Austrians, and this they were not at present inclined to do. - -Villars himself constantly reiterates that the Queen-Mother was quite -sincere in her professions of affection for her daughter-in-law, and he -and his wife lost no opportunity of urging Marie Louise to respond -cordially to her mother-in-law’s loving advances. The diplomatist -attributes to Mariana, indeed, at this time, sentiments which her whole -history seems to falsify, and it appears far more probable that Marie -Louise was right than the ambassador when she looked askance at the -tenderness of her husband’s mother. The old Queen, says Villars, was -discontented with the way her Austrian kinsmen had treated her, and -leaned now to the side of France, which had been friendly with her in -her exile; she sincerely loved her daughter-in-law and hoped that her -son would have children to succeed him by his beautiful wife. Villars, -indeed, casts the whole of the blame upon Marie Louise, who, he -says—probably quite truly—was lacking in judgment, decision and -generosity, and hesitated too late between the Duchess of Terranova, who -constantly warned her against the Queen-Mother, and the French -ambassador and others who strove to persuade her to make common cause -with her mother-in-law, and rule all things jointly with her.[303] - -The nearest approach to common action of the two Queens was when they -both persuaded Charles to appoint the weak, idle, Medina Celi as -minister; but, in this, and in all the other manifestations of Mariana’s -conciliatory amiability at the time and after, it is unquestionable that -the measures and men she smiled upon were such as would, and did, -inevitably lead to a state of things in which her firm hand would become -indispensable. The effects of the utter ineptitude of such a government -as that of Charles and Medina Celi were soon seen. The coin had been -tampered with to such an extent as to have no fixed value, provisions -were at famine price, and the attempt to fix low values of commodities -by decree aroused a sanguinary revolt in Madrid in the early spring of -1680, that nearly overthrew the wretched government such as it was. -Bandits infested the high roads, half the work of the country was done -by foreigners, whilst Spaniards starved in idleness, or lived by preying -upon the comparatively few who still had means. - -In this abject state of affairs, the King gave but a quarter of an hour -daily to his public duties, which were limited to stamping his signature -on decrees placed before him, for he had neither the industry to read -them nor the intellect to understand them; and the rest of his time was -spent on the most puerile frivolity and in endless visits with Marie -Louise to convents and churches. ‘Such visits,’ says Mme. Villars, ‘are -anything but a feast for her. She insisted upon my going with her the -last two days. As I knew nobody, I was very much bored, and I believe -she only asked me to go in order to keep her in countenance. The King -and Queen are seated in two arm chairs, the nuns sitting at their feet, -and many ladies come to kiss their hands. The collation is brought, the -Queen’s repast always being a roast capon, which she eats whilst the -King gazes at her, and thinks that she eats too much. There are two -dwarfs who do all the talking.’ - -A very few weeks of this idle life and good living worked its effect -upon Marie Louise. In February 1680, Mme. Villars writes: ‘She has grown -so fat, that if it goes much further, her face will be round. Her bosom, -strictly speaking, is already too full; although it is one of the most -beautiful I have ever seen. She usually sleeps ten or twelve hours, and -eats meat four times a day. It is true that her breakfast and her -luncheon (collation) are her best meals. She always has served for lunch -a capon boiled and broth, and a roast capon. She laughs very much when I -have the honour to be with her. I am quite sure that it is not I who am -sufficiently agreeable to put her into such a good humour, and that she -must be pretty comfortable generally. No one could behave better than -she does, or be sweeter and more complaisant with the King. She saw his -portrait before she married him, but they did not paint his strange -humour, nor his love of solitude. The customs of the country have not -all been turned upside down to make them more agreeable for her, but the -Queen-Mother does everything she can to soften them. All sensible people -think that the young Queen could not do better than contribute on her -side to the tenderness and affection that the Queen-Mother shows for -her.... When I tell you that she is fat, that she sleeps well and laughs -heartily, I tell you no more than the truth; but it is no less true that -the life she leads does not please her.... But, after all, she is doing -wonderfully, and I am quite astonished at it.’[304] - -Already we see by this, that before Marie Louise had been in Madrid -three months, she was going her own way, and was being humoured to the -top of her bent by Mariana. She had been sold into a slavery of utter -boredom, married to a degenerate imbecile; and she had neither brains, -heart, nor ambition to take a leading part in politics, or to play the -rôle that she was intended to fill in Spain by her uncle King Louis. All -that was left for her, then, was to eat, drink, sleep, and be as merry -as her grim surroundings would allow; and let the world wag as it would. -The society of the capital and Court had reached the lowest degree of -decadence; and a strong, high-minded Queen would have found ample work -in reducing at least her own household to decency. Every lady in the -palace and elsewhere had a gallant, and was proud of it; and it was a -universal practice in theatres and public places, or even at windows -looking upon the street, for lovers to converse openly in the language -of signs. Immorality and vice had reached such a terrible pitch that -mere children who could afford it lived in concubinage, and few people, -high or low, were free from preventible disease.[305] - -Marie Louise, utterly frivolous, made no attempt to reform all this, but -swam with the stream, taking part in the Kings puerile pleasures of -throwing eggshells full of scent at people, or playing with him for -hours at his favourite game of spilikins for pence. Mariana looked on at -it all quite complacently, Villars and his wife thought out of mere -amiability. That may have been so, but it is clear to see now that all -that was necessary was to let Marie Louise go her own way unchecked, and -Mariana had nothing to fear from her politically or personally. As an -instance of the attitude of the Queen-Mother towards the young Queen’s -thoughtlessness, a little circumstance related by Mme. Villars may be -quoted: ‘I was walking in the gallery of the Buen Retiro on Sunday, -before seeing the comedy, thinking nothing of kings or queens, when I -heard our young Princess call out my name very loudly. I entered the -room whence the voice proceeded quite unceremoniously; and, to my -confusion, I found the Queen seated between the King and the -Queen-Mother. She had thought of nothing when she called me but her own -wish to see me, quite regardless of Spanish gravity; and she burst out -laughing heartily when she saw me. The Queen-Mother reassured me. She is -always pleased when her daughter-in-law enjoys herself. Indeed, she made -an opportunity for me to come and talk with her in a window recess, but -I retired as soon as I could.’ To encourage Marie Louise to forget for a -moment that she was a Spanish Queen, was to ensure her downfall. - -Here is another picture of the young Queen a few days afterwards. Mme. -de Sévigné had written a letter talking of Marie Louise’s beautiful -little feet, with which she danced so nimbly at Versailles. The young -Queen was gratified at the flattery, but ruefully said that all her -pretty feet were used for now was to walk round her chamber a few times, -and carry her off to bed at half-past eight every night. On this -occasion Mme. Villars thus describes her: ‘She was as beautiful as an -angel, weighed down but uncomplaining, by a _parure_ of emeralds and -diamonds on her head, that is to say, a thousand sparks; a _furious_ -pair of earrings, and in front, and around her, in the form of a scarf, -rings, bracelets, etc. You think, no doubt, that emeralds on her brown -hair would not look well, but you are mistaken. Her complexion is one of -the loveliest brunettes ever seen, her throat white, and exquisitely -beautiful.’ - -Soon the young Queen’s careless jollity received a blow, which -embittered her. Charles hated and distrusted all French people; and the -insistence of Marie Louise in making companions of her French maids -annoyed him exceedingly; and the lives of the two maids whom she liked -best were made intolerable to them to such an extent that they had to -leave. The Queen was in despair, but protested and wept in vain: the two -Frenchwomen were made to understand that they had to go; and when their -mistress summoned them one morning she was told that they had departed -from the palace for good, leaving her with only two French servants, a -nurse and a maid. As usual in her trouble, she summoned Mme. Villars, -who found her lying down. ‘She rose at once. It is truly surprising how -beautiful she has grown. She wore her hair tied up in great curls on her -forehead, with rose-coloured ribbons on her cap and on the top of her -head; and she was not plastered over with rouge, as she is generally -obliged to be. Her throat and bosom admirable. She slipped on a French -dressing-gown, which she wore for the rest of the day. She stood thus -for a short time regarding herself in a great mirror, and the view -seemed to revive her. Her eyes looked as if she had been weeping much. -As soon as she began to speak to me the King entered the room, and it is -the rule in such cases for the ladies all to leave, except the Mistress -of the Robes and some servants. I heard cards asked for, and I concluded -that the Queen was going to be bored to death with the little game that -the King is so fond of, at which, if you have very bad luck, you may -lose a dollar. The Queen always plays it as if she was enraptured with -the occupation.’ - -The loss of two of her French attendants drew Marie Louise ever closer -to Mme. Villars, who was a person of mature age, but, to her later -regret, she gradually lost some of the reserve that at first she had -considered prudent in her communications with the Queen. Mariana smiled -upon the constant companionship of her daughter-in-law with the French -ambassadress, but she must have known, for she was experienced and -clever, that it would end in disaster to Marie Louise, whose future -depended upon pleasing her husband and becoming purely Spanish. The -Queen did her best to keep the affection of Charles, who, in his own -way, was desperately in love with her, and on occasions when he had to -leave her for a day or two she affected desperate sorrow at his absence -so cleverly as to arouse the admiration of Mme. Villars for her good -acting. - -But, though she kept the King in alternate fits of maudlin devotion and -despairing rage at her capricious flouting of all the rules and -traditions of his Court, he himself was politically a cypher, and the -policy always favoured by Mariana slowly but surely gained ground, -whilst the French interest grew weaker; and Marie Louise, in spite of -her uncle’s indignant reminders, raised no finger to help the cause she -had been sent to Spain to champion. If Mariana ever had quarrelled with -the Emperor, as Villars thought, the breach was patched up now, and the -Austrian ambassador, Count de Grana, an old friend of Mariana’s, came to -draw closer than before the family alliance. And yet Mariana -ostentatiously abstained from any governmental action, whilst all went -in the way she wished. - -The first open sign of a return to the old policy of religious unity and -the Austrian connection was the holding of the greatest _auto de fe_ -that had taken place in Madrid for half a century, in June 1680. The -Plaza Mayor was transformed at a vast expense into a great theatre; all -its hundreds of windows were filled with the aristocracy of Spain, and -the high roofs of the houses crowded with people to see the dreadful -show. All the inquisitors in Spain had been summoned, and the pulpit, -the great tribune for the judges, the platform for the bishops, and the -fronts of the barriers and balconies were covered with costly tapestries -and rich hangings for the occasion. Eighty-five grandees and noblemen -were proud to act as familiars of the Holy Office, and a picked corps of -250 gentlemen served as soldiers of the faith, to guard its ministers, -and each to carry a faggot for the devilish bonfire at the gate of -Fuencarral after the _auto_ was finished. - -All day long, from early morning till four in the afternoon, the King, -with Marie Louise and Mariana, sat in the principal balcony of the -Panadería, the centre house in the great square, whilst 120 poor -wretches in sambenitos, with ropes round their necks, gags in their -mouths, and other insignia of shame, were condemned after innumerable -ceremonies, sermons and rogations, to the tender mercies of the law -condemning heresy. Charles swore again on the gospels to defend and -promote the Catholic faith as held in Spain; and when the dread -sentences were pronounced, the captain of the Inquisition Guard entered -the royal balcony, bearing upon his shield a faggot, which was presented -to Charles and the Queen, the former of whom returned it to the holder, -saying: ‘Take it in my name, and let it be the first cast upon the fire -to burn heretics.’ The French ambassador and his wife were obliged to be -present, for those who did not attend were looked upon with suspicion; -but they, and all the world, knew that this atrocious scene meant the -growing power of the traditional ideas connected with Austrian -friendship and the certainty at no distant period of a renewal of the -war with France. - -Paltry questions of diplomatic precedence and privilege, the haughty -encroaching spirit of Louis XIV., and the utter abandonment of even -current affairs by the Spanish government, under lazy Medina Celi, -widened daily the breach between France and Spain. Villars and his wife, -according to the evidence now before us, appear to have misunderstood -entirely who were their real friends and foes in the palace. Mariana was -all amiability to them, constantly urging that the ambassadress should -be much with Marie Louise, and openly disapproving of the harsh manners -of the Duchess of Terranova, who was always, says Villars, abusing the -French and turning the King’s dislike to his wife’s countrymen into -unreasoning hatred. The ambassador therefore believed that the Duchess -was really the enemy of the young Queen and the French interest; but it -is unquestionable that in the then state of feeling in Spain, the only -hope for Marie Louise was to keep as far away from her own countrymen -and women as her Mistress of the Robes desired. Marie Louise, -thoughtless as she was, naturally considered this tyrannical and hard. -On one occasion a French half-witted beggar came to her carriage door, -and the Queen, speaking French to him, threw him some alms; whereupon -the King was so enraged that he insisted upon the beggar being arrested, -examined and expelled the country. Another day the King and Queen in -their coach passed in the street some Dutch gentlemen dressed in French -style, whose carriage, according to etiquette, had drawn up whilst the -royal equipage passed. The strangers were on the left side of the -street, and consequently were nearer the Queen than the King, and in -their salutations addressed their respects to her. Again the King made a -violent jealous scene, and caused a grave reprimand to be addressed to -the Dutchmen, who were forbidden ever to salute the Queen again. - -In the spring of 1680, on a disputed question of etiquette, the King -took away some of the diplomatic privileges of the French ambassador, -and the Duke of Orleans wrote to his daughter the Queen, asking her to -speak to her husband about it. When Marie Louise did so, Charles sulkily -told her to mind her own business, and not to speak to him on such -affairs. She pressed her point, however, and he replied: ‘They will -recall this ambassador, and send me another gabacho instead.’[306] Some -months later, whilst Mme. Villars was on one of her frequent visits to -the Queen, the King, who had taken a special dislike to her, and often -listened behind the arras to the conversation in the hope of detecting -an indiscretion, broke out from his hiding-place in insulting abuse of -the ambassadress. Villars lays all this trouble at the door of the -Duchess of Terranova and the Marquis of Astorga, the Queen’s master of -the household, both appointed by Don Juan, and praises Mariana to the -skies for her gentleness to Marie Louise, and her desire that she should -have her own way and see as many French people as she liked.[307] - -After a time the Duchess of Terranova, finding that the harshness of her -methods, contrasting with the gentleness of her opponents, was -destroying her influence, softened her manners to some extent, and went -so far as to rebuke the King—even to scold him—when he said unkind -things to his wife about her countrywomen, but her desire to mould Marie -Louise into the traditional Spanish Queen never ceased, and if her -advice had been followed, unpalatable and cross-grained as it was, the -unhappy girl would have been saved much of her misery. Every small -device that the King could adopt, Villars says on the advice of the -Duchess, was brought into play to separate the Queen from French -influence. She was kept so short of money that most of her beloved -horses, which she was not allowed to ride, and their French grooms, had -to be sent back to France, all her French men servants, even her doctor, -were dismissed, though he, from his name (Dr. Talbot), would seem to -have been an Englishman. - -In this wretched existence Marie Louise grew callous. She took no pains -even to be civil to the Spanish grand dames who visited her, or to -pretend to care a jot for the eternal comedies and visits to convents -that were the only amusements allowed her. She played for hours every -day at spilikins with the King; ‘the worst company in the world, and he -never had any one with him but his two dwarfs.’ She was careless and -buxom, and found some little pleasure in attending to her birds,[308] -but nothing else; for she had neither brains, nor ambition, nor ideas, -worthy of her rank. Secretly all she longed for was to return to France -as a widowed Queen, to enjoy herself as she liked without fear.[309] Her -one delight was the visit of Mme. Villars, who sang French airs with -her, or played whilst the Queen danced a minuet, or chatted about -Fontainebleau and St. Cloud. ‘I do not know,’ says Mme. Villars, ‘what -passes in her breast and in her head to keep her up so, but, as for her -heart, I believe that nothing passes there at all.’ In these words the -witty Frenchwoman aptly sums up the character of the Queen, doomed to -this life of gloomy dulness by the side of a semi-imbecile. She had left -her heart behind her in the land she loved, and her existence now was -carelessly epicurean. - -The political intrigues went on around her unheeded, and she had not wit -enough to see the traps laid for her. The Duchess of Terranova was -always dour and disagreeable, but her desperate attempts to alienate the -Queen from all memory of France had now made her specially disliked by -her mistress, whilst Mariana and her friends ostentatiously sided with -the young Queen, and deprecated the severity of the Duchess. Incited by -them Marie Louise determined to get rid if she could of the rough old -lady who was really her only friend, and spoke first to her confidante -Mme. Villars about it. The ambassador and his wife were as deeply -resentful of the old Duchess, who hated French people, as was the Queen, -and were delighted to hear the project for getting rid of her, but Mme. -Villars counselled prudence; for she knew how flighty and unstable the -Queen was. The Duchess, she said, was very clever, and such a change as -that suggested was without precedent in Spain: besides, the Duchess had -been later somewhat more civil than before; nevertheless, if the Queen -really wished for a new mistress of the Robes she must begin by -mentioning the matter to the King, and the Prime Minister, so that the -affair might be settled before a word of it reached the ears of the -Duchess. - -Marie Louise used all her witchery that same night when she broached the -subject to her husband. He answered her, as she said, more sensibly than -she had expected, and told her that, if really the Duchess made her so -unhappy, they would make a change; but it was a serious matter, and she -must recollect that no second change would be possible. Marie Louise -then approached Queen Mariana, and found her apparently cool and -indifferent about it, to an extent that somewhat discouraged the young -Queen, who little understood that there was nothing that her -mother-in-law desired more than the removal of the only salutary check -upon her conduct. But Medina Celi, the Prime Minister, whom the -imperious ways of the old Duchess had offended, lent eager ear to the -suggestion when, by the aid of the Villars, it was opened to him. Marie -Louise, by the advice of Madame Villars, asked that the Duchess of -Medina Celi might be her new Mistress of the Robes, but that lady -declined absolutely. Then the Marchioness of los Velez and other great -ladies were suggested; and when Marie Louise consulted Mariana upon each -one in turn, the old Queen remained cold and aloof, and even had -excuses, and good words to say about the Duchess of Terranova. - -But when there was a talk of the Duchess of Albuquerque, then Mariana -took an interest in the matter at once, and agreed with Medina Celi that -she would be an ideal person for Mistress of the Robes. But, of all the -ladies at Court, the Duchess of Albuquerque was the one that Marie -Louise disliked most. She might struggle as she liked, however, she soon -found that without Mariana’s goodwill no one could gain a footing in the -palace, and she was almost tempted to beg the Duchess of Terranova to -stay by her side, especially as the King himself was opposed to the -Duchess of Albuquerque. It ended, of course, in Mariana having her way. -She bullied her son into making the appointment, and into dismissing the -people who, she said, had ruled him for a year, the Duchess of Terranova -and his friend Eguia. Unbending to the last, the old Duchess, when she -took leave of the Queen, noticed that the latter was crying now that the -parting had come, and she told her that it was not proper for a Queen of -Spain to weep for so small a matter. Marie Louise, half regretting the -change now that it was too late, asked the Duchess of Terranova to come -and see her sometimes. ‘I will never set foot in the palace again, as -long as I live,’ replied the proud lady, violently banging the table and -tearing her fan to bits; and she went forth in high dudgeon, refusing -all the honours and rewards offered to her. - -With her departure the outlook for Marie Louise changed like a charm. -The new Mistress of the Robes had always been considered as austere as -her predecessor, for which reason the young Queen had feared her. But -she came to her new office all sweetness. The Queen was allowed to sit -up until half-past ten at night, an unheard of thing before; she might -mount her saddle horses and ride whenever she pleased, as no previous -Queen Consort had ever done, and the King, on the persuasion of his -mother and the new Duchess of the Robes, positively urged his wife to -divert herself in pastimes that had previously been rigorously -forbidden.[310] The change in the King was extraordinary, and proves the -complete domination of his mother over his weak spirit when she pleased -to exert her power. Mme. Villars happened to visit the Queen two days -after the Duchess of Albuquerque assumed office; and as she entered the -Queen’s apartment Marie Louise ran smiling up to her in joy, crying: -‘You _will_ say yes to what I am going to ask you, will you not?’ The -demand turned out to be that, by the King’s special wish, Mme. Villars’s -daughter should enter the Queen’s household as a maid of honour; and -Marie Louise, at the idea of having a French girl of her own age always -near her, was transported with delight. The appointment was sanctioned -and gazetted, but never took effect, for Villars could not afford to -endow his daughter sufficiently well, and relations soon grew bitter -again; but that Charles, who hated the French, and especially Mme. -Villars, should ever have consented to it proves how complete the sudden -change of scene was. - -Encouraged by her new liberty, Marie Louise began to take a keener -interest in public affairs, always playing, as can now be clearly seen, -the game of those who were bent upon her ruin. Medina Celi had been -cleverly diverted by Mariana, who had been ostensibly friendly with him, -whilst the councils and secretariats had been gradually packed with her -friends; and Marie Louise, prompted by her, took the opportunity of the -opposition offered by the minister to the stay of the Court at Aranjuez, -to set her husband against Medina Celi, after which, both she and her -mother-in-law, into whose hands she played, both worked incessantly to -undermine the minister who was already unpopular, owing to the terrible -distress in the country and his own ineptitude. The minister and his -henchman Eguia, and the King’s confessor, retaliated effectively by -sowing jealous distrust between Mariana and her daughter-in-law, and -between the King and his wife and mother; and thenceforward complete -disunion existed between them all. Mariana, in disgust at her son’s -weakness, and knowing that events were tending her way, stood aloof for -a time; Marie Louise went her own gait, making no friends and possessing -no party; and the inept Charles, alternately petulant and sulky, -distrusted everybody. - -Villars writes of Marie Louise at this juncture: ‘She, with her youth -and beauty, full of life and vivacity, was not of an age or character -disposed to enter into the views and application necessary for her -proper conduct. Her bent for liberty and pleasure, the memories of -France and all she had left behind her there, had made Spain intolerable -to her. The captivity of the palace, the ennui of idleness without -amusement, the coarse low manners of the King, the unpleasantness of his -person, his sulky humour, which she increased frequently by her lack of -amiability towards him, all nourished her aversion and unhappiness. She -took interest in nothing, and would take no measure, either for the -present or the future; and so, putting aside all that Spain could give -her, she only consoled herself with the idea of returning to France. She -entertained this idea, encouraged by predictions and chimeras which -formed her only amusement, for everything else bored her.’[311] - -In her despairing knowledge that she could never hope for happiness in -Spain, Marie Louise thus grew reckless. She had no ambition to rule -except in the heart of the man she loved; she was not clever enough to -succeed in the subtle political intrigues that went on around her; she -knew now that motherhood was hardly to be hoped for with such a husband -as hers, and her one thought was of the joy of living in France. As the -political relations between France and Spain grew constantly more -strained and Charles’s detestation of Frenchmen increased, the visits of -Mme. Villars to Marie Louise perforce grew rarer, for the suspicious -King had got into his head that the French ambassadress was serving as -an intermediary in the palace intrigues which were setting everybody by -the ears. Marie Louise made matters worse by turning to her widowed -nurse Mme. Quantin, and her inferior French maid. Quantin was a greedy, -meddlesome woman, of low rank, who put up her influence over the Queen -for sale, and soon embroiled matters beyond repair. - -The Queen, under the influence of this woman, lost what little -discretion and prudence she possessed. The many poor French people in -the town, to whom Quantin and the other French maids were known, would -congregate beneath their apartments in the palace to gossip of France, -tell the news, and perhaps to beg for favours; and Marie Louise would -sometimes be imprudent enough to approach the windows and exchange words -with her countrymen below. Spaniards who saw it—for jealous eyes watched -the Queen always—cried shame upon such a derogation from the dignity of -Spanish royalty, and the scandalmongers of the capital already began to -whisper that the ‘Frenchwoman,’ who would not play the part properly, -and gave no signs of motherhood, might be put aside in favour of another -Queen. In the Calle Mayor, a punning verse passed from hand to hand -reproaching her for her sterility, and demanding in ribald rhyme that -she should either give an heir to Spain, or return whence she came; and -thus, as war loomed ever nearer between her two countries, the lot of -the unhappy Queen grew darker. - -Villars began to see that he had been misled in condemning the hard rule -of the Duchess of Terranova, and aiding the Queen to gain the freedom -advocated for her by the amiable Mariana. ‘It was a great misfortune for -the Queen,’ he wrote, ‘who now abandoned herself without restraint to a -dangerous line of conduct, and it is quite a question, judging by -results, whether the hard severity of the Duchess of Terranova was not -better for her than the weak complaisance of the Duchess of -Albuquerque.’[312] The poor misguided girl had not a single friend. -Mariana kept away; for things were going admirably from her point of -view; and a new alliance between Spain and the empire and other powers, -against the threatened encroachments of France, was already being -discussed in secret. - -The Minister, Medina Celi, had succeeded, by means of Eguia and the -King’s confessor, in re-establishing his position by arousing the -jealousy of all the three members of the royal family against each -other; and he sought further to isolate and discredit Marie Louise by -whispering to the King that her friend Mme. Villars was engaged in -political intrigue with the Queen to the detriment of Spain. Mme. -Villars had been specially authorised to visit the Queen as much as -possible, and report fully all she heard for the information of the -French government; but it is certain that she had no political mission. -Charles, however, was childishly jealous of her because his wife liked -her, and he instructed the Marquis de la Fuente, his ambassador in -France, to demand the recall of Villars in consequence of his wife’s -indiscretion. Louis XIV. knew his kinsman well, and the real reason for -his demand: but it was part of his policy just then to reassure the -Spanish King, and Villars was sacrificed. In the ambassador’s letter of -recall, Louis writes, after saying that Charles had complained of the -intrigues of Mme. Villars: ‘It is useless to inform you of all the -details ... it will suffice to say that, for many reasons affecting my -service, I have not thought fit to refuse the King of Spain this mark of -my complaisance, however satisfied I may be of the services you have -rendered in the post you occupy.’ - -Both Villars and his wife disdained to justify themselves by a single -word, and the ambassadress left Madrid in the summer of 1681, to the -despair of Marie Louise; whilst Villars himself was replaced by another -ambassador early in 1682. By this time the empire was at war with -France. Louis had captured Strasbourg, and Casale in Savoy on the same -day (30th September 1681), and Germany seemed almost at the mercy of the -now dominant power in Europe. The imperial ambassador at Madrid, -supported strongly by Mariana, was striving his utmost to draw Spain -into the great war that seemed inevitable, and Holland and England, -jealous of the aggression of France, were for a time apparently willing -to join Spain. But the clever diplomacy of Louis diverted the powers -from the alliance, except the empire and bankrupt Spain; and the sorely -reduced Flemish dominion of Spain was again invaded by French troops. -Luxembourg, which belonged to Spain, was besieged, the cities of -Dixmunde and Courtrai were captured (November 1683), and with every -fresh victory of the French, Louis became more exacting. Finally, when -the unfortunate country could resist no longer, the government of -Charles was forced to accept the humiliating terms of the Treaty of -Ratisbon in June 1684, by which Luxembourg, the well-nigh impregnable -fortress, was lost to Spain for ever, whilst Louis also kept Strasbourg, -Bovines, Chimay, and Beaumont. Other smaller potentates, like the -Elector of Brandenburg and the Regent of Portugal, following the example -of the great Louis, hectored Spain into degrading concessions, whilst -pestilence swept through the south, floods ruined Spanish Flanders, -hurricanes sank the silver fleets, upon which the government of Charles -largely depended, corruption lorded over all in stark desolate Spain; -and the cretin King, growing more feeble in mind and body, mumbled his -prayers, or played childish games with his wife or his dwarfs. - -During the war, which further despoiled the land of her adoption, the -lot of Marie Louise was truly pitiable. Even before it broke out, and -during the period of acrimonious recriminatory claims which followed the -recall of Villars, her isolation and impotence and the growing power of -Mariana were plainly evident. In the instructions given by Louis XIV. to -his new ambassador, Vanguyon,[313] in 1682, the latter is instructed to -visit the Queen-Mother first, with all sorts of amiable messages, and -Marie Louise is only to be addressed ‘in general terms,’ and asked to do -her best to maintain good relations between the two countries. Mariana, -indeed, with the imperial ambassador, Mansfeldt, constantly at her side, -had by the mere force of circumstances and her own character gradually -again become the principal controlling power of the State, and, as -usual, she directed her influence not to the benefit of Spain but to the -aid of the empire in its secular struggle against the encroachments of -France. When the war, as already mentioned, broke out (1683) with -France, the underhand intrigues of Mariana and the Austrian faction to -discredit Marie Louise and destroy any political influence she might -have over her husband, were powerfully aided by the general feeling -against everything French; and the young Queen, without a single friend -near her, was more sorely beset than ever by her relentless enemies, -whilst she, perplexed with intrigues that she did not understand, -surrounded by people who would willingly have followed her if she had -had wit enough to lead them, threw away her chance by the frivolity and -imprudence of her behaviour.[314] - -She managed, it is true, by her charm and beauty to keep her husband -deeply in love with her in his maudlin fashion, but, weak as he was, she -failed to influence him politically.[315] She had already offended -Medina Celi and played the game of the Queen-Mother against him—for he -had been a friend of Don Juan—by interfering with his appointments for -the benefit of her nurse, the widow Quantin; and now, at the very period -when Mariana had determined that the prime minister, who had failed to -pay her full pension, and who alone stood between her and supreme power, -should be dismissed, Marie Louise again foolishly threw her influence -with her husband against the oft-threatened minister. Medina Celi, -overwhelmed by his unpopularity and the insuperable difficulties of his -task, was brusquely dismissed by the King in June 1685; and -thenceforward Mariana was supreme. The new minister, the Count of -Oropesa, was clever and active, and at first made sweeping financial -reforms: but he was really the tool of the Austrian faction, which, -before many months had passed, negotiated the League of Augsburg, which -bound together Spain, the empire, Sweden, Bavaria and other powers, -against the encroachments of Louis XIV.; and again poor, ruined Spain -was pledged to enter, if called upon, into the central European war. - -For the moment Louis was not prepared to meet all Europe in arms, and -his views with regard to Spain had become somewhat changed. It was by -this time evident that Marie Louise would bear no child to her -degenerate husband, and Mariana and Mansfeldt were already preparing to -put forward the claims to the succession of the children of the Empress -(the Infanta Margaret, daughter of Mariana), whilst Louis XIV., making -light, as he always did, of the renunciation signed by Maria Theresa on -her marriage (already referred to), was determined to show that his own -son, the Dauphin, had the best right to be King of Spain if Charles II. -died without issue. When, therefore, the new French ambassador, -Feuquière, went to Spain early in 1685, he was instructed to talk -seriously, and in secret, to Marie Louise on the subject.[316] He was to -tell her that she would be wise to desist from all political intrigue -directed to the change of personnel of the government, and so to gain -the goodwill of the ministers and obtain a firmer hold over the King. -This advice came too late, for she had foolishly connived at Medina -Celi’s fall before Feuquières could deliver his message. This, however, -was only the first step; and in the following year Father Verjus was -sent to Madrid with money and instructions to aid Feuquière in gaining -friends and forming a party under the ægis of Marie Louise to push the -claims of the Dauphin to the Spanish succession. - -In the meantime the Austrian party, under Mariana, were having their own -way unchecked. Marie Louise was their sole stumbling-block, for the King -would never willingly lose sight of her, notwithstanding her follies, of -which her enemies made the most; and at the instance of Mariana and her -Austrian backers a dastardly series of plots was formed for ruining the -young Queen in the eyes of her husband. We get the first hint of them -from a letter dated 12th April 1685 in the curious informal -correspondence addressed by the Duke of Montalto in Madrid to the -Spanish ambassador in London, Pedro Ronquillo, both of them partisans of -Mariana: ‘A case of no little scandalousness has happened in the -palace,’ he wrote. ‘You know, of course, that Mme. Quantin is the -favourite of our Queen, and that M. Viremont, a Frenchman who takes care -of the Queen’s saddle horses, is also well liked by her Majesty. By -these means this man introduced himself so much into the palace with the -Quantin woman, that, although she wears the dress of a duenna, and is -neither young nor at all handsome, there was a talk of their getting -married. Everybody laughed at such a courtship; but the matter went so -far and the connection was so close, for both of them are cunning enough -to get out when they liked, and perhaps he may have found means to enter -her chamber in the palace, that the woman was recently taken out of the -palace to the house of Donna Ana de Aguirre, who is in high favour with -the Queen, and it is said that this Quantin woman gave birth to a boy -there the other day.[317] This scandal has caused no end of murmuring -and satires, so shameless some of them as to be incredible. What is -quite as incredible is the irresolution of the King. Up to the present -time nothing has been done, either to the man or the woman, and Viremont -continues in his employment as if nothing had happened. They are married -now; but if I had my way they should be burned. Yesterday the Quantin -woman went to pay her respects to the Queen with as much effrontery as -if she had not behaved thus. You can see by this the state the palace is -in.’[318] - -We can supplement this narrative from other sources. The French widow -was the only person of her own tongue and country near Marie Louise, -and, though she had been a dangerous companion, the poor Queen clung -desperately to her. As soon as the rumour of her marriage spread the -outcry for her punishment and expulsion was raised by the enemies of -Marie Louise, and the Queen herself was attacked in dozens of spiteful -couplets as having connived at immorality in her own apartments. The -outraged Queen threw herself at her husband’s feet in an agony of tears, -and implored him not to expel the only French woman-servant upon whom -she could depend. Charles, moved by his wife’s tears, allowed Quantin to -remain in Madrid, though not to sleep in the palace, and refused to -believe the stories told him that Marie Louise had knowingly been a -party to the irregularity of her servant. - -This was to some extent a defeat for the Queen-Mother and her friends; -but the scandal laid a foundation of distrust, upon which further attack -might be based. This is how the Duke of Montalto speaks of the King’s -concession to his wife. ‘I don’t know whether the Quantin affair is true -or not; but it is publicly stated, and is the most dreadful scandal that -ever happened in the palace. Medina, Oropesa and the Confessor, all -urged the King to take some step, but to no purpose, for he preferred to -give way to the tears and prayers of the Queen, rather than uphold the -decency of his own household. So she has triumphed to such an extent -that this woman, having married the rogue Viremont, has positively been -brought by the Queen into the palace again to serve her, and goes home -to her husband every night! Cases of this sort are surely enough to -drive one crazy, and to banish all hope of better times. Since I have -told you the story I must now tell you the sequel. As soon as they were -married the woman went ostentatiously to the palace to salute the King, -which he placidly allowed. The fine pair have now gone to Aranjuez with -the Court, like people of quality, in one of the royal coaches. Medina -Celi has thrown up everything and gone away in disgust. It is all the -King’s fault, and such goings on as these will expose to the world our -master’s tyranny and incapacity.’[319] - -The further blow at the Queen was silently planned whilst the Court was -at the spring palace of Aranjuez, where it usually stayed until Corpus -Christi day. On the 12th May Charles fell suddenly ill, and much was -made of the matter. Although, after bleeding, he was quite well on the -third day, it was decided that he must immediately return to the -capital. ‘What must be well borne in mind in all this’ (wrote an enemy -of Marie Louise) ‘is that the Queen wanted to prefer her own pleasure to -the health of her husband; for it was almost impossible to persuade her -to come to Madrid. She said that the illness was nothing, and wished to -keep the King there till Corpus Christi, notwithstanding the heat and -danger. When she was not allowed to have her own way, she was cross and -ill-humoured; as was clear when the King was confined to his bed, for -she did not even go to see him. This is the more strange, as when the -Quantin woman was to be bled she must needs go and visit her without -ceremony. Neither I nor any one else can understand the strange things -that are going on in that house.’[320] - -This was written at the end of May; and some three weeks afterwards the -plot ripened. A Frenchman named Vilaine, who is called by some -authorities a discharged groom of Marie Louise, and by the Duke of -Montalto the wax-chandler of the Queen-Mother, denounced Quantin and her -husband for having plotted, with the knowledge of the Queen, to poison -King Charles. The accused persons were at once arrested, and a carefully -prepared hue and cry was raised against all Frenchmen. Many foreigners -were attacked and some killed in the streets; the French embassy had to -be surrounded by troops, and the whole Court was in a panic. Charles was -a coward and miserably weak, but he stood by his wife as well as he knew -how at this period of trial. Marie Louise, indignant and outraged at -what she knew was a vile plot against her, demanded that the accusers -should also be arrested; but before this could be done, Quantin and her -husband, the French maids and others, were put to the torture; and the -poor woman, with both arms broken and her lower limbs crippled for life, -still maintained her innocence and would confess nothing. - -The Queen’s few Spanish friends were put into close confinement. No -evidence whatever could be wrung from any of the accused to support the -charge against them: but the Council of Castile, packed now with the -Queen-Mother’s partisans, still continued to regard the matter as a -serious menace to the King’s life, and frightened poor Charles nearly -out of what small wits nature had given him. In a French news letter of -the time (19th August 1685) the political aim of the proceedings is -exposed. ‘The Council of Spain desires to involve the Queen in the -accusations, because they fear her influence over the King, and he has -not sufficient strength to resist the ministers who propose to appoint -commissaries for the Queen. She has written to her father, saying that -she has no French person now near her, nor any one else whom she could -trust. She is, she says, in daily fear of being poisoned, and she -refuses to eat what they provide for her, which has cast her into great -weakness. She will only eat with the King and from his dishes. Vilaine, -they say, is to be rewarded and sent to an employment in the Canaries. -The French ambassador is not allowed to speak with the Queen; and the -Venetian ambassador was nearly murdered, because they thought he was -French. When the King is with the Queen the ministers are all in the -wrong, but when they are with him he changes his mind.’[321] - -Quantin and all the French people about the palace were expelled the -country, when no atom of proof could be found against them, and Charles, -apparently alarmed at the threats of Louis XIV., that if any harm came -to Marie Louise he would avenge her by war in Spain itself, was emphatic -in his repudiation of any suspicion on his part against his wife. He -assured Feuquières that he regarded his wife’s interests as his own, and -never believed for a moment in her guilt: and he assured the Duke of -Orleans that, not only did he not know that the accused French people -had been tortured, but that when he asked for a copy of the whole of the -proceedings in the case, his Council had assured him that the records -had all been burnt. In vain, however, did the French government insist -upon the punishment of the accusers. The King might promise and strive, -but there were others stronger than he; and Vilaine was spirited away -and rewarded. - -Another news letter in the same French collection as that justed quoted -does not hesitate, a few months afterwards, when the whole matter was -known, to say: ‘Although the Quantin affair is now a thing of the past, -it is nevertheless worth recording that the Count of Mansfeldt, the -imperial ambassador and his wife, to please the Queen-Mother, originated -the accusation against the woman. She was made to suffer the cruel -tortures she did in order to injure the young Queen, who was so outraged -at it, and the King as well, that the imperial ambassador is forbidden -the palace, except on the business of his embassy.’ - -Mariana’s friends looked upon it in a very different light. Whilst still -the accusation was hanging over Marie Louise, Montalto wrote to -Ronquillo in London: ‘Quantin and her husband, and all the Frenchmen in -the Queen’s stable, with her bob-tailed horses, have all been packed off -to France. They were a lot of rascals, and the cost of her stable was a -calamity. They were all guilty, but as none of them would confess under -torture, they could not be further proceeded against. People are talking -very scandalously about such shameful laxity. Quantin’s young niece[322] -was sent out of the palace late at night, so that not a single French -person should remain. But the Queen’s tears and prayers soon fetched her -back. This is perfectly odious and disgraceful, and one can only have -contempt of so easy going a King, who will not let even justice take its -course if his wife says nay.’ A few weeks afterwards, the same courtier -says: ‘The Queen is still implacable at the loss of her Quantins, and -the King so excessively loving (not to call it by another name) of his -wife, that all his concessions to her, which ought to make her more -submissive to him, makes her humour worse, and the temper that God gave -her causes no end of trouble as it is; for it is the most extravagant -ever seen.’[323] - -The French servants of the Queen, her only solace, all except the girl -Duperroy, had been sent away; but still Marie Louise personally had held -her place in the King’s affection. No sooner, however, had the Quantin -affair fallen a little into the background, than another stab more -wicked still was aimed at the Queen by the same hands out of the -darkness. There was a foolish, vain, French exon of the guard, the -Chevalier Saint Chamans, who had commanded Marie Louise’s escort when -she travelled to the Spanish frontier. As was not unusual in the French -Court at the time, Saint Chamans was pleased to profess a far-off -amorous worship of the lovely Princess; and it is quite probable that -during his attendance upon her, she may have smiled in raillery at his -silly languishing airs. In any case, the talk of his adoration reached -Madrid; and in the autumn of 1685, some miscreant in the capital of -Spain wrote two letters as from the Queen in a forged hand imitating -hers, to Saint Chamans, containing expressions to the highest degree -compromising of her honour. Saint Chamans, like the love-lorn fool that -he was, showed the letters to his chums, and Louis XIV. soon learnt of -their existence, and what is more extraordinary, believed them to be -genuine. In sorrow and severe reprobation, he wrote to Feuquières, -directing him to show the letters to the Queen, which he did in -September. - -Marie Louise, outraged at the mere suspicion, and indignant at so cruel -a hoax, rose for once majestic and dignified in her wrath. She scribbled -a burning repudiation of the letters which she handed to Feuquières for -ciphered transmission to the King of France.[324] ‘It will not be -difficult for your Majesty to imagine the affliction in which I am, at -knowing that you suspect a person such as I of so unworthy a thing as -this. I cannot avoid expressing my justified sorrow at seeing that your -Majesty does not esteem at its true worth, as you should, conduct which -is most regular, and which certainly is not of the easiest.... but as I -am so unhappy as to have people near me here perfidious and abominable -enough to use every effort to ruin me by pernicious inventions, I am not -surprised that they should exert all their ingenuity to deprive me of -the esteem of your Majesty.... Believe me, nothing is more false than -that which you have thought of me, and my despair to see that your -Majesty doubts for a moment my good behaviour, makes me, in this, stand -apart from your counsel, and be myself alone; and I cannot think of the -injustice your Majesty has done me without being beside myself with -sorrow. Alas! I had made light of all my grief, believing that your -Majesty, at least, thought well of me: but I see now I am marked for -unhappiness, since your Majesty believes a thing of me which makes me -shudder even to think of.... I am so jealous of my honour, and I love it -so much, that I shall never do anything to stain it: and life itself is -not so insupportable to me, either, that I should seek thus to lose -it.... If I were in a more tranquil state, I should supplicate your -Majesty to have pity upon this poor realm for my sake; but I dare not, -though I think you will be good enough to recollect that I have the -honour to be your niece, and that all my happiness depends upon you.... -Believe me, too, when I say that I am prouder of being born a princess -of your blood, than of the rank I hold in the world’: and so on, for -several pages, the wronged and outraged Queen eloquently protests her -innocence. - -Thenceforward Marie Louise, though entirely without political -influence—for the Austrian faction and the Queen-Mother were in that -respect all-powerful—was unassailable in the affections of the poor man -she had married. Her disregard of the ordinary Spanish etiquette, the -free and easy _bonhomie_ of her demeanour, and the indulgence of her -caprices increased as she felt more secure in the love of her husband; -but she made no other use of her influence over him. No better series of -pictures of the life in her palace can be found than in the vitriolic -references to Marie Louise and her husband in letters already quoted of -the Duke of Montalto. On the 30th August 1685, he writes that for months -the Queen had not gone out in public, in which, he says, she was wise, -particularly when the anti-French riots were taking place, as the mob -might have attacked her. ‘They say again that she is pregnant, but there -is not much belief in it, as the same thing has happened several times -before. She had got up a very grand comedy for St. Louis’ day; but it -had to be deferred, because of this pregnancy rumour, and not even the -usual comedies in the palace were given for the same reason.’ - -On the 24th October of the same year, he records the removal of the -Court to the Retiro: ‘which place the Queen is very fond of, because -there she can enjoy her country sports, and especially ride about on -horseback every afternoon. In order to have her horses nearer to her, -she has had a place made for them near the large pond, where she goes -every morning to visit them.’ A little later he remarks that everything -in the palace is going to the dogs. ‘There is neither firmness nor -stability enough to correct these follies of the Queen.’ In April 1686, -the same writer says: ‘Things are in the greatest embarrassment for the -government, owing to the fancies and caprices of the Queen; for nothing -is done by any other rule than her whim.’ It appears that the presence -of the Queen’s Spanish friend Señora Aguirre, who had been exiled at the -time of the Quantin affair, was much desired by Marie Louise, and the -latter demanded her return of the prime minister, Oropesa. He temporised -for a time, but when she ordered him peremptorily to advise the King to -recall the lady, he refused. ‘Well,’ said the Queen, ‘do not oppose it -if the King suggests it.’ ‘Yes I will,’ replied the minister: whereupon -Marie Louise went with tears and blandishments to her husband, and -begged for the favour. For a time he held out; but at last gave way to -the extent of ordering a decree of recall to be drafted and discussed. -Oropesa protested, and Charles cancelled the decree. Another passionate -outburst from the Queen followed, and in the end she had her way. ‘The -coming of this woman (Aguirre) will be worse than all the devils -together; worse than Quantin. Judge what a state we are in with this -irresolution of our master. The advice of ministers and decisions of -tribunals, all are powerless before the will of this woman (the Queen).’ - -The caprices of Marie Louise soon reached the ears of her uncle Louis, -and he did, in May 1686, what he ought to have done years before, -namely, to send a French lady of great position and experience, -dependent upon him, to advise the Queen and keep her in the right way. -The lady was a descendant of the royal house, the Countess of Soissons, -and her mission was, if possible, to induce Marie Louise to turn her -influence to political account for the benefit of France. Her task was -almost hopeless from the first, and she failed, though she tried hard -for a time; and in the last few weeks of the Queen’s life, when too -late, was of some service to French interests. - -‘The Queen’ (writes Montalto in May 1586) ‘is in the full force of her -madness, dominating the King completely by cries and threats. He has not -an atom of resolution, and no application at all. The day upon which the -great council was held, when he would not attend, he went on muleback to -the wild beast cages at the Retiro, and there he had the animals caught -and counted, thinking more of this frivolity than if it had been some -heroic action. This government of ours is nothing more than a boy’s -school with the master away. No one respects anything, and each person -does as he likes, whilst the Queen follows her whim or the last -suggestion.’ On another occasion, when the Marquis of Los Velez was -giving a representation of a sacred _auto_ on a holy day, Montalto -records that ‘the Queen witnessed the show from a balcony in the -passage, when she behaved herself so unrestrainedly as to shock people; -and the actions of this lady really give rise to the idea that she is -not in her right mind.’ - -The unfortunate woman kept apparently on friendly, but not cordial, -terms with Mariana, who smilingly let her go her own way without -remonstrance; and there was now no check whatever upon her strange -vagaries, for the King grew more feeble-minded than ever, and was as -clay in her hands. ‘The Queen’s levity approaches light-headedness,’ -wrote Montalto in the summer of 1687. ‘She was lately ill with fever, -owing to the rubbish she is always eating. Nobody can control her, and -she looks consumptive. Those of us who are not much attached to her are -not sorry to see her afflicted.’ Utterly reckless in her mode of life -the unhappy woman, though still but twenty-five years of age, was -already losing her health and beauty. In July Montalto reports that ‘the -Queen still continues in her extravagant conduct, and no amendment can -now be expected. She is dreadfully thin and languid, and will take no -remedies but those prescribed by her own caprice and distrust. As for -the King, I say nothing, for I have already said so much, though not -half enough.’ - -And so, through the summer, matters went from bad to worse. There was no -guidance from the King, no stability or prudence from the Queen, and -Spain drifted helpless towards the whirlpool of civil war that was soon -to engulf her. The only care of old Mariana was to watch over the -interests of her own kin in their claims to the succession to the -Spanish crown, and paralyse the promotion of the French pretensions. -Writing from the palace on the 29th August 1687, Montalto says: ‘It is -impossible to exaggerate the terrible state of things here. This palace -is boiling over with disorder and scandalous stories to such an extent -as to be simply a mass of confusion. The Queen is so extravagant in her -conduct, and has so strange a character, that I dare not write, even in -cypher, what is going on. The King knows, but remedies nothing. It seems -as if God had endowed him neither with force nor application for -anything; and the same wretched laxity is seen in the government of the -realm. He gives no more than a quarter of an hour to business in the -day, and the whole of the rest of his time is spent in such trifles as -running backwards and forwards through these saloons, and from balcony -to balcony, like a child of six, and his conversation would match about -the same age. The Queen is dreadfully ill and thin, and has quarrelled -with the Queen-Mother.’ - -Months later, in May 1688, when the war between France and the empire -was recommencing, and Spain was once more arming for a conflict not -primarily her own, Montalto wrote, in more despondent spirit than ever, -of the condition of affairs in Madrid. ‘Yesterday it was my turn for -duty at the Retiro. I used to like it, but now I dread the day that -takes me there. Of course I know even when I am not there what is going -on with our master; but it is very shocking to see it close, and, so to -speak, face to face. The neglect everywhere is quite terrible. The -King’s great business whilst I was there was to see the matting taken up -in the rooms, and to count the pins and other trifles of that sort. The -Queen blurts out whatever comes uppermost, and indulges to the full in -her craze for riding on horseback, prancing about indecorously over the -neighbourhood. She has again had her ladies mounted, knowing that the -King hates to see it. She has her way and, dead against his will, she -insists upon acting the principal boy’s part in a comedy they are -rehearsing. As usual, she will do as she likes. There are constant -tourneys and balls because she insists upon them, and there is no -influence or reason that can keep her within bounds. The Queen-Mother -pays great attention to her, but is cruelly slighted by her.’ - -A week later, the same writer continues in a similar strain, saying that -the Queen had insisted upon the comedy being written specially for her -to take the boy’s part: but she had fallen ill and the performance had -been postponed. ‘The King is totally opposed to this prank; but of -course she has her way. She has had a magnificent theatre constructed at -the Retiro, with lavish ornaments, etc., for the ladies, in which she -has wasted thousands of ducats, and yet there is not a real for urgent -needs. The King is a cypher, and allows things to be done before him of -which he entirely disapproves. I positively dread my turn of duty, for I -see the King does nothing but run about like an imp, and if he goes into -the garden it is only to pick strawberries and count them.’ - -A week or so later Marie Louise had recovered her health, and the -long-prepared comedy was played with great brilliancy. The King went to -the full rehearsal two days before the public performance; and although -shocked and annoyed by his wife’s caprice in playing a male part, had -not strength of will enough to forbid it. When, however, the piece was -represented publicly, and all the principal ladies in Madrid, with the -gentlemen of the household, were present to praise and applaud, poor, -unstable Charles was so charmed with his wife, even on the stage, that -he testified his delight at her performance, and the entertainment was -repeated again and again during the summer. - -Once more at this time there was a belief that the Queen was pregnant, -and the hopes of the French party ran high, though they were soon seen -to be fallacious as before. Montalto, reporting the matter to Ronquillo, -says that the Queen had explained, in answer to an inquiry of her -father, the Duke of Orleans, that the reason for her lack of issue was -not the impotence of the King but his excessive concupiscence, ‘which,’ -says the writer, ‘I do not understand, though the effect is plain.’ - -In the autumn of 1688 Marie Louise fell ill of smallpox in the palace of -Madrid; and in her enfeebled state of health the disease was held to be -dangerous. She was a bad patient, self-willed in her rejection of the -remedies prescribed to her by the only physician she would receive, a -Florentine doctor she had known in Paris in attendance upon the -Balbeses. The King was to have started for the Escorial at the time his -wife was attacked by the malady, and was obliged to delay his departure, -though fear of contagion kept him away from the invalid. Montalto -reports, with characteristic ill-nature: ‘The King seems sorry; but he -is more sorry at having to postpone his journey to the Escorial. For -although his feeling towards his wife appears to be affection, I -maintain that it is more fear of her than anything else.’ Before she was -fit to be moved the Queen insisted upon being carried in a Sedan chair -to the Retiro to pass her period of convalescence there, first visiting -the church of the Atocha, whilst Charles departed to spend a month at -the Escorial. - -Left alone in her solitary convalescence, Marie Louise appears to have -developed a more devout spirit than had previously characterised her, -and at the same time lost her desire to live. During the period of low -vitality which followed her illness one of her ladies begged her to -summon a famous saintly man, to pray for her prompt restoration to -strength. ‘No, no,’ she replied, ‘I will not do so. It would be folly -indeed to ask for life which matters so little.’ When, at this juncture, -the representatives of the town of Madrid offered to build a new church -as a votive offering for her restoration to health, she was no less -emphatic. If the money of the suffering subjects was to be spent upon -the building she would not allow it to be done. - -She had, indeed, little left to live for. Wedded to the fribble we have -described, and with enemies of herself and her dear France everywhere -around her, she must have felt powerless to cope with the adverse -influences opposed to her. All the love she had to give was given long -ago, before she was called upon to make the great renunciation which had -been made in vain. So long as youth and sensuous vitality had remained -to her she had sought in reckless enjoyment to stifle the horror of the -loveless life to which she was condemned: but when the capacity for -bodily gratification was gone, Marie Louise lost her desire to live. - -Spain was trembling upon the brink of a great war with France, and -during the winter succeeding the Queen’s illness Count Rebenac was in -Madrid with what amounted to an ultimatum to Spain to abandon the league -of Augsburg, formed to crush the ambition of Louis. Rebenac often saw -the Queen, and coached by him and by the Countess of Soissons, she -endeavoured, now that matters had gone too far, to employ her hold upon -her husband in a political direction, and to frustrate the policy of the -Queen-Mother in keeping Spain in offensive and defensive alliance with -the Emperor. Her influence upon Charles was great, and he began to -incline to the side of the French against his mother. Marie Louise -pointed out to him the awful condition of destitution in which his -country lay, and painted in moving words the horrors of a war in which -Spain had all to lose and could not hope to gain. Charles was gentle and -tender-hearted, hating to see or hear of suffering, and Rebenac reported -early in February 1689 that the efforts of the Queen had been effectual, -and that he had great hopes of the success of his mission.[325] - -It was a great crisis, for a withdrawal of Spain at this point from the -alliance would have meant the predominance of France in Europe -thenceforward, and the defeat of the Austrian party in Spain. Mariana -and her friends were strong and determined; the King was weak and -unstable. Only the life of a languid woman, tired of the struggle, stood -between them and victory, and Marie Louise herself seems to have had a -prophetic knowledge that such an obstacle would not be allowed to -frustrate plans so deeply laid. As usual with Spanish sovereigns, the -Queen went every week to worship at the shrine of the Virgin of Atocha, -and on Tuesday the 9th February 1689, when she took leave of the prior -of the convent church, she told him that she should meet him no more on -earth. That night after her light repast of milk and honey the Queen was -seized with convulsions, violent pains and vomiting; a colic it was -called, which brought her to the lowest extremity of weakness. From the -first she knew that she was doomed and made no effort. In the intervals -of the burning agony she suffered, her confessor asked her if there was -anything that troubled her. ‘I am in peace, Father,’ she replied, ‘and -am very glad to die.’ She lingered in pain until the early hours of the -12th February; and then the most beautiful and ill-fated princess of the -house of Bourbon breathed her last, a martyr, if ever one lived, upon -the altar of her country; but a martyr sacrificed in vain, for she was -immolated, not by her own will, but by the will of others. - -All that Marie Louise asked of life was love, and that was the one thing -denied to her. The Spanish people, who had sometimes been cruel to her -because she was a foreigner, were shocked by her untimely death: but -before the pompous procession which bore the body of Marie Louise to its -last resting-place in the inferior mausoleum in the Escorial reserved -for sterile Queens, whispers ran through Spain and France that it was no -colic that had cut short the life of Marie Louise, but poison -administered in the interests of Mariana and the Austrian faction. No -proof has ever been adduced that this was the case, for evidence in such -a matter would naturally not be easily obtainable;[326] but the death of -the Queen, at the very crisis when, by her aid, the King had been turned -to the side of France, seems in all the circumstances to have been too -providential to her enemies to have been entirely accidental. At any -rate it was effectual in changing the whole aspect of affairs -immediately; and before the mourning for Marie Louise had lost its -freshness, the French ambassador was on his way home unsuccessful, Spain -was again at war with France, and negotiations were being actively -carried on to find a German wife for the wretched crétin who wore the -crown of Spain. - - - - - BOOK V - II - MARIE ANNE OF NEUBURG - - -Almost simultaneously with the death of Marie Louise an event happened -which to a large extent altered the political balance of Europe, and -placed at further disadvantage the French partisans in Madrid. The -Prince of Orange had surprised the world by becoming King of England, -practically without opposition. It was no longer a shifty Stuart with -French sympathies and an itching palm for the bribes of Louis who -directed the policy of Great Britain, but a prince whose very existence -was bound up in the exclusion of France from Flanders; a prince, -moreover, under whom England and Holland were for the first time really -united. The coalition against Louis was infinitely strengthened thereby, -and Spain, with Mariana at the helm, was now less likely than ever to -shirk the fulfilment of her obligations under the Treaty of Augsburg. -Madrid thereafter became for a time a prime centre of international -intrigues, aimed at the exclusion of French interest from the Peninsula. -Charles had no personal desire to marry again. He was afraid of fresh -people about him; he was overborne with the responsibilities of his -great position, and, although he was only twenty-eight, his feeble -powers of mind and body were already on the wane. Left to himself, he -would have desired nothing but to throw up matrimony as a failure, so -far as he was concerned, and live in peace, after his own fashion, until -on his deathbed he left his realm to an heir of his own choosing. - -But the antagonistic factions that divided his Court between them -decided that such a course was quite impossible. It could hardly have -been with the hope, as they professed, that issue would be more likely -from a second marriage than it had been from the first, for Charles had -been really enamoured with Marie Louise, who had been his consort during -the best period of such vigour as he ever possessed. It is more likely -that the haste to get him married was prompted by the desire of the -intriguers to have by his side, when he was called upon to settle the -succession, a wife favourable to the views of the dominant party. -Badgered and pestered on all sides, the poor creature, always anxious to -do what he was told was his duty, consented to take another wife. - -The opponents of the German interest at first suggested a princess of -Portugal, but Mariana and her friends took care that the negotiations -should fall through; and, at the Queen-Mother’s instance, Charles -consented to leave the choice of a fit bride for him to his uncle and -brother-in-law, the Emperor Leopold. The latter, who had only one -daughter by his first wife the Infanta Margarita, Mariana’s daughter, -had married as his second wife, by whom he had sons, Eleanor of -Neuburg-Bavaria, daughter of the Elector Palatine, Duke of Neuburg. This -lady had a sister of twenty-two, Marie Anne of Neuburg; and upon her the -choice of the Emperor fell to be the wife of Charles II., King of Spain. - -Three months after Marie Louise died the marriage treaty was signed; and -on the 18th August 1689, late at night in the quaint Bavarian town of -Neuburg on the Danube, the tall, angular girl with hard eyes and mouth, -was led by the Spanish ambassador through the bedizened throng of -princes and princesses of Austria, Bavaria and Hesse, who crowded the -church of the Jesuits, to be wedded to her nephew, the young King of -Hungary, the Emperor’s heir, as proxy for the King of Spain, the -officiating priest being her brother, Prince Alexander. The marriage was -regarded by all Europe as a pledge that thenceforward Spain would be -firmly united with the Germanic interests against Louis XIV., and the -challenge was promptly accepted by the French King. Thenceforward, for -seven years, all Europe was at war; and Spain, which only needed rest, -was forced not only to waste blood and treasure upon foreign fields, but -to fight for the integrity of its own soil in Catalonia, North Africa -and America. - -England, under the Dutch King, had taken an active part in promoting an -alliance which drew Spain closer to the Teutonic league; and only an -English fleet was available to convey the new Queen of Spain in safety -to her husband’s realm. Through Cologne and Rotterdam, Marie Anne and -her train of Germans slowly travelled to Flushing in the late autumn of -1689, costly jewels meeting her as gifts, now from her husband, now from -her gratified mother-in-law, who regarded her coming as a triumph for -herself.[327] At Flushing a powerful English fleet, under Admiral -Russell, awaited the bride; and after much delay, and not a few mishaps, -the squadron sailed for Spain late in January 1690. The intention had -been to land the Queen at the port of Santander; and her Spanish -household was on the road thither to receive her, when news reached them -that Corunna had been chosen as a better harbour, and to the extreme -north-west corner of Spain they wended their way. Bad weather, as is not -unusual in the Bay of Biscay in mid-winter, made the voyage of the Queen -a dangerous and difficult one; and on approaching Corunna it was found -that the storm was too violent for the ships to enter. Colonel Stanhope, -the English ambassador, who accompanied the Queen to Spain, says:[328] -‘We were forced into a small port called Ferrol, three leagues short of -the Groyne (_i.e._, Corunna), and by the ignorance of a Spanish pilot -our ships fell foul one with another, and the admiral’s ship was aground -for some hours, but got off clear without any damage.’ - -To Ferrol came hurrying the Spanish household from Corunna, with the -inevitable Mansfeldt, all not a little ruffled at this game of -hide-and-seek with the German Queen in the most inclement season of the -year; and at length, on the 6th April, after nearly a fortnight’s stay -on board of Russell’s ship in the harbour of Ferrol, Marie Anne and a -great train of German, English and Spanish attendants landed in the -barges of the English squadron, whose decorations and the smartness of -the oarsmen aroused the surprised admiration of the Spaniards.[329] -Though the officials did their best to give Marie Anne a stately welcome -at Corunna, and the Count de Lemos entertained her and her Court at a -splendid festival at his house at Puente de Ume, all was not harmonious. -The general feeling in Spain was against the German connection, and -especially against the ruinous war with France that it entailed, and -Count Mansfeldt, the imperial ambassador, was especially detested. The -people at large firmly believed that he had connived at the poisoning of -Marie Louise, and his overbearing manners had offended the courtiers. - -‘I find,’ writes Stanhope, ‘that the Queen’s reception has been much -meaner than it would have been out of a pique the Spanish grandees have -against Count Mansfeldt, who was preferred before them all to the honour -of bringing her over, by the favour of the Queen-Mother and contrary to -the advice of the Council of Castile.’[330] Nor did the demeanour of -Marie Anne mend matters, for, even thus early, her stiff imperious -manner and her hasty temper struck a chill in the hearts of the -Spaniards, who place so high a value upon an amiable exterior. Dressed -in the traditional Spanish garb, which suited her unbending mien, the -Queen sat unmoved at the bullfights, tourneys, masquerades and other -festivities offered in her honour by the storied cities through which -she passed on her way to Valladolid. Nobles who knelt to greet her -received but a cold recognition of their compliments, and the cheers of -the populace awoke no smile of gratification upon the lips of Marie Anne -of Neuburg. - -Charles was not an eager wooer this time, and awaited calmly the coming -of his new wife to Valladolid. On Ascension Day, 4th May 1690, he first -met his bride. There was little or no pretence of affection on either -side; but from the first Marie Anne took the lead and imposed her will -upon her husband. The marriage feasts at Valladolid and the stereotyped -gaieties that throughout Spain celebrated the marriage, pleased the -thoughtless, but the more reflecting knew that the war for which Spain -was being again squeezed dry by every empirical resource that ingenuity -and ignorance of finance could devise, was a direct result of the series -of alliances that the German marriage cemented, and many were the -whispered curses uttered against the boorish Germans and Englishmen, who -were not only disrespectful, but heretics to boot. With exactly the same -ceremonial as had marked the entry of the beautiful Marie Louise into -the capital ten years before, Marie Anne rode from the Buen Retiro to -the old Alcazar through the crowded streets, on the 22nd May 1690. -Again, behind the half-closed jalousies, in the house of Count Oñate in -the Calle Mayor, over against the church of St. Philip, Charles II. and -his mother, growing visibly old now, witnessed the passing of the new -Queen. - -The triumph of Mariana at the coming of a German bride for her son was -short lived. The time that Marie Anne had spent at the Buen Retiro -previous to the State entry had been sufficient to show the -mother-in-law that she had met her match, and that here there was no -gentle, submissive, young creature—no thoughtless beauty who would ruin -herself if encouraged to go her own way, like poor Marie Louise—but a -hard, passionate woman, who was determined, whatever happened to Spain, -to make the best of her opportunities for her own advantage. Mariana, in -accordance with her usual policy, endeavoured at first to co-operate -harmoniously with her daughter-in-law, in order to gain predominance in -the partnership afterwards. The sole minister, Oropesa, had done his -best to relieve the suffering country, and his financial reforms had -effected some improvement; but with the renewal of the war on land and -sea, the economies were soon swallowed up, and the penury became as -pressing as ever. The minister’s subordinates were rapacious and corrupt -to an extent unexampled even in Spain, and offices, dignities, titles, -and pensions were openly put up to the highest bidder. Oropesa, though -fairly honest himself, had an ambitious, greedy wife, who increased his -unpopularity; and when Marie Anne arrived in Madrid, the party inimical -to the minister was already powerful. - -Mariana had been Oropesa’s patron, but when the new Queen, for whose -aims it was necessary to form a party in Spain, sided with the enemies -of the minister, Mariana dared not take the unpopular and weaker side, -and reluctantly agreed with her daughter-in-law that Oropesa and the -corrupt crew that followed him should be deposed. Their principal -abettors were the King’s confessor, Father Matilla, the Archbishops of -Toledo (Cardinal Portocarrero) and Saragossa, the Constable of Castile, -and the Secretary of State, Lira, formerly a creature of Oropesa. Marie -Anne and the confessor gave the poor King no rest. Charles was deeply -attached to Oropesa; he dreaded new people about him; and for a time he -refused to dismiss his minister. Marie Anne suffered, when contradicted, -from hysterical nervous crises, that were said to threaten her life, and -every one, from her husband downward, went in mortal fear of provoking -an attack by saying anything displeasing to her.[331] The confessor -Matilla finally threatened the King that he would not give him -absolution, unless he did his duty to the country by dismissing Oropesa. - -Charles, beset on all sides, at first told everything to Oropesa -himself, but that made matters worse; and he then repeated to each party -exactly what the other said, with the result that the palace itself -became a hotbed of scandal, hatred, and all uncharitableness. At length -Marie Anne had her way, and Charles sent for his minister with tears in -his eyes and told him that his enemies had demanded his retirement. -‘They wish it,’ sobbed the unhappy man, ‘and I must agree to it:’ and -then, in the deepest sorrow, he dismissed the best minister he had ever -had, in obedience to a palace intrigue led by his German wife. Before -Oropesa went into banishment at the end of June 1691, he sought an -interview with the Queen, but was refused, and Mariana with difficulty -was prevailed upon to receive her former instrument; her ungracious -farewell of him being to tell him that he ought to have gone long -before.[332] - -A sort of commission of government was then formed entirely composed of -men in the interests of Marie Anne; and thenceforward all method and -regularity in the administration disappeared. The King referred -questions submitted to him to any person who happened to be near him, -and the letters of Colonel Stanhope at the time testify to the -impossibility of getting any official business done at all. The country -was in the midst of war; the French were masters of the best part of -Catalonia, and as the English ambassador reports, the Spaniards had not -4,000 men there in all, fit for service, and in four months’ vigorous -recruiting only 1,000 men could be got. A handful of men, he says, -dashing down from the French frontier, could easily capture Madrid -itself, as not a soldier is between the Pyrenees and the capital: and, -such was the confusion, that it was dangerous to drive out a mile from -the walls of Madrid for fear of violence and robbery. - -Marie Anne with her camarilla was mistress of the situation, and then -Mariana, when it was difficult to regain her lost power, discovered what -the aims of her German daughter-in-law were. It will be recollected that -Mariana’s daughter, the Infanta Margaret, Empress, had died, leaving one -daughter married to the Elector of Bavaria, and it was naturally her -son, the boy Prince of Bavaria, to whom Mariana had looked to inherit -the Spanish crown, in default of issue to Charles, and in accordance -with the will of Philip IV. Marie Anne’s mission from the Emperor and -his second wife was, however, quite a different one, and aroused in -Mariana the hottest indignation when she fully understood it. The plan -was to put aside both the female lines descended from the daughters of -Philip iv., Maria Theresa, Queen of France, and the Empress Margaret, -and to claim the succession of the Emperor’s second son by his second -marriage with Marie Anne’s sister, by virtue of his male descent from -the Emperor Ferdinand, brother of Charles V. - -Marie Anne had around her a gang of blood-suckers almost as rapacious as -herself, and, so long as they were Spaniards, the people suffered in -silence.[333] But the Queen’s most intimate councillors were Germans, -who, undeterred by the fate of Nithard, vied with the Spaniards in -grasping greed: and this aroused against Marie Anne the hatred of all -who did not share in the booty. The strongest spirit in the Queen’s -entourage was the Baroness Berlips, to whom the crowd had given the -nickname of ‘the partridge,’ from a slight resemblance in her name to -the name of the bird in Castilian. Another German member was one Henry -Jovier, a lame man of infamous character, who had served in the Spanish -army, and to these after the first few months was added the Queen’s -Capuchin confessor Father Chiusa, also a German, who was brought -purposely to replace the Jesuit confessor first appointed, the latter -having been found not sufficiently pliant for the place. - -This was the gang that principally advised the Queen in her measures, -and, with a few Spanish grandees, especially the Duke of Montalto and -the Admiral of Castile, practically formed the government. Mariana was -treated with the greatest _hauteur_ by her daughter-in-law, but had some -of the ablest men in Spain on her side, of whom Cardinal Portocarrero -was the most influential. The populace cordially hated Marie Anne, and -dreaded the imperial domination of Spain which she represented; whilst -she took no pains to disguise her contempt for them. Louis XIV., in -describing the state of affairs shortly after this in his instructions -to his ambassador, Harcourt, says: ‘The Queen has acquired such a -dominion over the spirit of her husband that it may be said that she -alone reigns as sovereign of Spain.... The authority of the Queen, -however, is founded rather upon the fear of her anger than upon any love -for her on the part of the nation. There is no people in the world so -sensitive of praise as the Spaniards; and consequently none who are so -much affected by contempt. The Queen professes contempt for the whole -nation, and, as offensive discourse is the only revenge of those who are -excluded from power, it is not surprising to hear all the evil things -that the public detestation causes to be said about her. It is, however, -very true that she gives plenty of reasons for the reproaches levelled -against her with regard to her avidity in receiving and extorting -presents; and there is no one more ingenious than she in finding excuses -for appropriating everything that is most valuable in Madrid, and for -amassing every day fresh treasure for herself.’[334] - -In the spring of 1683 the King’s weakness became so alarming that the -physicians almost abandoned hope, and the intrigues around him grew in -intensity. The last successful effort of Marie Louise before her death -had been to extract from her husband a solemn promise that he would -never cede to the persuasions of Mariana to appoint a successor to the -crown until he had received the last sacrament on his deathbed; and the -King had managed so far to withstand all pressure put upon him to do so. -The pressure was redoubled now, especially by Marie Anne, who took the -opportunity of his illness to urge him to summon the Archduke Charles to -Madrid, and adopt him as his successor. When the unfortunate King was -wavering some one, probably Cardinal Portocarrero, warned him of the -certain consequences, and whilst the hesitation continued the King -partially recovered. - -Whilst the Court was thus given over to discord the condition of the -country grew worse and worse. The Marquis of Mancera told Stanhope that -the King was only nominally sovereign of the realms of Aragon. Spain, -but for the power of her allies, was absolutely defenceless, and the -public distress had reached to such an extent that famine stalked -unchecked through the land, and to protect the capital from depletion of -food, a strict cordon was placed around it, to search every one entering -or leaving the city. The Duke of Montalto had managed to ingratiate -himself with the Queen sufficiently to obtain recognition as minister; -and his impracticable remedy was to divide the country into four -autonomous provinces, ruled by viceroys practically independent of a -central government. Against this violation of the constitutions all -Spain cried aloud. ‘These disasters coming so thick,’ writes Stanhope in -July 1694, ‘has raised a very high ferment in the minds of people here, -which expresses itself in great insolencies to the great men as they -pass in the streets, and to one of the greatest even in the King’s -palace: and the royal authority itself begins to lose its veneration, -several scandalous pasquins being fixed in several public places, -magnifying the great King of France and with very little respect to his -Catholic Majesty, inasmuch as if Mr. Russell had not appeared with his -squadron as he did, it is generally believed some public scandals would -have followed.’ - -A few months later the same correspondent writes that the hatred of the -public had greatly increased the strength of the faction opposed to -Marie Anne, whose great influence over the King they intended to -destroy; beginning if possible with the banishment of her bosom friend, -Baroness Berlips. ‘This lady’s son, Baron Berlips, lately made his entry -here, as envoy from the King of Poland, and as he went to his audience -in the King’s coach, a company of ruffians came to the coach side giving -him and his mother very ill names; one of them saying, ‘Let us kill the -dog.’ Another replied, ‘Not now, for he is in the King’s coach.’ Nothing -is so much talked about at present as ousting the Berlips, and then they -think their monarchy safe.’ - -Cardinal Portocarrero, who was the Queen’s prime opponent, grew in -boldness as he saw that public feeling was on his side, and both he and -Mariana, when she could obtain access to her son, implored him to -withstand the pressure of his termagant wife, and decline to divert the -succession from that laid down by his father’s will, which made the -Prince of Bavaria his heir. At the end of 1694 the Cardinal presented a -formal State paper to the King, urging the expulsion of Marie Anne’s -German camarilla and the royal confessor Matilla, who were ruining the -country by placing and maintaining in power men utterly unworthy to -administer the government. The wretched King, between the hectoring of -his wife, the exhortations of his mother, the warnings of rival -churchmen, and the clamours of his people, swayed first to one side, and -then to the other, hating to discuss what was to take place when he was -dead; yet hearing of very little else. His health, in the meanwhile, -visibly declined; and all parties thought that there was no time to -waste. The Queen feeling probably the need for some stronger personality -near her than Berlips, and the few other inferior Germans who formed her -council, soon caused herself to be reinforced by an imperial ambassador, -Count Harrach, one of the ablest diplomatists in the Emperor’s service, -and the party of old Mariana and her Bavarian grandson fell into the -background. - -Mariana, indeed, was now almost past struggling; afflicted by a mortal -disease and abandoned by her physicians. She resorted, as usual, to -charms and quackery of the most revolting description;[335] but, in -spite of incantations and empirical devices, Mariana in May 1696 ended -her turbulent life, leaving the question of the succession still in the -balance.[336] With the death of the old Queen it was thought that the -chance of the little Bavarian prince had disappeared; and Marie Anne -pushed more energetically than ever the claims of her nephew, the -Archduke Charles. Soon the King fell so seriously ill again that his -life was despaired of, and the attempts of the Queen to obtain a will in -the favour of the Archduke were redoubled. Like all semi-imbeciles, -however, Charles, when once an idea had been drilled into his head, -clung to it tenaciously; and though, for the sake of peace, he seemed to -agree with his wife, he did not forget his father’s will and his -mother’s injunction, that his own sister’s descendants had a better -right to succeed him than a distant relative like the Archduke. Count -Benavente, his lord of the bedchamber, although appointed by Marie Anne, -was secretly against the Austrian; and, with his knowledge and that of -Cardinal Portocarrero alone, Charles signed a secret will, appointing -his great-nephew the child prince of Bavaria heir to his crown. - -Once again he recovered sufficiently to rise from his bed; and Stanhope -wrote on the 19th September 1696; ‘The King’s danger is over for a time, -but his constitution is so very weak and broken, much beyond his age, -that it is feared what may be the success of another attack. They cut -his hair off in this sickness, which the decay of nature had almost done -before, all his crown being bald. He has a ravenous stomach, and -swallows all he eats whole; for his nether jaw stands out so much that -his two rows of teeth cannot meet; to compensate which he has a -prodigious wide throat, so that a gizzard or a liver of a hen passes -down whole, and his weak stomach not being able to digest it he voids it -in the same manner.’ - -No sooner was the immediate danger over than Marie Anne wormed out of -the King that he had made his will in favour of the Bavarian. Her rage -and indignation knew no bounds, and she upbraided the King with -hysterical violence, to which he retorted by childish outbursts, leading -to the smashing of crockery, furniture, and the like, and usually ending -in tears. Oropesa, who had just returned to Court reconciled to Marie -Anne, added his persuasions to those of the Queen and the threats of the -confessor, but for a time without success. In November 1696 Stanhope -reports that the King was still very ill, and obliged to keep his bed: -‘although they sometimes make him rise out of his bed, much against his -will and beyond his strength, the better to conceal his illness abroad. -He is not only extremely weak in body, but has a great weight of -melancholy and discontent upon his spirits, attributed in a great -measure to the Queen’s continual importunities to make him alter his -will.’ - -At length, in September 1697, the sick man could withstand the pressure -no longer; and during another grave attack,[337] at the instance of his -wife and Harrach, tore up the will appointing the Prince of Bavaria his -heir. Portocarrero had gone so far as to threaten to call the Cortes -together to confirm the will, and had exhorted the King to stand firm, -but he had been powerless as against the strong will of Marie Anne. For -a long time, however, Charles still held out against making another will -in favour of the Austrian; and only, at last, by threats and cajolery -was he induced to write a letter to the Emperor asking him to send the -Archduke to Spain with ten or twelve thousand men, on the pretext that -they were required for the defence of Catalonia. - -But the gigantic armaments needed by Louis XIV. to face all Europe -victoriously, as he had done, was exhausting the resources of France, -and peace was in the air. The need also for French agents to have a good -chance in Madrid to push the succession claim also made Louis pliant; -and when the Peace of Ryswick was signed in October 1697, the world was -surprised at the generous terms accorded by the victor to Spain. With -every chance of success, then, Louis having restored the territory he -had conquered, he could pose as the true friend of Spain, ready to -champion the rights of his descendants by Maria Theresa, the eldest -daughter of Philip, against the unpopular Germans, to succeed to the -Spanish throne. There was much lost ground for the French to make up; -for the German factions had been in sole possession ever since the death -of Marie Louise in 1690; but the death of Mariana had left some of her -friends in the market, and all classes of Spaniards were sick to death -of Germans; so, as soon as the peace was signed, the Marquis d’Harcourt -hurried to Madrid as French ambassador, primed with instructions, and -supplied with means to re-constitute the French party in Spain, and -defeat, if possible, the machinations of Queen Marie Anne. - -The first effect of the peace was to stop the project of bringing an -Austrian army to Spain under the Archduke, and also the plan of the -Elector of Bavaria to put in an appearance to counteract the Archduke’s -presence. The arrival of Harcourt at Madrid soon afterwards put a new -complexion on affairs there. Stanhope writes, on the 14th March 1698, -when the King had fallen again dangerously ill: ‘Our Court is in great -disorder: the grandees all dog and cat, Turk and Moor. The King is in a -languishing condition, not in so imminent a danger as last week, but so -weak and spent as to his principle of life, that all I can hear is -pretended, amounts only to hopes of preserving him some weeks, without -any probability of his recovery. The general inclination as to the -succession is altogether French; their (_i.e._ the Spaniards’) aversion -to the Queen having set them against all her countrymen: and if the -French King will content himself that one of his younger children be -King of Spain, without pretending to incorporate the two monarchies, he -will find no opposition, either from grandees or common people.... The -King is so very weak he can scarcely lift his hand to his head to feed -himself, and so extremely melancholy, that neither his buffoons, dwarfs, -nor puppet-shows, all of which have shown their abilities before him, -can in the least divert him from fancying everything that is said or -done is a temptation of the devil, and never thinking himself safe but -with his confessor and two friars by his side, whom he makes lie in his -chamber every night.’[338] - -In such circumstances as these it was evident to the Queen’s opponents -that a bold move must be made at once or she would win. Her most -powerful abettor with the King was the confessor, Father Matilla; the -ostensible ministers, the Admiral of Castile,[339] Montalto and Oropesa, -after many wrangles with her, agreeing to let her have a free hand with -her husband, if they were allowed to take a fair share of the national -plunder; the real government behind them being the Queen and her -camarilla. The only man near the King who was inclined to favour the -Bavarian heir was the lord chamberlain, Count Benavente, to whom one -night, late in March 1698, Charles mumbled that he was very unhappy and -uneasy in his conscience, and should like to see Cardinal Portocarrero. - -The Cardinal Archbishop, who had been a close friend of Mariana’s, and -was a man of ability, had been carefully excluded from the King’s -chamber by Marie Anne. It was eleven o’clock at night, but swift secret -messengers were soon at the Cardinal’s door; and before midnight, -unknown to the Queen, the primate stood by the King’s bed. Charles -opened all the troubles of his terror-stricken soul to the friend of his -dead mother: how the violence of his wife and the harshness of the -confessor, Matilla, frightened him into adopting a course which his -conscience told him was wrong, and he prayed the primate to help him -with advice in this dire strait. Portocarrero was nothing loath. -Hurrying from the palace, he hastily convened a meeting of his friends. -Count Monterey, the Marquis of Leganés, Don Sebastian de Cotes, Don -Francisco Ronquillo, the idol of the populace, and Don Juan Antonio -Urraca. - -What was to be done, and who should do it, before the Queen could banish -them all? Monterey, in his stumbling speech, pointed out the danger of -acting through the King at all, seeing that the Queen could twist him -round her finger and make him alter any resolution he adopted, as she -had done before. The best course, he said, would be for the Cardinal to -frequent the King’s chamber, ostensibly to give spiritual consolation, -and then very gradually to prepare the King’s mind for a change. Others -thought that this process was too slow, since the King might slip -through their hands after all, and Leganés advised that the Cardinal -should immediately urge the King to order the arrest and imprisonment of -the detested Admiral of Castile, the Duke of Rio Seco. ‘His only -escort,’ said Leganés, ‘were four knavish poets and a couple of -buffoons,’ whilst he, Leganés, had plenty of arms at home and two -hundred soldiers in his pay, and could seize the most objectionable -ministers at once. Then turbulent Ronquillo had his say. They must -strike higher than the Admiral. The Queen as well must be seized as soon -as her henchman was laid by the heels, and the Huelgas at Burgos should -be her future place of confinement. Let us be practical, said Monterey, -sneering at Ronquillo for a fool: if we offer violence to the Queen the -excitement will kill the King before we can get a will or decree -executed. We must act more cautiously than that. Then the two angry -nobles clapped their hands to their swords, and were for fighting it out -on the spot, until the Cardinal separated them, and wise old Cotes, with -his quiet voice, calmly gave his opinion. It would be easy for the -Cardinal to obtain such a decree as that required, but the Queen would -get it revoked the next morning more easily still, and then, what would -happen to all of us? Let us, he said, strike at the trunk by all means, -if possible, and get rid of the Queen: but how? Before that can be done -we should put Matilla, the confessor, out of the way. The King hated and -feared him already, and only yesterday refused to speak to him: let the -Cardinal and Benavente advise the King to change his confessor, and the -next step will be easy. This seemed good advice; but the jealous -hidalgos then fell to quarrelling as to who the new confessor should be, -with the result that the choice was ultimately left to the Cardinal. - -The next morning Cotes suggested to his colleagues a certain modest -professor of theology at Alcalá, one Father Froilan Diaz, for the post. -He was near enough to the capital to be brought thither without delay, -and would be humble enough to do as he was told: and so it was decided -to secure the great appointment to Father Diaz. There was no lack of -messengers to carry to him from the conspirators the news of his coming -elevation, for each of them, especially Ronquillo, wished to gain the -credit of proposing it; and the next day the astounded professor found -himself already by anticipation a person to be courted by the greatest -grandees in the land. - -One day, early in the morning, in the first week in April, the sick King -lay in bed listening dreamily to some music being played in the -ante-chamber, the door between the rooms being open. Father Matilla and -a crony of his, one Dr. Parra, were quietly chatting in one of the deep -window recesses of the ante-chamber; when suddenly Count Benavente -entered unannounced, accompanied by a stout, fresh-coloured -ecclesiastic; and, without saluting Matilla, they walked straight -through into the King’s bedroom, which Benavente alone was entitled to -do, as lord chamberlain. Matilla was keen-witted, and saw at a glance -what it meant. Turning to his friend, he said, ‘Goodbye: this business -is ending just as it ought to have begun;’ and with that he hurried out -of the palace and to the monastery of his order in Madrid. - -Spies had already carried to Marie Anne and the Admiral reports of -mysterious confabulations of their enemies, but they knew not where the -blow was to fall. At eleven o’clock the King usually dined; and when -Marie Anne, according to custom, entered the room that morning, to sit -by his side whilst he ate, she learnt for the first time from the -disjointed babble of the sick man, that he was free from Matilla, and -had a new confessor.[340] Marie Anne was aghast at the news, though she -made no sign of disapproval to her husband; but the moment she could -leave the King’s side, she summoned the Admiral and her other advisers, -and considered the ill tidings. None knew who would be the next victim, -and most of them thought that Matilla had betrayed them. Panic and -bewilderment reigned amongst the chosen Camarilla. Some were for -striving to reinstate Matilla, some for punishing him, others were for -saving themselves by resignation and flight, but one great churchman, -the head of the Franciscan order, Folch de Cardona, kept his head, and -advised calmness. Matilla was exonerated and consulted; but when he -learned that the Queen and the Admiral had known of Portocarrero’s -meeting before the blow fell, he broke down. ‘Oh,’ he cried, ‘if I had -only known one short half hour before, I could have saved us all:’ and -then, though nominally pensioned and banished to Salamanca, he fell ill -of grief, fever, or poison, and died within a week of his dismissal. - -Diaz did not seem very terrible at first; for his methods with the King -were soothing, and he moved slowly. He took Matilla’s place on the -Council of the Inquisition, and at once became a power in the land; but -he was all politeness and gentle saintliness to Marie Anne, and even -she, suspicious as she was, began to think that she might dominate still -if she could confine Father Diaz to his spiritual functions. In the -course of a few weeks after the change, the Court was moved to Toledo, -but there the mob, who loved the Ronquillo brothers, and hated the -Queen, knowing that she had suffered a defeat, made her feel that her -power was on the wane. ‘The Queen,’ writes Stanhope, ‘is very uneasy at -the impudent railleries of the Toledo women, who affront her every day -publicly in the streets, and insult the Admiral to his face. There is -besides a great want of money; for the King’s new confessor having -persuaded him before he left Madrid to publish a decree forbidding the -sale of all governments and offices, either in present or reversion, as -a duty of conscience ... the superintendent of the revenues declares -that he is not able to find money for his Majesty’s subsistence, all -branches of the revenue being anticipated for many years, and he is now -debarred from selling offices, which was the only resource he had left.’ - -In the meanwhile, the French ambassador, Harcourt, was busy buying -friends at Court, though most of old Mariana’s late adherents still -preferred, as the King undoubtedly did, the Bavarian Prince. The people -at large were strongly in favour of a French prince, descended from -Maria Theresa, ‘though they would rather have the devil,’ as Stanhope -says, ‘than see France and Spain united.... It is scarce conceivable the -abhorrence they have for Vienna; most of which is owing to the Queen’s -very imprudent conduct; insomuch that, in effect, that party is included -in her own person and family. They have much kinder thoughts of the -Bavarian, but still rather desire a French Prince to secure them against -war.’ - -The intrigues of the French ambassador were met by increased activity on -the part of the Queen, who left Charles no rest in pushing the claims of -her nephew the Archduke. The poor King was sick of the whole business, -and only wished to be left alone, and for his Bavarian nephew to succeed -him. The King will not bear to hear talk of business of any kind, and -when sometimes the Queen cannot contain herself, he bids her let him -alone, and says she designs to kill him.’[341] A few weeks later (25th -June) the English ambassador sent this vivid picture of the invalid: -‘Our gazettes here tell us every week that his Catholic Majesty is in -perfect health.... It is true that he is every day abroad, but _hæret -lateri lethalis arundo_; his ankles and knees swell again, his eyes bag, -the lids are as red as scarlet, and the rest of his face a greenish -yellow. His tongue is “tied,” as it is called, that is, he has such a -fumbling in his speech, that those near him hardly understand him; at -which he sometimes grows angry, and asks if they all be deaf.’ - -But, with all his feebleness, Charles still resisted the pressure upon -him either to make a will or to summon the Archduke. Marie Anne was -persistent; and at the end of June her importunity produced a dangerous -fit that nearly ended the King’s life there and then, after which -Stanhope writes: ‘There is not the least hope of this King’s recovery; -and we are every night in apprehensions of hearing he is dead in the -morning, though the Queen lugs him out every day, to make the people -believe he is well till her designs are rife, which I rather fear will -prove abortive; for, by the best information I can get of the three -pretenders, her candidate is like to have the fewest votes. Upon old -Count Harrach’s pressing the King to have the Archduke Charles sent for -to Spain ... he gave no answer, but turning to the Queen, who was -present, said laughing, “Oyga mujer, el Conde aprieta mucho” (Hark, -wife, how very pressing the Count is) repeating “very pressing” several -times. The French Ambassador “presses” just as much, and the Nuncio, in -the Pope’s name, also for the French.’ - -These signs were not lost on Marie Anne, and she began to turn to the -strongest side. Harcourt and his wife were charming and liberal, and had -quite captivated the Madrid crowd, who cheered them wherever they went, -whilst Harrach and his wife were unattractive and unpopular; but what -was more important than anything else, now that Spanish resources were -failing, French money was forthcoming to buy Baroness Berlips and the -Queen’s German hangers-on. The Marquise of Harcourt paid assiduous court -to Marie Anne, who, seeing the impossibility of her own candidate, -listened, beguiled, to the clever suggestion of the French that if she -would abandon the Emperor’s son, she might continue Queen of Spain by a -marriage with the French prince who might succeed Charles. - -For a time, in the late autumn of 1698, the French cause suffered a -setback. Louis apparently considering that his chance of placing a -French prince upon the throne of all the Spanish dominions in face of -Europe would be impracticable, revived a scheme that he had agreed upon -with the Emperor years before, when Charles was a child; namely, to -partition Spain, by agreement with the maritime powers, between the -three claimants: a French prince to take Naples, Sicily, and the Basque -province, the Prince of Bavaria to reign in Spain itself, and Austria to -be contented with Milan. This, when it was divulged, aroused the -intensest indignation, not only in Spain, but in Austria and Bavaria. -Harcourt and his wife lost their favour at once, and Marie Anne again -leaned towards her German kinsmen. What was more important still, the -King at last, under pressure which will be presently explained, made a -testament declaring the Prince of Bavaria his heir. Marie Anne, the King -himself, and the Council, all denied it; but it was soon known to be -true, and the French ambassador immediately presented a demand that -Cortes should be summoned to settle the succession by vote. - -Suddenly, whilst this demand was being laboriously discussed, the news -came that the little Bavarian prince, the only descendant of old Mariana -except the King, had died, aged six—of poison it was said, in February -1699; and the problem of the succession was changed in a moment. Bribed -and cajoled by hopes of remaining Queen of Spain by a second marriage, -Marie Anne again seemed inclined to side with those who had been her -enemies. Most of the partisans of the Bavarian claimant, including the -King himself, and especially Portocarrero, went over to the French view; -and the principal reason why Marie Anne held herself in doubt was -because she saw those whom she hated all ranged on the side of France. - -Whilst this sordid bickering was going on in the palace the distress in -the country increased daily, until famine invaded even the capital. The -new confessor and Cardinal Portocarrero had, as yet, made no great -change in the government; and Marie Anne’s friends were still in office, -headed by Oropesa and the Admiral. Ronquillo and his fellow-conspirators -were growing impatient for their reward, and incited secretly by their -agents, the populace of Madrid broke into revolt in April 1699. A -howling mob surrounded the palace, crying for bread. ‘Long live the -King, and death to Oropesa,’ was the cry. Inside the palace panic -reigned supreme, and poor Charles was like to die with fright, when the -rabble demanded fiercely that he should show himself upon the balcony. -Marie Anne appeared at the open window undaunted, and told the crowd -that the King was asleep. ‘He has slept too long,’ was the reply, ‘wake -him’; and at last the King had to appear, looking, as Stanhope says, -like a ghost, and moving as if by clock work. Ronquillo! Ronquillo! -shouted the mob. We will have Ronquillo for mayor: and in a hurry -Ronquillo was sent for and sworn in as mayor, which somewhat appeased -the insurgents, who bore him off in triumph. Oropesa’s palace was -ablaze, and a rush upon it by the mob had resulted in many of the latter -being killed, and cast into a well within the precincts by Oropesa’s -servants. Further enraged at this, the populace surged _en masse_ to the -King’s palace, clamouring for the heads of Oropesa and the Admiral; and -they were with difficulty restrained from invading the royal apartments -by the clergy, with raised crucifixes and holy symbols. Again they -demanded the presence of the King, who told them that Ronquillo had -orders to do everything to satisfy them, and promised, on his oath as a -King, that the insurgents should be held harmless for the tumult. - -A clean sweep was made of Marie Anne’s friends. The Admiral fled to -hiding; and Portocarrero declared that within a week or two he would -have Berlips, the Capuchin confessor of the Queen, and the whole gang -cleared out of Spain. The day after the tumult Stanhope wrote: ‘The King -is very weak, and declines fast. The tumult yesterday, I fear, may have -some ill-effect further on his health. It was such as the like never -before happened in Madrid in the memory of the oldest men here, and -proves, contrary to what they brag of, that there is a mob here as well -as in other places.’ The whole aspect of the palace changed as if by -magic, and Cardinal Portocarrero was supreme. Marie Anne, cowed by the -violence and vituperation of the mob, was glad to lie low, and did not -attempt to influence the King, whose health declined every day. - -Since the death of the Bavarian claimant in February the matter of the -succession had remained in abeyance; and it was evident now that unless -the King was indeed very soon to declare his heir by testament he would -die with the question still open. But poor Charles shrunk from the -execution of an act, which he had always said he would only do in -_articulo mortis_, and the persuasions of those about him were always -met by a fresh plea for delay. In this deadlock of affairs a course was -adopted by the dominant party which will always furnish one of the most -repulsive episodes of history. During his first grave attack at the end -of 1697, Charles, who was as superstitious as he was ignorant, sent for -Rocaberti, the Inquisitor-General, a stern Dominican, and confessed that -he believed his illness to be the result of a maleficent charm cast upon -him. The Inquisitor replied that he would have the case examined; but he -saw no probability of result unless the King would point out some person -whom he suspected, or gave some evidence to proceed upon. - -There the matter remained until Froilan Diaz was substituted, as has -been related, for Matilla as the King’s confessor. Probably as part of a -concerted plan to obtain complete control over him, Diaz appeared to -agree with Charles in his expressed belief that he was bewitched; and, -having heard that an old friend of his in a convent in Galicia, had by -many efficacious exorcisms become quite familiar with the evil spirits -that he cast out, he consulted the Inquisitor-General Rocaberti, as to -whether it would be well to summon the priestly exorciser to the King. -The Inquisitor did not like the business, but consented to a letter -being written to the Bishop of Oviedo, the exorciser’s spiritual -superior, asking him to submit to the latter the question as to the -truth of the statement that the King was suffering from diabolical arts. -The bishop, determined not to be made the channel of such nonsense, -replied that the only witchcraft the King was suffering from was -weakness of constitution and a too ready acquiescence in his wife’s -will; and he refused to have anything to do with it. Diaz then sent -direct to Argüelles the exorciser in July 1698, instructing him to lay -upon his breast a paper with the names of the King and Queen written -upon it, and summon the devil to ask if the persons whose names were -written were bewitched. - -Thenceforward for eight or nine months the ghastly mockery went on.[342] -The devil announced that the King was bewitched: ‘et hoc ad destruendam -materiam generationis in Rege, et eum incapacem ponendum ad regnum -administrandum’; the charm having been administered by moonlight when -the King was fourteen years old. Repulsive remedies were prescribed -which, if administered, would certainly have killed the patient, others -were recommended just as hideous but less harmful; and the poor creature -was submitted to them. At length, after the will in favour of the -Bavarian had been wrung from the King by many months of this ghastly -nonsense, it was seen that the exorciser was aiming at gaining influence -for himself. He said that the charms had been administered by the King’s -mother, and repeated much dangerous political advice that the devil had -given, such as to recommend the complete isolation of the King from his -wife, and other things less palatable to Portocarrero and the French -party; and the exorciser, being able to get no further, was dropped in -June 1699. - -This was the time when the King was suffering from the shock of the -recent tumults, and Stanhope writes: ‘His Catholic Majesty grows every -day sensibly worse and worse. It is true that last Thursday they made -him walk in the public solemn procession of Corpus, which was much -shortened for his sake. However, he performed it so feebly that all who -saw him said he could not make one straight step, but staggered all the -way; nor could it be otherwise expected after he had had two falls a day -or two before, walking in his own lodgings, when his legs doubled under -him by mere weakness. In one of them he hurt his eye, which appeared -much swelled, and black and blue; the other being quite sunk into his -head, the nerves being contracted by his paralytic distemper. Yet it was -thought fit to have him make this sad figure in public, only to have it -put into the Gazette how strong and vigorous he is.’ - -At this juncture Marie Anne’s suspicions were first aroused of the -witchcraft business by a hint dropped by the King, and she at once set -spies upon those who had access to him, and especially upon Diaz the -confessor. A very few days convinced her that the ghastly incantations -that were being carried on were directed against her, politically and -personally. ‘Roaring with very rage,’ she summoned her friends and -demanded instant revenge and punishment of the King’s confessor.[343] -She was reminded by Folch de Cardona, that as the Inquisitor-General was -concerned in the matter, it would be prudent to go cautiously until it -was seen how far the Holy Office itself was a party: and, in any case, -he said it would be wisest to allow the Inquisition to avenge her rather -than for her to do it and thereby make herself more unpopular than she -was. It was soon found that the Sacred Tribunal was not concerned; but -as Rocaberti, the dreaded chief Inquisitor, had been active in the -matter, no one dared to move against Diaz or him, for Inquisitors were -dangerous people to touch. Almost immediately afterwards Rocaberti died -suddenly, almost certainly poisoned; and then Marie Anne laid her plans -to crush Father Diaz the confessor. - -Stanhope writes (15th July): ‘The doctors, not knowing what more to do -with the King, to save their credit have bethought themselves to say his -ill must certainly be witchcraft, and there is a great Court party who -greedily catch at and improve the report, which, how ridiculous soever -it may sound in England, is generally believed here, and propagated by -others to serve a turn. They, finding all their attempts in vain to -banish Madame Berlips, think this cannot fail, and are using to find out -any colourable pretences to make her the witch.’ It was higher game even -than Berlips that they were aiming at. Berlips stood behind the Queen, -and one could not be injured without the other. - -In September a mad woman, in a state of frenzy, burst into the King’s -presence, foaming at the mouth, and cursed him with demoniac shrieks -until she was removed by force, leaving Charles in an agony of terror -which nearly killed him. The mad woman was followed, and it was found -that she lived with two other demoniacs who were under the impression -that they were keeping the King subject in their room. This nonsense was -conveyed to the King by Diaz, and confirmed the invalid in his -conviction that he was under the influence of sorcery. In this belief he -ordered that the three women should be exorcised by a famous German -monk, who had been brought to Spain as an able exorciser for the King’s -benefit. Diaz, who superintended the incantations, unfortunately for -himself, dictated questions to the demoniacs which were evidently -designed to involve the Queen. Who was it that caused the King’s malady? -A beautiful woman, was the answer. Was it the Queen? and to this no -distinct reply was given. But the question was enough; and when Marie -Anne received a full report of the proceedings, as she did from her -spies, she was, of course, furious that an open attempt should be made -to cast upon her the blame of the witchcraft. - -The first step towards her revenge was to get a new Inquisitor-General -in her interest, and she pressed the King to appoint Folch de Cardona, -General of the Franciscans. He refused, prompted no doubt by his -confessor, and, in spite of Marie Anne’s passionate outbursts of -protest, he appointed Cardinal Cordova; to whom the King and the -confessor unburdened themselves completely, and told the whole story of -the exorcism. From these conferences an extraordinary resolution -resulted. The Queen herself was too high to strike at first; but her -great friend and late all-powerful minister, the Admiral of Castile, was -detested and despised by every one, and might be attacked with impunity -to begin with. So it was decided that he, being allied with the devil to -cause all the mischief, should be seized by the Inquisition of Granada -and closely imprisoned, whilst his household should be incarcerated -elsewhere, and his papers seized by the holy office. This could not be -done, however, until the new Inquisitor-General’s appointment was -ratified by the Pope. Once more Marie Anne and her friends trumped their -opponents’ strong suit, for Cardinal Cordova died of poison on the very -day that the bull arrived. - -Again Marie Anne pressed her husband to appoint one of her tools -Inquisitor-General; but Father Diaz was now fighting for his life, and -prevented the appointment. Marie Anne then sought out a man who would be -acceptable to her opponents, but whom she might buy, and Mendoza, Bishop -of Segovia, became Inquisitor-General, bribed by the Queen with the -promise of a cardinal’s hat to do her bidding in future. Marie Anne had -the whip hand and promptly used it. Stanhope wrote on the 22nd August: -‘As to Court factions, her Majesty is now as high as ever, and the -Cardinal of Toledo, who carried everything before him two months ago, -now dares hardly to open his mouth. But he is sullen, comes seldom to -Court, and talks of retiring to Toledo.’ First the German exorciser was -captured, and under torture confessed the details of the exorcism of the -three demoniacs when Diaz was present; then the compromising -correspondence with the exorciser in Galicia was seized, with all the -hints and suggestions made in it to incriminate the Queen. This was -sufficient evidence against Diaz, and he was arrested. Everything he had -done, he said, was by the King’s orders; and as royal confessor he -claimed immunity, his mouth being closed. He was at once dismissed from -all his offices, and the King was appealed to by the Inquisitor-General -to allow the confessor’s privileges to be dispensed with. Charles could -only mumble that they might do justice; but Diaz had a powerful party -behind him who took care to spread abroad the story of the Queen’s -vengeance, and Diaz, aided by many of his late colleagues on the Council -of the Inquisition, fled to the coast, and so to Rome. There he was -seized and brought back to Spain; and thenceforward, for many years, -there raged around him a great and unparalleled contest between the -Council of the Inquisition, which favoured Diaz, and the -Inquisitor-General in the interests of the Queen’s vengeance.[344] - -Marie Anne had won, so far as the King’s confessor was concerned, but -her unpopularity was so great that she gained no ground politically; nor -did her German candidate for the succession improve in his chance of -success, for Cardinal Portocarrero and his friends filled all the -administrative offices, and Marie Anne was powerless. Stanhope wrote in -September 1699: ‘One night last week a troop of about three hundred, -with swords, bucklers and firearms, went into the outward court of the -palace and, under the King’s window, sung most impudent lampoons and -pasquins; and the Queen does not appear in the streets without hearing -herself cursed to her face.... The pasquins plainly tell her they will -pull her out of the palace and put her in a convent, adding that their -party is no less than 14,000 strong. This new turn has damped the -discourse, which was very hot lately, of the Admiral’s return to Court, -and the Cardinal of Toledo is now like to be the great man again.’[345] - -Every day some fresh sign was given that Marie Anne’s foes were -paramount. ‘Our great German lady, the Countess of Berlips, is going, -nor does she go alone; but all the rest of the German tribe are to -accompany her, namely, a fine young lady, her niece, a German woman, a -dwarf, an eunuch, the Queen’s German doctor, the Capuchin, her -confessor, and Father Carapacci ... who, though no German, yet is one of -the Queen’s chief agents, and as great an eyesore to the people as any -of them. This seems a great reform, but I believe will prove no -amendment, for I expect to see others as greedy, if not more so, to take -their places.’[346] - -The French party was now absolutely paramount; for the money and -diplomatic skill of Louis XIV. had been lavishly employed in gaining -friends from those who had been in favour of the Bavarian prince; and -Marie Anne herself, though she had now the Inquisitor-General on her -side, could hardly get a word alone with her dying husband. Charles -lingered on in morbid melancholy for many months longer. Like his -father, in similar case, he found the royal charnelhouse at the Escorial -a resort that suited his humour. On one occasion it is related that, -with Marie Anne at his side, he caused the coffins of his relatives to -be opened and the bodies exposed to view. He was deeply affected by the -sight of the corpse that had once been the beautiful Marie Louise, the -wife of his youth, whose dead face he caressed, with tears and promises -to join her soon, whilst Marie Anne, as a reply to the King’s affection -for his dead French wife, kissed the crumbling hand of old German -Mariana, whose enemy she had been on earth. - -Whilst the Spanish Court and so-called government were thus employed in -degrading superstitions and petty squabbles, the fate of the nation, -reduced now to utter impotence, was being discussed and settled by -foreign powers. Louis XIV., still desirous, if possible of securing for -France without war the portion of Spain’s inheritance which mainly -interested him, made early in 1700, another treaty with England and -Holland for the partition of Spain between the claimants and others -interested, threatening that if the Emperor refused to accept the terms -offered the invasion of Spain by France would follow, and the whole -inheritance claimed for the Dauphin at the sword’s point. The Emperor -indignantly rejected the advance, and also claimed to be sole heir: the -Spaniards, and even their moribund King, blazing out in anger with some -of their old pride at this unceremonious dismemberment of their ancient -realm. Stanhope’s expulsion from Spain followed quickly upon this new -attempt at partition, and for a short time the French cause looked -black. Then the Austrians, to make their assurance doubly sure, -endeavoured to secure Marie Anne firmly to their side by the same means -as those that Harcourt had employed to win her for the French faction. -They promised that if she aided them the Archduke, her nephew, when he -became King of Spain should marry her. The Queen was delighted; and in -order to deal one more blow at the French claim, went to her husband and -divulged to him, not the Austrian but the former French offer of -marriage. Charles was tired of life and utterly muddled with the -atmosphere of intrigue in which he lived; but even he protested in -impotent passion against his wife being wooed before he was dead, and -this increased his dislike of the French claimant, though Louis XIV. -recalled Harcourt and disclaimed the offer he had made. - -But Cardinal Portocarrero was always by the King’s side, and exercised -more influence over him than any one else. He, in his sacred character, -warned Charles that it was his duty to his conscience to lay aside -personal partialities, and to summon a conference of the most famous -theologians and jurisconsults to discuss and decide the question of the -succession. Portocarrero took care that such conferences should result -in a vote in favour of Louis XIV.‘s young grandson, Philip Duke of -Anjou, measures being taken to prevent any future joining of the two -realms under one crown. Charles was hard to convince, for he clung to -the Empire both by tradition and at the pleading of his wife; and -Portocarrero then told him that it was his duty to submit his doubts to -the Pope. Charles was devout, and did so. Innocent XI. had all along -been an enemy of Austria and a friend of France; and, as Portocarrero of -course anticipated, decided in favour of the Duke of Anjou as the -legitimate heir.[347] - -But still Charles hesitated. Marie Anne was indefatigable in persuading -him to favour the Austrian, and always managed to prevent the fateful -will being made in Anjou’s favour; distracting her dying husband, even -at this pass, with the vain shows, bull fights, tourneys, and the like, -which had been for so long the traditional pleasures of his Court. She -even endeavoured to make terms with her enemies again, in order to be -safe in any eventuality; but Louis XIV. began to speak more haughtily -now; threatening war if a single German soldier set foot in Spain or -resistance was offered to the partition. There was nothing that Charles -and his people dreaded more than the dismemberment of the country, and -this frightened the King into looking upon the acceptance of the French -claim as the only means of keeping Spain intact. Thus, from day to day, -the irresolute monarch turned to one side or another, as his wife or -Portocarrero, his fears or his affections, gained the upper hand. - -On the 20th September he took to his bed to rise no more, and a few days -afterwards received the last sacrament, asking for pardon of all whom he -had unconsciously offended. The sick chamber assumed the appearance of a -mingled charnel house and toyshop, as the pale figure of the King upon -his great bed grew more ghastly and hopeless. All the sacred relics in -the capital were crowded into the room; carved saints, blessed rosaries -and mouldering human remains, until, to make space for fresh comers, the -less renowned objects had to be removed. The Primate of Spain, -Portocarrero, made the most of the priestly privilege; and, in the -interests of the dying King’s religious consolation, he kept from his -side Marie Anne and her allies, the Inquisitor-General and the King’s -regular confessor. Alone with the King, the Cardinal admonished him that -in order to avoid dying in a state of sin, it was necessary for him to -avert war from the country by making a will, leaving his crown to the -Duke of Anjou, putting aside all personal leanings and family ties. - -Charles could resist no longer. He was in terror; the spectre of sin and -devilish temptations always before him, and summoning the Secretary of -State, Ubilla, he himself directed him to draft a will in favour of his -young French great-nephew, the Duke of Anjou. On the 3rd October 1700, -the document was placed before him. Around his bed stood Cardinals -Portocarrero and Borgia, and the highest officers of the household; but -Marie Anne of Neuburg was not there to see the final shattering of her -hopes. With trembling hand Charles the Bewitched took the pen. ‘God -alone gives kingdoms,’ he sighed, ‘for to Him all kingdoms belong.’ Then -signing in his great uncultured writing; ‘I, the King,’ he dropped the -pen, saying, ‘I am nothing now:’ and thus the die was cast, the house of -Austria gave place to the house of Bourbon. Marie Anne did not even yet -accept defeat meekly. In an interval of partial improvement in the -King’s health, she returned to the attack, and with tears and -protestations, induced the King to think well again of his Austrian -kinsmen. A courier was sent hurrying to Vienna to tell the Emperor, -that, after all, the last will would make his son the heir of Spain, and -a codicil was signed conferring upon Marie Anne the governorship of any -city in Spain or Spanish State in Italy or Flanders in which she might -choose to reside after her husband’s death. - -Soon afterwards (26th October) a decree was signed by Charles, who -seemed then to be dying, appointing a provisional government, headed by -Marie Anne, with Portocarrero and other great officers, to rule, pending -the arrival of the new King; whilst Portocarrero was nominated to act as -Regent if the King, though still alive, might be unable to exercise his -functions. With all the terror-stricken devotion that had been -traditional in his house, the last few days on earth of Charles the -Bewitched were passed, and on the 1st November 1700, the last descendant -in the male line of the great Emperor Charles V., died of senile old age -before he was forty, the victim of four generations of incest; leaving -as his legacy to the world a great war which changed the face of Europe, -and decided the future course of civilisation. - -The terms of the will had been kept a close secret; and as soon as the -King’s death was known, the Palace of Madrid was packed with an eager -crowd of nobles and magnates to learn the name of their future king. The -will was read solemnly in the presence of Marie Anne and the principal -great officers; and soon the news was spread that Spain was free from -the house of Austria, which had been the cause of its greatness and its -ruin. Marie Anne, at the head of the Council of Regency, had but a short -term of power, and, as may be supposed, considering her imperious -nature, a far from harmonious one. Louis XIV., however, lost no time; -and the bright handsome lad, full of hope and spirit, thenceforward -Philip V. of Spain, hurried south to take possession of his inheritance -almost before the Emperor had time to protest. - -On the 18th February 1701, Philip arrived in Madrid; and his first act -was to confirm Portocarrero as his leading minister. Marie Anne had -quarrelled with her colleagues before this, and they had complained of -her to the young King before his arrival. She had been defeated indeed; -for she saw now that the marriage bait that had been held out to her was -illusory; and when the order came to her from the new King to leave -Madrid before he entered it, she went, full of plans for revenge still, -to her place of banishment at Toledo; yet with kindly professions upon -her lips, for the large pension of 400,000 ducats settled upon her by -Charles, was too valuable to be jeopardised by open opposition to the -ruling powers. She was all smiles when young Philip visited her at -Toledo soon after his arrival; and she hung around his neck a splendidly -jewelled badge of the Golden Fleece as a token of her recognition of his -sovereignty. But when the war broke out, and the Archduke, her nephew, -with his allies came to fight for the prize he claimed, Marie Anne could -hardly be expected to stand quite aloof. In 1706, the victorious -Austrian and his allies were carried by the fortune of war into Toledo; -and Marie Anne welcomed her nephew with effusive joy as King of Spain; -but when the turn of the tide carried Philip V. into power again, a few -months later, two hundred horsemen, under the Duke of Osuna, clattered -into the courtyard of Marie Anne’s convent retreat at Toledo, and -arrested the Queen, carrying her thence as rapidly as horses could -travel over the frontier to France. - -At Bayonne, Marie Anne lived in retirement for nine years, when a -strange revolution of fortune’s wheel brought her back to Spain again -triumphant. In the stately Morisco Palace at Guadalajara, Marie Anne -passed in affluent dignity the last twenty-six years of life in -widowhood, and died in 1740. She lived to see Spain rise from its ashes, -a new nation, purged by the fires of war; purified by heroism and -sacrifice. The long duel between the Empire and France for the -possession of the resources of Spain had ended before the death of Marie -Anne in the successful reassertion of Spain to the possession of her own -resources. Rulers, men and women, had blindly and ignorantly done their -worst; pride, bigotry, and sloth had dominated for centuries the spirit -of the nation, as a result of the action which alone had caused Spain to -bulk so big in the eyes of the world, and then to sink so low. But at -last the evil nightmare of the house of Austria was shaken off, and when -the aged widow of Charles II. passed to her rest at Guadalajara, -Spaniards were awakening to the stirring message, that Spain might be -happier and more truly great in national concentration than when the -men-at-arms of the Austrian Philips squandered blood and treasure beyond -count, to uphold in foreign lands an impossible pretension, born of -ambitions as dead as those who first conceived them. - - - - - EPILOGUE - - -Fire and sword swept Spain clean. The long drawn war of succession broke -down much of the old exclusiveness and conceit which had been for two -centuries the bane of the Spanish people, and a new patriotic spirit was -aroused which proved that the nation was not effete but only drugged. -The accession of Philip V. had been looked upon by his grandfather as -practically annexing Spain to France. ‘_Il n’y a plus de Pyrénées_,’ he -announced; and his first act proved his determination of treating his -grandson’s realm as a vassal state of his own. Again it was to a large -extent the influence of women which directed the course of Spanish -politics, even to the confusion of the _roi soleil_. It has been shown -in this history how often feminine influence had been invoked by -statesmen to bring Spain to a sympathetic line of policy for their own -ends, and how often circumstances had rendered their efforts -ineffectual. - -The confident anticipations of Louis XIV. that, by rightly choosing his -feminine instruments he might use Spain entirely for the aggrandisement -of France, were even more conspicuously defeated than any previous -attempts had been in a similar direction; for the ladies upon whom he -depended were one after the other caught up by the chivalrous patriotism -of the Spanish people, newly aroused from the bad dream of a hundred -years, and boldly braving Louis, they did their best for Spain and for -their own ends, whether France benefited or not. - -The bride that Louis chose for his grandson was one from whom no -resistance could be expected. She was a mere child, under fifteen, Maria -Louisa Gabriela of Savoy, daughter of Victor Amadeus and Anne Marie of -Orleans, sister of that Marie Louise, Queen of Spain, whose life has -been told in detail in these pages. In September 1701 young Philip went -to meet his bride at Barcelona; and even thus early it was seen that he -had to face a coalition of all Europe against him. Revolt had been -stirred up in Naples; and Philip had hardly time to snatch a brief -honeymoon before he was obliged to hurry away to Italy to fight for his -crown; leaving the girl whom he had married to rule Spain in his absence -and to marshal the elements of defence in a country utterly prostrate -and disorganised. Maria Louisa was, of course, entirely inexperienced, -but she came of a stout race and never flinched from the -responsibilities cast upon her. The young married couple were already -deeply in love with each other; and Philip, though only seventeen, had -thus early begun to show the strange uxoriousness that in later life -became an obsession which made him a mere appanage of the woman by his -side; so that Maria Louisa began her strenuous life assured that she -would meet with no captious opposition from her husband. - -Louis XIV. and Mme. de Maintenon had placed by her side a far stronger -personality than Philip; one of the greatest women of her century, whose -mission it was to keep the young King and Queen of Spain in the narrow -path of French interests. Anne Marie de la Tremouille, Duchess of -Bracciano, whom the Spaniards called the Princess of Ursinos, took -charge of the young Queen at once when the Piedmontese household was -dismissed at the frontier; and through the most troublous period of the -great struggle which finally gave the throne to Philip, she ruled the -rulers gently, wisely and firmly for their own interests and those of -Spain. No cantankerous straitlaced Mistress of the Robes was she, such -as the Duchess of Terranova who had embittered the life of the other -Marie Louise, but a great lady full of wit and knowledge, and as brave -as a lioness in defence of the best interests of those in her charge. - -The young Queen herself, when she had been installed in the capital as -Regent, showed how changed were the circumstances of a Queen of Spain, -now that the dull gloom of the house of Austria had been swept away, and -a new Spain was gazing towards the dawn. Nothing could exceed the -diligence and ability of this girl of fifteen in administering the -government of Madrid in the absence of the new King. Instead of the dull -round of devotion and frivolity which had filled the lives of other -Queen Consorts, she, with the wise old Princess at her side, worked -incessantly. She would sign nothing she did not understand: she insisted -upon all complaints being investigated, and reports made direct to her. -Supplies of men and money for the war in which Philip was already -plunged in Italy, were collected and remitted with an activity and -regularity which filled old-fashioned Spaniards with surprise, and -encouraged those who possessed means to contribute from their hoards -resources previously unsuspected. The manners of the Court were -reformed; immorality and vice, so long rampant in Madrid, was frowned at -and discouraged; and, instead of allowing the news of the wars in which -the King was engaged to filter slowly and incorrectly from the palace to -the gossips of the street, the Queen herself read aloud from a balcony -to the people below the despatches she daily received from her husband. - -All this was enough to make the old Queen Consorts of Spain turn with -horror in their porphyry urns at the Escorial; but it came like a breeze -of pure mountain air into the miasmatic apathy which had hitherto -cloaked the capital; and all Spain plucked up heart and spirit from the -energy of this girl of fifteen, with the wise old Frenchwoman behind -her. But even they could only administer things as they found them, and -the root of the governmental system itself was vicious. Time, and above -all knowledge, was required to re-organise the country; and Spaniards -grew restive at the foreign auspices under which the reforms were -introduced. Maria Louisa and her husband well knew that without French -support liberally given, they could never hold their own: for when the -King returned to Madrid early in 1703, the Spaniards, who had belonged -to the Austrian party in the last reign, had thrown off the mask and -fled to join the enemy: and it was clear that no Spaniards would fight -to make Spain a dependency of France. - -Nothing less than this would satisfy Louis XIV.; and the Princess of -Ursinos, who had tried to make the struggle a patriotic one for -Spaniards, was warned from Paris that, unless she immediately retired -from the country, King Louis would abandon Spain and his grandson to -their fate. The Princess went into exile with a heavy heart, and the new -French ambassador, Grammont, came when she had departed in 1704, -instructed to make a clean sweep of all the national party in Madrid, -and to obtain control for the French ministers. But Louis _XIV._ had -underrated the power and ability of Maria Louisa, who resented the -contemptuous dismissal of her wise mentor, and took no pains to conceal -her opposition to the change. Louis sent scolding letters to her, -berating her for her presumption in wishing, ‘at the age of eighteen to -govern a vast disorganised monarchy,’ against the advice of those so -much more experienced than herself. But at last he had to recognise that -this girl, with the best part of Spain behind her, held the stronger -position; and he took the wise course of conciliating her by -re-enlisting and restoring to Spain the offended Princess of Ursinos. In -vain his representatives in Madrid assured him that neither the Princess -nor the Queen could be trusted to serve French interests blindly. The -two women were too clever and too firm to be ignored, and the Princess -returned to Madrid in triumph in August 1705, with _carte blanche_ from -Louis to do as she judged best to save Spain for the house of Bourbon, -at all events. - -Thenceforward the Mistress of the Robes governed the Queen, the Queen -governed the King, and the King was supposed to govern the country; -plunged in war at home and abroad, with the Spanish nobles either on the -side of the Austrian or sullen at the foreign influence which pervaded -the government measures, even when moderated and held in check by the -Princess of Ursinos. At length, when the long war was wearing itself -out, and peace was in the air, the stout-hearted little Savoyarde fell -sick. She had borne many children to her husband, but only two sons, so -far, had lived, Louis, born in 1707, and Ferdinand, born late in 1713. -The birth of the latter heralded his mothers death. She had not spared -herself in all the strenuous thirteen years of war and tumult, during -which she had to a great extent governed Spain; for Philip, when not -absent in the field, was an obedient husband; and now, at the dawn of a -period of peace at the beginning of 1714, Maria Louisa died at the age -of twenty-six. - -Philip was still a young man; but the dependence upon his wife, and his -long fits of apathy that afterwards led to lunacy, had made him unfit to -fulfil the duties of his position without a clever helpmeet by his side. -The first result of the death of Maria Louisa was enormously to increase -the influence of the old Princess of Ursinos. She was the only person -allowed to see the King in his heartbroken grief; and whilst he was in -seclusion in the Medina Celi palace, the monks were turned out of a -neighbouring monastery that the Princess might stay there and have free -access to the King through a passage made for the purpose through the -walls that separated the buildings. The gossips very soon began to say -that the King was going to marry the Princess, though she was old enough -to be his grandmother. But, as usual, the scandalmongers were wrong. The -Princess of Ursinos was far too clever for such a stroke as that; but -she and others saw that Philip must marry some one without loss of time, -or he would lose what wits were left to him. - -[Illustration: - - ISABEL FARNESE. - - _After a Painting by Van Loo_. -] - -The marriage-mongers of Europe were on the alert, but the problem to be -solved was not an easy one. A bride must be found whom Louis XIV. would -accept, and yet one not too subservient to orders from France, nor one -who would interfere with the absolute paramountcy of the Princess of -Ursinos. So all the suggestions coming from France were regarded coldly; -and the Princess set about finding a candidate who would suit her. There -was an Italian priest in Spain at the time, one Father Alberoni, a -cunning rogue, who could be a buffoon when it suited him, who had wormed -himself into Court circles in the suite of the Duke of Vendome. This -man, a Parmese, came to the Princess of Ursinos the day after Queen -Maria Louisa Gabriela died and suggested that there was a modest, -submissive little princess at Parma, the niece and stepdaughter of the -reigning prince, who had no male heirs, and that this girl was exactly -fitted to be the new consort to Philip V. The Princess of Ursinos was -inclined to regard the idea favourably, for not only was it evident that -so young and humble a princess would not attempt to interfere with her, -but the match seemed to offer a chance for re-establishing the lost -influence of Spain in Italy. Louis XIV. had other views for his -grandson, and did not take kindly to the proposal, but he was grudgingly -won over by the Princess of Ursinos, whom he could not afford to offend. -Philip himself was as wax in the hands of the old Princess; and on the -16th September 1714 he married by proxy Isabel Farnese, Princess of -Parma. - -Isabel Farnese had been represented by Alberoni as a tractable young -maiden, but she was a niece, by her mother, of the Queen Dowager, Marie -Anne of Neuburg, who was eating her heart out in spite in her exile at -Bayonne; and Alberoni knew full well when he suggested the Parmese bride -that he was taking part in a deep-laid conspiracy to overthrow the -Princess of Ursinos. His part was a difficult one to play at first, for -he had to keep up an appearance of adhesion to the Princess of Ursinos -whilst currying favour with the coming Queen. Isabel Farnese approached -her new realm with the airs of a conqueror. She was to have landed at -Alicante, and thither went Alberoni and her Spanish household to receive -her: but she altered her mind suddenly, and decided to go overland -through the south of France and visit her aunt Marie Anne at Bayonne. -Marie Anne had a long score of her own to settle with the Princess of -Ursinos, who had kept her in exile, and she instructed her niece how to -proceed to make herself mistress of her husband’s realm. - -Isabel Farnese, girl though she was, did not need much instruction in -imperious self-assertion, and began her operations as soon as she -crossed the frontier. She flatly refused to dismiss her Italian suite, -as had been arranged in accordance with the invariable Spanish rule, and -showed from the first that she meant to have her own way in all things. -She was in no hurry, moreover, to meet her husband until the Princess of -Ursinos was out of the way; and when the latter, in great state, came to -meet her at Jadraque, a short distance from Guadalajara, where the King -was awaiting his bride, Isabel was ready for the decisive fray which -should settle the question as to who should rule Spain. - -The old Princess was quite aware also by this time that she had to meet -a rival, and she began when she entered the presence by making some -remark about the slowness of the Queen’s journey. Hardly were the words -out of her mouth than the young termagant shouted: ‘Take this old fool -away who dares to come and insult me:’ and then, in spite of protest and -appeal, the Princess was hustled into a coach to be driven into exile -through a snowstorm in the winter night over the bleakest uplands in -Europe. Attired in her Court dress, with no change of garments or -adequate protection against the weather, without respect, consideration -or decency, the aged Princess was thus expelled from the country she had -served so wisely. She saw now, as she had feared for some time before, -that she had been tricked by the crafty Italian clown-cleric, and that -her day was done. - -The dominion of the new Queen Isabel Farnese over the spirit of Philip -V. was soon more complete even than that of the Princess had been, and a -letter of cold compliment from the King was all the reward or -consolation that the Princess got for her protracted service to him and -his cause in Spain; services without which, in all human probability, he -would never have retained the crown. So long as Philip had a masterful -woman always by his side to keep him in leading strings, it mattered -little to him who the woman was; and Isabel Farnese, bold, ambitious, -and intriguing, ruled Spain in the name of her husband thenceforward for -thirty years. Her system was neither French nor Spanish, but founded -upon the feline ecclesiastical methods of the smaller Italian Courts: -and the object of Isabel’s life was to assert successfully the rights of -her sons to the Italian principalities, she claimed in virtue of her -descent. The pretext under which she cloaked her aims was the recovery -of the Spanish influence in the sister Peninsula: but the wars which -resulted were in no sense of Spanish national concern, but purely -Italian and dynastic. - -Thus, for many years to come, the progress of Spain was retarded, and -her resources wasted in struggles by land and sea all over Europe, and -with allies and opponents constantly changing, with the end of seating -Isabel’s Bourbon sons upon Italian thrones. She succeeded, at the cost -of a generation of war, and gave to Spain once more an appearance of -some of her old potency, thanks to new ideas and more enlightened -administration: but when the successive deaths of her two stepsons, the -heirs of Philip by his first Savoyard wife, made her own eldest son -Charles King of Spain, Isabel was plainly, but delicately, made to -understand that the destinies of the country must in future be guided by -men, and in enlightened national interests, and not by women for -secondary ends. - -Again, on the death of Charles III., the only strong King since Philip -II., the regal mantle fell upon a weak uxorious man, whose wife, yet -another Maria Louisa, led Spain by the miry path of disgraceful -favouritism to the great war of Independence—the Peninsular war—which -destroyed what was left of old Spain, and held up to the derision of the -world the reigning family, of whom Napoleon made such cruel sport. - -Forty years more of feminine rule in the next generation brought the -unfortunate country to the revolution of 1868, and then the dawning came -of a happier day, now brightening to its full. Only half a century ago -the old, old struggle between France and Germany to provide a Consort -for Spain was engaged anew, and brought England and France upon the very -verge of war. But the fall of the Bourbons in France and Italy, and the -disappearance of the French monarchy, as a result of the great war -between the Frank and Teuton, still, on the ancient pretext of their -rival interests in Spain, banished, at least for our time, the dynastic -jealousy which had kept Europe at war for centuries. - -An Austrian Queen-Regent has since then ruled Spain with consummate -wisdom and the noblest self-sacrifice for nearly twenty years; and -France has watched with sympathy, and no thought of aggression, the -sustained effort of a good woman to hand down intact to her fatherless -son the inheritance to which he was born. An English Queen Consort sits -by the side of the Spanish King, now, for the first time for centuries, -and yet no breath of discord comes from other nations to mar the love -match that has ended in a happy marriage. - -The world grows wiser at last. The old tradition that dynastic -connection could override irresistible national tendencies has lingered -long, but is really dying now. Matrimonial alliances between reigning -families are symptoms, not causes, and as the personal power of the -monarch wanes before the growth of popular government, the influence of -the consort becomes more social, and consequently more personally -interesting. - -The stories told in these pages treat of a state of affairs never likely -to recur. They show, amongst other things, with what little prescience -the world has been governed. The attempt of Ferdinand the Catholic to -make Aragon great by marriage ended in the swamping of Aragon: the -attempt of Charles V. and his son to dictate the religion of the world, -by means of the strength gained by matrimonial alliances, ended in the -exhaustion and ruin of Spain: the attempts of France and Germany to -obtain control of Spain by providing consorts for the ruling kings has -ended in neither obtaining what it sought, and in Spain being as safe -from foreign domination of any sort as any country in Europe. The lesson -to be drawn surely is that rulers, grandly as they bulk for their little -day in the eyes of men, are themselves but puppets, moved by aggregate -spontaneous national forces infinitely more powerful than any -individuality can be, and that a monarch’s seeming strength is only -effective so long as it interprets truly the accumulated impulse, that, -in obedience to some harmonious law as yet uncoded, guides to their -destiny the nations of the earth. - - - FINIS - -[Illustration] - - - - - INDEX - - - Adrian, Cardinal, 182, 192 - - Aguirre, Señora, 474 - - Agreda, Maria de, 354, 357 - - Aix la Chapelle, 391 - - Alba, 230, 249, 266 - - Albaicin, 116 - - Alberoni, Father, 537 - - Albuera, 52 - - Albuquerque, Duchess of, 455 - - Alcantara, Master of, 11 - - Alcazar, 3, 165 - - Alexander VI., 105 - - Alexander Farnese, 292 - - Alfonso V. of Portugal, 9, 19 - - Alphonso (brother of Henry IV), 10, 11, 14 - - Alhama, 56, 57 - - Almazan, 162 - - Almeria, 55, 65 - - Anne of Austria (wife of Phillip II), 314; - character, illness and death, 316 - - Anna of Austria (Queen of France), 320, 321, 352 - - Arabic Manuscripts, 116 - - Aranda, 24 - - Aranjuez, 331 - - Arcos, 177 - - Arevalo, 200 - - Armada, 318 - - Armignac, 5 - - Arthur, Prince of Wales, 100, 127 - - Artois, 106 - - Arundel, 220 - - Astorga, 156 - - Astorga, Marquis, 424 - - Augsburg, League of, 463, 480, 487 - - Aulnoy, Madame d’, quoted, 419 - - Avila, 11, 192 - - Avila, Juan de, 189, 196 - - - Badajoz, 317 - - Balbeses, Marquis de los, 415, 423 - - Baltasar Carlos, 334, 358 - - Barcelona, 46; - Treaty, 104, 348 - - Bavaria, Prince of, 495, 500 - - Baza, 65 - - Bedford, Earl of, 223 - - Behovia, 321 - - ‘Beltraneja,’ the birth, 4; - betrothal, 23; - betrothal to King of Portugal, 30; - marriage, 33, 146 - - Benavente, Count, 9, 12, 163 - - Bergues, 230 - - Berlips, Baroness, 496 - - Bernaldez, 89 - - Bertondona, Martin de, 228 - - Bidasoa, 377, 425 - - Boabdil, 60, 61, 72 - - Bobadilla, Beatriz de, 13, 80, 135, 165 - - Bobadilla, Francisco de, 123 - - Bonner, 215, 238 - - Borgia, Francis of, 202 - - Bourbon, Anthony de, 276 - - Braganza, Duke of, 348 - - Brantôme, quoted, 283, 303 - - Bristol, Earl of, 326 - - Browne, Sir Anthony, 221, 230 - - Buckingham, Duke of, 325 - - Buendia, Count, 272 - - Buen Retiro, 328, 342, 429 - - Burgos, 35, 108, 322 - - Burgundy, 106 - - - Cabeña, 38 - - Cabero, Juan, 80, 87, 162 - - Cabra, Count of, 60 - - Cabrera, Andres, 13, 165 - - Cabezon, 9 - - Calais, 249 - - Calatrava, 42 - - Calderon, Maria, 333 - - Cardeñosa, 14 - - Cardona, Folch de, 507, 516, 518 - - Cardona, Hugo de, 146 - - Carew family, 223 - - Carlos, Don, 288, 296, 309, 310 - - Carrillo, Alfonso, 4, 9, 11, 20, 97 - - Cartuja de Miraflores, 168 - - Castañar, 97 - - Castile, Admiral of, 163 - - Castile, revolt in, 192 - - Cateau Cambresis, 262 - - Catharine of Lancaster, ix. - - Cerdagne, 59, 100 - - ‘Chambergo’ Regiment, 396, 406 - - Charles, Archduke, 497 - - Charles, Prince of Wales, 325 - - Charles of Viana, 8 - - Charles II, birth, 382; - description as a child, 392, 396; - recalls Don Juan, 402; - banishes Don Juan to Aragon, 403; - coming of age, 403; - suggestions for marriage, 414; - reconciliation with Mariana, 421; - journey to meet Marie Louise, 426; - marriage, 431; - neglect of government, 440; - jealousy of Mme. de Villars, 459; - dismisses Medina Celi, 463; - illness at Aranjuez, 467; - second marriage, 488; - meets Marie Anne, 491; - dismisses Oropesa, 494; - increasing weakness, 497; - appoints Prince of Bavaria heir, 500; - destroys will, 502; - said to be bewitched, 514; - makes will in favour of Philip, 524; - death, 525 - - Charles III, 540 - - Charles V, 105, 179, 184, 189, 243 - - Charles VIII, 62, 75, 100, 104, 108 - - Chatellerault, 274 - - Chièvres, 185 - - Chimay, Prince of, 185 - - Cigales, 9, 11 - - Civil War in Spain, 12, 29 - - Clarencius, Mrs., 217, 255 - - Claude of France, 127 - - Clerambant, Maréchale, 423 - - Coligny, 247 - - Columbus, Christopher, 74; - received by Isabel, 78; - guest of Deza, 82; - member of royal household, 82; - grant for maintenance, 82; - negotiations with Portugal, France, and England, 82; - extravagant demands, 83, 84; - agreement with Isabel, 89; - returns in triumph from first voyage, 94; - second voyage, 95, 120; - third voyage, 120; - imprisoned, 123; - release, 123; - fourth voyage, 124 - - Columbus, Diego, 89 - - Comuneros, 192, 198 - - Compostella, 57 - - Conchillos, 131, 143 - - Condé, 354, 376 - - Consuegra, 383 - - Conti, Prince of, 417 - - Cordova, Cardinal, 518 - - Cordova, Gonzalo de, 65, 105, 118 - - Corunna, 154, 391 - - Cotes, Sebastian de, 505 - - Council of the Indies, 120, 121 - - Court, Spanish, description, 328, 338, 369, 533 - - Courtenay, 214 - - Courtrai, 460 - - Cranmer, 220 - - Cromwell, 371 - - Cuellar, 26 - - Cueva, Beltran de la, 5, 9, 10 - - - D’assonleville, 254 - - Denia, Marchioness of, 176 - - Denia, Marquis of, 187, 194, 198 - - Deza, Diego, 80 - - Diaz, Froilan, 506, 519 - - Dixmunde, 460 - - Dominicans, 46, 48 - - Dueñas, 21, 38 - - Dunkirk, 376 - - - Edward IV. of England, 17 - - Edward VI. of England, 212 - - Egmont, Count, 221, 230 - - Eguia, Jeronimo de, 440, 454 - - Elizabeth of England, 229, 271 - - El Zagal, 60 - - Emanuel Philibert of Savoy, 247 - - Emmanuel, King, 106 - - Enriquez, Juana, 8 - - Escalas, Conde de, 63 - - Escorial, 357, 366, 388, 406 - - Estrada, Duke of, 184 - - Estremadura, 26 - - - Fadrique, Admiral, 9, 20 - - Fadrique de Toledo, 346 - - Fanshawe, Lady, quoted, 384 - - Fanshawe, Sir Richard, 383, 390 - - Feuquières, 464 - - Ferdinand of Aragon, 17; - marriage, 22; - in France, 23; - motto, 33; - fight against Moors, 56; - in Council at Cordova, 61; - rejects Colon’s terms, 83; - attacked by lunatic, 93; - schemes for his children, 99; - treaty with France, 100; - breaks treaty, 104; - war with France, 105; - quarrel with son-in-law, 113; - represses rebellion of Moors, 118; - attempts to conciliate Philip, 126; - illness, 133; - claims right to govern Castile, 142; - ordered to leave Castile, 145; - alliance with Jimenez, 146; - contemplates second marriage, 146; - alliance with Louis XII, 147; - agreement with Philip, 150; - treaty, 159; - assumes government of Castile, 177; - death, 182 - - Ferdinand, Emperor, 130 - - Feria, 230, 251 - - Fernando, 89 - - Ferrer, Mosen, 182, 183 - - Flanders, 354, 390 - - Flushing, 489 - - Fonseca, 142 - - Fontainebleau, 417, 422 - - France, 100, 105, 128, 248, 316, 319, 346 - - Franche Comté, 106 - - Francis II, 293 - - Francis Phœbus, 61 - - - Galicia, 39 - - Gardiner, 215, 220 - - Geneda, Diego de, 217 - - Germaine de Foix, 147 - - Giron, Pedro, 12 - - Gloucester, Duke of, 17 - - Gomez, Ruy, 230 - - Grammont, Duke de, 378 - - Granada, 36, 65; - siege, 67–72; - burning of library, 116 - - Granvelle, quoted, 215 - - Grey family, 223 - - Grey, Lady Jane, 213 - - Grey de Wilton, Lord, 249 - - Guadalajara, 284 - - Guadix, 65 - - Guevara, Anna de, 352 - - Guevara, Velez de, 337 - - Guienne, Duke of, 17, 23 - - Guise, Duke of, 321 - - Guisnes, 249 - - Guzmans, 39 - - - Harcourt, Duke of, 423, 502, 503 - - Haro, Count de, 179 - - Haro, Luis de, 355, 375, 383 - - Harrach, Count, 499 - - Heliche, Marquis of, 370 - - Henry II. (of France), 269 - - Henry IV. (of France), 318, 319 - - Henry IV. (of Spain), 3; - impeachment, 11; - death, 26 - - Henry VII. (of England), 149, 153, 173 - - Henry VIII. (of England), 211 - - Hernandez, Garcia, 75 - - Hispanola, 121 - - Horn, Count, 230 - - Hornillos, 175 - - House tax, 38 - - Howell, James, quoted, 329 - - Huelva, 75 - - - Infantado, Duke of, 38, 272 - - Inquisition, 46, 48, 448, 514, 516 - - Isabel, Empress, 209 - - Isabel Farnese, xiii; - marriage, 537; - influence over Philip, 539 - - Isabel of Bourbon, betrothal, 320; - meeting with Philip, 322; - marriage, 323; - character and manners, 327; - love for stage, 328, 331; - escape from fire at Aranjuez, 331; - birth of son, 333; - children, 334; - rejoicings at birth of Baltasar Carlos, 334; - portraits, 336; - sells jewels to provide soldiers, 346; - struggle with France, 346; - breach with Olivares, 349; - Regent in absence of King, 350; - demands dismissal of Olivares, 352; - illness, 355; - death, 356 - - Isabel of the Peace, xi, xiv; - betrothal, 267; - marriage, 268; - journey to Spain, 273; - meeting with Philip, 284; - smallpox, 286; - illness, 295; - letter to Catharine, 299; - defeats conspiracy in Navarre, 298; - meets her mother at Bayonne, 302; - birth of daughter, 305; - birth of second daughter, 308; - death, 313 - - Isabel the Catholic, ix; - betrothed to Charles of Viana, 8; - suggested betrothal to King of Portugal, 9; - offered crown, 14; - accepts heirship, 15; - meeting with Henry, 16; - intrigues with reference to marriage, 17; - marriage, 22; - deprived of grants and privileges, 23; - birth of first child, 23; - reconciliation with Henry, 24; - revenue, 41; - reforms Court, 41; - treatment of religious orders, 42; - influence f Torquemada, 44; - establishes Inquisition, 47; - birth of Prince of the Asturias, 50; - crushes Portuguese, 52; - acknowledged Queen of Spain, 52; - birth of third child, 52; - war with Moors, 56; - birth of fourth child, 60; - takes command of campaign against Moors, 63; - birth of last child, 64; - pledges crown, 66; - Queen of Granada, 73; - terms with Columbus, 89; - domestic life, 95; - letter to Talavera, 100; - purification of monasteries, 100; - unification of coinage, 104; - marriages of children, 106; - death of Juan, 109; - death of eldest daughter and her son Miguel, 110; - troubles domestic and political, 110; - ill-health, 111; - visit of Philip and Joan, 127; - wishes in regard to succession, 129; - apoplexy, 131; - will, 135; - codicil, 136; - death, 136. - - Isle of Pheasants, 378, 425 - - - Jaen, 66 - - Jamaica, 371 - - James I. of England, 319, 324 - - James IV., 107 - - Jews, 45, 47, 48, 67 - - Jimenez de Cisneros, Royal Confessor, 97; - primate, 99, 136, 158, 164; - maintains order, 173, 175; - Cardinal, 177; - Regent, 182, 191 - - Joan the Mad, xi; - birth, 52; - marriage, 106; - birth of son, 125; - visit to Spain, takes oath with her husband as heir of Castile, 127; - receives homage as heir of Ferdinand, 128; - detention at Medina, 132; - returns to Flanders, 133; - proclaimed Queen of Castile, 141; - discord with husband, 143; - letter on being declared unfit to rule, 144; - journey to Spain, 150; - shipwreck and landing in England, 152; - meeting with Katharine, 153; - interview with Enriquez, 163; - receives oath of allegiance of Cortes, 164; - grief for death of Philip, 168; - refusal to perform duties of Government, 171; - pilgrimage to Granada, 171; - birth of youngest child, 172; - suggested marriage with Henry VII., 173; - dismisses Councillors of Philip, 175; - meeting with Ferdinand at Tortoles, 176; - at Arcos, 177; - imprisoned at Tordesillas, 180; - visited by Charles and Leonora, 184; - protest against treatment, 190; - conference with executive body of Regent’s government, 190; - receives Padilla, 194; - identifies herself with Revolution, 194; - anti-religious tendency, 200; - visited by Francis of Borgia, 202; - illness, 204; - death, 205 - - Juan, Prince of Asturias, 50, 54, 106, 109 - - Juan II., of Aragon, 20 - - Juan of Austria, 292 - - Juan Jose, of Austria (Don Juan), xii, 363, 370, 376, 383, 387, 388, - 390, 391; - controversy with Mariana, 393; - Viceroy of Aragon, 396; - ordered to Sicily, 401; - recalled by Charles, 402; - exiled to Aragon, 403; - recalled to Madrid, 405; - enters Madrid in State, 408; - decrease of power, 418; - death, 420 - - Juan II., of Castile, 3 - - - Katharine of Aragon, 100, 173 - - Katharine, Infanta, 172, 199 - - - Laredo, 107 - - Las Casas, 89 - - Las Huelgas, 431 - - Leganés, Marquis of, 351, 505 - - Lerida, 351, 354 - - Lerma, 323 - - Lille, 108 - - Lionne, M. de, 376 - - Lisle, Count Alva de, 4 - - Literature, Spanish, 327, 338 - - London, 153 - - Lope de Vega, 339, 342 - - Lotti, Cosme, 344 - - Louis XI., 61 - - Louis XII., 133, 147 - - Louis XIII., 320 - - Louis XIV., 460, 464, 521 - - Loja, 63 - - Luis de la Cruz, Friar, 203 - - Luna, Alvaro de, 27 - - Luxembourg, 106 - - - Madrigal, 20, 37 - - Malaga, 55, 64, 118 - - Maldonado, Dr., 79 - - Manrique, Pedro, 21 - - Mansfeldt, Count, 463, 490 - - Manuel, Juan, 143, 156, 165 - - Marchena, Antonio de, 79, 120 - - Margaret, Archduchess, 106, 108, 149, 153 - - Margaret, Empress, 368, 414 - - Margaret of Austria, 318 - - Margaret of Savoy, 352 - - Margaret Tudor, 107 - - Maria of Hungary, 146 - - Maria Louisa of Savoy, 532; - marriage, 532; - regent in absence of husband, 533; - ability and diligence, 533; - death, 536 - - Mariana of Austria, offered in marriage to Baltasar Carlos, 361; - marriage to Philip IV.; - meets Philip at Navalcarnero, 365; - birth of a daughter, 368; - paralysis, 371; - birth of son, 373; - intrigues against Don Juan, 382; - birth of a son, 382; - growth of power, 382; - Queen-Regent, 389; - conspiracy in favour of Don Juan, 394; - dismisses Nithard, 395; - alliance with England and Holland against France, 397; - seeks help of Don Juan, 398; - favour of Valenzuela, 400; - regency ends, 402; - triumph over Don Juan, 403; - prisoner in Alcazar, 406; - banished to Toledo, 406; - reconciled to Charles, 421; - return to Court, 421; - meeting with Marie Louise, 433; - treatment of Marie Louise, 444; - plots to ruin Marie Louise, 464; - plans for succession, 499; - death, 500 - - Maria Theresa, 371, 378, 380, 389, 396, 414 - - Marie Anne of Neuburg, married by proxy, 489; - journey to Spain, 489; - welcome at Corunna, 490; - sides with enemies of Oropesa, 493; - unpopularity, 496; - summons Count Harrach, 499; - efforts to secure succession of Archduke Charles, 500; - plans to crush Diaz, 517; - accused of witchcraft, 518; - secures dismissal of Diaz, 529; - head of Council of Regency, 526; - banished to Toledo, 526; - visited by Philip V., 526; - sides with Austria, 527; - banished to Bayonne, 527; - returns to Spain, 527; - death, 527 - - Marie Louise of Orleans, 415; - love for Dauphin, 416; - betrothed to King of Spain, 417; - marriage by proxy, 418; - journey to Spain, 423; - household, 424; - letter to Charles, 427; - marriage at Quintanapalla, 431; - meeting with Mariana, 433; - isolation at Burgos, 433; - entry into Madrid, 439; - frivolity, 444; - humoured by Mariana, 444; - growing interest in public affairs, 456; - discord with Mariana and Charles, 456; - unhappiness, 457; - influence of Madame Quantin, 458; - reproached for sterility, 458; - accused of plotting against King, 468; - French expelled from palace, 469; - letter to Louis XIV. _re_ Saint Chamans, 472; - smallpox, 479; - illness, 480; - death, 481 - - Martinez, Friar, 385 - - Mary of England, 213; - plans for marriage, 214–220; - accepts Philip, 223; - presents, 224; - meeting with Philip, 232; - marriage, 234; - parting from Philip, 241; - Queen of Spain, 243; - war with France, 247; - illness, 254; - death, 256 - - Mary Queen of Scots, 263, 290 - - Matienzo, Friar, 112 - - Matilla, Father, 493, 504, 506, 507 - - Maurice of Saxony, 212 - - Maximilian, 113, 133, 148, 179, 190 - - Mayenne, Duke of, 320, 382 - - Mazarin, 376, 382 - - Medici, Catharine de, 267 - - Medici, Marie de, 320, 321 - - Medillin, Count, 11 - - Medina, 34 - - Medina Celi, Duke of, befriends Colon, 76 - - Medina Celi, Duke of (under Charles), 415, 440, 453, 459, 463 - - Medina del Campo, 48, 56 - - Medina de las Torres, Duke of, 386, 387 - - Medina Sidonia, Duke of, 56, 76 - - Melcombe Regis, 153 - - Mello, 354 - - Mendoza, Cardinal, 19, 59, 80, 97 - - Mendoza, Bishop of Segovia, 519 - - Mendoza, Diego Hurtado de, 217 - - Metz, 212 - - Montalto, Duke of, quoted, 464, 470, 473, 475, 476, 477 - - Montenegro, 401 - - Monterey, Count, 505 - - Montgomerie, Sieur de l’Orge, 269 - - Montmorenci, 247 - - Moors, 55, 116, 118 - - Moscoso, 388 - - Moslems, 116, 119 - - Muley Abul Hassan, 55 - - Murcientes, 163 - - Muza, 72 - - - New Hall, 213 - - Nimeguen, 414 - - Nithard, Father Everard, 382, 389, 393, 394; - dismissed, 395 - - Noailles, Antoine de, 213, 220, 229, 238 - - Novas, Marquis de las, 224 - - - Ojeda, 47 - - Olivarez, Gaspar de Guzman, Count of, 230, 324, 345; - breach with Queen, 349; - fall, 353 - - Olivarez, Countess of, 339 - - Olmedo, 13 - - Oñate, 427 - - Orange, Prince of, 487 - - Oropesa, Count of, 463, 482; - dismissed, 494, 501–512 - - Osma, 21 - - Osorio, Isabel de, 217, 265 - - Osuna, Duke of, 418, 425 - - Ovando, Nicolas de, 123 - - - Padilla, 194, 224 - - Paget, 220 - - Palencia, 175 - - Palos, 75 - - Passau, 212 - - Pastrana, Duke of, 320 - - Patiño, 393 - - Perez, Friar Juan, 75, 80, 85 - - Peter Martyr, 112 - - Petre, 220 - - Philip II., 202; - Regent, 209; - betrothed to Mary, 223; - journey to England, 226; - marriage, 234; - leaves England, 241; - returns, 245; - proposal of marriage to Elizabeth, 262; - union with France, 263; - marriage to Isabel, 267; - poverty, 293; - marriage to Anne, 314 - - Philip III., 318 - - Philip IV., betrothed, 320; - marriage, 323; - succeeds, 323; - character, 324, 328; - jealousy, 330; - intrigue with Maria Calderon, 333; - birth of son, 334; - leads armies in Catalonia, 350; - returns to Madrid, 351; - letter to Maria de Agredo; - grief at loss of son, 362; - marriage to Mariana, 363; - poverty, 372; - birth of son, 373; - journey to French frontier, 379; - ill-health, 383; - reported bewitched, 384; - will, 386; - death, 387 - - Philip V., 523, 526; - marriage, 532; - in Italy, 533; - second marriage, 537 - - Philip of Burgundy, 108; - assumes title, Prince of Castile, 113, 127, 128, 133; - intrigues with England, 149, 153; - treaty with Ferdinand, 159; - death, 166 - - Philip Prosper, 374, 381 - - Plascencia, 11 - - Pole, Cardinal, 214, 220, 245 - - Portocarrero, Cardinal, 493, 522 - - Portugal, throws off Spanish yoke, 348; - independence recognised, 390 - - Pyrenees, Peace of, 379 - - - Quantin, Madame, 458, 465, 468 - - Quevedo, 337 - - Quintanapalla, 429 - - Quintanilla, Alfonso de, 79 - - - Raleigh, 324 - - Ramua, 108 - - Ratisbon, Treaty of, 460 - - Ravaillac, 319 - - Rebenac, 480 - - Religious Orders, 42 - - Renard, Simon, 213 - - Richelieu, 321 - - Richmond, 153 - - Rio Seco, Duke of, 505, 518 - - Rieux, Madame, 282 - - Riquelme, Maria de, 340 - - Rivers, Lord, 63 - - Rocaberti, 514, 517 - - Roche sur Yon, 273 - - Rocroy, 354 - - Rojas, Bishop, 192 - - Roncesvalles, 276 - - Ronquillo, Francisco, 505 - - Rosellon, 59, 100, 378 - - Ruiz, 116 - - Russell, Admiral, 489 - - Ryswick, Peace of, 501 - - - ‘Sacred Brotherhood,’ 37 - - Saint Chamans, 471 - - St. Jean de Luz, 425 - - St. Jean Pied de Port, 277 - - St Jerome, monastery of, 313, 322 - - Salamanca, 10, 150 - - Salic Law, 31 - - Salmas, Countess of, 182 - - Sanchez, Gabriel, 94 - - Sandwich, Lord, 390 - - Santa Fe, 69 - - Sant’angel, Luis de, 78, 80, 87 - - Santa Maria de la Rabida, 75 - - Santa Maria del Campo, 177 - - Santiago, 39 - - Segovia, 9, 10, 165 - - Seville, 39, 48 - - Sicily, 398, 414 - - Soissons, Countess of, 475 - - Soto, Dr., 204 - - Spinola, 346 - - Stanhope, Colonel, quoted, 490, 491, 498, 500, 509, 510, 513, 515, 517 - - Suffolk, Earl of, 152 - - - Talavera, Father, 51, 57, 59, 79, 93, 116 - - Tavara, Francisca de, 330 - - Tendilla, Count, 72, 93, 116 - - Terranova, Duchess of, 414, 429, 454 - - Tilly, 346 - - Toledo, 54, 127 - - Tordesillas, 33, 180; - battle, 196 - - Toro, 34, 36, 142 - - Torquemada, 44, 46; - inquisitor-general, 49, 57, 59 - - Torquemada (town), 172 - - Trenchard, Sir John, 152 - - - Uceda, Duke of, 321 - - Ureña, Countess of, 282 - - Ursinos, Princess of, 532, 534, 535, 536, 538 - - - Valdés, Pedro, 328 - - Valentinois, Duchess, 267 - - Valenzuela, Fernando de, 398; - honours, 403, 405; - flight, 406; - imprisoned at Consuegra, 408 - - Valladolid, 9, 20, 30, 154, 164, 223 - - Vanguyon, 461 - - Vaucelles, 262 - - Vega, Garcilaso de la, 163 - - Velazquez, 335, 337 - - Velazquez, Diego de Silva, 380 - - Velez, 55 - - Velez-Malaga, 64 - - Vendome, Duke of, 273 - - Venta de los Toros de Guisando, 16 - - Verjus, Father, 464 - - Vilaine, 468 - - Villafafila, 159 - - Villalar, 198, 209 - - Villamediana, Count of, 330, 331 - - Villars, Mme. de, quoted, 426, 433, 435, 443, 445, 446 - - Villars, Marquis de, 420, 431, 459 - - Villena, Marquis of, 5, 9, 11, 175 - - Vistahermosa, Duchess of, 50 - - Vivero, Juan, 22 - - - Westphalia, Treaty of, 364 - - Weymouth, 151 - - Winchester, 232 - - Windsor, 152 - - Wyatt family, 223 - - - Zahara, 56 - - Zamora, 35, 36 - - Zoraya, 62 - - Zuñiga, Diego Lopez de, 12 - ------ - -Footnote 1: - - The ceremony is described by Enriquez de Castillo in the contemporary - ‘Cronica de Enrique IV.’ - -Footnote 2: - - Hernando de Pulgar, ‘Cronica de los Reyes Catolicos.’ - -Footnote 3: - - Letter of Diego de Valera to Henry IV. MS. quoted by Amador de las - Rios. Historia de Madrid. See also the famous poems of the time, - Coplas de Mingo Revulgo, and Coplas del Provincial, where vivid - pictures are given of the prevailing anarchy. - -Footnote 4: - - The protest is in the archives of Villena’s descendant, the present - Duke of Frias, to whom I am indebted for an abstract of it. - -Footnote 5: - - The original treaty, which of course came to nothing, is in the Frias - Archives, and is signed by Louis XI. as one of the contracting - parties. It is dated 9th May 1463. I have not seen the fact stated - elsewhere. - -Footnote 6: - - The text of the demands, under thirty-nine heads, will be found in the - ‘Documentos Ineditos,’ vol. xiv. p. 369. - -Footnote 7: - - The exact sequence and dates of these and the following events have - never yet been made clear in any of the numerous histories of the - time, not even in Prescott, owing to the fact that Enriquez de - Castillo and Pulgar very rarely give dates, whilst Galindez only - mentions the years of such happenings as he records. The printing of - the contemporary so-called ‘Cronicon de Valladolid’ (partly written by - Isabel’s physician, Dr. Toledo) in the ‘Documentos Ineditos,’ now - enables us to set forth the events chronologically, and thus the - better to understand their significance. - -Footnote 8: - - Enriquez de Castillo, ‘Cronica de Enrique IV.‘ - -Footnote 9: - - A number of decrees issued by Alfonso at the time, conferring upon - Villena and his partisans great grants and privileges, are in the - Frias archives; and other charters rewarding the city of Avila for its - adherence to his cause have recently been printed by the Chronicler of - the city from its archives, Sr. de Foronda. - -Footnote 10: - - Of a poisoned trout which he ate, it was asserted by his partisans. - The suspicion of poison is strengthened by the fact that his death was - publicly announced as a fact some days before it happened, when he was - quite well. - -Footnote 11: - - In a series of documents recently published from the archives of the - city of Avila by St. Foronda, there is one very curious charter signed - by Isabel on 2nd September, before even she started for the interview - with her brother. In it she already acts as sovereign of Avila, - confirming the many privileges given to the city by her brother - Alfonso, whom she calls King, and cancelling the grants of territories - belonging to the city which King Henry had made to his follower, the - Count of Alba. Thus she annulled the King’s grants before he bestowed - the city upon her. - -Footnote 12: - - The original deed signed by the King of Portugal, dated 2nd May 1469, - is in the Frias archives. - -Footnote 13: - - Isabel only learnt of the deception practised upon her some time - afterwards (1471) from the partisans of the Beltraneja’s projected - marriage with the Duke of Guienne. A genuine bull of dispensation was - afterwards granted to her by the new Pope, Sixtus IV. - -Footnote 14: - - The story of Ferdinand’s coming and his marriage is graphically told - in the Decades of Alfonso de Palencia, who had been sent from Isabel - to fetch him, and accompanied him on his journey. - -Footnote 15: - - ‘Cronicon de Valladolid,’ a diary kept at Valladolid at the time by - Dr. Toledo, Isabel’s physician. _Doc. Ined._ 14. - -Footnote 16: - - In the Frias archives there is an undertaking, dated 2nd October 1470, - signed by the Duke of Guienne, promising rewards to Cardinal Mendoza, - the Marquis of Villena, the Duke of Arevalo, and others, for their aid - in bringing about the betrothal with the Beltraneja. - -Footnote 17: - - Dueñas was granted on the same day, 21st October 1470, to the Princess - Doña Juana (the Beltraneja). Cronicon de Valladolid. - -Footnote 18: - - How much Isabel prized the fidelity of these steadfast adherents is - seen by the last act of her life. On her deathbed she revoked—not very - honestly or graciously most people think—all grants and rewards she - had given out of crown possessions, on the pretext that she had been - moved to make them more by need than by her own wish. The only - exception she made was the manors of the Marquisite of Moya, which, - with the title, had been granted to Cabrera and his wife Doña Beatriz - Bobadilla. - -Footnote 19: - - Recorded in Enriquez de Castillo’s ‘Cronica de Enrique IV.‘ - -Footnote 20: - - It should be mentioned that the faithless Queen of Henry IV., the - mother of the Beltraneja, lived apart from him in Madrid. She had - several children by various men subsequently. - -Footnote 21: - - Galindez tells the story that Henry on his deathbed swore that Juana - was really his child, and says that he left a will in her favour of - which Villena was the executor. The latter having predeceased the - King, the will remained in the keeping of Oviedo, the King’s - secretary, who afterwards entrusted it to the curate of Santa Cruz at - Madrid. He, fearing to hold it, enclosed it in a chest with other - papers and buried it at Almeida, in Portugal. Years afterwards Isabel - learnt of this, and when, in 1504, she was mortally ill, she sent the - curate and the lawyer who had told her to disinter the will. When they - brought it she was too ill to see it, and it remained in the lawyer’s - keeping. He informed Ferdinand after the Queen’s death, and the King - ordered the document to be burnt, whilst the lawyer was richly - rewarded. Others say, continues Galindez, that the paper was - preserved. - -Footnote 22: - - She died in June 1475. - -Footnote 23: - - Although she allowed a poor madman who attempted to kill Ferdinand to - be torn to bits by red hot pincers, and consigned scores of thousands - of poor wretches to the flames for doubting the correctness of her - views on religion, she refused ever to go to a bullfight after - attending one at which two men had been killed. She strongly condemned - such waste of human life without good object. - -Footnote 24: - - Oviedo, who knew her well, says that no other woman could compare with - her in beauty. - -Footnote 25: - - ‘Cronicon de Valladolid,’ Doc. Ined. 14, and also Alfonso de Palencia. - -Footnote 26: - - As one instance of the mercenary character of the Castilian nobles of - the time, I may mention that there is a bond signed by the King of - Portugal in the Frias archives promising to young Villena the - Mastership of Santiago in payment for his help. - -Footnote 27: - - The King of Portugal, having heard that Castilian raiders had crossed - the Portuguese frontier, is said to have proposed to Ferdinand at this - juncture a compromise, by which the Beltraneja should be dropped, and - Isabel recognised in return for the cession to Portugal of all Galicia - and the two fortresses of Zamora and Toro which he occupied. Ferdinand - was inclined to agree to this, and sent an envoy to propose it to his - wife. Before the envoy had finished his first sentence Isabel stopped - him indignantly, and forbade him to continue. She herself, she said, - would in future direct the war, and no foot of her own realm of - Castile should be surrendered. She then hurried to Medina and summoned - the Cortes, as is told in the text. - -Footnote 28: - - Each group of 100 heads of families subscribed sufficient to pay, - mount, arm, and maintain a horseman; and when intelligence of a crime - came, every church bell in the district rang an alarm to summon the - members of the constabulary to pursue the evil-doer, a special prize - being given to the captor. It must be understood that the townships in - Spain extend in every case over a large territory outside the walls, - so that the house tax, although nominally urban because collected by - the municipalities, was really collected also from rural hamlets. - -Footnote 29: - - The importance of obtaining control of the Orders was seen by Isabel - at the very beginning of her reign. When the Master of Santiago died - in 1476 the Queen was at Valladolid. Without a moment’s delay she - mounted her horse and rode to the town of Huete, where the Chapter to - elect the new Master was to be held. She entered the Chapter and in an - energetic speech urged the knights for the sake of her, their - sovereign, to elect her husband their Master. The Castilian knights - were angry at the idea of an Aragonese heading them, and opposed the - suggestion. Isabel found a way out by pledging Ferdinand to transfer - his powers as Master to a Castilian as soon as he was elected; and - this he did, appointing his faithful follower Cardenas; but when the - latter died Ferdinand became actual Master. Thenceforward the - knighthoods (_encomiendas_) were endowed with pensions derived from - rent charges on portions of the estates, the bulk of the revenue being - absorbed by the King’s treasury. For details of the Orders and their - appropriation, see Ulick Burke’s ‘History of Spain’ to 1515, edited by - Martin Hume. - -Footnote 30: - - As at Jaen in 1473, where the Constable of Castile was killed whilst - trying to stop the massacre. - -Footnote 31: - - Galindez and Perez de Pulgar. - -Footnote 32: - - At the Cortes of Madrigal in 1479, and in those of Toledo in 1480, - Isabel and Ferdinand renewed all the old ferocious edicts against the - use of silk and jewels by Jews in their garments, and ordered them - strictly to confine their residence to the ghettoes, and two years - later all toleration they enjoyed by papal decree was abolished. - -Footnote 33: - - Father Florez claims for Isabel and Torquemada alone what he considers - the great honour of establishing the Inquisition. - -Footnote 34: - - In the first eight years of its existence, the Inquisition burnt in - Seville alone 700 people, and sent to perpetual imprisonment in the - dungeons 5000 more, confiscating all their goods.—_Bernaldez._ - -Footnote 35: - - Shortly after her death, the mayor of her own city of Medina del Campo - declared that the soul of Isabel had gone to hell for her cruel - oppression of her subjects, and that all the people around Valladolid - and Medina, where she was best known, were of the same - opinion.—_Spanish State Papers_, Supplement to vols. i. and ii. - -Footnote 36: - - Florez, ‘Reinas Catolicos.’ - -Footnote 37: - - Pulgar. ‘Cronica de los Reyes Catolicos.’ - -Footnote 38: - - The Moors justified the attack by the accusation that the famous Ponce - de Leon, Marquis of Cadiz, had raided and plundered the town of - Mercadillo, near Ronda. - -Footnote 39: - - When somewhat later the Queen urgently begged him to accept the - bishopric of Salamanca, and he persistently refused, she reproached - him for not obeying her once when she had obeyed him so many times. ‘I - will not be the bishop,’ he replied, ‘of any place but Granada.’ He - was in effect the first archbishop. - -Footnote 40: - - Pulgar, ‘Cronica de los Reyes Catolicos.’ - -Footnote 41: - - Lagréze. See also Zurita’s ‘Anales de Aragon.’ - -Footnote 42: - - Florez, ‘Reinas Catolicos.’ - -Footnote 43: - - See Perez de Pulgar, ‘Reyes Catolicos.’ - -Footnote 44: - - Florez, ‘Reinas Catolicos.’ - -Footnote 45: - - Bernaldez, ‘Reyes Catolicos,’ and Bleda’s ‘Cronica.’ - -Footnote 46: - - The chroniclers of the siege dilate much upon the magnificent - appearance of Isabel and her great train of ladies when, on the day of - her arrival before Baza, she reviewed her troops in full view of the - dumbfoundered Moors on the ramparts of the fortress. Her own Castilian - troops, frantic with enthusiasm, no longer cried ‘Long live the - Queen,’ but ‘Long live our _King_ Isabel.’—_Florez_, ‘Reinas - Catolicos,’ and Letters of Peter Martyr, who was present. - -Footnote 47: - - The professed Christian Jews were much more severely dealt with than - the unbaptised. - -Footnote 48: - - Perez de Hita (Historia de los Vandos) recounts that the city of Santa - Fe sprang from a marvellous edifice which four grandees caused to be - constructed in a single night. It consisted of four buildings of wood - covered with painted canvas to imitate stone, and surrounded by a - battlemented wall of a similar construction. Roadways in the form of a - cross divided the four blocks with a gate at each of the four - extremities. The Moors, on seeing what they thought was a strong - fortress raised so rapidly, thought that witchcraft had been at work, - and were utterly cast down. - -Footnote 49: - - The title ‘Catholic’ was formally conferred upon them by the Pope - after the taking of Granada. - -Footnote 50: - - He promptly sold this to Isabel, and retired to Fez, where he was - murdered. The account of the surrender is mainly taken from Perez de - Hita’s ‘Historia de los Vandos,’ 1610, and Perez de Pulgar’s - ‘Cronica.’ - -Footnote 51: - - She is said never to have allowed Ferdinand to wear a shirt except - those that she herself made for him.—_Navarro Rodrigo_, ‘El Cardinal - Cisneros.’ - -Footnote 52: - - The sequence of the movements of Columbus, and several facts and dates - here given, vary from the current accounts. The narrative here set - forth has been carefully compiled from the result of much recent - Spanish research, besides the well-known texts of Navarrete and the - superb anthology of contemporary information reproduced by Mr. - Thatcher in his exhaustive three volumes lately published. I have also - depended much upon Rodriguez Pinilla’s ‘Colon en España,’ Cappa’s - ‘Colon y los Españoles,’ and Ibarra y Rodriguez’s ‘Fernando el - Catolico y el Descubrimiento de America,’ etc. etc. - -Footnote 53: - - See Columbus’s own letter to the nurse of Prince Juan, reproduced by - Mr. Thatcher. - -Footnote 54: - - As Medina Celi was with Ferdinand during all the campaign of 1485, it - is possible that he may have mentioned it to the King then, and have - been told that when there was time the sovereigns themselves would - examine into the matter. - -Footnote 55: - - Las Casas and F. Colon. - -Footnote 56: - - Fernando Colon. - -Footnote 57: - - Las Casas. - -Footnote 58: - - Fernando Colon. - -Footnote 59: - - The speech, which is probably apocryphal, is given at length by Las - Casas. - -Footnote 60: - - The legend of Queen Isabel and her jewels has been now completely - disproved by my friend, Don Cesareo Fernandez Duro, in his article - ‘Las Joyas de la Reina Isabel’ in the ‘Revista Contemporanea,’ vol. - xxxviii. - -Footnote 61: - - Professor Ibarra y Rodriguez’s interesting study ‘Fernando el Catolico - y el Descubrimiento’ (Madrid, 1892) makes this matter clear for the - first time. The treasury of Castile was empty, but Ferdinand had - plenty of money in Aragon. He was careful, however, not to allow the - Castilians to know this, or they would have clamoured for some of it - for their war against Granada, whilst he was hoarding it for his war - against France. He therefore went through the comedy of causing - Sant’angel to lend the million maravedis, apparently out of his own - pocket, but the money was secretly advanced for the purpose to - Sant’angel from the King’s Aragonese treasury, to which it was - subsequently repaid through Sant’angel. - -Footnote 62: - - Some of these took the form of generosity at other people’s expense. - The town of Palos was ordered, as punishment for some offence, to - provide two caravels and stores. - -Footnote 63: - - Quoted by Florez. ‘Reinas Catolicos.’ - -Footnote 64: - - _Ibid._ Both Luis de Sant’angel, who served as accountant general, and - Gabriel Sanchez, the Aragonese treasurer, were of Jewish descent. - -Footnote 65: - - From Ulick Burke’s ‘History of Spain.’ Edited by Martin Hume. Only - five years after the expulsion from Spain, as many of the Spanish Jews - had fled to Portugal, Isabel, through her daughter, who had married - the King of Portugal, coerced the latter to expel all Jews from his - country. - -Footnote 66: - - It is said that Ferdinand tried to save the life of his assailant, who - had been condemned to the most cruel and awful tortures as a - punishment. The Catalans, furious at being baulked of their vengeance, - appealed to Isabel, who decided that the sentence should be carried - out, but that the victim should be secretly suffocated first. - -Footnote 67: - - The Luis de Sant’angel and the Sanchez letter have been published - several times, but the letter to the Sovereigns has been lost, but for - some passages quoted by Las Casas. - -Footnote 68: - - It is related that the Queen concealed from Jimenez her intention to - make him Primate, and handed him unexpectedly the papal bull addressed - to him as: The venerable brother Francisco Jimenez de Cisneros, - Archbishop-elect of Toledo. When the friar saw the superscription he - dropped the document and fled, crying, This bull is not for me. He was - pursued and caught two leagues from Madrid by envoys from Isabel, and - still refused the great preferment on the ground of his unworthiness. - He stood out for six months until Isabel obtained from the Pope a - peremptory command to him to accept the archbishopric, and even then - he insisted that the vast revenues should be used for pious and - charitable purposes. - -Footnote 69: - - A full account of these complicated intrigues will be found in the - present writer’s ‘Wives of Henry VIII.‘ - -Footnote 70: - - Father Florez quotes a remark of Isabel, on another occasion, warmly - approving of the bullfight, ‘which, though foreigners who have not - seen it condemn as barbarous, she considered it very different, and as - a diversion where valour and dexterity shine.’ - -Footnote 71: - - Florez, ‘Reinas Catolicos.’ - -Footnote 72: - - Montero de los Rios ‘Historia de Madrid.’ - -Footnote 73: - - Oviedo. - -Footnote 74: - - Ferdinand had wished to appoint an Aragonese commander, but as Castile - was defraying most of the expenses of the war, Isabel insisted upon a - Castilian being appointed. - -Footnote 75: - - Clemencin. ‘Elogio.’ - -Footnote 76: - - Zurita, ‘Anales,’ and Padilla, ‘Cronica de Felipe I.‘ - -Footnote 77: - - The Spanish chroniclers complain bitterly of Philip’s slowness in - coming to meet his bride. He was in Tyrol when she arrived in - Flanders, and spent nearly a month in joining her at Lille. From the - first the love was all on poor Joan’s side. - -Footnote 78: - - Ferdinand, it is related, fearing that the sudden news of Juan’s death - would kill Isabel with grief, caused her to be told that it was her - husband, Ferdinand himself, that had died, so that when he presented - himself before her, the—as he supposed—lesser grief of her son’s death - should be mitigated by learning that her husband was alive. The - experiment does not appear to have been very successful, as Isabel was - profoundly affected when she heard the truth. (_Florez_, ‘Reinas - Catolicos’). - -Footnote 79: - - In fact the Cortes of Aragon obstinately refused to swear allegiance - to the Infanta Isabel as heiress when she went to Saragossa for the - purpose in the autumn; and she was kept there in great distress until - her expected child should be born, which, if it were a male, would - receive the oath of the Cortes. The anxiety and worry consequent upon - this killed the Infanta (Queen of Portugal) in the birth of her child - Miguel in August. - -Footnote 80: - - Her story is told in ‘The Wives of Henry VIII.,’ by the present - writer. - -Footnote 81: - - ‘Spanish State Papers.’ Calendar, Supplement to vol. i. p. 405. - -Footnote 82: - - ‘Calendar of Spanish State Papers,’ Supplement to vol. i. ‘Reports of - the Sub-Prior of Santa Cruz to Isabel.’ - -Footnote 83: - - Ferdinand sent at once an envoy to remonstrate with Maximilian about - his son’s pretensions, but it was soon seen that Maximilian and his - son were entirely in accord. Maximilian had the effrontery to claim - the crown of Portugal in right of his mother, Doña Leonor of Portugal, - and the crown of Castile for Juana, in preference to any daughter that - might be born to her eldest sister, Isabel of Portugal. Ferdinand’s - enemy, the King of France, naturally supported these pretensions, - which were really put forward at the time to thwart Ferdinand, whose - plans in Italy were now seen to threaten the suzerainty of the empire - over some of the Italian States. - -Footnote 84: - - As showing how unrelenting was Isabel’s determination to exterminate - infidelity in the whole Peninsula at the time, it may be mentioned - that one of the conditions of the marriage of her eldest widowed - daughter Isabel to the King of Portugal in 1497, was that every Jew - should be expelled from Portugal. - -Footnote 85: - - Marmol Carbajal, ‘Rebelion of Castigo de los Moros de Granada.’ - -Footnote 86: - - Marmol Carbajal. It will be recollected that Ferdinand had opposed - Jimenez’s appointment, as he wanted the archbishopric and primacy for - his son. - -Footnote 87: - - Ulick Burke, ‘History of Spain.’ Edited by Martin Hume. - -Footnote 88: - - Las Casas. - -Footnote 89: - - Colon’s son, Ferdinand, says that he ordered his fetters to be buried - with him: but this does not appear to have been done. His bitter - indignation is expressed by his son, Fernando, and in Colon’s ‘Letter - to the Nurse.’ - -Footnote 90: - - Zurita: Rodriguez Villa, ‘Juana la Loca,’ and ‘Calendar of Spanish - State Papers,’ Supplement to Vol. i. - -Footnote 91: - - Especially the Archbishop of Besançon, whose influence over Philip was - great. Philip would not let him go; but he died suddenly directly - afterwards, doubtless of poison. Philip’s hurry to get away from Spain - was attributed to his own fears of poison. - -Footnote 92: - - A copy of their urgent remonstrance from Toledo is in MS. in the Royal - Academy of History, Madrid. - -Footnote 93: - - ‘Calendar of Spanish State Papers,’ Supplement to vols. i and ii. - -Footnote 94: - - Sandoval, in his ‘Historia de Carlos V.,’ gives a glowing account of - the festivities that followed, and especially of a ridiculously - fulsome sermon preached by the Bishop of Malaga on the occasion, - laying quite a malicious emphasis upon poor Joan’s devotion to what - was called in Spain ‘Christianity,’ or rather the strict Catholic - ritual. - -Footnote 95: - - These interesting letters are in MS. in the Royal Academy of History, - Madrid, A 11. Some of them are quoted by Rodriguez Villa in his ‘Dona - Juana la Loca.’ - -Footnote 96: - - Royal Academy of History, Madrid, A 9, and Rodriguez Villa. - -Footnote 97: - - He even had a letter written, as if by his child Charles of three - years old, to King Ferdinand praying that his mamma might be allowed - to come home to them. - -Footnote 98: - - When the will was signed Isabel called her husband to her bedside, and - with tears made him swear that, neither by a second marriage nor - otherwise, would he try to deprive Joan of the crown. She fell back - then prostrate and was thought to be dead, but afterwards revived. - -Footnote 99: - - Zurita, ‘Anales de Aragon.’ - -Footnote 100: - - A full account of the progress of events from day to day at the time - is given in Documents Ineditos, vol 18. - -Footnote 101: - - Ferdinand, after the Cortes had taken the oath of allegiance, - addressed to them a document (quoted in full by Zurita) saying that - when Queen Isabel provided in her will for the case of Joan’s - incapacity to rule, she had not gone further into particulars out of - consideration for her daughter; although the latter had, whilst she - was in Spain, shown signs of mental disturbance. The time had now - come, said Ferdinand, to inform the Cortes in strict secrecy of the - real state of affairs. Since Joan’s return to Flanders reports from - Ferdinand’s agents, and from Philip himself, which were exhibited to - the Cortes, said that her malady had increased, and that her state was - such that the case foreseen by Queen Isabel in her will had now - arrived. The Cortes, after much deliberation and against the nobles, - led by the Duke of Najera, thereupon decided to acknowledge Ferdinand - as ruler owing to the incapacity of Joan. - -Footnote 102: - - Zurita, ‘Anales de Aragon.’ - -Footnote 103: - - Discovered in the Alburquerque archives by Sr. Rodriguez Villa, and - published by him in his ‘Doña Juana La Loca.’ - -Footnote 104: - - It has already been mentioned on page 26 that, according to Galindez, - a will of Henry IV. leaving the crown of Castile to the Beltraneja had - come into Ferdinand’s possession on Isabel’s death. The authority for - the statement that Ferdinand offered marriage to the Beltraneja at - this juncture is principally Zurita, ‘Anales de Aragon,’ and it was - adopted by Mariana and later historians. Mr. Prescott scornfully - rejects the whole story, without, as it seems to me, any reason - whatever for doing so, except that it tells against Ferdinand’s - character. It is surely too late in the day to hope to save _that_. - -Footnote 105: - - ‘Collection de Voyages des Souverains des Pays Bas,’ vol. i. - -Footnote 106: - - From a most entertaining Spanish account in manuscript in the Royal - Academy of History, Madrid, in which the courtiers are mercilessly - chaffed. - -Footnote 107: - - ‘Spanish State Papers Calendar,’ vol. i. Peter Martyr (Epist. 300) - says that Katharine did her best to solace, comfort and entertain her - sister Joan, but that the latter would take pleasure in nothing, and - only loved solitude and darkness. In order to preserve appearances, - the treaty arranged and signed before Joan’s arrival at Windsor was - ostensibly entered into by Philip as ruler of Flanders, not as King of - Castile; but its whole object obviously was to strengthen Philip in - Spain. - -Footnote 108: - - None of Ferdinand’s envoys were allowed to see Joan at Corunna, but - when the great Castilian nobles, Count Benavente and Marquis de - Villena, came to pay homage, Joan was seated by the side of her - husband, and the reception hall was thrown open to the public. This - was necessary in consequence of the jealousy of Castilians against - foreigners, and their insistence upon Joan’s sovereignty; but it was - the only occasion on which Philip openly associated her with his - government. - -Footnote 109: - - See the draft summons to nobles and gentry, kept ready for the - eventuality, reproduced by Rodriguez Villa, ‘Doña Juana la Loca.’ - -Footnote 110: - - Her grand-daughter, another Joan, sister of Philip II. and Princess of - Portugal, had also after her widowhood this curious fancy to keep her - face hidden. - -Footnote 111: - - The part played by Jimenez at this period has always been a puzzling - problem. He was apparently in the full confidence of Philip, but it is - impossible to believe that he was not really acting in concert with - Ferdinand at the time. He probably knew that one way or the other - Philip was bound to disappear very soon, and his presence at the - crisis would enable him, as it actually did, to keep firm hold upon - the government until Ferdinand returned. His anxiety to get the - custody of Joan seems to point to this also, as the person who held - the Queen was the master of the situation. - -Footnote 112: - - Estanques’ ‘Cronica’ in Documentos Ineditos, vol. viii. - -Footnote 113: - - Although, as was usual, Philip’s Italian physician vehemently denied - that there were any indications of poison on the remains, there can be - but little doubt that Philip was murdered by agents of Ferdinand. The - statement to that effect was freely and publicly made at the time, but - the authorities were always afraid to prosecute those who made them. - See ‘Calendar of Spanish State Papers,’ Supplement to Vol. i., p. - xxxvii. There were many persons who attributed Philip’s death, not to - Ferdinand, but to the Inquisition, which Philip had offended by - softening its rigour, and suspending the chief Inquisitors, Deza and - Lucero; but this is very improbable. - -Footnote 114: - - ‘Collection de Voyages des Souverains des Pays Bas,’ vol. i. It is - here stated that foreign officers of the household broke up all the - gold and silver plate they could lay hands on to turn into money, and - pay their way back to Flanders. - -Footnote 115: - - ‘Collection de Voyages des Souverains des Pays Bas.’ - -Footnote 116: - - On the very day that Philip died, an attempt was made by a faction of - nobles to obtain possession of the young Prince. The keeper of the - Castle of Simancas was on his guard, as he knew of the King’s illness, - and refused admittance to any but the two gentlemen who bore Philip’s - signed order for the child to be delivered to them. When the morrow - brought news of the King’s death, the Seneschal refused to obey the - order, and defied the forces sent to capture the fortress. - -Footnote 117: - - The monks at first flatly refused to have the corpse moved, and the - Bishop of Burgos reproved the Queen. Joan, however, fell into such a - fury, that they were forced to obey. - -Footnote 118: - - An interesting letter from Ferdinand’s secretary, Conchillos, who was - at Burgos, to Almazan, who accompanied Ferdinand in Italy (Royal - Academy of History, Salazar A 12, reproduced by Sr. Rodriguez Villa), - dated 23rd December, gives a vivid picture of the confusion and - scandal caused by this sudden caprice of the Queen. He says that - though they had all done their best to prevent any one speaking to her - but her father’s partisans, the Marquis of Villena, his opponent, is - the person she welcomes most. ‘With this last caprice of the Queen - there is no one, big or little, who any longer denies that she is out - of her mind, except Juan Lopez, who says that she is as sane as her - mother was, and lends her money for all this nonsense.’ - -Footnote 119: - - Jimenez also raised a force of one thousand picked soldiers under an - Italian commander to enable him to keep the upper hand. - -Footnote 120: - - Puebla to Ferdinand, Spanish Calendar, vol. i. 409. - -Footnote 121: - - Peter Martyr, Epistolæ. - -Footnote 122: - - Villena was against Ferdinand, though Joan liked him. She probably - meant that it was he who had inspired the protest. - -Footnote 123: - - The Castilian jealousy of Aragonese government, which was really at - the bottom of the adherence of the nobility to Philip, was not by any - means dead; and, but for the firmness of Jimenez and the diplomacy of - Ferdinand, it is quite probable that a league of nobles would have - seized Joan at this time and have governed in her name. Most of the - greater Castilian nobles appear to have made mutual protests against - the assumption of rule in Castile by Ferdinand; and in the archives of - the Duke of Frias there is one dated 19th June 1507, just before - Ferdinand landed at Valencia, and signed by the Marquis Pacheco, - solemnly repudiating Ferdinand as King, swearing to be loyal to Joan, - and attributing anything that he may subsequently do to the contrary - effect, to intimidation and force. As these protests were kept secret - the nobles made themselves safe either way. - -Footnote 124: - - The Marquis of Villena had just been brought to his side, and somewhat - later Juan Manuel was bribed to give up his fortresses, though he - himself retired to Flanders, for he would never trust Ferdinand. The - only great noble who continued to hold out was the Duke of Najera. - -Footnote 125: - - Copied by Rodriguez Villa. - -Footnote 126: - - It is in the immediate neighbourhood of Burgos, and one of the coldest - places in Spain. - -Footnote 127: - - And at a later period, when that danger was at an end, the fear of - scandal being caused in a court so slavishly Catholic by Joan’s - violent hatred of the religious services. - -Footnote 128: - - This strangely privileged corps has always had the duty to guard the - sovereigns of Castile personally inside their apartments. The men are - all drawn by right from the inhabitants of the town of Espinosa only. - -Footnote 129: - - Calendar, Spanish State Papers, Supplement to vol. i. All the - documents quoted in narrating this period of Joan’s life are from the - same source, and from the collection of the Royal Academy of History - (Rodriguez Villa). - -Footnote 130: - - By a long series of intrigues Chièvres had forced the hands of Jimenez - to have Charles and Joan proclaimed joint sovereigns even before the - arrival of the former. The Pope and the Emperor had been persuaded to - address Charles as Catholic King upon Ferdinand’s death; but in the - face of the discontent of the Castilian nobles it was necessary for - Charles at last to make all manner of promises as to his future - residence in Spain, respect for Spanish traditions, and avoidance of - using Spanish money for foreign purposes, as well as that to which - reference is made in the text with regard to Joan, before he could be - fully acknowledged. He broke most of his pledges at once, and so - precipitated the great rising of the _Comuneros_. See ‘Vie de - Chièvres’ by Varilla. - -Footnote 131: - - Denia told the rebels that he had appealed to the Queen for a - certificate of his dismissal, but what he really asked for was her - written order to stay. In reply, she told him to go about his business - and talk to her no more. He was, however, successful in getting a - letter from the young Infanta to the revolutionary Junta praying them - not to send the marchioness away, but it had no effect. The Infanta - got into sad disgrace with her brother for her alleged kindness and - sympathy with the rebels, but she spiritedly defended herself, and - appealed to this letter of hers in favour of the Denias as proof that - she did what she could in very difficult and dangerous circumstances. - (Letters from Simancas copied by Señor Rodriguez Villa.) - -Footnote 132: - - It was one of the principal allegations of the government, that, - although Joan never signed anything for the rebels, her verbal orders - were at once taken down in notarial form and acted upon as royal - decrees. - -Footnote 133: - - One of her demands was that all her women should be sent away, as they - were. Her hatred of her own sex was remarkable. - -Footnote 134: - - The Admiral of Castile and other nobles at the time endeavoured to - prevail upon Joan to take the direction of affairs under _their_ - guidance; but she refused just as obstinately to give her signature to - them as she had to the rebels. Denia writes to the Emperor that the - Admiral is very anxious to cure the Queen; but in no case will it be - allowed without the Emperor’s permission. ‘Besides, it would be - another resurrection of Lazarus.’ The bitterest complaints of Denia - and his methods were sent by the great nobles to Charles, whilst Denia - could say no good word for them. - -Footnote 135: - - Mr. Bergenroth translated ‘_hacerle premia_,’ ‘applying torture,’ and - it may be so translated. I prefer, however, the wider interpretation; - though, no doubt, Denia meant to recommend physical coercion. - -Footnote 136: - - The Emperor ordered her to be taken to Toro in 1527, but Denia was - afraid of forcing her to go. - -Footnote 137: - - Denia’s account of the interview with Borgia (confirmed by the latter) - is extremely curious. The priestly Duke said, as she would do nothing - else, she might recite the ‘General Confession,’ and he would absolve - her. ‘Can you absolve?’ she asked. ‘Yes!’ he replied, ‘with the - exception of certain cases.’ ‘Then,’ said the Queen, ‘you recite the - General Confession.’ This Borgia did, and asked her whether she said - the same. ‘Yes,’ she replied; and ‘she then permitted him to absolve - her.’ It will be seen that there was not much submission in this. Only - a day or so afterwards she appears to have flown into a terrible - passion because some new hangings and gold ornaments had been placed - on the corridor altar; and she refused to eat until they had been - removed, and the altar left plain as before. - -Footnote 138: - - For particulars of this portrait, hitherto unknown, see ‘Calendars of - Spanish State Papers,’ vol. viii., edited by Martin Hume. - -Footnote 139: - - Ambassades de Noailles, vol. ii. p. 99. - -Footnote 140: - - Antonio de Guaras to the Duke of Alburquerque. ‘Antonio de Guaras,’ by - Dr. R. Garnett. For particulars of this personage, Antonio de Guaras, - see ‘Españoles é Ingleses,’ por Martin Hume. Madrid y Londres, 1903. - -Footnote 141: - - Correspondance de Cardinal de Granvelle. - -Footnote 142: - - These were all councillors in the interest and pay of the Emperor, and - were pledged in any case to favour the match. - -Footnote 143: - - Record Office. Record Commission Transcripts, Brussels, vol. i. - -Footnote 144: - - Chronicle of Queen Jane and Queen Mary. Camden Society. - -Footnote 145: - - Chronicle of Queen Jane and Queen Mary. Camden Society. - -Footnote 146: - - On the 21st January 1554 the Emperor wrote to Philip sending him the - treaty for ratification, and asked him to send powers for the formal - betrothal, since the English insist that when, by the blessing of God, - the marriage takes place you shall take an oath to respect the laws - and privileges of England: ‘_but the Queen confidently assures us that - secretly everything shall be done to our liking, and we believe - this_.’ MSS. Simancas. Estado, 808. - -Footnote 147: - - ‘The Coming of Philip the Prudent’ in ‘The Year after the Armada,’ by - Martin Hume. - -Footnote 148: - - Renard to the Emperor, 27th March 1554. Record Commission Transcripts, - also printed by Tytler. - -Footnote 149: - - Full details of Philip’s voyage and arrival in England will be found - in ‘The Coming of Philip the Prudent’ in ‘The Year after the Armada,’ - by Martin Hume. - -Footnote 150: - - Renard to the Emperor, 9th June 1554, Brussels Transcripts, Record - Office. - -Footnote 151: - - ‘The Coming of Philip the Prudent,’ in ‘The Year After the Armada,’ by - Martin Hume. Philip himself brought 600 Andalusian jennets to improve - the English breed of horses. - -Footnote 152: - - Though the palace is a crumbling ruin, the door in the garden wall - remains. - -Footnote 153: - - This, I am aware, is contrary to the statements of most English - historians, and especially of Mr. Froude. The evidence in favour of my - view of the King’s attitude is stated in my essay called ‘The Coming - of Philip the Prudent,’ in ‘The Year After the Armada’ and other - historical essays. Mr. Froude and his predecessors depended too - implicitly upon the entirely untrustworthy and biassed accounts sent - by Noailles to France, and the similarly inimical Venetian agent’s - version. - -Footnote 154: - - ‘The Coming of Philip the Prudent.’ - -Footnote 155: - - Ruy Gomez wrote from Richmond, 24th August 1554, to Eraso. ‘The King - entertains the Queen excellently, and knows very well how to pass over - what is not good in her for the sensibility of the flesh. He keeps her - so contented that truly the other day, when they were alone together, - she almost made love to him, and he answered in the same fashion. As - for these gentlemen (_i.e._, the English councillors), his behaviour - towards them is such that they themselves confess that they have never - yet had a King in England who so soon won the hearts of all men.’ MSS. - Simancas Estado, 808. In November 1554 Gonzalo Perez wrote to Vasquez: - ‘The English are now so civil you would hardly believe it. The - kindness and gifts they have received, and are receiving every day, - from the King would soften the very stones. The Queen is a saint, and - I feel sure that God will help us for her sake.’—MSS. Simancas Estado, - 808. - -Footnote 156: - - Ambassades de Noailles, vol. iii. Leyden, 1763. - -Footnote 157: - - It had been announced and was generally believed that Mary was dead, - and the citizens were overjoyed to see her in an open litter with - Philip and Pole riding by her side. - -Footnote 158: - - Badoero to the Doge. Venetian State Papers. 15th December 1558. - -Footnote 159: - - Michaeli, the Venetian Envoy (‘Calendar of Venetian State Papers’), - mentions one extraordinary journey of a courier at this time from - Paris to London in twenty-five hours. - -Footnote 160: - - It is related by the Flemish envoy Courteville that on his way through - Canterbury he entered the Cathedral with his spurs on, against the - rule; and on being charged with this by a student, he paid the fine by - emptying his purse of gold in the student’s cap. - -Footnote 161: - - Feria to the King. MSS., ‘Simancas Estado,’ 811. - -Footnote 162: - - This English fleet was mainly instrumental in gaining for the Flemings - a great victory over the French under Termes in July 1558. - -Footnote 163: - - MSS., ‘Simancas Estado,’ 811. - -Footnote 164: - - MSS., ‘Simancas Estado,’ 811. - -Footnote 165: - - This account of Mary’s last hours is from the Life of Jane Dormer, - Duchess of Feria, by her confessor and secretary, Father Clifford. - -Footnote 166: - - A curious account of the splendid festival, which celebrated at the - same time the signature of the peace with England and Isabel’s - baptism, is given by the Spanish ambassador. (Spanish Calendar, vol. - viii., edited by Martin Hume.) - -Footnote 167: - - The Bishop of Limoges, writing to Cardinal Lorraine soon after the - betrothal (8th August 1559), says: ‘Never was a prince so delighted - with any creature as he (_i.e._, Philip) is with the Catholic Queen, - his wife. It is impossible to put his joy in a letter.’—L. Paris, - ‘Negociations sous François II.‘ - -Footnote 168: - - Miss Freer’s ‘Elizabeth de Valois,’ quoted from Godefroi. - -Footnote 169: - - ‘Documentos Ineditos,’ vol. iii. Philip to Francis II. from - Valladolid. - -Footnote 170: - - Bibliothèque Nationale, ‘Fonds François,’ No. 7237, where there is a - considerable collection of the poems of both mother and daughter - unprinted. Miss Frere quotes some of Catharine’s lines to Isabel, but - not the above. - -Footnote 171: - - ‘Documentos Ineditos,’ vol. iii. - -Footnote 172: - - The account of Isabel’s voyage and reception is drawn mainly from the - narratives of eyewitnesses in the correspondence published by M. L. - Paris in ‘Negociations sous François II.‘ - -Footnote 173: - - ‘Négociations sous François II.,’ p. 173. - -Footnote 174: - - Even more comforted, we are told, were the poor maids of honour, whose - own beds and baggage had gone astray. - -Footnote 175: - - Brantome, ‘Dames Illustres.’ - -Footnote 176: - - Brantome says he had this story from one of Isabel’s ladies in waiting - who was present. - -Footnote 177: - - _i.e._ Anne of Bourbon Montpensier. - -Footnote 178: - - ‘Negociations sous Francois II.,’ p. 706. - -Footnote 179: - - Brantome, ‘Dames Illustres.’ - -Footnote 180: - - ‘Negociations sous François II.‘ - -Footnote 181: - - _i.e._ Margaret of Valois, La Reine Margot, who afterwards married - Henry IV., the Bearnais on the evil day of St. Bartholomew, and was - subsequently put aside by him. - -Footnote 182: - - Particulars of these intrigues will be found in ‘The Love Affairs of - Mary Queen of Scots’ by Martin Hume. - -Footnote 183: - - She afterwards married Philip himself as his fourth wife. - -Footnote 184: - - Négociations sous François II. - -Footnote 185: - - _Ibid._ - -Footnote 186: - - Letter from the French ambassador in Spain to Catharine de’ Medici, - quoted in ‘Vie d’Elisabeth de Valois,’ par le Marquis du Prat. - -Footnote 187: - - Speaking of this illness Brantôme says quaintly, ‘Elle tomba malade en - telle extrémité qu’elle fut abandonnée des medecins. Sur quoy il y eut - un certain petit medecin Italien qui pourtant n’avoit grande vogue à - la cour, qui se presentant au roy, dit que, si on le vouloit laisser - faire, il la gueriroit, ce que le roy permit: aussi estoit elle morte. - Il entreprend et luy donne une medecine, qu’apres l’avoir prise on luy - vit tout a coup monter miraculeusement la couleur au visage et - reprendre son parler et puis après sa convalescence. Et cependant - toute la cour et tout le peuple d’Espagne rompaient les chemins de - processions, d’allées et venues qu’ils fasoient aux eglises et aux - hospitaux pour sa Santé, les uns en chemise les autres nuds pieds, - nues testes, offrans offrandes, prieres, oraisons et intercessions à - Dieu par jeusnes, macerations de corps et autres telles sainctes et - bonnes dévotions pour sa Santé.’ - - Brantôme arrived in Spain soon after her recovery, and vividly - describes the joy and gratitude of the people at her convalescence. He - saw her, he says, go out in her carriage for the first time after her - recovery to give thanks to the Virgin of Guadalupe, and asserts that - she looked more lovely than ever as she sat at the door of the - carriage for the people to see her. She was dressed in white satin - covered with silver trimming, her face being uncovered. ‘Mais je crois - que jamais rien ne fut veu si beau que cette reine, comme je pris - l’hardiesse de luy dire.’ (Dames Illustres.) - -Footnote 188: - - L’Aubépine to Catharine. ‘Bibliothèque Nationale,’ printed in an - appendix to Du Prat’s ‘Elizabeth de Valois.’ - -Footnote 189: - - Isabel to Catharine. Bibliothèque Nationale, No. 39, printed in the - appendix of Du Prat’s ‘Elizabeth de Valois.’ - -Footnote 190: - - Archives Nationales, Paris C. K., 1393, quoted in the Introduction of - the Spanish Calendar of Elizabeth, edited by Martin Hume. - -Footnote 191: - - Bibliothèque Nationale, Colbert, vol. 140. ‘Bref discours de l’arrivée - de la Reine d’Espagne à St. Jehan de Luz.’ - -Footnote 192: - - It is usually assumed (and amongst others by Father Florez in ‘Reinas - Catolicas’) that the massacre of St. Bartholomew seven years later - (1572) in Paris was arranged at this meeting. There is, however, no - proof that such was the case. Philip and the Spanish party, it is - true, were loud in their praises of this enormity, but much happened - between Bayonne and Bartholomew. - -Footnote 193: - - Isabel herself ascribed the blessing to her prayers to the body of St. - Eugène, which she had with great difficulty persuaded the French to - surrender to Spain. It was carried with great pomp from St. Denis to - Toledo, and Isabel was constant in her adoration of it. - -Footnote 194: - - French ambassador Fourquevault to Catharine, June 1567. Bibliothèque - Nationale, No. 220 (Du Prat). - -Footnote 195: - - _Ibid._, No. 8. - -Footnote 196: - - Fourquevault to Catharine, 3rd October 1568. Du Prat. - -Footnote 197: - - Fourquevault to Catharine, 3rd October 1568. Du Prat. - -Footnote 198: - - Father Florez tells of her that on one occasion she was brought to - death’s door by her loathing her food; and as all mundane remedies had - been tried in vain, the King sent for the blessed friar Orozco. The - friar told the Queen he had a remedy recommended by his grandmother - which would cure her if she would take it. The Queen consented, and - the friar cooked a partridge and bacon before her, reciting verses of - the Magnificat at each turn of the spit. When the dish was ready he - took it to the Queen and said, ‘Eat, my lady, in the name of God, for - the mere smell of this would make a dead man hungry.’ Needless to say, - Anna ate and was cured. - -Footnote 199: - - She was much beloved, especially in Madrid, and died in childbed at - the Escorial in 1611. - -Footnote 200: - - An interminable account of the splendours of the occasion, for which - the favourite Duke of Lerma was mainly responsible, will be found in - ‘Documentos Ineditos,’ lxi. - -Footnote 201: - - To show how uncertain were still the relations between the people of - the two countries, it may be mentioned that an eyewitness of the - ceremonies of the exchange, etc., mentions as a marvellous thing that - there was no fighting between Spaniards and Frenchmen. - -Footnote 202: - - The only portion of this building now standing is the ancient Gothic - church where King Alfonso and Queen Victoria Eugénie were recently - married. It stands close to the famous picture gallery in the Prado. - -Footnote 203: - - From an unpublished MS. in the British Museum. Add. 10,236. - -Footnote 204: - - From MSS. of Diego de Soto, de Aguilar Royal Academy of History, - Madrid, G. 32, and another in British Museum, Add. 10,236. - -Footnote 205: - - Father Florez and other ecclesiastical writers give many instances of - her liberality in contributing to pious works, and in Reinas Catolicas - there is an account of Isabel’s action at the time (in 1624), that a - ‘heretic had outraged the Most Holy Sacrament in this my convent of - St. Philip.’ In addition to the services of atonement for the outrage - in all the churches, ‘the royal family made such an atonement as never - was seen, as befitted an insult to the greatest of the mysteries. The - corridors of the palace were adorned with all the valuable and - beautiful possessions of the crown, and a separate altar was erected - in the name of each royal personage. That of the Queen attracted the - attention of all beholders for the taste it exhibited, and the immense - value of the jewels that adorned it belonging to her Majesty. The - value of these jewels was computed at three million and a half’ (of - reals). - -Footnote 206: - - ‘Voyage d’Espagne.’ Aersens van Sommerdyk, and many other visitors to - Spain at the time testify to this. See also ‘Relatione dell’ - Ambasciatore di Venetia.’ British Museum MSS., Add. 8,701. - -Footnote 207: - - Historia del Arte Dramatico en España (translated from the German of - A. F. Schack). - -Footnote 208: - - Howell’s ‘Familiar Letters.’ - -Footnote 209: - - The steps of the Church of St. Philip in the Calle Mayor was so called - _El Mentidero_. - -Footnote 210: - - Speech (published) by Don Eugenio Hartzenbusch to the Royal Academy of - History, Madrid, 1861, where the whole question is discussed. - -Footnote 211: - - The house now belonging to Count Oñate, just out of the Puerta del - Sol. - -Footnote 212: - - It is certain that Olivares urged Philip most fervently to attend to - business in the early years of his reign. See my chapter on Philip IV. - in ‘The Cambridge Modern History,’ vol. iv., for a letter on the - subject from Philip. - -Footnote 213: - - On the site of the present Teatro español in the Plaza de Sant Ana. - -Footnote 214: - - Philip had had a son by another lady high at Court three years before - this, in 1626, of whom an account from unpublished sources will be - found in ‘The Year after the Armada,’ etc., by Martin Hume. - -Footnote 215: - - From an unpublished contemporary account in Italian. B. M. Add. 8,703. - -Footnote 216: - - Ashburton Collection. - -Footnote 217: - - Soto de Aguilar, one of Philip’s gentlemen of the wardrobe, wrote an - interminable account of all the festivities of his time (MS. Royal - Academy of History. Copy in the writer’s possession), from which have - been derived many details. - -Footnote 218: - - The garden was that of Monterey, and with the two adjoining gardens, - which for this occasion were thrown into one, occupied the whole space - from the Calle de Alcala to the Carrera de San Geronimo, called the - Salon del Prado. - -Footnote 219: - - Amongst other trifles offered to the ladies at this feast were some of - the small jars (_bucaros_) made of fine scented white clay, which it - was at the time a feminine vice to eat. Madame D’Aulnoy gives a - curious account of the evil effects produced by this strange eatable. - She also mentions the curious craze in Madrid at the time amongst - people of fashion to throw eggshells filled with scent at each other - in the theatres, parties, and even whilst promenading in carriages. - Philip himself was much addicted to this pastime. - -Footnote 220: - - This was the garden on the corner of the Carrera de San Geronimo and - the Prado, now occupied by the Villahermosa palace and grounds. - -Footnote 221: - - Philip is represented as wearing such a collar in his portrait by - Velazquez at Dulwich College. - -Footnote 222: - - Although he confesses that when most of the great folks had retired, - and daylight lit up the scene of revelry, great numbers of people were - found hidden in the shrubberies. - -Footnote 223: - - On the spot where the Bank of Spain now stands, until a few years ago - the site of the palace and grounds of the Marquis of Alcañices. - -Footnote 224: - - Appendix to Mesonero Romanos’ ‘El Antiguo Madrid.’ An account of this - feast, though much less full, is also given in the newsletters of the - date published by Sr. Rodriguez Villa in ‘La Corte de España en 1636 y - 1637.’ - -Footnote 225: - - The policy and aims of Olivares are fully set forth in ‘Spain, Its - Greatness and Decay,’ Cambridge Historical Series, by Martin Hume. - -Footnote 226: - - Olivares was notoriously offensive to ladies. On one occasion when - Isabel gave an opinion on State affairs he told Philip that monks must - be kept for praying and women for child-bearing. - -Footnote 227: - - One hundred and fifty persons in Madrid alone were cast into dungeons - for not being liberal enough with their contributions on this - occasion. - -Footnote 228: - - Relatione dell’ Ambasciatore di Venetia (MS. British Museum, Add. - 8,701), and also an account attributed (doubtfully) to Quevedo, - printed in vol. iii. of the Semanario Erudito. - -Footnote 229: - - News letter of 11th October in Semanario Erudito, vol. xxxiii. - -Footnote 230: - - Matias de Novoa, ‘Memorias.’ He was one of Philip’s chamberlains. - -Footnote 231: - - Life of Sor Maria de Agreda, quoted by Father Florez. - -Footnote 232: - - Cartas de la Venerable Madre Sor Maria de Agreda, edited by F. - Silvela. For two years after Isabel’s death all comedies and - theatrical representations were forbidden at the instance of Sor - Maria, but in 1648 Philip consented to their resumption. - -Footnote 233: - - ‘Cartas de la Venerable Madre Sor Maria de Agreda y Felipe IV.’ Edited - by Silvela. - -Footnote 234: - - Marie Anne de Montpensier, the daughter of Gaston, Duke of Orleans (La - Grande Demoiselle), was suggested, but rejected at once as impossible, - both from the French and Spanish point of view! It would, indeed, have - further alienated, rather than have drawn together, the French regency - and Spain. - -Footnote 235: - - ‘Cartas de la Venerable Madre Sor Maria de Agreda y Felipe IV.‘ - -Footnote 236: - - The progress and events from day to day are related by Mascarenhas, - Bishop of Leyria, who accompanied the Queen, in ‘Viage de la - Serenisima Reina Doña Margarita de Austria.’ Madrid, 1650. - -Footnote 237: - - It has puzzled many inquirers why the marriages of the kings of Spain - should usually have taken place in poverty-stricken little villages - like Navalcarnero and Quintanapalla, where no adequate accommodation - existed, or could be created. The real reason appears to be that when - a royal marriage took place in a town the latter was freed for ever - after from paying tribute. The poorer the place, therefore, the - smaller the sacrifice of public revenue. - -Footnote 238: - - It is all described in Amador de los Rios Historia de Madrid, and the - prodigious sums spent are given. - -Footnote 239: - - Cartas de Sor Maria. - -Footnote 240: - - _Ibid._ - -Footnote 241: - - In course of time she married her cousin the Emperor Leopold. - -Footnote 242: - - ‘Reinas Catolicas.’ Florez. - -Footnote 243: - - Even thus early she began to introduce Austrian etiquette in her - receptions; such, for instance, as causing the ladies presented to her - to pass before her, in by one door and out by an opposite door (Avisos - de Barrionuevo). - -Footnote 244: - - Avisos de Barrionuevo, vol. ii. p. 303 (February 1656). - -Footnote 245: - - _Ibid._ vol. i. - -Footnote 246: - - Barrionuevo, vol. ii. - -Footnote 247: - - The comedy of San Gaetano had been represented at the special desire - of the Queen shortly before, not without some difficulty from the - Inquisition, and the crush to see it was so great that several people - were killed. - -Footnote 248: - - Barrionuevo, vol. ii. 308. - -Footnote 249: - - Cartas de la Venerable Sor Maria de Agreda. - -Footnote 250: - - Barrionuevo, vol. iii. 63. - -Footnote 251: - - One day (8th November 1657) she suddenly asked for some _Buñuelos_ - (hot fritters), and men were sent out hurrying to the Plaza where they - were sold. A great cauldron of 8 lbs. of them were brought smoking hot - covered with honey, and Mariana ate greedily of them, to her great - contentment. - -Footnote 252: - - Barrionuevo. - -Footnote 253: - - Cartas de la Venerable Sor Maria de Agreda. The King’s prayer came - true, for the child died at the age of four. - -Footnote 254: - - The extravagance of these rejoicings produced a remonstrance from the - nun to the King. ‘It is good and politic for your Majesty to receive - the congratulations of your subjects ... but I do beseech you - earnestly not to allow excessive sums to be spent on these festivities - when there is a lack of money needful even for the defence of your - crown. Let there be in them no offence to God.... It is good to - rejoice for the birth of the prince, but let us do it with a clear - conscience.’—_Cartas._ - -Footnote 255: - - Barrionuevo. A curious circumstance is related by the same journalist - as having taken place at the christening. The lady-in-waiting, as - usual, handed the child to the little Infanta Margaret, aged six, who - was the godmother; and the only clothing the babe wore was an - extremely short tunic, the lower limbs being entirely bare. The little - Infanta, shocked at what she considered disrespectful neglect, asked - angrily why the prince was not properly dressed; and had to be told - that it was done purposely in order that all might see that he was - really a male. - -Footnote 256: - - Barrionuevo relates (vol. iv. p. 166), that a saintly Franciscan - friar, upon being appealed to by Philip to pray for the health of his - child, replied that he would do so, but a better prayer still would be - for the King to give up his constant comedies and rejoicings and pray - to God himself. This was in June 1658; and the nun was for ever giving - to Philip the same advice. - -Footnote 257: - - ‘Recueil des Instructions données aux ambassadeurs de France en - Espagne,’ vol. i. (Morel Fatio.) - -Footnote 258: - - ‘Journal du Voyage d’Espagne.’ Paris, 1669. - -Footnote 259: - - Luis de Haro alone took a household of 200 persons, whilst the King’s - medical staff alone consisted of ten doctors and four barbers. - -Footnote 260: - - ‘Viage del Rey N. S. a la Frontera de Francia.’ Castillo. Madrid, - 1667. - -Footnote 261: - - The golilla, so characteristic of Philip’s reign, was a stiff - cardboard projecting collar, the under surface of which was covered - with cloth to match the doublet, and the upper surface lined with - light silk. - -Footnote 262: - - Palamino. Life of Velazquez. All the sumptuary decrees were suspended. - From this date the Spanish fashion in dress changed. - -Footnote 263: - - Cartas de Sor Maria. - -Footnote 264: - - Original Letters of Sir R. Fanshawe. January 1664. - -Footnote 265: - - An interesting account of this ceremony is given by Lady Fanshawe in - her Memoirs. - -Footnote 266: - - This was Mariana’s daughter, the Infanta Margaret, so well recollected - by Velazquez’s portraits of her. She was at this time thirteen years - old, and had just been betrothed to the Emperor Leopold, her cousin. - She was married two years later, and died in 1673, at the age of - twenty-two. - -Footnote 267: - - Memoirs of Lady Fanshawe. - -Footnote 268: - - It is related that when Philip was asked if the bodies of the saints - should be brought into his room he said, ‘No, they can intercede in my - favour just as well in the chapel as here.’ - -Footnote 269: - - As soon as Philip breathed his last the Marquis of Malpica, who was on - duty as principal gentleman-in-waiting and captain of the guard, went - to the outer guardroom, and said to the assembled officers: - ‘Companions, there is no more for us to do here. Go up and guard our - King, Charles II.’ Philip had died in one of the lower ground-floor - rooms of the palace. The above account is condensed from a - contemporary unpublished MS. journal of a courtier in the ‘Biblioteca - National,’ c. xxiv. 4. Lady Fanshawe also gives a very precise account - of the lying-in-state, varying in some few details from the MS. - narrative above referred to. - -Footnote 270: - - My diarist gives another instance of the heartless conduct of the - nobles after the King’s death. When the body was to be transferred to - the Escorial each of the chamberlains and officials insisted that it - was not his duty to make the formal surrender, or to help to carry the - corpse. The squabble was only ended by the Duke of Medina ordering his - cousin Montealegre, to do it. - -Footnote 271: - - Fanshawe died in Spain soon after his recall, Lord Sandwich replacing - him to conclude the treaty. See ‘Letters of Earl of Sandwich’ and - ‘Fanshawe’s Letters.’ London. - -Footnote 272: - - An extremely detailed account of the events that accompanied the feud - between Mariana and Don Juan will be found in a rare book called - ‘Relation of the Differences that happened in the Court of Spain.’ - London, 1678. - -Footnote 273: - - Montero de los Rios, ‘Historia de Madrid.’ - -Footnote 274: - - ‘Diario de los Sucesos de la Corte.’ MS. in the Royal Academy of - History, Madrid. - -Footnote 275: - - A full description of the condition of Spain at the period, drawn from - many contemporary sources, is given in ‘Spain, Its Greatness and - Decay,’ by Martin Hume (Cambridge University Press). - -Footnote 276: - - The nobles and leaders were all excommunicated, and not even the - King’s intercession could mollify the Pope until full reparation was - made at tremendous cost, and penance done in most humiliating fashion. - -Footnote 277: - - The contemptible instability of the King is seen in a conversation he - had with the prior of the Escorial the day after Valenzuela’s capture. - The prior had been formerly urged most earnestly by Charles to shelter - and defend the favourite, and a written warrant to that effect was - given. As no written order for his capture was exhibited the Prior - presented himself before the King to explain what had been done. - Before he could speak Charles giggled and said, ‘So they caught him!’ - ‘Yes, sire, they caught him,’ replied the prior. ‘And his wife too?’ - asked the King. ‘His wife is now in Madrid, sire, and I come now to - crave mercy and protection for both of them.’ ‘For his wife but not - for him,’ said Charles. ‘But surely your Majesty will not abandon your - unhappy minister in this sad strait.’ ‘You may take it from me,’ - replied Charles, ‘that a holy woman has had a revelation from God that - Valenzuela was to be captured at the Escorial.’ ‘A revelation of the - devil more likely,’ blurted out the disgusted prior. ‘And pray do not - think, sire, that I am interceding for Valenzuela for interests of my - own: I never got anything from him in the world but this benzoin - lozenge.’ With this Charles jumped back in a fright. ‘Put it away! put - it away!’ he cried. ‘Perhaps it is witchcraft or poison.’ - - (The narrative is from an MS. relation written by one of the monks at - the time, and now in the Escorial Library. Portions of it have been - quoted by Don Modesto Lafuente, ‘Historia de Espana,’ vol. xii.) - -Footnote 278: - - ‘Memoires touchans le mariage de Charles II. avec Marie Louise,’ from - which many of details related in the text concerning the marriage in - France and the journey to the frontier are taken. - -Footnote 279: - - On the return of the Duke of Pastrana to Spain after the marriage at - Fontainebleau, Marie Louise sent by him her first letter to her - husband. I have had the good fortune to come across this hitherto - unpublished letter in the Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid. It is badly - written, in a great smeared school hand, evidently copied from a - draft. I transcribe it here in full: ‘Monseigneur. Je ne puis laisser - partir le duc de Pastrana sans tesmoigner à votre Majesté l’impatience - que j’ai d’avoir l’honneur de la voir. Je suplie en mesme temps votre - Majesté d’estre bien persuadée du respect que j’ai pour elle et de - l’attachement inviolable avec lequel je serai toute ma vie, - Monseigneur, de votre Majesté la tres humble et tres observante, Marie - Louise.’ - -Footnote 280: - - They are described with the minuteness of a milliner’s bill in - ‘Descripcion de las circunstancias esenciales ... en la funcion de los - desposorios del Rey N. S. Don Carlos II.’ Madrid, 1679. - -Footnote 281: - - Mme. D’Aulnoy’s celebrated ‘Voyage D’Espagne’ is usually quoted - largely for local colour in the histories and romances of this period. - I am, however, of opinion that very little credit can be given to it, - so far as the authoress’s own adventures are concerned. I have grave - doubts indeed, whether Mme. D’Aulnoy went to Spain at all. Much of her - information is easily traceable to other books, and the rest, apart - from the love romances that occupy so many of her pages, may well have - been gathered from her cousin, who was married to a Spanish nobleman. - The cousin is represented as a friend of Don Juan, and the - conversation very likely did take place with her, as Mme. D’Aulnoy - represents, though perhaps the latter was not present. - -Footnote 282: - - ‘Voyage d’Espagne.’ La Haye, 1692. - -Footnote 283: - - When he consented to the return of some of Mariana’s friends to Court - he was told that Don Juan would object. ‘What does that matter?’ he - replied. ‘I wish it, and that is enough.’ - -Footnote 284: - - ‘Recueil des Instructions aux Ambassadeurs de France (Espagne).’ - Paris, 1894. - -Footnote 285: - - The leather or damask curtains of the coaches were usually kept closed - except by confessedly immodest women; but on such occasions as these, - they were sometimes opened to satisfy the crowd, who wished to welcome - royal persons. - -Footnote 286: - - ‘Descripcion de las circunstancias,’ etc. Madrid, 1679. - -Footnote 287: - - _Ibid._ - -Footnote 288: - - ‘Semanario Erudito,’ vol. ii., where a pamphlet of the period is - reproduced accusing her of complicity in the murder of her cousin, Don - Diego de Aragon. - -Footnote 289: - - The lively Mme. D’Aulnoy gives a description of a scene previous to - the departure of the young Queen’s household from Madrid. The ladies - had been privately mustered in the Retiro Gardens for the King to see - how they would look mounted when they entered the capital in state - with the Queen. ‘The young ladies of the palace were quite pretty, - but, good God! what figures the Duchess of Terranova and Doña Maria de - Aragon cut. They were both mounted on mules, all bristling and - clanking with silver, and with a great saddle cloth of black velvet, - like those used by physicians on their horses in Paris. They were both - dressed in widows’ weeds, which I have already described to you, both - very ugly and very old, with an air of severity and imperiousness, and - they wore great hats tied on by strings under their chins. There were - twenty gentlemen around them holding them up, for fear they should - fall, though they would never have allowed one to touch them thus - unless they had been in fear of breaking their necks.—‘Voyage - d’Espagne.’ The same authority says that the Duchess of Terranova - alone took with her on the journey, ‘six litters of different coloured - embroidered velvet, and forty mules caparisoned as richly as ever I - have seen.’ - -Footnote 290: - - ‘Letters de Mme. de Villars.’ Paris, 1823. - -Footnote 291: - - Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid, MSS. C., 1–5, transcribed by the present - writer. - -Footnote 292: - - ‘Mémoires de la Cour d’Espagne,’ par M. de Villars. - -Footnote 293: - - ‘Mémoires.’ Villars. - -Footnote 294: - - Lettres de Mme. Villars. - -Footnote 295: - - Mme. D’Aulnoy thus describes the King’s appearance at this first - interview with his bride: ‘I have heard that the Queen was extremely - surprised at his appearance. He had a very short, wide jacket (_just - au corps_) of grey barracan; his breeches were of velvet, and his - stockings of very loose spun silk. He wore a very beautiful cravat - which the Queen had sent him, but it was fastened rather too loosely. - His hair was put behind his ears, and he wore a light grey - hat.’—‘Voyage d’Espagne.’ La Haye, 1692. - -Footnote 296: - - A note on a previous page explains the reason why these small villages - were chosen for the marriage ceremonies of the Kings of Spain. - -Footnote 297: - - ‘Mémoires.’ Villars. - -Footnote 298: - - It will be seen that the sprightly letter-writer indulges here in an - untranslatable pun. The carriage was without glass = glace, and she - hoped the occupants would be without ice = glace. - -Footnote 299: - - Writing of this period, Mme. D’Aulnoy, who professes to have been in - Madrid at the time, says that the Marchioness de la Fuente told her - that: ‘the Queen had been much upset at the roughness of the Mistress - of the Robes, who, seeing that her Majesty’s hair did not lie flat on - the forehead, spat into her hand and approached for the purpose of - sticking the straying lock down with saliva. The Queen resented this - warmly, and rubbed hard with her pocket handkerchief upon the spot - where this old woman had so dirtily wetted her forehead.... It is - really quite pitiable the way this old Mistress of the Robes treats - the Queen. I know for a fact that she will not allow her to have a - single hair curled, and forbids her to go near a window or speak to a - soul.’—‘Voyage d’Espagne.’ - -Footnote 300: - - It was a hooped skirt of peculiar shape, fashionable in Spain, called - a _guardainfante_, of which a specimen may be seen in the portrait of - Mariana in the present volume. - -Footnote 301: - - ‘Lettre de Mme. Villars à Mme. Coulange,’ 15th December 1679. - -Footnote 302: - - Nouvelle relation de la magnifique et royale entrée ... à Madrid par - Marie Louise,’ etc. Paris, 1680. - -Footnote 303: - - ‘Mémoires de la Cour d’Espagne.’ Villars. - -Footnote 304: - - Lettres de Mme. Villars à Mme. Coulange. - -Footnote 305: - - ‘Voyage d’Espagne,’ Mme. D’Aulnoy. For the amount of credit to be - given to Mme. D’Aulnoy, see note on a previous page. - -Footnote 306: - - _Gabacho_ is an opprobrious term applied to Frenchmen in Spain. - -Footnote 307: - - ‘Mémoires de la Cour d’Espagne.’ Villars. - -Footnote 308: - - Mme. D’Aulnoy in her own Mémoires tells a curious though doubtful - story of these perroquets of which Marie Louise was so fond. They had - been brought from Paris, and the few sentences they had been taught - were in French, so that the Duchess of Terranova thought herself - justified in having them killed. When the Queen asked for them and - learnt their fate she said nothing: but when next the Mistress of the - Robes came to kiss her hand Marie Louise gave her two good sound slaps - on the face instead. When the indignant Duchess with all her followers - went in a rage to demand redress of the King, Marie Louise excused - herself by saying that she gave the slaps overcome by the irresistible - influence of a pregnant woman. This flattered the King and she was - absolved. - -Footnote 309: - - ‘Mémoires de la Cour d’Espagne.’ Villars. - -Footnote 310: - - ‘Mémoires de la Cour d’Espagne.’ Villars. Even so, she was not allowed - to mount her horses from the ground, but had to be driven in her coach - to the place and mount the horse from the step of the carriage. One of - her horses being very high spirited resented on one occasion this - strange performance, and the Queen was thrown to the ground, much to - her husband’s alarm. No one, it appears, dared to touch the Queen, - even to raise her from the ground, until Charles had sufficiently - recovered from the shock to do so himself. (Mme. D’Aulnoy.) - -Footnote 311: - - ‘Mémoires.’ Villars. - -Footnote 312: - - ‘Mémoires de la Cour d’Espagne.’ Villars. - -Footnote 313: - - ‘Recueil des Instructions aux ambassadeurs de France.’ Paris, 1894. - -Footnote 314: - - In January 1685 the Duke of Montalto in Madrid wrote to Pedro - Ronquillo, the ambassador in London. ‘The King attends to nothing but - his hunting pastimes, and the Queen in tiring horses, as if she were a - skilled horse-breaker. That is a pretty way to become pregnant! In - short, my dear sir, it is quite clear that God determines to punish us - on every side.’ Writing again, a month later (28th February), the same - correspondent, after vilifying the Medina Celi government, says: - ‘Neither the things in the palace or anywhere else here improve. It - looks, on the contrary, as if the devil himself had taken them in - hand. Medina Celi is very placid over it, and cares only for himself; - the King has been wolf-hunting for a week thirty miles off, and there - would be no harm in that if he would only despatch business. As for - the Queen, Medina Celi positively encourages her in her pranks so as - to be able to hold on to office by her. He does not care so long as - others have to pay.’ Both the correspondents, it is needless to say, - belonged to Mariana’s party. ‘Doc. Ined.,’ lxxix. - -Footnote 315: - - There was a document found in Marie Louise’s cabinet after her death, - which purported to be a political guide, written to her at this period - by Louis XIV. In this cynical document the Queen is advised how to - gain advantage from the King’s weakness and ineptitude, and how to - obtain control of him. She is to maintain an attitude between - complaint and friendship with the Queen-Mother, but to be very wary - with regard to her: she is advised to maintain Oropesa in the - ministry, but not to trust him, or to allow him more power than he - had. She is to continue to introduce French fashions, manners, etc., - in the palace; and advice is given her as to how she should treat all - the principal nobles. The manuscript concludes: ‘Withdraw this paper - into your most secret keeping. Live for yourself and for your beloved - France. In Spain they do not love you, as you know, and they do not - fear you either, for faint hearts easily conceive suspicions, and - strength is not needed to commit a cruelty.’ The original document is - in the Bibliotéca Nacional, Madrid (H. II), and there is a Spanish - translation of it in MSS. Add. 15,193, British Museum. The document - has usually been assumed to be authentic, but I am rather inclined to - regard it as one of the many means employed to blacken the French - cause after Marie Louise’s death. - -Footnote 316: - - To the French ambassador who was in Spain in 1688, the Count de - Rebenac, she gave the most intimate detailed reasons for her lack of - issue connected with the constitution of the King. Rebenac repeated - these confidences in his letters to Louis. - -Footnote 317: - - Mme. Quantin was a widow. It has been explained that all the ladies in - the palace had to be maids or widows. - -Footnote 318: - - ‘Doc. Ined.,’ lxxix. - -Footnote 319: - - ‘Doc. Ined.,’ lxxix. - -Footnote 320: - - _Ibid._ - -Footnote 321: - - MSS. of Father Léonard in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. Quoted by - Morel Fatio in ‘Mémoires de la Cour d’Espagne.’ - -Footnote 322: - - This was Susanne Duperroy, to whom Marie Louise left 3,000 doubloons - in her will. Mme. Quantin herself received a legacy of 4,000 from the - Queen. - -Footnote 323: - - ‘Doc. Ined.,’ lxxix. - -Footnote 324: - - The letter is in the Archives of the Ministère des Affaires - Étrangères, Paris, vol. 71. It has been transcribed by M. Morel Fatio. - -Footnote 325: - - ‘Recueil des Instructions aux Ambassadeurs Français,’ Paris, 1894, and - ‘Correspondance de Rebenac, Archives du Ministère des Affaires - Etrangères.’ - -Footnote 326: - - The tragic end of the Queen so distressed the French ambassador - Rebenac that for a time he lost his reason after attending the funeral - ceremony. In his subsequent correspondence with the King of France he - made no secret of his belief that she had been murdered. The Duchess - of Orleans, the Queen’s stepmother, thus refers to Rebenac’s - statements in her correspondence: ‘Rebenac’s feelings have done no - wrong to our young Queen of Spain. It is the sharp-nosed Count of - Mansfeldt who poisoned her.’ De Torcy, in his ‘Mémoires,’ says: ‘The - Count of Mansfeldt and Count Oropesa are both suspected of having been - the authors of Marie Louise’s death, and take little care to exonerate - themselves. The Marquis de Louville, in his ‘Mémoires,’ also - distinctly states that the Queen was poisoned, and several other - contemporary French authorities are no less certain. - -Footnote 327: - - The jewels taken by Count Benavente from Charles was valued at 180,000 - crowns, and Mariana’s gift to her daughter-in-law 30,000. - -Footnote 328: - - Stanhope Correspondence in Lord Mahon’s ‘Spain under Charles II.‘ - -Footnote 329: - - ‘Reinas Catolicas,’ Father Florez. - -Footnote 330: - - Stanhope Correspondence. - -Footnote 331: - - ‘Modesto Lafuente Historia de España.’ - -Footnote 332: - - Stanhope Correspondence. - -Footnote 333: - - Stanhope says: ‘Our new junta, which raised so great expectations, at - first, is now grown almost a jest; especially since, at the time they - took away all pensions from poor widows and orphans, the Duke of - Osuna, one of the richest men in Spain, procured himself a pension of - 6000 crowns a year for life, by intercession of the confessor.’ - -Footnote 334: - - ‘Recueil des Instructions,’ etc. - -Footnote 335: - - Stanhope Correspondence, 3rd May 1696. - -Footnote 336: - - Stanhope reports, ‘There is now great noise of a miracle done by a - piece of a waistcoat she died in, on an old lame nun, who, in great - faith, earnestly desired it, and no sooner applied it to her lips, but - she was perfectly well and threw away her crutches. This, with some - other stories that will not be wanting, may in time grow up to a - canonisation.’ Correspondence in ‘Spain under Charles II.‘ - -Footnote 337: - - His recovery from this attack was attributed to the body of St. Diego, - which was brought to his bed; and when the King got better, amidst the - great rejoicings and bullfights to celebrate the miracle, Charles and - his wife spent some days at Alcalá worshipping the grim - relic.—_Stanhope._ - -Footnote 338: - - Stanhope Correspondence.—_Mahon._ - -Footnote 339: - - The Admiral of Castile, who was the Queen’s most ostentatious - champion, though she often quarrelled with him, was really betraying - her all the time (‘Recueil des Instructions’). - -Footnote 340: - - The account here given is taken mainly from a contemporary MS., - written by an officer of the Inquisition and an adherent of - Portocarrero, in the British Museum, Add. 10,241: and from another - account printed in Madrid, 1787. - -Footnote 341: - - ‘Stanhope Correspondence,’ _Mahon_, 11th June 1698. - -Footnote 342: - - Every detail of the correspondence will be found in the MSS. already - referred to, and, in English, in ‘The Exorcism of Charles the - Bewitched,’ in ‘The Year after the Armada,’ etc., by the present - writer. - -Footnote 343: - - MSS. account already referred to. British Museum MSS., Add. 10,241. - -Footnote 344: - - This struggle, which cannot be described here, is fully narrated in - ‘The Exorcism of Charles the Bewitched’ (‘Year After the Armada’), by - Martin Hume. - -Footnote 345: - - Stanhope Correspondence.—_Mahon._ - -Footnote 346: - - Stanhope Correspondence.—_Mahon._ - -Footnote 347: - - There is no doubt whatever that the French claim through Maria Theresa - and Anna of Austria, Queens of France, was the legitimate one, and - that the Emperor had no valid right by Spanish law. - - - Printed by T. and A. CONSTABLE, Printers to His Majesty at the Edinburgh - University Press. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES - - - 1. P. 171, changed “1906” to “1506”. - 2. P. 353, changed “1543” to “1643”. - 3. P. 433, changed “amoreux” to “amoureux”. - 4. P. 448, changed “1580” to “1680”. - 5. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling. - 6. Archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings retained as printed. - 7. Footnotes were re-indexed using numbers and collected together at - the end of the last chapter. - 8. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_. - 9. 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