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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/6968-8.txt b/6968-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b2f1960 --- /dev/null +++ b/6968-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,16327 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The History of the Reign of Ferdinand +and Isabella The Catholic, Vol. 3, by William H. Prescott +#4 in our series by William H. Prescott + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella The Catholic, V3 + +Author: William H. Prescott + +Release Date: November, 2004 [EBook #6968] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on February 18, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: Latin-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FERDINAND AND ISABELLA, VOL. 3 *** + + + + +This eBook was produced by: Anne Soulard, Tiffany Vergon, +Charles Aldarondo and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +HISTORY OF THE REIGN OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA, THE CATHOLIC. + +BY +WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT. + +IN THREE VOLUMES. +VOL. III. + + + + +CONTENTS OF VOLUME III. + + +PART SECOND. [CONTINUED.] + +CHAPTER X + ITALIAN WARS.--PARTITION OF NAPLES.--GONSALVO OVERRUNS CALABRIA. + LOUIS XII.'S DESIGNS ON ITALY + POLITICS OF THAT COUNTRY + THE FRENCH CONQUER MILAN + ALARM OF THE SPANISH COURT + REMONSTRANCE TO THE POPE + BOLDNESS OF GARCILASSO DE LA VEGA + NEGOTIATIONS WITH VENICE AND THE EMPEROR + LOUIS OPENLY MENACES NAPLES + VIEWS OF FERDINAND + FLEET FITTED OUT UNDER GONSALVO DE CORDOVA + PARTITION OF NAPLES + GROUND OF FERDINAND'S CLAIM + GONSALVO SAILS AGAINST THE TURKS + STORMING OF ST. GEORGE + HONORS PAID TO GONSALVO + THE POPE CONFIRMS THE PARTITION + ASTONISHMENT OF ITALY + SUCCESS AND CRUELTIES OF THE FRENCH + FATE OF FREDERIC + GONSALVO INVADES CALABRIA + INVESTS TARENTO + DISCONTENTS IN THE ARMY + MUNIFICENCE OF GONSALVO + HE PUNISHES A MUTINY + BOLDER PLAN OF ATTACK + TARENTO SURRENDERS + PERJURY OF GONSALVO + +CHAPTER XI. + ITALIAN WARS.--RUPTURE WITH FRANCE.--GONSALVO BESIEGED IN BARLETA. + MUTUAL DISTRUST OF THE FRENCH AND SPANIARDS + CAUSE OF RUPTURE + THE FRENCH BEGIN HOSTILITIES + THE ITALIANS FAVOR THEM + THE FRENCH ARMY + INFERIORITY OF THE SPANIARDS + GONSALVO RETIRES TO BARLETA + SIEGE OF CANOSA + CHIVALROUS CHARACTER OF THE WAR + TOURNAMENT NEAR TRANI + DUEL BETWEEN BAYARD AND SOTOMAYOR + DISTRESS OF THE SPANIARDS + SPIRIT OF GONSALVO + THE FRENCH REDUCE CALABRIA + CONSTANCY OF THE SPANIARDS + NEMOURS DEFIES THE SPANIARDS + ROUT OF THE FRENCH REAR-GUARD + ARRIVAL OF SUPPLIES + DESIGN ON RUVO + GONSALVO STORMS AND TAKES IT + HIS TREATMENT OF THE PRISONERS + PREPARES TO LEAVE BARLETA + +CHAPTER XII. + ITALIAN WARS.--NEGOTIATIONS WITH FRANCE.--VICTORY OF CERIGNOLA.-- + SURRENDER OF NAPLES. + BIRTH OF CHARLES V + PHILIP AND JOANNA VISIT SPAIN + RECOGNIZED BY CORTES + PHILIP'S DISCONTENT + LEAVES SPAIN FOR FRANCE + NEGOTIATES A TREATY WITH LOUIS XII + TREATY OF LYONS + THE GREAT CAPTAIN REFUSES TO COMPLY WITH IT + MARCHES OUT OF BARLETA + DISTRESS OF THE TROOPS + ENCAMPS BEFORE CERIGNOLA + NEMOURS PURSUES + THE SPANISH FORCES + THE FRENCH FORCES + BATTLE OF CERIGNOLA + DEATH OF NEMOURS + ROUT OF THE FRENCH + THEIR LOSS + PURSUIT OF THE ENEMY + D'AUBIGNY DEFEATED + SUBMISSION OF NAPLES + TRIUMPHANT ENTRY OF GONSALVO + FORTRESSES OF NAPLES + CASTEL NUOVO STORMED + NEARLY ALL THE KINGDOM REDUCED + +CHAPTER XIII. + NEGOTIATIONS WITH FRANCE--UNSUCCESSFUL INVASION OF SPAIN.--TRUCE. + TREATY OF LYONS + REJECTED BY FERDINAND + HIS POLICY EXAMINED + JOANNA'S DESPONDENCY + FIRST SYMPTOMS OF HER INSANITY + THE QUEEN HASTENS TO HER + ISABELLA'S DISTRESS + HER ILLNESS AND FORTITUDE + THE FRENCH INVADE SPAIN + SIEGE OF SALSAS + ISABELLA'S EXERTIONS + FERDINAND'S SUCCESSES + TRUCE WITH FRANCE + REFLECTIONS ON THE CAMPAIGN + IMPEDIMENTS TO HISTORIC ACCURACY + SPECULATIVE WRITERS + +CHAPTER XIV. + ITALIAN WARS.--CONDITION OF ITALY.--FRENCH AND SPANISH ARMIES ON THE + GARIGLIANO. + MELANCHOLY CONDITION OF ITALY + VIEWS OF THE ITALIAN STATES + OF THE EMPEROR + GREAT PREPARATIONS OF LOUIS XII + DEATH OF ALEXANDER VI + ELECTIONEERING INTRIGUES + JULIUS II + GONSALVO REPULSED BEFORE GAETA + STRENGTH OF HIS FORCES + OCCUPIES SAN GERMANO + THE FRENCH ENCAMP ON THE GARIGLIANO + PASSAGE OF THE BRIDGE + DESPERATE RESISTANCE + THE FRENCH RESUME THEIR QUARTERS + ANXIOUS EXPECTATION OF ITALY + GONSALVO STRENGTHENS HIS POSITION + GREAT DISTRESS OF THE ARMY + GONSALVO'S RESOLUTION + REMARKABLE INSTANCE OF IT + PATIENCE OF THE SPANIARDS + SITUATION OF THE FRENCH + THEIR INSUBORDINATION + SALUZZO TAKES THE COMMAND + HEROISM OF PAREDES AND BAYARD + +CHAPTER XV. + ITALIAN WARS.--ROUT OF THE GARIGLIANO.--TREATY WITH FRANCE.--GONSALVO'S + MILITARY CONDUCT. + GONSALVO SECURES THE ORSINI + ASSUMES THE OFFENSIVE + PLAN OF ATTACK + CONSTERNATION OF THE FRENCH + THEY RETREAT ON GAETA + ACTION AT THE BRIDGE OF MOLA + HOTLY CONTESTED + ARRIVAL OF THE SPANISH REAR + THE FRENCH ROUTED + THEIR LOSS + GALLANTRY OF THEIR CHIVALRY + CAPITULATION OF GAETA + GONSALVO'S COURTESY + CHAGRIN OF LOUIS XII + SUFFERINGS OF THE FRENCH + THE SPANIARDS OCCUPY GAETA + PUBLIC ENTHUSIASM EXTORTIONS OF THE SPANISH TROOPS + GONSALVO'S LIBERALITY TO HIS OFFICERS + APPREHENSIONS OF LOUIS XII + TREATY WITH FRANCE + GALLANTRY OF LOUIS D'ARS + CAUSES OF THE FRENCH FAILURES + REVIEW OF GONSALVO'S CONDUCT + HIS REFORM OF THE SERVICE + INFLUENCE OVER THE ARMY + HIS CONFIDENCE IN THEIR CHARACTER + POSITION OF THE ARMY + RESULTS OF THE CAMPAIGNS + MEMOIRS OF GONSALVO DE CORDOVA + FRENCH CHRONICLES + +CHAPTER XVI. + ILLNESS AND DEATH OF ISABELLA.--HER CHARACTER. + DECLINE OF THE QUEEN'S HEALTH + MAD CONDUCT OF JOANNA + THE QUEEN SEIZED WITH A FEVER + RETAINS HER ENERGIES + ALARM OF THE NATION + HER TESTAMENT + SETTLES THE SUCCESSION + FERDINAND NAMED REGENT + PROVISION FOR HIM + HER CODICIL + SHE FAILS RAPIDLY + HER RESIGNATION AND DEATH + HER REMAINS TRANSPORTED TO GRANADA + LAID IN THE ALHAMBRA + ISABELLA'S PERSON + HER MANNERS + HER MAGNANIMITY + HER PIETY + HER BIGOTRY + COMMON TO HER AGE + AND LATER TIMES + HER STRENGTH OF PRINCIPLE + HER PRACTICAL SENSE + HER UNWEARIED ACTIVITY + HER COURAGE + HER SENSIBILITY + PARALLEL WITH QUEEN ELIZABETH + UNIVERSAL HOMAGE TO HER VIRTUES + +CHAPTER XVII. + FERDINAND REGENT.--HIS SECOND MARRIAGE.--DISSENSIONS WITH PHILIP.-- + RESIGNATION OF THE REGENCY. + PHILIP AND JOANNA PROCLAIMED + DISCONTENT OF THE NOBLES + DON JUAN MANUEL + PHILIP'S PRETENSIONS + HIS PARTY INCREASES + HE TAMPERS WITH GONSALVO DE CORDOVA + FERDINAND'S PERPLEXITIES + PROPOSALS FOR A SECOND MARRIAGE + POLICY OF LOUIS XII + TREATY WITH FRANCE + ITS IMPOLICY + CONCORD OR SALAMANCA + PHILIP AND JOANNA EMBARK + REACH CORUÑA + PHILIP JOINED BY THE NOBLES + HIS CHARACTER + FERDINAND UNPOPULAR + INTERVIEW WITH PHILIP + COURTEOUS DEPORTMENT OF FERDINAND + PHILIP'S DISTRUST + FERDINAND RESIGNS THE REGENCY + HIS PRIVATE PROTEST + HIS MOTIVES + SECOND INTERVIEW + DEPARTURE OF FERDINAND + AUTHORITIES FOR THE ACCOUNT OF PHILIP + +CHAPTER XVIII. + COLUMBUS.--HIS RETURN TO SPAIN.--HIS DEATH. + COLUMBUS'S LAST VOYAGE + HE LEARNS ISABELLA'S DEATH + HIS ILLNESS + HE VISITS THE COURT + FERDINAND'S UNJUST TREATMENT OF HIM + HE DECLINES IN HEALTH AND SPIRITS + HIS DEATH + HIS PERSON AND HABITS + HIS ENTHUSIASM + HIS LOFTY CHARACTER + +CHAPTER XIX. + REIGN AND DEATH OF PHILIP I.--PROCEEDINGS IN CASTILE.--FERDINAND VISITS + NAPLES. + PHILIP AND JOANNA + PHILIP'S ARBITRARY GOVERNMENT + RECKLESS EXTRAVAGANCE + TROUBLES FROM THE INQUISITION + FERDINAND'S DISTRUST OF GONSALVO + HE SAILS FOR NAPLES + GONSALVO'S LOYALTY + DEATH OF PHILIP + HIS CHARACTER + PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT + JOANNA'S CONDITION + CONVOCATION OF CORTES + FERDINAND RECEIVED WITH ENTHUSIASM + HIS ENTRY INTO NAPLES + RESTORES THE ANGEVINS + GENERAL DISSATISFACTION + +CHAPTER XX. + FERDINAND'S RETURN AND REGENCY.--GONSALVO'S HONORS AND RETIREMENT. + MEETING OF CORTES + JOANNA'S INSANE CONDUCT + SHE CHANGES HER MINISTERS + DISORDERLY STATE OF CASTILE + DISTRESS OF THE KINGDOM + FERDINAND'S POLITIC BEHAVIOR + HE LEAVES NAPLES + GONSALVO DE CORDOVA + GRIEF OF THE NEAPOLITANS + BRILLIANT INTERVIEW OF FERDINAND AND LOUIS + COMPLIMENTS TO GONSALVO + THE KING'S RECEPTION IN CASTILE + JOANNA'S RETIREMENT + IRREGULARITY OF FERDINAND'S PROCEEDINGS + GENERAL AMNESTY + HE ESTABLISHES A GUARD + HIS EXCESSIVE SEVERITY + DISGUST OF THE NOBLES + GONSALVO'S PROGRESS THROUGH THE COUNTRY + FERDINAND BREAKS HIS WORD + THE QUEEN'S COOLNESS + GONSALVO WITHDRAWS FROM COURT + SPLENDOR OF HIS RETIREMENT + +CHAPTER XXI. + XIMENES.--CONQUESTS IN AFRICA.--UNIVERSITY OF ALCALA--POLYGLOT BIBLE. + POLICY OF FERDINAND'S SEVERITY + ENTHUSIASM OF XIMENES + HIS DESIGNS AGAINST ORAN + HIS WARLIKE PREPARATIONS + HIS PERSEVERANCE + SENDS AN ARMY TO AFRICA + ADDRESSES THE TROOPS + THE COMMAND LEFT TO NAVARRO + BATTLE BEFORE ORAN + THE CITY STORMED + MOORISH LOSS + XIMENES ENTERS ORAN + OPPOSITION OF HIS GENERAL + HIS DISTRUST OF FERDINAND + XIMENES RETURNS TO SPAIN + REFUSES PUBLIC HONORS + NAVARRO'S AFRICAN CONQUESTS + COLLEGE OF XIMENES AT ALCALA + ITS MAGNIFICENCE + PROVISIONS FOR EDUCATION + THE KING VISITS THE UNIVERSITY + POLYGLOT EDITION OF THE BIBLE + DIFFICULTIES OF THE TASK + GRAND PROJECTS OF XIMENES + +CHAPTER XXII. + WARS AND POLITICS OF ITALY. + PROJECTS AGAINST VENICE + LEAGUE OF CAMBRAY + ITS ORIGIN + LOUIS XII. INVADES ITALY 01 + RESOLUTION OF VENICE + ALARM OF FERDINAND + INVESTITURE OF NAPLES + HOLY LEAGUE + GASTON DE FOIX + BATTLE OF RAVENNA + DEATH OF GASTON DE FOIX + HIS CHARACTER + THE FRENCH RETREAT + VENICE DISGUSTED + BATTLE OF NOVARA + OF LA MOTTA + THE SPANIARDS VICTORIOUS + DARU'S "HISTOIRE DE VENISE" + +CHAPTER XXIII. + CONQUEST OF NAVARRE. + SOVEREIGNS OF NAVARRE + DISTRUST OF SPAIN + NEGOTIATIONS WITH FRANCE + FERDINAND DEMANDS A PASSAGE + NAVARRE ALLIED TO FRANCE + INVADED BY ALVA + AND CONQUERED + CHARACTER OF JEAN D'ALBRET + DISCONTENT OF THE ENGLISH + DISCOMFITURE OF THE FRENCH + TREATY OF ORTHES + FERDINAND SETTLES HIS CONQUESTS + UNITED WITH CASTILE + THE KING'S CONDUCT EXAMINED + RIGHT OF PASSAGE + IMPRUDENCE OF NAVARRE + IT AUTHORIZES WAR + GROSS ABUSE OF VICTORY + AUTHORITIES FOR THE HISTORY OF NAVARRE + +CHAPTER XXIV. + DEATH OF GONSALVO DE CORDOVA.--ILLNESS AND DEATH OF FERDINAND.--HIS + CHARACTER. + MAXIMILIAN'S PRETENSIONS + GONSALVO ORDERED TO ITALY + GENERAL ENTHUSIASM + THE KING'S DISTRUST + GONSALVO GOES INTO RETIREMENT + THE KING'S DESIRE FOR CHILDREN + DECLINE OF HIS HEALTH + GONSALVO'S ILLNESS AND DEATH + PUBLIC GRIEF + HIS CHARACTER + HIS PRIVATE VIRTUES HIS WANT OF FAITH + HIS LOYALTY + FERDINAND'S ILLNESS INCREASES + HIS INSENSIBILITY TO HIS SITUATION + HIS LAST HOURS + HIS DEATH AND TESTAMENT + HIS BODY TRANSPORTED TO GRANADA + HIS PERSON AND CHARACTER + HIS TEMPERANCE AND ECONOMY + HIS BIGOTRY + ACCUSED OF HYPOCRISY + HIS PERFIDY + HIS SHREWD POLICY + HIS INSENSIBILITY + CONTRAST WITH ISABELLA + GLOOMY CLOSE OF HIS LIFE + HIS KINGLY QUALITIES + JUDGMENT OF HIS CONTEMPORARIES + +CHAPTER XXV. + ADMINISTRATION, DEATH, AND CHARACTER OF CARDINAL XIMENES. + DISPUTES RESPECTING THE REGENCY + CHARLES PROCLAIMED KING + ANECDOTE OF XIMENES + HIS MILITARY ORDINANCE + HIS DOMESTIC POLICY + HIS FOREIGN POLICY + ASSUMES THE SOLE POWER + INTIMIDATES THE NOBLES + PUBLIC DISCONTENTS + TREATY OF NOYON + CHARLES LANDS IN SPAIN + HIS UNGRATEFUL LETTER + THE CARDINAL'S LAST ILLNESS + HIS DEATH + HIS CHARACTER + HIS VERSATILITY OF TALENT + HIS DESPOTIC GOVERNMENT + HIS MORAL PRINCIPLE + HIS DISINTERESTEDNESS + HIS MONASTIC AUSTERITIES + HIS ECONOMY OF TIME + HIS PERSON + PARALLEL WITH RICHELIEU + NOTICE OF GALINDEZ DE CARBAJAL + +CHAPTER XXVI. + GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. + POLICY OF THE CROWN + DEPRESSION OF THE NOBLES + THEIR GREAT POWER + TREATMENT OF THE CHURCH + CARE OF MORALS + STATE OF THE COMMONS + THEIR CONSIDERATION + ROYAL ORDINANCES + ARBITRARY MEASURES OF FERDINAND + ADVANCEMENT OF PREROGATIVE + LEGAL COMPILATIONS + ORGANIZATION OF COUNCILS + LEGAL PROFESSION ADVANCED + CHARACTER OF THE LAWS + ERRONEOUS PRINCIPLES OF LEGISLATION + PRINCIPAL EXPORTS + MANUFACTURES + AGRICULTURE + ECONOMICAL POLICY + INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS + INCREASE OF EMPIRE + GOVERNMENT OF NAPLES + REVENUES FROM THE INDIES + SPIRIT OF ADVENTURE + PROGRESS OF DISCOVERY + EXCESSES OF THE SPANIARDS + SLAVERY IN THE COLONIES + COLONIAL ADMINISTRATION + GENERAL PROSPERITY + PUBLIC EMBELLISHMENTS + AUGMENTATION OF REVENUE + INCREASE OF POPULATION + PATRIOTIC PRINCIPLE + CHIVALROUS SPIRIT OF THE PEOPLE + SPIRIT OF BIGOTRY + BENEFICENT IMPULSE + THE PERIOD OF NATIONAL GLORY + + + + +PART SECOND. [CONTINUED.] + + +CHAPTER X. + +ITALIAN WARS.--PARTITION OF NAPLES.--GONSALVO OVERRUNS CALABRIA. + +1498-1502. + +Louis XII.'s Designs on Italy.--Alarm of the Spanish Court.--Bold Conduct +of its Minister at Rome.--Celebrated Partition of Naples.--Gonsalvo Sails +against the Turks.--Success and Cruelties of the French.--Gonsalvo Invades +Calabria.--He Punishes a Mutiny.--His Munificent Spirit.--He Captures +Tarento.--Seizes the Duke of Calabria. + + +During the last four years of our narrative, in which the unsettled state +of the kingdom and the progress of foreign discovery appeared to demand +the whole attention of the sovereigns, a most important revolution was +going forward in the affairs of Italy. The death of Charles the Eighth +would seem to have dissolved the relations recently arisen between that +country and the rest of Europe, and to have restored it to its ancient +independence. It might naturally have been expected that France, under her +new monarch, who had reached a mature age, rendered still more mature by +the lessons he had received in the school of adversity, would feel the +folly of reviving ambitious schemes, which had cost so dear and ended so +disastrously. Italy, too, it might have been presumed, lacerated and still +bleeding at every pore, would have learned the fatal consequence of +invoking foreign aid in her domestic quarrels, and of throwing open the +gates to a torrent, sure to sweep down friend and foe indiscriminately in +its progress. But experience, alas! did not bring wisdom, and passion +triumphed as usual. + +Louis the Twelfth, on ascending the throne, assumed the titles of Duke of +Milan and King of Naples, thus unequivocally announcing his intention of +asserting his claims, derived through the Visconti family, to the former, +and through the Angevin dynasty, to the latter state. His aspiring temper +was stimulated rather than satisfied by the martial renown he had acquired +in the Italian wars; and he was urged on by the great body of the French +chivalry, who, disgusted with a life of inaction, longed for a field where +they might win new laurels, and indulge in the joyous license of military +adventure. + +Unhappily, the court of France found ready instruments for its purpose in +the profligate politicians of Italy. The Roman pontiff, in particular, +Alexander the Sixth, whose criminal ambition assumes something respectable +by contrast with the low vices in which he was habitually steeped, +willingly lent himself to a monarch, who could so effectually serve his +selfish schemes of building up the fortunes of his family. The ancient +republic of Venice, departing from her usual sagacious policy, and +yielding to her hatred of Lodovico Sforza, and to the lust of territorial +acquisition, consented to unite her arms with those of France against +Milan, in consideration of a share (not the lion's share) of the spoils of +victory. Florence, and many other inferior powers, whether from fear or +weakness, or the short-sighted hope of assistance in their petty +international feuds, consented either to throw their weight into the same +scale, or to remain neutral. [1] + +Having thus secured himself from molestation in Italy, Louis the Twelfth +entered into negotiations with such other European powers, as were most +likely to interfere with his designs. The emperor Maximilian, whose +relations with Milan would most naturally have demanded his interposition, +was deeply entangled in a war with the Swiss. The neutrality of Spain was +secured by the treaty of Marcoussis, August 5th, 1498, which settled all +the existing differences with that country. And a treaty with Savoy in the +following year guaranteed a free passage through her mountain passes to +the French army into Italy. [2] + +Having completed these arrangements, Louis lost no time in mustering his +forces, which, descending like a torrent on the fair plains of Lombardy, +effected the conquest of the entire duchy in little more than a fortnight; +and, although the prize was snatched for a moment from his grasp, yet +French valor and Swiss perfidy soon restored it. The miserable Sforza, the +dupe of arts which he had so long practised, was transported into France, +where he lingered out the remainder of his days in doleful captivity. He +had first called the _barbarians_ into Italy, and it was a righteous +retribution which made him their earliest victim. [3] + +By the conquest of Milan, France now took her place among the Italian +powers. A preponderating weight was thus thrown into the scale, which +disturbed the ancient political balance, and which, if the projects on +Naples should be realized, would wholly annihilate it. These consequences, +to which the Italian states seemed strangely insensible, had long been +foreseen by the sagacious eye of Ferdinand the Catholic, who watched the +movements of his powerful neighbor with the deepest anxiety. He had +endeavored, before the invasion of Milan, to awaken the different +governments in Italy to a sense of their danger, and to stir them up to +some efficient combination against it. [4] Both he and the queen had +beheld with disquietude the increasing corruptions of the papal court, and +that shameless cupidity and lust of power, which made it the convenient +tool of the French monarch. + +By their orders, Garcilasso de la Vega, the Spanish ambassador, read a +letter from his sovereigns in the presence of his Holiness, commenting on +his scandalous immorality, his invasion of ecclesiastical rights +appertaining to the Spanish crown, his schemes of selfish aggrandizement, +and especially his avowed purpose of transferring his son Caesar Borgia, +from a sacred to a secular dignity; a circumstance that must necessarily +make him, from the manner in which it was to be conducted, the instrument +of Louis the Twelfth. [5] + +This unsavory rebuke, which probably lost nothing of its pungency from the +tone in which it was delivered, so incensed the pope that he attempted to +seize the paper and tear it in pieces, giving vent at the same time to the +most indecent reproaches against the minister and his sovereigns. +Garcilasso coolly waited till the storm had subsided, and then replied +undauntedly, "That he had uttered no more than became a loyal subject of +Castile; that he should never shrink from declaring freely what his +sovereigns commanded, or what he conceived to be for the good of +Christendom; and, if his Holiness were displeased with it, he could +dismiss him from his court, where he was convinced, indeed, his residence +could be no longer useful." [6] + +Ferdinand had no better fortune at Venice, where his negotiations were +conducted by Lorenzo Suarez de la Vega, an adroit diplomatist, brother of +Garcilasso. [7] These negotiations were resumed after the occupation of +Milan by the French, when the minister availed himself of the jealousy +occasioned by that event to excite a determined resistance to the proposed +aggression on Naples. But the republic was too sorely pressed by the +Turkish war,--which Sforza, in the hope of creating a diversion in his own +favor, had brought on his country,--to allow leisure for other operations. +Nor did the Spanish court succeed any better at this crisis with the +emperor Maximilian, whose magnificent pretensions were ridiculously +contrasted with his limited authority, and still more limited revenues, so +scanty, indeed, as to gain him the contemptuous epithet among the Italians +of _pochi denari_, or "the Moneyless." He had conceived himself, indeed, +greatly injured, both on the score of his imperial rights and his +connection with Sforza, by the conquest of Milan; but, with the levity and +cupidity essential to his character, he suffered himself, notwithstanding +the remonstrances of the Spanish court, to be bribed into a truce with +King Louis, which gave the latter full scope for his meditated enterprise +on Naples. [8] + +Thus disembarrassed of the most formidable means of annoyance, the French +monarch went briskly forward with his preparations, the object of which he +did not affect to conceal. Frederic, the unfortunate king of Naples, saw +himself with dismay now menaced with the loss of empire, before he had +time to taste the sweets of it. He knew not where to turn for refuge, in +his desolate condition, from the impending storm. His treasury was +drained, and his kingdom wasted, by the late war. His subjects, although +attached to his person, were too familiar with revolutions to stake their +lives or fortunes on the cast. His countrymen, the Italians, were in the +interest of his enemy; and his nearest neighbor, the pope, had drawn from +personal pique motives for the most deadly hostility. [9] He had as little +reliance on the king of Spain, his natural ally and kinsman, who, he well +knew, had always regarded the crown of Naples as his own rightful +inheritance. He resolved, therefore, to apply at once to the French +monarch; and he endeavored to propitiate him by the most humiliating +concessions,--the offer of an annual tribute, and the surrender into his +hands of some of the principal fortresses in the kingdom. Finding these +advances coldly received, he invoked, in the extremity of his distress, +the aid of the Turkish sultan, Bajazet, the terror of Christendom, +requesting such supplies of troops as should enable him to make head +against their common foe. This desperate step produced no other result +than that of furnishing the enemies of the unhappy prince with a plausible +ground of accusation against him, of which they did not fail to make good +use. [10] + +The Spanish government, in the mean time, made the most vivid +remonstrances through its resident minister, or agents expressly +accredited for the purpose, against the proposed expedition of Louis the +Twelfth. It even went so far as to guarantee the faithful discharge of the +tribute proffered by the king of Naples. [11] But the reckless ambition of +the French monarch, overleaping the barriers of prudence, and indeed of +common sense, disdained the fruits of conquest without the name. + +Ferdinand now found himself apparently reduced to the alternative of +abandoning the prize at once to the French king, or of making battle with +him in defence of his royal kinsman. The first of these measures, which +would bring a restless and powerful rival on the borders of the Sicilian +dominions, was not to be thought of for a moment. The latter, which +pledged him a second time to the support of pretensions hostile to his +own, was scarcely more palatable. A third expedient suggested itself; the +partition of the kingdom, as hinted in the negotiations with Charles the +Eighth, [12] by which means the Spanish government, if it could not rescue +the whole prize from the grasp of Louis, would at least divide it with +him. + +Instructions were accordingly given to Gralla, the minister at the court +of Paris, to sound the government on this head, bringing it forward as his +own private suggestion. Care was taken at the same time to secure a party +in the French councils to the interests of Ferdinand. [13] The suggestions +of the Spanish envoy received additional weight from the report of a +considerable armament then equipping in the port of Malaga. Its ostensible +purpose was to co-operate with the Venetians in the defence of their +possessions in the Levant. Its main object, however, was to cover the +coasts of Sicily in any event from the French, and to afford means for +prompt action on any point where circumstances might require it. The fleet +consisted of about sixty sail, large and small, and carried forces +amounting to six hundred horse and four thousand foot, picked men, many of +them drawn from the hardy regions of the north, which had been taxed least +severely in the Moorish wars. [14] + +The command of the whole was intrusted to the Great Captain, Gonsalvo of +Cordova, who since his return home had fully sustained the high +reputation, which his brilliant military talents had acquired for him +abroad. Numerous volunteers, comprehending the noblest of the young +chivalry of Spain, pressed forward to serve under the banner of this +accomplished and popular chieftain. Among them may be particularly noticed +Diego de Mendoza, son of the grand cardinal, Pedro de la Paz, [15] Gonzalo +Pizarro, father of the celebrated adventurer of Peru, and Diego de +Paredes, whose personal prowess and feats of extravagant daring furnished +many an incredible legend for chronicle and romance. With this gallant +armament the Great Captain weighed anchor in the port of Malaga, in May, +1500, designing to touch at Sicily before proceeding against the Turks. +[16] + +Meanwhile, the negotiations between France and Spain, respecting Naples, +were brought to a close, by a treaty for the equal partition of that +kingdom between the two powers, ratified at Granada, November 11th, 1500. +This extraordinary document, after enlarging on the unmixed evils flowing +from war, and the obligation on all Christians to preserve inviolate the +blessed peace bequeathed them by the Saviour, proceeds to state that no +other prince, save the kings of France and Aragon, can pretend to a title +to the throne of Naples; and as King Frederic, its present occupant, has +seen fit to endanger the safety of all Christendom, by bringing on it its +bitterest enemy the Turks, the contracting parties, in order to rescue it +from this imminent peril, and preserve inviolate the bond of peace, agree +to take possession of his kingdom and divide it between them. It is then +provided that the northern portion, comprehending the Terra di Lavoro and +Abruzzo, be assigned to France, with the title of King of Naples and +Jerusalem, and the southern, consisting of Apulia and Calabria, with the +title of Duke of those provinces, to Spain. The _dogana_, an important +duty levied on the flocks of the Capitanate, was to be collected by the +officers of the Spanish government, and divided equally with France. +Lastly, any inequality between the respective territories was to be so +adjusted, that the revenues accruing to each of the parties should be +precisely equal. The treaty was to be kept profoundly secret, until +preparations were completed for the simultaneous occupation of the devoted +territory by the combined powers. [17] + +Such were the terms of this celebrated compact, by which two European +potentates coolly carved out and divided between them the entire dominions +of a third, who had given no cause for umbrage, and with whom they were +both at that time in perfect peace and amity. Similar instances of +political robbery (to call it by the coarse name it merits) have occurred +in later times; but never one founded on more flimsy pretexts, or veiled +under a more detestable mask of hypocrisy. The principal odium of the +transaction has attached to Ferdinand, as the kinsman of the unfortunate +king of Naples. His conduct, however, admits of some palliatory +considerations, that cannot be claimed for Louis. + +The Aragonese nation always regarded the bequest of Ferdinand's uncle, +Alfonso the Fifth, in favor of his natural offspring as an unwarrantable +and illegal act. The kingdom of Naples had been won by their own good +swords, and, as such, was the rightful inheritance of their own princes. +Nothing but the domestic troubles of his dominions had prevented John the +Second of Aragon, on the decease of his brother, from asserting his claim +by arms. His son, Ferdinand the Catholic, had hitherto acquiesced in the +usurpation of the bastard branch of his house only from similar causes. On +the accession of the present monarch, he had made some demonstrations of +vindicating his pretensions to Naples, which, however, the intelligence he +received from that kingdom induced him to defer to a more convenient +season. [18] But it was deferring, not relinquishing, his purpose. In the +mean time, he carefully avoided entering into such engagements, as should +compel him to a different policy by connecting his own interests with +those of Frederic; and with this view, no doubt, rejected the alliance, +strongly solicited by the latter, of the duke of Calabria, heir apparent +to the Neapolitan crown, with his third daughter, the infanta Maria. +Indeed, this disposition of Ferdinand, so far from being dissembled, was +well understood by the court of Naples, as is acknowledged by its own +historians. [19] + +It may be thought, that the undisturbed succession of four princes to the +throne of Naples, each of whom had received the solemn recognition of the +people, might have healed any defects in their original title, however +glaring. But it may be remarked, in extenuation of both the French and +Spanish claims, that the principles of monarchical succession were but +imperfectly settled in that day; that oaths of allegiance were tendered +too lightly by the Neapolitans, to carry the same weight as in other +nations; and that the prescriptive right derived from possession, +necessarily indeterminate, was greatly weakened in this case by the +comparatively few years, not more than forty, during which the bastard +line of Aragon had occupied the throne,--a period much shorter than that +after which the house of York had in England, a few years before, +successfully contested the validity of the Lancastrian title. It should be +added, that Ferdinand's views appear to have perfectly corresponded with +those of the Spanish nation at large; not one writer of the time, whom I +have met with, intimating the slightest doubt of his title to Naples, +while not a few insist on it with unnecessary emphasis. [20] It is but +fair to state, however, that foreigners, who contemplated the transaction +with a more impartial eye, condemned it as inflicting a deep stain on the +characters of both potentates. Indeed, something like an apprehension of +this, in the parties themselves, may be inferred from their solicitude to +deprecate public censure by masking their designs under a pretended zeal +for religion. + +Before the conferences respecting the treaty were brought to a close, the +Spanish armada under Gonsalvo, after a long detention in Sicily, where it +was reinforced by two thousand recruits, who had been serving as +mercenaries in Italy, held its course for the Morea. The Turkish squadron, +lying before Napoli di Romania, without waiting Gonsalvo's approach, +raised the siege, and retreated precipitately to Constantinople. The +Spanish general, then uniting his forces with the Venetians, stationed at +Corfu, proceeded at once against the fortified place of St. George, in +Cephalonia, which the Turks had lately wrested from the republic. [21] + +The town stood high on a rock, in an impregnable position, and was +garrisoned by four hundred Turks, all veteran soldiers, prepared to die in +its defence. We have not room for the details of this siege, in which both +parties displayed unbounded courage and resources, and which was +protracted nearly two months under all the privations of famine, and the +inclemencies of a cold and stormy winter. [22] + +At length, weary with this fatal procrastination, Gonsalvo and the +Venetian admiral, Pesaro, resolved on a simultaneous attack on separate +quarters of the town. The ramparts had been already shaken by the mining +operations of Pedro Navarro, who, in the Italian wars, acquired such +terrible celebrity in this department, till then little understood. The +Venetian cannon, larger and better served than that of the Spaniards, had +opened a practicable breach in the works, which the besieged repaired with +such temporary defences as they could. The signal being given at the +appointed hour, the two armies made a desperate assault on different +quarters of the town, under cover of a murderous fire of artillery. The +Turks sustained the attack with dauntless resolution, stopping up the +breach with the bodies of their dead and dying comrades, and pouring down +volleys of shot, arrows, burning oil and sulphur, and missiles of every +kind, on the heads of the assailants. But the desperate energy, as well as +numbers of the latter, proved too strong for them. Some forced the breach, +others scaled the ramparts; and, after a short and deadly struggle within +the walls, the brave garrison, four-fifths of whom with their commander +had fallen, were overpowered, and the victorious banners of St. Jago and +St. Mark were planted side by side triumphantly on the towers. [23] + +The capture of this place, although accomplished at considerable loss, and +after a most gallant resistance by a mere handful of men, was of great +service to the Venetian cause; since it was the first cheek given to the +arms of Bajazet, who had filched one place after another from the +republic, menacing its whole colonial territory in the Levant. The +promptness and efficiency of King Ferdinand's succor to the Venetians +gained him high reputation throughout Europe, and precisely of the kind +which he most coveted, that of being the zealous defender of the faith; +while it formed a favorable contrast to the cold supineness of the other +powers of Christendom. + +The capture of St. George restored to Venice the possession of Cephalonia; +and the Great Captain, having accomplished this important object, returned +in the beginning of the following year, 1501, to Sicily. Soon after his +arrival there, an embassy waited on him from the Venetian senate, to +express their grateful sense of his services; which they testified by +enrolling his name on the golden book, as a nobleman of Venice, and by a +magnificent present of plate, curious silks and velvets, and a stud of +beautiful Turkish horses. Gonsalvo courteously accepted the proffered +honors, but distributed the whole of the costly largess, with the +exception of a few pieces of plate, among his friends and soldiers. [24] + +In the mean while, Louis the Twelfth having completed his preparations for +the invasion of Naples, an army, consisting of one thousand lances and ten +thousand Swiss and Gascon foot, crossed the Alps, and directed its march +towards the south. At the same time a powerful armament, under Philip de +Ravenstein, with six thousand five hundred additional troops on board, +quitted Genoa for the Neapolitan capital. The command of the land forces +was given to the Sire d'Aubigny, the same brave and experienced officer +who had formerly coped with Gonsalvo in the campaigns of Calabria. [25] + +No sooner had D'Aubigny crossed the papal borders, than the French and +Spanish ambassadors announced to Alexander the Sixth and the college of +cardinals the existence of the treaty for the partition of the kingdom +between the sovereigns, their masters, requesting his Holiness to confirm +it, and grant them the investiture of their respective shares. In this +very reasonable petition his Holiness, well drilled in the part he was to +play, acquiesced without difficulty; declaring himself moved thereto +solely by his consideration of the pious intentions of the parties, and +the unworthiness of King Frederic, whose treachery to the Christian +commonwealth had forfeited all right (if he ever possessed any) to the +crown of Naples. [26] + +From the moment that the French forces had descended into Lombardy, the +eyes of all Italy were turned with breathless expectation on Gonsalvo, and +his army in Sicily. The bustling preparations of the French monarch had +diffused the knowledge of his designs throughout Europe. Those of the king +of Spain, on the contrary, remained enveloped in profound secrecy. Few +doubted, that Ferdinand would step forward to shield his kinsman from the +invasion which menaced him, and, it might be, his own dominions in Sicily; +and they looked to the immediate junction of Gonsalvo with King Frederic, +in order that their combined strength might overpower the enemy before he +had gained a footing in the kingdom. Great was their astonishment, when +the scales dropped from their eyes, and they beheld the movements of Spain +in perfect accordance with those of France, and directed to crush their +common victim between them. They could scarcely credit, says Guicciardini, +that Louis the Twelfth could be so blind as to reject the proffered +vassalage and substantial sovereignty of Naples, in order to share it with +so artful and dangerous a rival as Ferdinand. [27] + +The unfortunate Frederic, who had been advised for some time past of the +unfriendly dispositions of the Spanish government, [28] saw no refuge from +the dark tempest mustering against him on the opposite quarters of his +kingdom. He collected such troops as he could, however, in order to make +battle with the nearest enemy, before he should cross the threshold. On +the 28th of June, the French army resumed its march. Before quitting Rome, +a brawl arose between some French soldiers and Spaniards resident in the +capital; each party asserting the paramount right of its own sovereign to +the crown of Naples. From words they soon came to blows, and many lives +were lost before the fray could be quelled; a melancholy augury for the +permanence of the concord so unrighteously established between the two +governments. [29] + +On the 8th of July, the French crossed the Neapolitan frontier. Frederic, +who had taken post at St. Germano, found himself so weak, that he was +compelled to give way on its approach, and retreat on his capital. The +invaders went forward, occupying one place after another with little +resistance till they came before Capua, where they received a temporary +check. During a parley for the surrender of that place, they burst into +the town, and, giving free scope to their fiendish passions, butchered +seven thousand citizens in the streets, and perpetrated outrages worse +than death on their defenceless wives and daughters. It was on this +occasion that Alexander the Sixth's son, the infamous Caesar Borgia, +selected forty of the most beautiful from the principal ladies of the +place, and sent them back to Rome to swell the complement of his seraglio. +The dreadful doom of Capua intimidated further resistance, but inspired +such detestation of the French throughout the country, as proved of +infinite prejudice to their cause in their subsequent struggle with the +Spaniards. [30] + +King Frederic, shocked at bringing such calamities on his subjects, +resigned his capital without a blow in its defence, and, retreating to the +isle of Ischia, soon after embraced the counsel of the French admiral +Ravenstein, to accept a safe-conduct into France, and throw himself on the +generosity of Louis the Twelfth. The latter received him courteously, and +assigned him the duchy of Anjou with an ample revenue for his maintenance, +which, to the credit of the French king, was continued after he had lost +all hope of recovering the crown of Naples. [31] With this show of +magnanimity, however, he kept a jealous eye on his royal guest; under +pretence of paying him the greatest respect, he placed a guard over his +person, and thus detained him in a sort of honorable captivity to the day +of his death, which occurred soon after, in 1504. + +Frederic was the last of the illegitimate branch of Aragon, who held the +Neapolitan sceptre; a line of princes, who, whatever might be their +characters in other respects, accorded that munificent patronage to +letters which sheds a ray of glory over the roughest and most turbulent +reign. It might have been expected, that an amiable and accomplished +prince, like Frederic, would have done still more towards the moral +development of his people, by healing the animosities which had so long +festered in their bosoms. His gentle character, however, was ill suited to +the evil times on which he had fallen; and it is not improbable, that he +found greater contentment in the calm and cultivated retirement of his +latter years, sweetened by the sympathies of friendship which adversity +had proved, [32] than when placed on the dazzling heights which attract +the admiration and envy of mankind. [33] + +Early in March, Gonsalvo of Cordova had received his first official +intelligence of the partition treaty, and of his own appointment to the +post of lieutenant-general of Calabria and Apulia. He felt natural regret +at being called to act against a prince, whose character he esteemed, and +with whom he had once been placed in the most intimate and friendly +relations. In the true spirit of chivalry, he returned to Frederic, before +taking up arms against him, the duchy of St. Angel and the other large +domains, with which that monarch had requited his services in the late +war, requesting at the same time to be released from his obligations of +homage and fealty. The generous monarch readily complied with the latter +part of his request, but insisted on his retaining the grant, which he +declared an inadequate compensation, after all, for the benefits the Great +Captain had once rendered him. [34] + +The levies assembled at Messina amounted to three hundred heavy-armed, +three hundred light horse, and three thousand eight hundred infantry, +together with a small body of Spanish veterans, which the Castilian +ambassador had collected in Italy. The number of the forces was +inconsiderable, but they were in excellent condition, well disciplined, +and seasoned to all the toils and difficulties of war. On the 5th of July, +the Great Captain landed at Tropea, and commenced the conquest of +Calabria, ordering the fleet to keep along the coast, in order to furnish +whatever supplies he might need. The ground was familiar to him, and his +progress was facilitated by the old relations he had formed there, as well +as by the important posts which the Spanish government had retained in its +hands, as an indemnification for the expenses of the late war. +Notwithstanding the opposition or coldness of the great Angevin lords who +resided in this quarter, the entire occupation of the two Calabrias, with +the exception of Tarento, was effected in less than a month. [35] + +This city, remarkable in ancient times for its defence against Hannibal, +was of the last importance. King Frederic had sent thither his eldest son, +the duke of Calabria, a youth about fourteen years of age, under the care +of Juan de Guevara, count of Potenza, with a strong body of troops, +considering it the place of greatest security in his dominions. +Independently of the strength of its works, it was rendered nearly +inaccessible by its natural position; having no communication with the +main land except by two bridges, at opposite quarters of the town, +commanded by strong towers, while its exposure to the sea made it easily +open to supplies from abroad. + +Gonsalvo saw that the only method of reducing the place must be by +blockade. Disagreeable as the delay was, he prepared to lay regular siege +to it, ordering the fleet to sail round the southern point of Calabria, +and blockade the port of Tarento, while he threw up works on the land +side, which commanded the passes to the town, and cut off its +communications with the neighboring country. The place, however, was well +victualled, and the garrison prepared to maintain it to the last.[36] + +Nothing tries more severely the patience and discipline of the soldier, +than a life of sluggish inaction, unenlivened, as in the present instance, +by any of the rencontres, or feats of arms, which keep up military +excitement, and gratify the cupidity or ambition of the warrior. The +Spanish troops, cooped up within their intrenchments, and disgusted with +the languid monotony of their life, cast many a wistful glance to the +stirring scenes of war in the centre of Italy, where Caesar Borgia held +out magnificent promises of pay and plunder to all who embarked in his +adventurous enterprises. He courted the aid, in particular, of the Spanish +veterans, whose worth he well understood, for they had often served under +his banner, in his feuds with the Italian princes. In consequence of these +inducements, some of Gonsalvo's men were found to desert every day; while +those who remained were becoming hourly more discontented, from the large +arrears due from the government; for Ferdinand, as already remarked, +conducted his operations with a stinted economy, very different from the +prompt and liberal expenditure of the queen, always competent to its +object. [37] + +A trivial incident, at this time, swelled the popular discontent into +mutiny. The French fleet, after the capture of Naples, was ordered to the +Levant to assist the Venetians against the Turks. Ravenstein, ambitious of +eclipsing the exploits of the Great Captain, turned his arms against +Mitilene, with the design of recovering it for the republic. He totally +failed in the attack, and his fleet was soon after scattered by a tempest, +and his own ship wrecked on the isle of Cerigo. He subsequently found his +way, with several of his principal officers, to the shores of Calabria, +where he landed in the most forlorn and desperate plight. Gonsalvo, +touched with his misfortunes, no sooner learned his necessities, than he +sent him abundant supplies of provisions, adding a service of plate, and a +variety of elegant apparel for himself and followers; consulting his own +munificent spirit in this, much more than the limited state of his +finances. [38] + +This excessive liberality was very inopportune. The soldiers loudly +complained that their general found treasures to squander on foreigners, +while his own troops were defrauded of their pay. The Biscayans, a people +of whom Gonsalvo used to say, "he had rather be a lion-keeper than +undertake to govern them," took the lead in the tumult. It soon swelled +into open insurrection; and the men, forming themselves into regular +companies, marched to the general's quarters and demanded payment of their +arrears. One fellow, more insolent than the rest, levelled a pike at his +breast with the most angry and menacing looks. Gonsalvo, however, +retaining his self-possession, gently put it aside, saying, with a good- +natured smile, "Higher, you careless knave, lift your lance higher, or you +will run me through in your jesting." As he was reiterating his assurances +of the want of funds, and his confident expectation of speedily obtaining +them, a Biscayan captain called out, "Send your daughter to the brothel, +and that will soon put you in funds!" This, was a favorite daughter named +Elvira, whom Gonsalvo loved so tenderly, that he would not part with her, +even in his campaigns. Although stung to the heart by this audacious +taunt, he made no reply; but, without changing a muscle of his +countenance, continued, in the same tone as before, to expostulate with +the insurgents, who at length were prevailed on to draw off, and disperse +to their quarters. The next morning, the appalling spectacle of the +lifeless body of the Biscayan, hanging by the neck from a window of the +house in which he had been quartered, admonished the, army that there were +limits to the general's forbearance it was not prudent to overstep. [39] + +An unexpected event, which took place at this juncture, contributed even +more than this monitory lesson to restore subordination to the army. This +was the capture of a Genoese galleon with a valuable freight, chiefly +iron, bound to some Turkish port, as it was said, in the Levant, which +Gonsalvo, moved no doubt by his zeal for the Christian cause, ordered to +be seized by the Spanish cruisers; and the cargo to be disposed of for the +satisfaction of his troops. Giovio charitably excuses this act of +hostility against a friendly power with the remark, that "when the Great +Captain did anything contrary to law, he was wont to say, 'A general must +secure the victory at all hazards, right or wrong; and, when he has done +this, he can compensate those whom he has injured with tenfold benefits.'" +[40] + +The unexpected length of the siege of Tarento determined Gonsalvo, at +length, to adopt bolder measures for quickening its termination. The city, +whose insulated position has been noticed, was bounded on the north by a +lake, or rather arm of the sea, forming an excellent interior harbor, +about eighteen miles in circumference. The inhabitants, trusting to the +natural defences of this quarter, had omitted to protect it by +fortifications, and the houses rose abruptly from the margin of the basin. +Into this reservoir, the Spanish commander resolved to transport such of +his vessels then riding in the outer bay, as from their size could be +conveyed across the narrow isthmus, which divided it from the inner. + +After incredible toil, twenty of the smallest craft were moved on huge +cars and rollers across the intervening land, and safely launched on the +bosom of the lake. The whole operation was performed amid the exciting +accompaniments of discharges of ordnance, strains of martial music, and +loud acclamations of the soldiery. The inhabitants of Tarento saw with +consternation the fleet so lately floating in the open ocean under their +impregnable walls, now quitting its native element, and moving, as it were +by magic, across the land, to assault them on the quarter where they were +the least defended. [41] + +The Neapolitan commander perceived it would be impossible to hold out +longer, without compromising the personal safety of the young prince under +his care. He accordingly entered into negotiations for a truce with the +Great Captain, during which articles of capitulation were arranged, +guaranteeing to the duke of Calabria and his followers the right of +evacuating the place and going wherever they listed. The Spanish general, +in order to give greater solemnity to these engagements, bound himself to +observe them by an oath on the sacrament. [42] + +On the 1st of March, 1502, the Spanish army took possession, according to +agreement, of the city of Tarento; and the duke of Calabria with his suite +was permitted to leave it, in order to rejoin his father in France. In the +mean time, advices were received from Ferdinand the Catholic, instructing +Gonsalvo on no account to suffer the young prince to escape from his +hands, as he was a pledge of too great importance for the Spanish +government to relinquish. The general in consequence sent after the duke, +who had proceeded in company with the count of Potenza as far as Bitonto, +on his way to the north, and commanded him to be arrested and brought back +to Tarento. Not long after, he caused him to be conveyed on board one of +the men-of-war in the harbor, and, in contempt of his solemn engagements, +sent a prisoner to Spain. [43] + +The national writers have made many awkward attempts to varnish over this +atrocious act of perfidy in their favorite hero. Zurita vindicates it by a +letter from the Neapolitan prince to Gonsalvo, requesting the latter to +take this step, since he preferred a residence in Spain to one in France, +but could not with decency appear to act in opposition to his father's +wishes on the subject. If such a letter, however, were really obtained +from the prince, his tender years would entitle it to little weight, and +of course it would afford no substantial ground for justification. Another +explanation is offered by Paolo Giovio, who states that the Great Captain, +undetermined what course to adopt, took the opinion of certain learned +jurists. This sage body decided, that Gonsalvo was not bound by his oath, +since it was repugnant to his paramount obligations to his master; and +that the latter was not bound by it, since it was made without his +privity! [44] The man who trusts his honor to the tampering of casuists, +has parted with it already. [45] + +The only palliation of the act must be sought in the prevalent laxity and +corruption of the period, which is rife with examples of the most flagrant +violation of both public and private faith. Had this been the act of a +Sforza, indeed, or a Borgia, it could not reasonably have excited +surprise. But coming from one of a noble, magnanimous nature, like +Gonsalvo, exemplary in his private life, and unstained with any of the +grosser vices of the age, it excited general astonishment and reprobation, +even among his contemporaries. It has left a reproach on his name, which +the historian may regret, but cannot wipe away. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. i. lib. 4, p. 214, ed. 1645.--Flassan, +Diplomatie Française, tom. i. pp. 275, 277. + +[2] Dumont, Corps Diplomatique, tom. iii. pp. 397-400.--Flassan, +Diplomatie Française, tom. i. p. 279. + +[3] Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 4, pp. 250-252.--Mémoires de La Trémoille, +chap. 19, apud Petitot, Collection de Mémoires, tom. xiv.--Buonaccorsi, +Diario de' Successi più Importanti, (Fiorenza, 1568,) pp. 26-29. + +[4] Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, tom. i. lib. 3, cap. 31. + +Martyr, in a letter written soon after Sforza's recovery of his capital, +says that the Spanish sovereigns "could not conceal their joy at the +event, such was their jealousy of France." (Opus Epist., epist. 213.) The +same sagacious writer, the distance of whose residence from Italy removed +him from those political factions and prejudices which clouded the optics +of his countrymen, saw with deep regret their coalition with France, the +fatal consequences of which he predicted in a letter to a friend in +Venice, the former minister at the Spanish court. "The king of France," +says he, "after he has dined with the duke of Milan, will come and sup +with you." (Epist. 207.) Daru, on the authority of Burchard, refers this +remarkable prediction, which time so fully verified, to Sforza, on his +quitting his capital. (Hist. de Venise, tom. iii. p. 326, 2d ed.) Martyr's +letter, however, is dated some months previously to that event. + +[5] Louis XII., for the good offices of the pope in the affair of his +divorce from the unfortunate Jeanne of France, promised the un-cardinalled +Caesar Borgia the duchy of Valence in Dauphiny, with a rent of 20,000 +livres, and a considerable force to support him in his flagitious +enterprises against the princes of Romagna. Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. i. +lib. 4, p. 207.--Sismondi, Hist. des Français, tom. xv. p. 275.--Carta de +Garcilasso de la Vega, MS. + +[6] Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, tom. i. lib. 3, cap. 33. + +Garcilasso de la Vega seems to have possessed little of the courtly and +politic address of a diplomatist. In a subsequent audience, which the pope +gave him together with a special embassy from Castile, his blunt +expostulation so much exasperated his Holiness, that the latter hinted it +would not cost him much to have him thrown into the Tiber. The hold +bearing of the Castilian, however, appears to have had its effect; since +we find the pope soon after revoking an offensive ecclesiastical provision +he had made in Spain, taking occasion at the same time to eulogize the +character of the Catholic sovereigns in full consistory. Ibid., lib. 3, +cap. 33, 35. + +[7] Oviedo has made this cavalier the subject of one of his dialogues. +Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 3, dial. 44. + +[8] Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, tom. i. lib. 3, cap. 38, 39.--Daru, +Hist. de Venise, tom. iii. pp. 336, 339, 347.--Muratori, Annali d'Italia, +(Milano, 1820,) tom. xiv. pp. 9, 10.--Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. i. lib. +5, p. 260. + +[9] Alexander VI. had requested the hand of Carlotta, daughter of King +Frederic, for his son, Caesar Borgia; but this was a sacrifice, at which +pride and parental affection alike revolted. The slight was not to be +forgiven by the implacable Borgias. Comp. Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, +lib. 29, cap. 3.--Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. i. lib. 4, p. 223.--Zurita, +Hist. del Rey Hernando, tom. i. lib. 3, cap. 22. + +[10] Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. i. lib. 5, pp. 265, 266.--Giannone, +Istoria di Napoli, lib. 29, cap. 3.--Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, tom. +i. lib. 3, cap. 40.--Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, lib. 1, p. 229.--Daru, +Hist. de Venise, tom. iii. p, 338. + +[11] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., lib. 14, epist. 218. + +[12] See Part II. Chapter 3, of this History. + +[13] According to Zurita, Ferdinand secured the services of Guillaume de +Poictiers, lord of Clérieux and governor of Paris, by the promise of the +city of Cotron, mortgaged to him in Italy. (Hist. del Rey Hernando, lib. +3, cap. 40.) Comines calls the same nobleman "a good sort of a man, qui +aisément croit, et pour espécial _tels personnages_," meaning King +Ferdinand. Comines, Mémoires, liv. 8, chap. 23. + +[14] Bembo, Istoria Viniziana, tom. iii. lib. 5, p. 324.--Ulloa, Vita et +Fatti dell' Invitissimo Imperatore Carlo V., (Venetia, 1606,) fol. 2.-- +Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. lib. 27, cap. 7.--Giovio, Vitae Illust. +Virorum, tom. i. p. 226.--Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, tom. i. lib. 4, +cap. 11.--Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 10, sec. 13. + +[15] This cavalier, one of the most valiant captains in the army, was so +diminutive in size, that, when mounted, he seemed almost lost in the high +demipeak war-saddle then in vogue; which led a wag, according to Brantôme, +when asked if he had seen Don Pedro de Paz pass that way, to answer, that +"he had seen his horse and saddle, but no rider." Oeuvres, tom. i. disc. +9. + +[16] Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, tom. viii. p. 217.--Bernaldez, Reyes +Católicos, MS., cap. 161.--Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. lib. 19, cap. 9. + +[17] See the original treaty, apud Dumont, Corps Diplomatique, tom. iii. +pp. 445, 446. + +[18] See Part II. Chapter 3, of this History. + +[19] Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, lib. 19, cap. 3.--Zurita, Hist. del Rey +Hernando, tom. i. lib. 3, cap. 32. + +[20] See, in particular, the Doctor Salazar de Mendoza, who exhausts the +subject,--and the reader's patience,--in discussing the multifarious +grounds of the incontrovertible title of the house of Aragon to Naples. +Monarquía, tom. i. lib. 3, cap. 12-15. + +[21] Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, tom. i. p. 226.--Chrónica del Gran +Capitan, cap. 9.--Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, tom. i. lib. 4, cap. 19. + +[22] Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, ubi supra.--Chrónica del Gran Capitan, +cap. 14. + +[23] Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, ubi supra.--Chrónica del Gran Capitan, +cap. 10.--Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, tom. i. lib. 4, cap. 25.-- +Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 167. + +[24] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 167.--Quintana, Españoles +Célebres, tom. i. p. 246.--Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, p. 228.--Ulloa, +Vita di Carlo V., fol. 4. + +[25] Jean d'Auton, Histoire de Louys XII., (Paris, 1622,) part. 1, chap. +44, 45, 48.--Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. i. p. 265.--Sainct Gelais, +Histoire de Louys XII., (Paris, 1622,) p. 163.--Buonaccorsi, Diario, p. +46. + +[26] Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, tom. i. lib. 4, cap. 43.--Lanuza, +Historias, tom. i. lib. 1, cap. 14. + +[27] Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. i. lib. 5, p. 266.--Ulloa, Vita di Carlo +V., fol. 8. + +[28] In the month of April the king of Naples received letters from his +envoys in Spain, written by command of King Ferdinand, informing him that +he had nothing to expect from that monarch in case of an invasion of his +territories by France. Frederic bitterly complained of the late hour at +which this intelligence was given, which effectually prevented an +accommodation he might otherwise have made with King Louis. Lanuza, +Historias, lib. 1, cap. 14.--Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, tom. i. lib. +4, cap. 37. + +[29] D'Auton, Hist. de Louys XII., part. 1, chap. 48. + +[30] Summonte, Hist. di Napoli, tom. iii. lib. 6, cap. 4.--D'Auton, Hist. +de Louys XII., part. 1, chap. 51-54.--Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 8.-- +Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 5, pp. 268, 269.--Zurita, Hist. del Rey +Hernando, tom. i. lib. 4, cap. 41.--Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, lib. 29, +cap. 3. + +[31] St. Gelais, Hist. de Louys XII., p. 163.--D'Auton, Hist. de Louys +XII., part. 1, ch. 56.--Summonte, Hist. di Napoli, tom. iii. p. 541. + +[32] The reader will readily call to mind the Neapolitan poet Sannazaro, +whose fidelity to his royal master forms so beautiful a contrast with the +conduct of Pontano, and indeed of too many of his tribe, whose gratitude +is of that sort that will only rise above zero in the sunshine of a court. +His various poetical effusions afford a noble testimony to the virtues of +his unfortunate sovereign, the more unsuspicious as many of them were +produced in the days of his adversity. + +[33] "Neque mala vel bona," says the philosophic Roman, "quae vulgus +putet; multos, qui conflictari udversis videantur, beatos; ac plerosque, +quamquam magnas per opes, miserrimos; si illi gravem fortunam constanter +tolerent, hi prosperâ inconsultè utantur." Tacitus, Annales, lib. 6, sect. +22. + +[34] Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, tom. i. lib. 4, cap. 35.--Giovio, +Vitae Illust. Virorum, p. 230.--Chrónica del Gran Capitan, cap. 21.-- +Lanuza, Historias, tom. i. lib. 1, cap. 14. + +[35] Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 11, sec. 8.--Zurita, +Hist. del Rey Hernando, tom. i. lib. 4, cap. 44.--Mariana, Hist. de +España, tom. ii. lib. 27, cap. 9. + +[36] Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, p. 231.--Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V, fol. +9.--Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, lib. 29, cap. 3.--Chrónica del Gran +Capitan, cap. 31. + +[37] Don Juan Mannel, the Spanish minister at Vienna, seems to hare been +fully sensible of this trait of his master. He told the emperor +Maximilian, who had requested the loan of 300,000 ducats from Spain, that +it was as much money as would suffice King Ferdinand for the conquest, not +merely of Italy, but Africa into the bargain. Zurita, Hist. del Rey +Hernando, tom. i. lib. 3, cap. 42. + +[38] Bembo, Istoria Viniziana, tom. III. lib. 6, p. 368.--Giovio, Vitae +Illust. Virorum, p. 232.--D'Auton, part. 1, chap. 71, 72. + +[39] Chrónica del Gran Capitan, cap. 34.--Quintana, Españoles Célebres, +tom. i. pp. 252, 253.--Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, p. 232.--Carta de +Gonzalo, MS. + +[40] Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, lib. 1, p. 233. + +[41] Gonsalvo took the hint for this, doubtless, from Hannibal's similar +expedient. See Polybius, lib. 8. + +[42] Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, tom. i. lib. 4, cap. 52, 53.-- +Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. i. lib. 5, p. 270.--Giannone, Istoria di +Napoli, lib. 29, cap. 3.--Muratori, Annali d'Italia, tom. xiv. p. 14. + +The various authorities differ more irreconcilably than usual in the +details of the siege. I have followed Paolo Giovio, a contemporary, and +personally acquainted with the principal actors. All agree in the only +fact, in which one would willingly see some discrepancy, Gonsalvo's breach +of faith to the young duke of Calabria. + +[43] Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, tom. i. lib. 4, cap. 56.--Abarca, +Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 11, sec. 10-12.--Ulloa, Vita di +Carlo V., fol. 9.--Lanuza, Historias, lib. 1, cap. 14. + +Martyr, who was present on the young prince's arrival at court, where he +experienced the most honorable reception, speaks of him in the highest +terms. "Adolescens namque est et regno et regio sanguine dignus, mirae +indolis, formâ egregius." (See Opus Epist., epist. 252.) He survived to +the year 1550, but without ever quitting Spain, contrary to the fond +prediction of his friend Sannazaro; + + "Nam mihl, nam tempus veniet, cum reddita sceptra + Parthenopes, fractosque tua sub cuspide reges + Ipse canam." + Opera Latina, Ecloga 4. + +[44] Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, lib. 4, cap. 58.--Giovio, Vitae +Illust. Virorum, lib. 1, p. 234. + +Mariana coolly disposes of Gonsalvo's treachery with the remark, "No +parece se le guardo lo que tenian asentado. En la guerra quien hay que de +todo punto lo guarde?" (Hist. de España, tom. ii. p. 675.) + + ----"Dolus an virtus, quis in hoste requirat?" + +[45] In Gonsalvo's correspondence is a letter to the sovereigns written +soon after the occupation of Tarento, in which he mentions his efforts to +secure the duke of Calabria in the Spanish interests. The communication is +too brief to clear up the difficulties in this dark transaction. As coming +from Gonsalvo himself, it has great interest, and I will give it to the +reader in the curious orthography of the original. "Asi en la platica que +estava con el duque don fernando de ponerse al servicio y amparo de +vuestras alteças syn otro partido ny ofrecimiento demas de certificarle +que en todo tiempo seria libre para yr donde quisiese sy vuestras altezas +bien no le tratasen y que vuestras alteças le ternian el respeto que a tal +persona como el se deve. El conde de potença e algunos de los que estan +ceerca del han trabajado por apartarle de este proposito e levarle a Iscla +asi yo por muchos modos he procurado de reducirle al servicio de vuestras +alteças y tengole en tal termino que puedo certificar a vuestras alteças +que este mozo no les saldra de la mano con consenso suyo del servicio de +vuestras alteças asta tanto que vuestras alteças me embien a mandar como +del he de disponer e de lo que con el se ha de facer y por las contrastes +que en esto han entrevenido no ha salido de taranto porque asi ha +convenido. El viernes que sera once de marzo saldra a castellaneta que es +quince millas de aqui con algunos destos suyos que le quieren seguir con +alguna buena parte de compañia destos criados de vuestras alteças para +acompañarle y este mismo dia viernes entrar an las vanderas e gente de +vuestras alteças en el castillo de tarento con ayuda de nuestro Señor." De +Tarento, 10 de Marzo, 1502, MS. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +ITALIAN WARS.--RUPTURE WITH FRANCE.--GONSALVO BESIEGED IN BARLETA. + +1502, 1503. + +Rupture between the French and Spaniards.--Gonsalvo Retires to Barleta.-- +Chivalrous Character of the War.--Tourney near Trani.--Duel between Bayard +and Sotomayor.--Distress of Barleta.--Constancy of the Spaniards. +--Gonsalvo Storms and Takes Ruvo.--Prepares to Leave Barleta. + + +It was hardly to be expected that the partition treaty between France and +Spain, made so manifestly in contempt of all good faith, would be +maintained any longer than suited the convenience of the respective +parties. The French monarch, indeed, seems to have prepared, from the +first, to dispense with it, as soon as he had secured his own moiety of +the kingdom; [1] and sagacious men at the Spanish court inferred that King +Ferdinand would do as much, when he should be in a situation to assert his +claims with success. [2] + +It was altogether improbable, whatever might be the good faith of the +parties, that an arrangement could long subsist, which so rudely rent +asunder the members of this ancient monarchy; or that a thousand points of +collision should not arise between rival hosts, lying as it were on their +arms within bowshot of each other, and in view of the rich spoil which +each regarded as its own. Such grounds for rupture did occur, sooner +probably than either party had foreseen, and certainly before the king of +Aragon was prepared to meet it. + +The immediate cause was the extremely loose language of the partition +treaty, which assumed such a geographical division of the kingdom into +four provinces, as did not correspond with any ancient division, and still +less with the modern, by which the number was multiplied to twelve. [3] +The central portion, comprehending the Capitanate, the Basilicate, and the +Principality, became debatable ground between the parties, each of whom +insisted on these as forming an integral part of its own moiety. The +French had no ground whatever for contesting the possession of the +Capitanate, the first of these provinces, and by far the most important, +on account of the tolls paid by the numerous flocks which descended every +winter into its sheltered valleys from the snow-covered mountains of +Abruzzo. [4] There was more uncertainty to which of the parties the two +other provinces were meant to be assigned. It is scarcely possible that +language so loose, in a matter requiring mathematical precision, should +have been unintentional. + +Before Gonsalvo de Cordova had completed the conquest of the southern +moiety of the kingdom, and while lying before Tarento, he received +intelligence of the occupation by the French of several places, both in +the Capitanate and Basilicate. He detached a body of troops for the +protection of these countries, and, after the surrender of Tarento, +marched towards the north to cover them with his whole army. As he was not +in a condition for immediate hostilities, however, he entered into +negotiations, which, if attended with no other advantage, would at least +gain him time. [5] + +The pretensions of the two parties, as might have been expected, were too +irreconcilable to admit of compromise; and a personal conference between +the respective commanders-in-chief led to no better arrangement, than that +each should retain his present acquisitions, till explicit instructions +could be received from their respective courts. + +But neither of the two monarchs had further instructions to give; and the +Catholic king contented himself with admonishing his general to postpone +an open rupture as long as possible, that the government might have time +to provide more effectually for his support, and strengthen itself by +alliance with other European powers. But, however pacific may have been +the disposition of the generals, they had no power to control the passions +of their soldiers, who, thus brought into immediate contact, glared on +each other with the ferocity of bloodhounds, ready to slip the leash which +held them in temporary check. Hostilities soon broke out along the lines +of the two armies, the blame of which each nation charged on its opponent. +There seems good ground, however, for imputing it to the French; since +they were altogether better prepared for war than the Spaniards, and +entered into it so heartily as not only to assail places in the debatable +ground, but in Apulia, which had been unequivocally assigned to their +rivals. [6] + +In the mean while, the Spanish court fruitlessly endeavored to interest +the other powers of Europe in its cause. The emperor Maximilian, although +dissatisfied with the occupation of Milan by the French, appeared wholly +engrossed with the frivolous ambition of a Roman coronation. The pontiff +and his son, Caesar Borgia, were closely bound to King Louis by the +assistance which he had rendered them in their marauding enterprises +against the neighboring chiefs of Romagna. The other Italian princes, +although deeply incensed and disgusted by this infamous alliance, stood +too much in awe of the colossal power, which had planted its foot so +firmly on their territory, to offer any resistance. Venice alone, +surveying from her distant watch-tower, to borrow the words of Peter +Martyr, the whole extent of the political horizon, appeared to hesitate. +The French ambassadors loudly called on her to fulfil the terms of her +late treaty with their master, and support him in his approaching quarrel; +but that wily republic saw with distrust the encroaching ambition of her +powerful neighbor, and secretly wished that a counterpoise might be found +in the success of Aragon. Martyr, who stopped at Venice on his return from +Egypt, appeared before the senate, and employed all his eloquence in +supporting his master's cause in opposition to the French envoys; but his +pressing entreaties to the Spanish sovereigns to send thither some +competent person, as a resident minister, show his own conviction of the +critical position in which their affairs stood. [7] + +The letters of the same intelligent individual, during his journey through +the Milanese, [8] are filled with the most gloomy forebodings of the +termination of a contest for which the Spaniards were so indifferently +provided; while the whole north of Italy was alive with the bustling +preparations of the French, who loudly vaunted their intention of driving +their enemy not merely out of Naples, but Sicily itself. [9] + +Louis the Twelfth superintended these preparations in person, and, to be +near the theatre of operations, crossed the Alps, and took up his quarters +at Asti. At length, all being in readiness, he brought things to an +immediate issue, by commanding his general to proclaim war at once against +the Spaniards, unless they abandoned the Capitanate in four-and-twenty +hours. [10] + +The French forces in Naples amounted, according to their own statements, +to one thousand men-at-arms, three thousand five hundred French and +Lombard, and three thousand Swiss infantry, in addition to the Neapolitan +levies raised by the Angevin lords throughout the kingdom. The command was +intrusted to the duke of Nemours, a brave and chivalrous young nobleman of +the ancient house of Armagnac, whom family connections more than talents +had raised to the perilous post of viceroy over the head of the veteran +D'Aubigny. The latter would have thrown up his commission in disgust, but +for the remonstrances of his sovereign, who prevailed on him to remain +where his counsels were more than ever necessary to supply the +inexperience of the young commander. The jealousy and wilfulness of the +latter, however, defeated these intentions; and the misunderstanding of +the chiefs, extending to their followers, led to a fatal want of concert +in their movements. + +With these officers were united some of the best and bravest of the French +chivalry; among whom may be noticed Jacques de Chabannes, more commonly +known as the Sire de la Palice, a favorite of Louis the Twelfth, and well +entitled to be so by his deserts; Louis d'Ars; Ives d'Alègre, brother of +the Précy who gained so much renown in the wars of Charles the Eighth; and +Pierre de Bayard, the knight "sans peur et sans reproche," who was then +entering on the honorable career in which he seemed to realize all the +imaginary perfections of chivalry. [11] + +Notwithstanding the small numbers of the French force, the Great Captain +was in no condition to cope with them. He had received no reinforcements +from home since he first landed in Calabria. His little corps of veterans +was destitute of proper clothing and equipments, and the large arrears due +them made the tenure of their obedience extremely precarious. [12] Since +affairs began to assume their present menacing aspect, he had been busily +occupied with drawing together the detachments posted in various parts of +Calabria, and concentrating them on the town of Atella in the Basilicate, +where he had established his own quarters. He had also opened a +correspondence with the barons of the Aragonese faction, who were most +numerous as well as most powerful in the northern section of the kingdom, +which had been assigned to the French. He was particularly fortunate in +gaining over the two Colonnas, whose authority, powerful connections, and +large military experience proved of inestimable value to him. [13] + +With all the resources he could command, however, Gonsalvo found himself, +as before noticed, unequal to the contest, though it was impossible to +defer it, after the peremptory summons of the French viceroy to surrender +the Capitanate. To this he unhesitatingly answered, that "the Capitanate +belonged of right to his own master; and that, with the blessing of God, +he would make good its defence against the French king, or any other who +should invade it." + +Notwithstanding the bold front put on his affairs, however, he did not +choose to abide the assault of the French in his present position. He +instantly drew off with the greater part of his force to Barleta, a +fortified seaport on the confines of Apulia, on the Adriatic, the +situation of which would enable him either to receive supplies from +abroad, or to effect a retreat, if necessary, on board the Spanish fleet, +which still kept the coast of Calabria. The remainder of his army he +distributed in Bari, Andria, Canosa, and other adjacent towns; where he +confidently hoped to maintain himself till the arrival of reinforcements, +which he solicited in the most pressing manner from Spain and Sicily, +should enable him to take the field on more equal terms against his +adversary. [14] + +The French officers, in the mean time, were divided in opinion as to the +best mode of conducting the war. Some were for besieging Bari, held by the +illustrious and unfortunate Isabella of Aragon; [15] others, in a more +chivalrous spirit, opposed the attack of a place defended by a female, and +advised an immediate assault on Barleta itself, whose old and dilapidated +works might easily be forced, if it did not at once surrender. The duke of +Nemours, deciding on a middle course, determined to invest the last- +mentioned town; and, cutting off all communication with the surrounding +country, to reduce it by regular blockade. This plan was unquestionably +the least eligible of all, as it would allow time for the enthusiasm of +the French, the _furia Francese_, as it was called in Italy, which carried +them victorious over so many obstacles, to evaporate, while it brought +into play the stern resolve, the calm, unflinching endurance, which +distinguished the Spanish soldier. [16] + +One of the first operations of the French viceroy was the siege of Canosa, +a strongly fortified place west of Barleta, garrisoned by six hundred +picked men under the engineer Pedro Navarro. The defence of the place +justified the reputation of this gallant soldier. He beat off two +successive assaults of the enemy, led on by Bayard, La Palice, and the +flower of their chivalry. He had prepared to sustain a third, resolved to +bury himself under the ruins of the town rather than surrender. But +Gonsalvo, unable to relieve it, commanded him to make the best terms he +could, saying, "the place was of far less value, than the lives of the +brave men who defended it." Navarro found no difficulty in obtaining an +honorable capitulation; and the little garrison, dwindled to one-third of +its original number, marched out through the enemy's camp, with colors +flying and music playing, as if in derision of the powerful force it had +so nobly kept at bay. [17] + +After the capture of Canosa, D'Aubigny, whose misunderstanding with +Nemours still continued, was despatched with a small force into the south, +to overrun the two Calabrias. The viceroy, in the mean while, having +fruitlessly attempted the reduction of several strong places held by the +Spaniards in the neighborhood of Barleta, endeavored to straiten the +garrison there by desolating the surrounding country, and sweeping off the +flocks and herds which grazed in its fertile pastures. The Spaniards, +however, did not remain idle within their defences, but, sallying out in +small detachments, occasionally retrieved the spoil from the hands of the +enemy, or annoyed him with desultory attacks, ambuscades, and other +irregular movements of _guerrilla_ warfare, in which the French were +comparatively unpractised. [18] + +The war now began to assume many of the romantic features of that of +Granada. The knights on both sides, not content with the usual military +rencontres, defied one another to jousts and tourneys, eager to establish +their prowess in the noble exercises of chivalry. One of the most +remarkable of these meetings took place between eleven Spanish and as many +French knights, in consequence of some disparaging remarks of the latter +on the cavalry of their enemies, which they affirmed inferior to their +own. The Venetians gave the parties a fair field of combat in the neutral +territory under their own walls of Trani. A gallant array of well-armed +knights of both nations guarded the lists, and maintained the order of the +fight. On the appointed day, the champions appeared in the field, armed at +all points, with horses richly caparisoned, and barbed or covered with +steel panoply like their masters. The roofs and battlements of Trani were +covered with spectators, while the lists were thronged with the French and +Spanish chivalry, each staking in some degree the national honor on the +issue of the contest. Among the Castilians were Diego de Paredes and Diego +de Vera, while the good knight Bayard was most conspicuous on the other +side. + +As the trumpets sounded the appointed signal, the hostile parties rushed +to the encounter. Three Spaniards were borne from their saddles by the +rudeness of the shock, and four of their antagonists' horses slain. The +fight, which began at ten in the morning, was not to be protracted beyond +sunset. Long before that hour, all the French save two, one of them the +chevalier Bayard, had been dismounted, and their horses, at which the +Spaniards had aimed more than at the riders, disabled or slain. The +Spaniards, seven of whom were still on horseback, pressed hard on their +adversaries, leaving little doubt of the fortune of the day. The latter, +however, intrenching themselves behind the carcasses of their dead horses, +made good their defence against the Spaniards, who in vain tried to spur +their terrified steeds over the barrier. In this way the fight was +protracted till sunset; and, as both parties continued to keep possession +of the field, the palm of victory was adjudged to neither, while both were +pronounced to have demeaned themselves like good and valiant knights. [19] + +The tourney being ended, the combatants met in the centre of the lists, +and embraced each other in the true companionship of chivalry, "making +good cheer together," says an old chronicler, before they separated. The +Great Captain was not satisfied with the issue of the fight. "We have, at +least," said one of his champions, "disproved the taunt of the Frenchmen, +and shown ourselves as good horsemen as they." "I sent you for better," +coldly retorted Gonsalvo. [20] + +A more tragic termination befell a combat _à l'outrance_ between the +chevalier Bayard and a Spanish cavalier, named Alonso de Sotomayor, who +had accused the former of uncourteous treatment of him, while his +prisoner. Bayard denied the charge, and defied the Spaniard to prove it in +single fight, on horse or on foot, as he best liked. Sotomayor, aware of +his antagonist's uncommon horsemanship, preferred the latter alternative. + +At the day and hour appointed, the two knights entered the lists, armed +with sword and dagger, and sheathed in complete harness; although, with a +degree of temerity unusual in these, combats, they wore their visors up. +Both combatants knelt down in silent prayer for a few moments, and then +rising and crossing themselves, advanced straight against each other; "the +good knight Bayard," says Brantôme, "moving as light of step, as if he +were going to lead some fair lady down the dance." + +The Spaniard was of a large and powerful frame, and endeavored to crush +his enemy by weight of blows, or to close with him and bring him to the +ground. The latter, naturally inferior in strength, was rendered still +weaker by a fever, from which he had not entirely recovered. He was more +light and agile than his adversary, however, and superior dexterity +enabled him not only to parry his enemy's strokes, but to deal him +occasionally one of his own, while he sorely distressed him by the +rapidity of his movements. At length, as the Spaniard was somewhat thrown +off his balance by an ill-directed blow, Bayard struck him so sharply on +the gorget, that it gave way, and the sword entered his throat. Furious +with the agony of the wound, Sotomayor collected all his strength for the +last struggle, and, grasping his antagonist in his arms, they both rolled +in the dust together. Before either could extricate himself, the quick- +eyed Bayard, who had retained his poniard in his left hand during the +whole combat, while the Spaniard's had remained in his belt, drove the +steel with such convulsive strength under his enemy's eye, that it pierced +quite through the brain. After the judges had awarded the honors of the +day to Bayard, the minstrels as usual began to pour forth triumphant +strains in praise of the victor; but the good knight commanded them to +desist, and, having first prostrated himself on his knees in gratitude for +his victory, walked slowly out of the lists, expressing a wish that the +combat had had a different termination, so that his honor had been saved. +[2] + +In these jousts and tourneys, described with sufficient prolixity, but in +a truly heart-stirring tone, by the chroniclers of the day, we may discern +the last gleam of the light of chivalry, which illumined the darkness of +the Middle Ages; and, although rough in comparison with the pastimes of +more polished times, they called forth such displays of magnificence, +courtesy, and knightly honor, as throw something like the grace of +civilization over the ferocious features of the age. + +While the Spaniards, cooped up within the old town of Barleta, sought to +vary the monotony of their existence by these chivalrous exercises, or an +occasional foray into the neighboring country, they suffered greatly from +the want of military stores, food, clothing, and the most common +necessaries of life. It seemed as if their master had abandoned them to +their fate on this forlorn outpost, without a struggle in their behalf. +[22] How different from the parental care with which Isabella watched over +the welfare of her soldiers in the long war of Granada! The queen appears +to have taken no part in the management of these wars, which, +notwithstanding the number of her own immediate subjects embarked in them, +she probably regarded, from the first, as appertaining to Aragon, as +exclusively as the conquests in the New World did to Castile. Indeed, +whatever degree of interest she may have felt in their success, the +declining state of her health at this period would not have allowed her to +take any part in the conduct of them. + +Gonsalvo was not wanting to himself in this trying emergency, and his +noble spirit seemed to rise as all outward and visible resources failed. +He cheered his troops with promises of speedy relief, talking confidently +of the supplies of grain he expected from Sicily, and the men and money he +was to receive from Spain and Venice. He contrived, too, says Giovio, that +a report should get abroad, that a ponderous coffer lying in his apartment +was filled with gold, which he could draw upon in the last extremity. The +old campaigners, indeed, according to the same authority, shook their +heads at these and other agreeable fictions of their general, with a very +skeptical air. They derived some confirmation, however, from the arrival +soon after of a Sicilian bark, laden with corn, and another from Venice +with various serviceable stores and wearing apparel, which Gonsalvo bought +on his own credit and that of his principal officers, and distributed +gratuitously among his destitute soldiers. [23] + +At this time he received the unwelcome tidings that a small force which +had been sent from Spain to his assistance, under Don Manuel de Benavides, +and which had effected a junction with one much larger from Sicily under +Hugo de Cardona, was surprised by D'Aubigny near Terranova, and totally +defeated. This disaster was followed by the reduction of all Calabria, +which the latter general, at the head of his French and Scottish +gendarmerie, rode over from one extremity to the other without opposition. +[24] + +The prospect now grew darker and darker around the little garrison of +Barleta. The discomfiture of Benavides excluded hopes of relief in that +direction. The gradual occupation of most of the strong places in Apulia +by the duke of Nemours cut off all communication with the neighboring +country; and a French fleet cruising in the Adriatic rendered the arrival +of further stores and reinforcements extremely precarious. Gonsalvo, +however, maintained the same unruffled cheerfulness as before, and +endeavored to infuse it into the hearts of others. He perfectly understood +the character of his countrymen, knew all their resources, and tried to +rouse every latent principle of honor, loyalty, pride, and national +feeling; and such was the authority which he acquired over their minds, +and so deep the affection which he inspired, by the amenity of his manners +and the generosity of his disposition, that not a murmur or symptom of +insubordination escaped them during the whole of this long and painful +siege. But neither the excellence of his troops, nor the resources of his +own genius, would have been sufficient to extricate Gonsalvo from the +difficulties of his situation, without the most flagrant errors on the +part of his opponent. The Spanish general, who understood the character of +the French commander perfectly well, lay patiently awaiting his +opportunity, like a skilful fencer, ready to make a decisive thrust at the +first vulnerable point that should be presented. Such an occasion at +length offered itself early in the following year. [25] + +The French, no less weary than their adversaries of their long inaction, +sallied out from Canosa, where the viceroy had established his +headquarters, and, crossing the Ofanto, marched up directly under the +walls of Barleta, with the intention of drawing out the garrison from the +"old den," as they called it, and deciding the quarrel in a pitched +battle. The duke of Nemours, accordingly, having taken up his position, +sent a trumpet into the place to defy the Great Captain to the encounter; +but the latter returned for answer, that "he was accustomed to choose his +own place and time for fighting, and would thank the French general to +wait till his men found time to shoe their horses, and burnish up their +arms." At length, Nemours, after remaining some days, and finding there +was no chance of decoying his wily foe from his defences, broke up his +camp and retired, satisfied with the empty honors of his gasconade. + +No sooner had he fairly turned his back, than Gonsalvo, whose soldiers had +been restrained with difficulty from sallying out on their insolent foe, +ordered the whole strength of his cavalry under the command of Diego de +Mendoza, flanked by two corps of infantry, to issue forth and pursue the +French. Mendoza executed these orders so promptly that he brought up his +horse, which were somewhat in advance of the foot, on the rear-guard of +the French, before it had got many miles from Barleta. The latter +instantly halted to receive the charge of the Spaniards, and, after a +lively skirmish of no great duration, Mendoza retreated, followed by the +incautious enemy, who, in consequence of their irregular and straggling +march, were detached from the main body of their army. In the mean time, +the advancing columns of the Spanish infantry, which had now come up with +the retreating horse, unexpectedly closing on the enemy's flanks, threw +them into some disorder, which became complete when the flying cavalry of +the Spaniards, suddenly wheeling round in the rapid style of the Moorish +tactics, charged them boldly in front. All was now confusion. Some made +resistance, but most sought only to escape; a few effected it, but the +greater part of those who did not fall on the field were carried prisoners +to Barleta; where Mendoza found the Great Captain with his whole army +drawn up under the walls in order of battle, ready to support him in +person, if necessary. The whole affair passed so expeditiously, that the +viceroy, who, as has been said, conducted his retreat in a most disorderly +manner, and in fact had already dispersed several battalions of his +infantry to the different towns from which he had drawn them, knew nothing +of the rencontre, till his men were securely lodged within the walls of +Barleta. [26] + +The arrival of a Venetian trader at this time, with a cargo of grain, +brought temporary relief to the pressing necessities of the garrison. [27] +This was followed by the welcome intelligence of the total discomfiture of +the French fleet under M. de Préjan by the Spanish admiral Lezcano, in an +action off Otranto, which consequently left the seas open for the supplies +daily expected from Sicily. Fortune seemed now in the giving vein; for in +a few days a convoy of seven transports from that island, laden with +grain, meat, and other stores, came safe into Barleta, and supplied +abundant means for recruiting the health and spirits of its famished +inmates. [28] + +Thus restored, the Spaniards began to look forward with eager confidence +to the achievement of some new enterprise. The temerity of the viceroy +soon afforded an opportunity. The people of Castellaneta, a town near +Tarento, were driven by the insolent and licentious behavior of the French +garrison to betray the place into the hands of the Spaniards. The duke of +Nemours, enraged at this defection, prepared to march at once with his +whole force, and take signal vengeance on the devoted little town; and +this, notwithstanding the remonstrances of his officers against a step +which must inevitably expose the unprotected garrisons in the neighborhood +to the assault of their vigilant enemy in Barleta. The event justified +these apprehensions. [29] + +No sooner had Gonsalvo learned the departure of Nemours on a distant +expedition, than he resolved at once to make an attack on the town of +Ruvo, about twelve miles distant, and defended by the brave La Palice, +with a corps of three hundred French lances, and as many foot. With his +usual promptness, the Spanish general quitted the walls of Barleta the +same night on which he received the news, taking with him his whole +effective force, amounting to about three thousand infantry and one +thousand light and heavy-armed horse. So few, indeed, remained to guard +the city, that he thought it prudent to take some of the principal +inhabitants as hostages to insure its fidelity in his absence. + +At break of day, the little army arrived before Ruvo. Gonsalvo immediately +opened a lively cannonade on the old ramparts, which in less than four +hours effected a considerable breach. He then led his men to the assault, +taking charge himself of those who were to storm the breach, while another +division, armed with ladders for scaling the walls, was intrusted to the +adventurous cavalier Diego de Paredes. + +The assailants experienced more resolute resistance than they had +anticipated from the inconsiderable number of the garrison. La Palice, +throwing himself into the breach with his iron band of dismounted +gendarmes, drove back the Spaniards as often as they attempted to set foot +on the broken ramparts; while the Gascon archery showered down volleys of +arrows thick as hail, from the battlements, on the exposed persons of the +assailants. The latter, however, soon rallied under the eye of their +general, and returned with fresh fury to the charge, until the +overwhelming tide of numbers bore down all opposition, and they poured in +through the breach and over the walls with irresistible fury. The brave +little garrison were driven before them; still, however, occasionally +making fight in the streets and houses. Their intrepid young commander, La +Palice, retreated facing the enemy, who pressed thick and close upon him, +till, his further progress being arrested by a wall, he placed his back +against it, and kept them at bay, making a wide circle around him with the +deadly sweep of his battle-axe. But the odds were too much for him; and at +length, after repeated wounds, having been brought to the ground by a deep +cut in the head, he was made prisoner; not, however, before he had flung +his sword far over the heads of the assailants, disdaining, in the true +spirit of a knight-errant, to yield it to the rabble around him. [30] + +All resistance was now at an end. The women of the place had fled, like so +many frightened deer, to one of the principal churches; and Gonsalvo, with +more humanity than was usual in these barbarous wars, placed a guard over +their persons, which effectually secured them from the insults of the +soldiery. After a short time spent in gathering up the booty and securing +his prisoners, the Spanish general, having achieved the object of his +expedition, set out on his homeward march, and arrived without +interruption at Barleta. + +The duke of Nemours had scarcely appeared before Castellaneta, before he +received tidings of the attack on Ruvo. He put himself, without losing a +moment, at the head of his gendarmes, supported by the Swiss pikemen, +hoping to reach the beleaguered town in time to raise the siege. Great was +his astonishment, therefore, on arriving before it, to find no trace of an +enemy, except the ensigns of Spain unfurled from the deserted battlements. +Mortified and dejected, be made no further attempt to recover +Castellaneta, but silently drew off to hide his chagrin in the walls of +Canosa. [31] + +Among the prisoners were several persons of distinguished rank. Gonsalvo +treated them with his usual courtesy, and especially La Palice, whom he +provided with his own surgeon and all the appliances for rendering his +situation as comfortable as possible. For the common file, however, he +showed no such sympathy; but condemned them all to serve in the Spanish +admiral's galleys, where they continued to the close of the campaign. An +unfortunate misunderstanding had long subsisted between the French and +Spanish commanders respecting the ransom and exchange of prisoners; and +Gonsalvo was probably led to this severe measure, so different from his +usual clemency, by an unwillingness to encumber himself with a superfluous +population in the besieged city. [32] But, in truth, such a proceeding, +however offensive to humanity, was not at all repugnant to the haughty +spirit of chivalry, which, reserving its courtesies exclusively for those +of gentle blood and high degree, cared little for the inferior orders, +whether soldier or peasant, whom it abandoned without remorse to all the +caprices and cruelties of military license. + +The capture of Ruvo was attended with important consequences to the +Spaniards. Besides the valuable booty of clothes, jewels, and money, they +brought back with them nearly a thousand horses, which furnished Gonsalvo +with the means of augmenting his cavalry, the small number of which had +hitherto materially crippled his operations. He accordingly selected seven +hundred of his best troops and mounted them on the French horses; thus +providing himself with a corps, burning with zeal to approve itself worthy +of the distinguished honor conferred on it. [33] + +A few weeks after, the general received an important accession of strength +from the arrival of two thousand German mercenaries, which Don Juan +Manuel, the Spanish minister at the Austrian court, had been permitted to +raise in the emperor's dominions. This event determined the Great Captain +on a step which he had been some time meditating. The new levies placed +him in a condition for assuming the offensive. His stock of provisions, +moreover, already much reduced, would be obviously insufficient long to +maintain his increased numbers. He resolved, therefore, to sally out of +the old walls of Barleta, and, availing himself of the high spirits in +which the late successes had put his troops, to bring the enemy at once to +battle. [34] + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] Peter Martyr, in a letter written from Venice, while detained there on +his way to Alexandria, speaks of the efforts made by the French emissaries +to induce the republic to break with Spain, and support their master in +his designs on Naples. "Adsunt namque a Ludovico rege Gallorum oratores, +qui omni nixu conantur a vobis Venetorum animos avertere. Fremere dentibus +aiunt oratorem primarium Gallum, quia nequeat per Venetorum suffragia +consequi, ut aperte vobis hostilitatem edicant, utque velint Gallis regno +Parthenopeo contra vestra praesidia ferre suppetias." The letter is dated +October 1st, 1501. Opus Epist., epist. 231. + +[2] Martyr, after noticing the grounds of the partition treaty, comments +with his usual shrewdness on the politic views of the Spanish sovereigns. +"Facilius namque se sperant, eam partem, quam sibi Galli sortiti sunt, +habituros aliquando, quam si universum regnum occuparint." Opus Epist., +epist. 218. + +[3] The Italian historians, who have investigated the subject with some +parade of erudition, treat it so vaguely, as to leave it after all nearly +as perplexed as they found it. Giovio includes the Capitanate in Apulia, +according to the ancient division; Guicciardini, according to the modern; +and the Spanish historian Mariana, according to both. The last writer, it +may be observed, discusses the matter with equal learning and candor, and +more perspicuity than either of the preceding. He admits reasonable +grounds for doubt to which moiety of the kingdom the Basilicate and +Principalities should be assigned. Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. p. +670.--Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. i. lib. 5, pp. 274, 275.--Giovio, Vita +Magni Gonsalvi, lib. 1, pp. 234, 235. + +[4] The provision of the partition treaty, that the Spaniards should +collect the tolls paid by the flocks on their descent from the French +district of Abruzzo into the Capitanate, is conclusive evidence of the +intention of the contracting parties to assign the latter to Spain. See +the treaty apud Dumont, Corps Diplomatique, tom. in. pp. 445, 446. + +[5] Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, tom, i. lib. 4, cap. 52.--Mariana, +Hist. de España, tom. ii, lib. 27, cap. 12.--Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. +10. + +[6] D'Auton, Hist. de Louys XII., part. 2, chap. 3-7.--Zurita, Hist. del +Rey Hernando, tom. i. lib. 4, cap. 60, 62, 64, 65.--Giovio, Vitae Illust. +Virorum, tom. i. p. 236.--Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, lib. 29, cap. 4. + +Bernaldez states, that the Great Captain, finding his conference with the +French general ineffectual, proposed to the latter to decide the quarrel +between their respective nations by single combat. (Reyes Católicos, MS., +cap. 167.) We should require some other authority, however, than that of +the good Curate to vouch for this romantic flight, so entirely out of +keeping with the Spanish general's character, in which prudence was +probably the most conspicuous attribute. + +[7] Daru, Hist. de Venise, tom. iii. p. 345.--Bembo, Istoria Viniziana, +tom. i. lib. 6.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 238, 240, 252.--This +may appear strange, considering that Lorenzo Suarez de la Vega was there, +a person of whom Gonzalo de Oviedo writes, "Fué gentil caballero, é sabio, +é de gran prudencia; ***** muy entendido é de mucho reposo é honesto é +afable é de linda conversarcion;" and again more explicitly, "Embaxador á +Venecia, en el qual oficio sirvio muy bien, é como prudente varon." +(Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 3, dial. 44.) Martyr admits his +prudence, but objects his ignorance of Latin, a deficiency, however +heinous in the worthy tutor's eyes, probably of no rare occurrence among +the elder Castilian nobles. + +[8] Many of Martyr's letters were addressed to both Ferdinand and +Isabella. The former, however, was ignorant of the Latin language, in +which they were written. Martyr playfully alludes to this in one of his +epistles, reminding the queen of her promise to interpret them faithfully +to her husband. The unconstrained and familiar tone of his correspondence +affords a pleasing example of the personal intimacy to which the +sovereigns, so contrary to the usual stiffness of Spanish etiquette, +admitted men of learning and probity at their court, without distinction +of rank. Opus Epist., epist. 230. + +[9] "Galli," says Martyr, in a letter more remarkable for strength of +expression than elegance of Latinity, "furunt, saeviunt, internecionem +nostris minantur, putantque id sibi fere facillimum. Regem eorum esse in +itinere, inquiunt, ut ipse cum duplicato exercitu Alpes trajiciat in +Italiam. Vestro nomini insurgunt. Cristas erigunt in vos superbissimè. +Provinciam hanc, veluti rem humilem, parvique momenti, se aggressuros +praeconantur. Nihil esse negotii eradicare exterminareque vestra praesidia +ex utrâque Siciliâ blacterant. Insolenter nimis exspuendo insultant." Opus +Epist., epist. 241. + +[10] D'Auton, Hist. de Louys XII., part. 2, chap. 8.--Giannone, Istoria di +Napoli, lib. 29, cap. 4.--Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 5, pp. 274, 275.-- +Buonaccorsi, Diario, p. 61. + +[11] Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 5, p. 265.--D'Auton, Hist. de Louys XII., +part. 1, chap. 57.--Gaillard, Rivalité, tom. iv. pp. 221-233.--St. Gelais, +Hist. de Louys XII, p. 169. + +Brantôme has introduced sketches of most of the French captains mentioned +in the text into his admirable gallery of national portraits.--See Vies +des Hommes Illustres, Oeuvres, tom. ii. and iii. + +[12] Martyr's epistles at this crisis are filled with expostulation, +argument, and entreaties to the sovereigns, begging them to rouse from +their apathy, and take measures to secure the wavering affections of +Venice, as well as to send more effectual aid to their Italian troops. +Ferdinand listened to the first of these suggestions; but showed a strange +insensibility to the last. + +[13] Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, lib. 4, cap. 62, 65.--Carta del Gran +Capitan, MS. + +Prospero Colonna, in particular, was distinguished not only for his +military science, but his fondness for letters and the arts, of which he +is commemorated by Tiraboschi as a munificent patron. (Letteratura +Italians, tom. viii. p. 77.) Paolo Giovio has introduced his portrait +among the effigies of illustrious men, who, it must be confessed, are more +indebted in his work to the hand of the historian than the artist. Elogia +Virorum Bellica Virtute Illustrium, (Basiliae, 1578,) lib. 5. + +[14] D'Auton, Hist. de Louys XII., part. 2, chap. 8.--Ulloa, Vita di Carlo +V., fol. 10.--Chrónica del Gran Capitan, cap. 42.--Summonte, Hist. di +Napoli, tom. iii. p. 541. + +[15] This beautiful and high-spirited lady, whose fate has led Boccalini, +in his whimsical satire of the "Ragguaglí dí Parnasso," to call her the +most unfortunate female on record, had seen her father, Alfonso II., and +her husband, Galeazzo Sforza, driven from their thrones by the French, +while her son still remained in captivity in their hands. No wonder they +revolted from accumulating new woes on her devoted head. + +[16] Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, p. 237.--Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. +5, pp. 282, 283.--Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. lib. 19, cap. 14.--Peter +Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 249.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. +168. + +[17] Chrónica del Gran Capitan, cap. 47.--Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, +tom. i. lib. 4, cap. 69.--Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, tom. i. p. 241.-- +D'Auton, part. 2, chap. 11.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 247. + +Martyr says, that the Spaniards marched through the enemy's camp, shouting +"España, España, viva España!" (ubi supra.) Their gallantry in the defence +of Canosa elicits a hearty eulogium from Jean D'Auton, the loyal +historiographer of Louis XII. "Je ne veux donc par ma Chronique mettre les +biensfaicts des Espaignols en publy, mais dire que pour vertueuse defence, +doibuent auoir louange honorable." Hist. de Louys XII., chap. 11. + +[18] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 169.--Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., +fol. 10.--Chrónica del Gran Capitan, cap. 66. + +[19] Chrónica del Gran Capitan, cap. 53.--D'Auton, Hist. de Louys XII., +part. 2, chap. 26.--Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, pp. 238, 239.--Mémoires +de Bayard par le Loyal Serviteur, chap. 23, apud Petitot, Collection des +Mémoires, tom. xv.--Brantôme, Oeuvres, tom. iii. disc. 77. + +This celebrated tourney, its causes, and all the details of the action, +are told in as many different ways as there are narrators; and this, +notwithstanding it was fought in the presence of a crowd of witnesses, who +had nothing to do but look on, and note what passed before their eyes. The +only facts in which all agree, are, that there was such a tournament, and +that neither party gained the advantage. So much for history! + +[20] D'Auton, Hist. de Louys XII., ubi supra.--Quintana, Españoles +Célebres, tom. ii. p. 263. + +[21] Brantôme, Oeuvres, tom. vi. Discours sur les Duels.--D'Auton, Hist. +de Louys XII., part. 2, chap. 27.--Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 11.-- +Mémoires de Bayard, chap. 22, apud Collection des Mémoires.--Giovio, Vitae +Illust. Virorum, p. 240. + +[22] According to Martyr, the besieged had been so severely pressed by +famine for some time before this, that Gonsalvo entertained serious +thoughts of embarking the whole of his little garrison on board the fleet, +and abandoning the place to the enemy. "Barlettae inclusos fame pesteque +urgeri graviter aiunt. Vicina ipsorum omnia Galli occupant, et nostros +quotidie magis ac magis premunt. Ita obsessi undi que, de relinquendâ +etiam Barlettâ saepius iniere consilium. Ut mari terga dent hostibus, ne +fame pesteque pereant, saepe cadit in deliberationem." Opus Epist., epist. +249. + +[23] Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, p. 242.--Zurita, Hist. del Rey +Hernando, tom. i. lib. 5, cap. 4.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. +167.--Guicciardini, Istoria, p. 283. + +[24] Ibid., lib. 5, p. 294.--D'Auton, Hist. de Louys XII., part. 2, chap. +22.--Chrónica del Gran Capitan, cap. 63. + +[25] Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 11.--Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, +tom. i. p. 247.--Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, tom. i. lib. 5, cap. 9. + +[26] Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, pp. 243, 244.--Ulloa, Vita di Carlo +V., fol. 11, 12. A dispute arose, soon after this affair, between a French +officer and some Italian gentlemen at Gonsalvo's table, in consequence of +certain injurious reflections made by the former on the bravery of the +Italian nation. The quarrel was settled by a combat _à l'outrance_ between +thirteen knights on each side, fought under the protection of the Great +Captain, who took a lively interest in the success of his allies. It +terminated in the discomfiture and capture of all the French. The tourney +covers more pages in the Italian historians than the longest battle, and +is told with pride and a swell of exultation which show that this insult +of the French cut more deeply than all the injuries inflicted by them. +Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, pp. 244-247.--Guicciardini, Istoria, pp. +296-298.--Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, lib. 29, cap. 4.--Summonte, Hist. +di Napoli, tom. iii. pp. 542-552.--et al. + +[27]: This supply was owing to the avarice of the French general Alègre, +who, having got possession of a magazine of corn in Foggia, sold it to the +Venetian merchant, instead of reserving it, where it was most needed, for +his own army. + +[28] D'Auton, Hist. de Louys XII., part, 1, chap. 72.--Peter Martyr, Opus +Epist., epist. 254.--Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, p. 242. + +[29] Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 5, p. 296.--D'Auton, Hist. de Louys XII., +part. 2, chap. 31. + +[30] Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, pp. 248, 249.--Guicciardini, Istoria, +p. 296.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 175.--D'Auton, Hist. de +Louys XII., part. 2, chap. 31.--Chrónica del Gran Capitan, cap. 72. + +The gallant behavior of La Palice, and indeed the whole siege of Ruvo, is +told by Jean D'Auton in a truly heart-stirring tone, quite worthy of the +chivalrous pen of old Froissart. There is an inexpressible charm imparted +to the French memoirs and chronicles of this ancient date, not only from +the picturesque character of the details, but from a gentle tinge of +romance shed over them, which calls to mind the doughty feats of + + "prowest knights, + Both Paynim and the peers of Charlemagne." + +[31] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., ubi supra.--Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., +fol. 16.--Chrónica del Gran Capitan, cap. 72. + +[32] D'Auton, Hist. de Louys XII., ubi supra.--Giovio, Vitae Illust. +Virorum, p. 249.--Quintana, Españoles Célebres, tom. ii. p. 270.--Zurita, +Hist. del Rey Hernando, tom. i. lib. 5, cap. 14. + +[33] Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, p. 249. + +[34] Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. lib. 19, cap. 15.--Zurita, Hist. del Rey +Hernando, tom. i. lib. 5, cap. 16.--Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 17. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +ITALIAN WARS.--NEGOTIATIONS WITH FRANCE.--VICTORY OF CERIGNOLA.--SURRENDER +OF NAPLES. + +1503. + +Birth of Charles V.--Philip and Joanna Visit Spain.--Treaty of Lyons.--The +Great Captain Refuses to Comply with it.--Encamps before Cerignola.-- +Battle and Rout of the French.--Triumphant Entry of Gonsalvo into Naples. + + +Before accompanying the Great Captain further in his warlike operations, +it will be necessary to take a rapid glance at what was passing in the +French and Spanish courts, where negotiations were in train for putting a +stop to them altogether. + +The reader has been made acquainted in a preceding chapter with the +marriage of the infanta Joanna, second daughter of the Catholic +sovereigns, with the archduke Philip, son of the emperor Maximilian, and +sovereign, in right of his mother, of the Low Countries. The first fruit +of this marriage was the celebrated Charles the Fifth, born at Ghent, +February 24th, 1500, whose birth was no sooner announced to Queen +Isabella, than she predicted that to this infant would one day descend the +rich inheritance of the Spanish monarchy. [1] The premature death of the +heir apparent, Prince Miguel, not long after, prepared the way for this +event by devolving the succession on Joanna, Charles's mother. From that +moment the sovereigns were pressing in their entreaties that the archduke +and his wife would visit Spain, that they might receive the customary +oaths of allegiance, and that the former might become acquainted with the +character and institutions of his future subjects. The giddy young prince, +however, thought too much of present pleasure to heed the call of ambition +or duty, and suffered more than a year to glide away, before he complied +with the summons of his royal parents. + +In the latter part of 1501, Philip and Joanna, attended by a numerous +suite of Flemish courtiers, set out on their journey, proposing to take +their way through France. They were entertained with profuse magnificence +and hospitality at the French court, where the politic attentions of Louis +the Twelfth not only effaced the recollection of ancient injuries to the +house of Burgundy, [2] but left impressions of the most agreeable +character on the mind of the young prince. [3] After some weeks passed in +a succession of splendid _fêtes_ and amusements at Blois, where the +archduke confirmed the treaty of Trent recently made between his father, +the emperor, and the French king, stipulating the marriage of Louis's +eldest daughter, the princess Claude, with Philip's son Charles, the royal +pair resumed their journey towards Spain, which they entered by the way of +Fontarabia, January 29th, 1502. [4] + +Magnificent preparations had been made for their reception. The grand +constable of Castile, the duke of Naxara, and many other of the principal +grandees waited on the borders to receive them. Brilliant _fêtes_ and +illuminations, and all the usual marks of public rejoicing, greeted their +progress through the principal cities of the north, and a _pragmática_ +relaxing the simplicity, or rather severity, of the sumptuary laws of the +period, so far as to allow the use of silks and various-colored apparel, +shows the attention of the sovereigns to every circumstance, however +trifling, which could affect the minds of the young princes agreeably, and +diffuse an air of cheerfulness over the scene. [5] + +Ferdinand and Isabella, who were occupied with the affairs of Andalusia at +this period, no sooner heard of the arrival of Philip and Joanna, than +they hastened to the north. They reached Toledo towards the end of April, +and in a few days, the queen, who paid the usual penalties of royalty, in +seeing her children, one after another, removed far from her into distant +lands, had the satisfaction of again folding her beloved daughter in her +arms. + +On the 22d of the ensuing month, the archduke and his wife received the +usual oaths of fealty from the cortes duly convoked for the purpose at +Toledo. [6] King Ferdinand, not long after, made a journey into Aragon, in +which the queen's feeble health would not permit her to accompany him, in +order to prepare the way for a similar recognition by the estates of that +realm. We are not informed what arguments the sagacious monarch made use +of to dispel the scruples formerly entertained by that independent body, +on a similar application in behalf of his daughter, the late queen of +Portugal. [7] They were completely successful, however; and Philip and +Joanna, having ascertained the favorable disposition of cortes, made their +entrance in great state into the ancient city of Saragossa, in the month +of October. On the 27th, having first made oath before the Justice, to +observe the laws and liberties of the realm, Joanna as future queen +proprietor, and Philip as her husband,--were solemnly recognized by the +four _arms_ of Aragon as successors to the crown, in default of male +issue of King Ferdinand. The circumstance is memorable, as affording the +first example of the parliamentary recognition of a female heir apparent +in Aragonese history. [8] + +Amidst all the honors so liberally lavished on Philip, his bosom secretly +swelled with discontent, fomented still further by his followers, who +pressed him to hasten his return to Flanders, where the free and social +manners of the people were much more congenial to their tastes, than the +reserve and stately ceremonial of the Spanish court. The young prince +shared in these feelings, to which, indeed, the love of pleasure, and an +instinctive aversion to anything like serious occupation, naturally +disposed him. Ferdinand and Isabella saw with regret the frivolous +disposition of their son-in-law, who, in the indulgence of selfish and +effeminate ease, was willing to repose on others all the important duties +of government. They beheld with mortification his indifference to Joanna, +who could boast few personal attractions, [9] and who cooled the +affections of her husband by alternations of excessive fondness and +irritable jealousy, for which last the levity of his conduct gave her too +much occasion. + +Shortly after the ceremony at Saragossa, the archduke announced his +intention of an immediate return to the Netherlands, by the way of France. +The sovereigns, astonished at this abrupt determination, used every +argument to dissuade him from it. They represented the ill effects it +might occasion the princess Joanna, then too far advanced in a state of +pregnancy to accompany him. They pointed out the impropriety, as well as +danger, of committing himself to the hands of the French king, with whom +they were now at open war; and they finally insisted on the importance of +Philip's remaining long enough in the kingdom to become familiar with the +usages, and establish himself in the affections of the people over whom he +would one day be called to reign. + +All these arguments were ineffectual; the inflexible prince, turning a +deaf ear alike to the entreaties of his unhappy wife, and the +remonstrances of the Aragonese cortes, still in session, set out from +Madrid, with the whole of his Flemish suite, in the month of December. He +left Ferdinand and Isabella disgusted with the levity of his conduct, and +the queen, in particular, filled with mournful solicitude for the welfare +of the daughter with whom his destinies were united. [10] + +Before his departure for France, Philip, anxious to re-establish harmony +between that country and Spain, offered his services to his father-in-law +in negotiating with Louis the Twelfth, if possible, a settlement of the +differences respecting Naples. Ferdinand showed some reluctance at +intrusting so delicate a commission to an envoy in whose discretion he +placed small reliance, which was not augmented by the known partiality +which Philip entertained for the French monarch. [11] Before the archduke +had crossed the frontier, however, he was overtaken by a Spanish +ecclesiastic named Bernaldo Boyl, abbot of St. Miguel de Cuxa, who brought +full powers to Philip from the king for concluding a treaty with France, +accompanied at the same time with private instructions of the most strict +and limited nature. He was enjoined, moreover, to take no step without the +advice of his reverend coadjutor, and to inform the Spanish court at once, +if different propositions were submitted from those contemplated by his +instructions. [12] Thus fortified, the archduke Philip made his appearance +at the French Court in Lyons, where he was received by Louis with the same +lively expressions of regard as before. With these amiable dispositions, +the negotiations were not long in resulting in a definitive treaty, +arranged to the mutual satisfaction of the parties, though in violation of +the private instructions of the archduke. In the progress of the +discussions, Ferdinand, according to the Spanish historians, received +advices from his envoy, the abate Boyl, that Philip was transcending his +commission; in consequence of which the king sent an express to France, +urging his son-in-law to adhere to the strict letter of his instructions. +Before the messenger reached Lyons, however, the treaty was executed. Such +is the Spanish account of this blind transaction. [13] + +The treaty, which was signed at Lyons, April 5th, 1503, was arranged on +the basis of the marriage of Charles, the infant son of Philip, and +Claude, princess of France; a marriage, which, settled by three several +treaties, was destined never to take place. The royal infants were +immediately to assume the titles of King and Queen of Naples, and Duke and +Duchess of Calabria. Until the consummation of the marriage, the French +division of the kingdom was to be placed under the administration of some +suitable person named by Louis the Twelfth, and the Spanish under that of +the archduke Philip, or some other deputy appointed by Ferdinand. All +places unlawfully seized by either party were to be restored; and lastly +it was settled, with regard to the disputed province of the Capitanate, +that the portion held by the French should be governed by an agent of King +Louis, and the Spanish by the archduke Philip on behalf of Ferdinand. [14] + +Such in substance was the treaty of Lyons; a treaty, which, while it +seemed to consult the interests of Ferdinand, by securing the throne of +Naples eventually to his posterity, was in fact far more accommodated to +those of Louis, by placing the immediate control of the Spanish moiety +under a prince over whom that monarch held entire influence. It is +impossible that so shrewd a statesman as Ferdinand could, from the mere +consideration of advantages so remote to himself and dependent on so +precarious a contingency as the marriage of two infants, then in their +cradles, have seriously contemplated an arrangement, which surrendered all +the actual power into the hands of his rival; and that too at the moment +when his large armament, so long preparing for Calabria, had reached that +country, and when the Great Captain, on the other quarter, had received +such accessions of strength as enabled him to assume the offensive, on at +least equal terms with the enemy. + +No misgivings on this head, however, appeared to have entered the minds of +the signers of the treaty, which was celebrated by the court at Lyons with +every show of public rejoicing, and particularly with tourneys and tilts +of reeds, in imitation of the Spanish chivalry. At the same time, the +French king countermanded the embarkation of French troops on board a +fleet equipping at the port of Genoa for Naples, and sent orders to his +generals in Italy to desist from further operations. The archduke +forwarded similar instructions to Gonsalvo, accompanied with a copy of the +powers intrusted to him by Ferdinand. That prudent officer, however, +whether in obedience to previous directions from the king, as Spanish +writers affirm, or on his own responsibility, from a very natural sense of +duty, refused to comply with the ambassador's orders; declaring "he knew +no authority but that of his own sovereigns, and that he felt bound to +prosecute the war with all his ability, till he received their commands to +the contrary." [15] + +Indeed, the archduke's despatches arrived at the very time when the +Spanish general, having strengthened himself by a reinforcement from the +neighboring garrison of Tarento under Pedro Navarro, was prepared to sally +forth, and try his fortune in battle with the enemy. Without further +delay, he put his purpose into execution, and on Friday, the 28th of +April, marched out with his whole army from the ancient walls of Barleta; +a spot ever memorable in history as the scene of the extraordinary +sufferings and indomitable constancy of the Spanish soldier. + +The road lay across the field of Cannae, where, seventeen centuries +before, the pride of Rome had been humbled by the victorious arms of +Hannibal, [16] in a battle which, though fought with far greater numbers, +was not so decisive in its consequences as that which the same scenes were +to witness in a few hours. The coincidence is certainly singular; and one +might almost fancy that the actors in these fearful tragedies, unwilling +to deface the fair haunts of civilization, had purposely sought a more +fitting theatre in this obscure and sequestered region. + +The weather, although only at the latter end of April, was extremely +sultry; the troops, notwithstanding Gonsalvo's orders on crossing the +river Ofanto, the ancient Aufidus, had failed to supply themselves with +sufficient water for the march; parched with heat and dust, they were soon +distressed by excessive thirst; and, as the burning rays of the noontide +sun beat fiercely on their heads, many of them, especially those cased in +heavy armor, sunk down on the road, fainting with exhaustion and fatigue. +Gonsalvo was seen in every quarter, administering to the necessities of +his men, and striving to reanimate their drooping spirits. At length, to +relieve them, he commanded that each trooper should take one of the +infantry on his crupper, setting the example himself by mounting a German +ensign behind him on his own horse. + +In this way, the whole army arrived early in the afternoon before +Cerignola, a small town on an eminence about sixteen miles from Barleta, +where the nature of the ground afforded the Spanish general a favorable +position for his camp. The sloping sides of the hill were covered with +vineyards, and its base was protected by a ditch of considerable depth. +Gonsalvo saw at once the advantages of the ground. His men were jaded by +the march; but there was no time to lose, as the French, who, on his +departure from Barleta, had been drawn up under the walls of Canosa, were +now rapidly advancing. All hands were put in requisition, therefore, for +widening the trench, in which they planted sharp-pointed stakes; while the +earth which they excavated enabled them to throw up a parapet of +considerable height on the side next the town. On this rampart he mounted +his little train of artillery, consisting of thirteen guns, and behind it +drew up his forces in order of battle. [17] + +Before these movements were completed in the Spanish camp, the bright arms +and banners of the French were seen glistening in the distance amid the +tall fennel and cane-brakes with which the country was thickly covered. As +soon as they had come in view of the Spanish encampment, they were brought +to a halt, while a council of war was called, to determine the expediency +of giving battle that evening. The duke of Nemours would have deferred it +till the following morning, as the day was already far spent, and allowed +no time for reconnoitring the position of his enemy. But Ives d'Allègre, +Chandieu, the commander of the Swiss, and some other officers, were for +immediate action, representing the importance of not balking the +impatience of the soldiers, who were all hot for the assault. In the +course of the debate, Allègre was so much heated as to throw out some rash +taunts on the courage of the viceroy, which the latter would have avenged +on the spot, had not his arm been arrested by Louis d'Ars. He had the +weakness, however, to suffer them to change his cooler purpose, +exclaiming, "We will fight to-night, then; and perhaps those who vaunt the +loudest will be found to trust more to their spurs, than their swords;" a +prediction bitterly justified by the event. [18] + +While this dispute was going on, Gonsalvo gained time for making the +necessary disposition of his troops. In the centre he placed his German +auxiliaries, armed with their long pikes, and on each wing the Spanish +infantry under the command of Pedro Navarro, Diego de Paredes, Pizarro, +and other illustrious captains. The defence of the artillery was committed +to the left wing. A considerable body of men-at-arms, including those +recently equipped from the spoils of Ruvo, was drawn up within the +intrenchments, in a quarter affording a convenient opening for a sally, +and placed under the orders of Mendoza and Fabrizio Colonna, whose brother +Prospero and Pedro de la Paz took charge of the light cavalry, which was +posted without the lines to annoy the advance of the enemy, and act on any +point, as occasion might require. Having completed his preparations, the +Spanish general coolly waited the assault of the French. + +The duke of Nemours had marshalled his forces in a very different order. +He distributed them into three battles or divisions, stationing his heavy +horse, composing altogether, as Gonsalvo declared, "the finest body of +cavalry seen for many years in Italy," under the command of Louis d'Ars, +on the right. The second and centre division, formed somewhat in the rear +of the right, was made up of the Swiss and Gascon infantry, headed by the +brave Chandieu; and his left, consisting chiefly of his light cavalry, and +drawn up, like the last, somewhat in the rear of the preceding, was +intrusted to Allègre. [19] + +It was within half an hour of sunset when the duke de Nemours gave orders +for the attack, and, putting himself at the head of the gendarmerie on the +right, spurred at full gallop against the Spanish left. The hostile armies +were nearly equal, amounting to between six and seven thousand men each. +The French were superior in the number and condition of their cavalry, +rising to a third of their whole force; while Gonsalvo's strength lay +chiefly in his infantry, which had acquired a lesson of tactics under him, +that raised it to a level with the best in Europe. + +As the French advanced, the guns on the Spanish left poured a lively fire +into their ranks, when, a spark accidentally communicating with the +magazine of powder, the whole blew up with a tremendous explosion. The +Spaniards were filled with consternation; but Gonsalvo, converting the +misfortune into a lucky omen, called out, "Courage, soldiers, these are +the beacon lights of victory! We have no need of our guns at close +quarters." + +In the mean time, the French van under Nemours, advancing rapidly under +the dark clouds of smoke, which rolled heavily over the field, were +unexpectedly brought up by the deep trench, of whose existence they were +unapprised. Some of the horse were precipitated into it, and all received +a sudden check, until Nemours, finding it impossible to force the works in +this quarter, rode along their front in search of some practicable +passage. In doing this, he necessarily exposed his flank to the fatal aim +of the Spanish arquebusiers. A shot from one of them took effect on the +unfortunate young nobleman, and he fell mortally wounded from his saddle. + +At this juncture, the Swiss and Gascon infantry, briskly moving up to +second the attack of the now disordered horse, arrived before the +intrenchments. Undismayed by this formidable barrier, their commander, +Chandieu, made the most desperate attempts to force a passage; but the +loose earth freshly turned up afforded no hold to the feet, and his men +were compelled to recoil from the dense array of German pikes, which +bristled over the summit of the breastwork. Chandieu, their leader, made +every effort to rally and bring them back to the charge; but, in the act +of doing this, was hit by a ball, which stretched him lifeless in the +ditch; his burnished arms, and the snow-white plumes above his helmet, +making him a conspicuous mark for the enemy. + +All was now confusion. The Spanish arquebusiers, screened by their +defences, poured a galling fire into the dense masses of the enemy, who +were mingled together indiscriminately, horse and foot, while, the leaders +being down, no one seemed capable of bringing them to order. At this +critical moment, Gonsalvo, whose eagle eye took in the whole operations of +the field, ordered a general charge along the line; and the Spaniards, +leaping their intrenchments, descended with the fury of an avalanche on +their foes, whose wavering columns, completely broken by the violence of +the shock, were seized with a panic, and fled, scarcely offering any +resistance. Louis d'Ars, at the head of such of the men-at-arms as could +follow him, went off in one direction, and Ives d'Allègre, with his light +cavalry, which had hardly come into action, in another; thus fully +verifying the ominous prediction of his commander. The slaughter fell most +heavily on the Swiss and Gascon foot, whom the cavalry under Mendoza and +Pedro de la Paz rode down and cut to pieces without sparing, till the +shades of evening shielded them at length from their pitiless pursuers. +[20] + +Prospero Colonna pushed on to the French encampment, where he found the +tables in the duke's tent spread for his evening repast; of which the +Italian general and his followers did not fail to make good account. A +trifling incident, that well illustrates the sudden reverses of war. + +The Great Captain passed the night on the field of battle, which, on the +following morning, presented a ghastly spectacle of the dying and the +dead. More than three thousand French are computed by the best accounts to +have fallen. The loss of the Spaniards, covered as they were by their +defences, was inconsiderable. [21] All the enemy's artillery, consisting +of thirteen pieces, his baggage, and most of his colors fell into their +hands. Never was there a more complete victory, achieved too within the +space of little more than an hour. The body of the unfortunate Nemours, +which was recognized by one of his pages from the rings on the fingers, +was found under a heap of slain, much disfigured. It appeared that he had +received three several wounds, disproving, if need were, by his honorable +death the injurious taunts of Allègre. Gonsalvo was affected even to tears +at beholding the mutilated remains of his young and gallant adversary, +who, whatever judgment may be formed of his capacity as a leader, was +allowed to have all the qualities which belong to a true knight. With him +perished the last scion of the illustrious house of Armagnac. Gonsalvo +ordered his remains to be conveyed to Barleta, where they were laid in the +cemetery of the convent of St. Francis, with all the honors due to his +high station. [22] + +The Spanish commander lost no time in following up his blow, well aware +that it is quite as difficult to improve a victory as to win one. The +French had rushed into battle with too much precipitation to agree on any +plan of operations, or any point on which to rally in case of defeat. They +accordingly scattered in different directions, and Pedro de la Paz was +despatched in pursuit of Louis d'Ars, who threw himself into Venosa, [23] +where he kept the enemy at bay for many months longer. Paredes kept close +on the scent of Allègre, who, finding the gates shut against him wherever +he passed, at length took shelter in Gaeta on the extreme point of the +Neapolitan territory. There he endeavored to rally the scattered relics of +the field of Cerignola, and to establish a strong position, from which the +French, when strengthened by fresh supplies from home, might recommence +operations for the recovery of the kingdom. + +The day after the battle of Cerignola the Spaniards received tidings of +another victory, scarcely less important, gained over the French in +Calabria, the preceding week. [24] The army sent out under Portocarrero +had reached that coast early in March; but, soon after its arrival, its +gallant commander fell ill and died. [25] The dying general named Don +Fernando de Andrada as his successor; and this officer, combining his +forces with those before in the country under Cardona and Benavides, +encountered the French commander D'Aubigny in a pitched battle, not far +from Seminara, on Friday, the 21st of April. It was near the same spot on +which the latter had twice beaten the Spaniards. But the star of France +was on the wane; and the gallant old officer had the mortification to see +his little corps of veterans completely routed after a sharp engagement of +less than an hour, while he himself was retrieved with difficulty from the +hands of the enemy by the valor of his Scottish guard. [26] + +The Great Captain and his army, highly elated with the news of this +fortunate event, which annihilated the French power in Calabria, began +their march on Naples; Fabrizio Colonna having been first detached into +the Abruzzi to receive the submission of the people in that quarter. The +tidings of the victory had spread far and wide; and, as Gonsalvo's army +advanced, they beheld the ensigns of Aragon floating from the battlements +of the towns upon their route, while the inhabitants came forth to greet +the conqueror, eager to testify their devotion to the Spanish cause. The +army halted at Benevento; and the general sent his summons to the city of +Naples, inviting it in the most courteous terms to resume its ancient +allegiance to the legitimate branch of Aragon. It was hardly to be +expected, that the allegiance of a people, who had so long seen their +country set up as a mere stake for political gamesters, should sit very +closely upon them, or that they should care to peril their lives on the +transfer of a crown which had shifted on the heads of half a dozen +proprietors in as many successive years. [27] With the same ductile +enthusiasm, therefore, with which they greeted the accession of Charles +the Eighth or Louis the Twelfth, they now welcomed the restoration of the +ancient dynasty of Aragon; and deputies from the principal nobility and +citizens waited on the Great Captain at Acerra, where they tendered him +the keys of the city, and requested the confirmation of their rights and +privileges. + +Gonsalvo, having promised this in the name of his royal master, on the +following morning, the 14th of May, 1503, made his entrance in great state +into the capital, leaving his army without the walls. He was escorted by +the military of the city under a royal canopy borne by the deputies. The +streets were strewed with flowers, the edifices decorated with appropriate +emblems and devices, and wreathed with banners emblazoned with the united +arms of Aragon and Naples. As he passed along, the city rung with the +acclamations of countless multitudes who thronged the streets; while every +window and housetop was filled with spectators, eager to behold the man, +who, with scarcely any other resources than those of his own genius, had +so long defied, and at length completely foiled, the power of France. + +On the following day a deputation of the nobility and people waited on the +Great Captain at his quarters, and tendered him the usual oaths of +allegiance for his master, King Ferdinand, whose accession finally closed +the series of revolutions which had so long agitated this unhappy country. +[28] + +The city of Naples was commanded by two strong fortresses still held by +the French, which, being well victualled and supplied with ammunition, +showed no disposition to surrender. The Great Captain determined, +therefore, to reserve a small corps for their reduction, while he sent +forward the main body of his army to besiege Gaeta. But the Spanish +infantry refused to march until the heavy arrears, suffered to accumulate +through the negligence of the government, were discharged; and Gonsalvo, +afraid of awakening the mutinous spirit which he had once found it so +difficult to quell, was obliged to content himself with sending forward +his cavalry and German levies, and to permit the infantry to take up its +quarters in the capital, under strict orders to respect the persons and +property of the citizens. + +He now lost no time in pressing the siege of the French fortresses, whose +impregnable situation might have derided the efforts of the most +formidable enemy in the ancient state of military science. But the +reduction of these places was intrusted to Pedro Navarro, the celebrated +engineer, whose improvements in the art of mining have gained him the +popular reputation of being its inventor, and who displayed such +unprecedented skill on this occasion, as makes it a memorable epoch in the +annals of war. [29] + +Under his directions, the small tower of St. Vincenzo having been first +reduced by a furious cannonade, a mine was run under the outer defences of +the great fortress called Castel Nuovo. On the 21st of May, the mine was +sprung; a passage was opened over the prostrate ramparts, and the +assailants, rushing in with Gonsalvo and Navarro at their head, before the +garrison had time to secure the drawbridge, applied their ladders to the +walls of the castle, and succeeded in carrying the place by escalade, +after a desperate struggle, in which the greater part of the French were +slaughtered. An immense booty was found in the castle. The Angevin party +had made it a place of deposit for their most valuable effects, gold, +jewels, plate, and other treasures, which, together with its well-stored +magazines of grain and ammunition, became the indiscriminate spoil of the +victors. As some of these, however, complained of not getting their share +of the plunder, Gonsalvo, giving full scope in the exultation of the +moment to military license, called out gayly, "Make amends for it, then, +by what you can find in my quarters!" The words were not uttered to deaf +ears. The mob of soldiery rushed to the splendid palace of the Angevin +prince of Salerno, then occupied by the Great Captain, and in a moment its +sumptuous furniture, paintings, and other costly decorations, together +with the contents of its generous cellar, were seized and appropriated +without ceremony by the invaders, who thus indemnified themselves at their +general's expense for the remissness of government. + +After some weeks of protracted operations, the remaining fortress, Castel +d'Uovo, as it was called, opened its gates to Navarro; and a French fleet, +coming into the harbor, had the mortification to find itself fired on from +the walls of the place it was intended to relieve. Before this event, +Gonsalvo, having obtained funds from Spain for paying off his men, quitted +the capital and directed his march on Gaeta. The important results of his +victories were now fully disclosed. D'Aubigny, with the wreck of the +forces escaped from Seminara, had surrendered. The two Abruzzi, the +Capitanate, all the Basilicate, except Venosa, still held by Louis d'Ars, +and indeed every considerable place in the kingdom, had tendered its +submission, with the exception of Gaeta. Summoning, therefore, to his aid +Andrada, Navarro, and his other officers, the Great Captain resolved to +concentrate all his strength on this point, designing to press the siege, +and thus exterminate at a blow the feeble remains of the French power in +Italy. The enterprise was attended with more difficulty than he had +anticipated. [30] + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1500.--Sandoval, Hist. del Emp. Carlos V., +tom. i. p. 2. + +The queen expressed herself in the language of Scripture. "Sora cecidit +super Mathiam," in allusion to the circumstance of Charles being born on +that saint's day; a day which, if we are to believe Garibay, was fortunate +to him through the whole course of his life. Compendio, tom. ii. lib. 19, +cap. 9. + +[2] Charles VIII., Louis's predecessor, had contrived to secure the hand +of Anne of Bretagne, notwithstanding she was already married by proxy to +Philip's father, the emperor Maximilian; and this, too, in contempt of his +own engagements to Margaret, the emperor's daughter, to whom he had been +affianced from her infancy. This twofold insult, which sunk deep into the +heart of Maximilian, seems to have made no impression on the volatile +spirits of his son. + +[3] Mariana, Hist. de España, lib. 27, cap. 11.--St. Gelais describes the +cordial reception of Philip and Joanna by the Court at Blois, where he was +probably present himself. The historian shows his own opinion of the +effect produced on their young minds by these flattering attentions, by +remarking, "Le roy leur monstra si très grand semblant d'amour, que par +noblesse et honesteté de coeur _il les obligeoit envers luy de leur en +souvenir toute leur vie_." Hist. de Louys. XII., pp. 164, 165. + +In passing through Paris, Philip took his seat in parliament as peer of +France, and subsequently did homage to Louis XII., as his suzerain for his +estates in Flanders; an acknowledgment of inferiority not at all palatable +to the Spanish historians, who insist with much satisfaction on the +haughty refusal of his wife, the archduchess, to take part in the +ceremony. Zurita, Anales, tom. v. lib. 4, cap. 55.--Carbajal, Anales, MS., +año 1502.--Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 13, sec. 1.-- +Dumont, Corps Diplomatique, tom. iv. part. 1, p. 17. + +[4] Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1501.--Sandoval, Hist. del Emp. Carlos V., +tom. i. p. 5. + +[5] Zurita, Anales, tom. v. lib. 4, cap. 55.--Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, +tom. viii. p. 220. + +This extreme simplicity of attire, in which Zurita discerns "the modesty +of the times," was enforced by laws, the policy of which, whatever be +thought of their moral import, may well be doubted in an economical view. +I shall have occasion to draw the reader's attention to them hereafter. + +[6] The writ is dated at Llerena, March 8. It was extracted by Marina from +the archives of Toledo, Teoría, tom. ii. p. 18. + +[7] It is remarkable that the Aragonese writers, generally so inquisitive +on all points touching the constitutional history of their country, should +have omitted to notice the grounds on which the cortes thought proper to +reverse its former decision in the analogous case of the infanta Isabella. +There seems to have been even less reason for departing from ancient usage +in the present instance, since Joanna had a son, to whom the cortes might +lawfully have tendered its oath of recognition; for a female, although +excluded from the throne in her own person, was regarded as competent to +transmit the title unimpaired to her male heirs. Blancas suggests no +explanation of the affair, (Coronaciones, lib. 3, cap. 20, and +Commentarii, pp. 274, 511,) and Zurita quietly dismisses it with the +remark, that "there was some opposition raised, but _the king had managed +it so discreetly beforehand_, that there was not the same difficulty as +formerly." (Hist. del Rey Hernando, tom. i. lib. 5, cap. 5.) It is curious +to see with what effrontery the prothonotary of the cortes, in the desire +to varnish over the departure from constitutional precedent, declares, in +the opening address, "the princess Joanna, true and lawful heir to the +crown, to whom, in default of male heirs, the usage and law of the land +require the oath of allegiance." Coronaciones, ubi supra. + +[8] Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1500.--Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. +rey 30, cap. 12, sec. 6.--Robles, Vita de Ximenez, p. 126.--Garibay, +Compendio, tom. ii. lib. 19, cap. 14.--Sandoval, Hist. del Emp. Carlos V., +tom. i. p. 5. + +Petronilla, the only female who ever sat, in her own right, on the throne +of Aragon, never received the homage of cortes as heir apparent; the +custom not having been established at that time, the middle of the twelfth +century. (Zurita, Anales, tom. v. lib. 5, cap. 5.) Blancas has described +the ceremony of Joanna's recognition with quite as much circumstantiality +as the novelty of the case could warrant. Coronaciones, lib. 3, cap. 20. + +[9] "Simplex est foemina," says Martyr, speaking of Joanna, "licet a tantâ +muliere progenita." Opus Epist., epist. 250. + +[10] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., ubi supra.--Zurita, Anales, tom. v. lib. +5, cap. 10.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 44.--Carbajal, Anales, MS., año +1502. + +[11] Such manifest partiality for the French court and manners was shown +by Philip and his Flemish followers, that the Spaniards very generally +believed the latter were in the pay of Louis XII. See Gomez, De Rebus +Gestis, fol. 44.--Zurita, Anales, tom. v. lib. 5, cap. 23.--Peter Martyr, +Opus Epist., epist. 253.--Lanuza, Historias, cap. 16. + +[12] Zurita, Anales, tom. v. lib. 5, cap. 10.--Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, +tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 13, sec. 2.--Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. lib. 19, +cap. 15.--D'Auton, Hist. de Louys XII., part. 1, chap. 32. + +[13] Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, tom. i. lib. 5, cap. 23.--St. Gelais, +Hist. de Louys XII., pp. 170, 171.--Claude de Seyssel, Histoire de Louys +XII., (Paris, 1615,) p. 108.--Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. rey 30, +cap. 13, sec. 3.--Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. pp. 690, 691.-- +Lanuza, Historias, tom. i. cap. 16. + +Some of the French historians speak of two agents besides Philip employed +in the negotiations. Father Boyl is the only one named by the Spanish +writers, as regularly commissioned for the purpose, although it is not +improbable that Gralla, the resident minister at Louis's court, took part +in the discussions. + +[14] See the treaty, apud Dumont, Corps Diplomatique, tom. iv. pp. 27-29. + +[15] Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 33, sec. 3.--Giannone, +Istoria di Napoli, lib. 29, cap. 4.--St. Gelais, Hist. de Louys XII., p. +171.--Buonaccorsi, Diario, p. 75.--D'Auton, Hist. de Louys XII., part. 2, +chap. 32. + +According to the Aragonese historians, Ferdinand, on the archduke's +departure, informed Gonsalvo of the intended negotiations with France, +cautioning the general at the same time not to heed any instructions of +the archduke till confirmed by him. This circumstance the French writers +regard as unequivocal proof of the king's insincerity in entering into the +negotiation. It wears this aspect at first, certainly; but, on a nearer +view, admits of a very different construction. Ferdinand had no confidence +in the discretion of his envoy, whom, if we are to believe the Spanish +writers, he employed in the affair more from accident than choice; and, +notwithstanding the full powers intrusted to him, he did not consider +himself bound to recognize the validity of any treaty which the other +should sign, until first ratified by himself. With these views, founded on +principles now universally recognized in European diplomacy, it was +natural to caution his general against any unauthorized interference on +the part of his envoy, which the rash and presumptuous character of the +latter, acting, moreover, under an undue influence of the French monarch, +gave him good reason to fear. + +As to the Great Captain, who has borne a liberal share of censure on this +occasion, it is not easy to see how he could have acted otherwise than he +did, even in the event of no special instructions from Ferdinand. For he +would scarcely have been justified in abandoning a sure prospect of +advantage on the authority of one, the validity of whose powers he could +not determine, and which, in fact, do not appear to have warranted such +interference. The only authority he knew, was that from which he held his +commission, and to which he was responsible for the faithful discharge of +it. + +[16] Neither Polybius (lib. 3, sec. 24 et seq.) nor Livy, (Hist., lib. 22, +cap. 43-50,) who give the most circumstantial narratives of the battle, +are precise enough to enable us to ascertain the exact spot in which it +was fought. Strabo, in his topographical notices of this part of Italy, +briefly alludes to "the affair of Cannae" (_ta peri Kannas_), without +any description of the scene of action. (Geog., lib. 6, p. 285.) Cluverius +fixes the site of the ancient Cannae on the right bank of the Anfidus, the +modern Ofanto, between three and four miles below Canusium; and notices +the modern hamlet of nearly the same name, Canne, where common tradition +recognizes the ruins of the ancient town. (Italia Antiqua, lib. 4, cap. +12, sec. 8.) D'Anville makes no difficulty in identifying these two, +(Géographie Ancienne Abrégée, tom. i. p. 208,) having laid down the +ancient town in his maps in the direct line, and about midway, between +Barleta and Cerignola. + +[17] Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, fol. 253-255.--Guicciardini, Istoria, +lib. 5, p. 303.--Chrónica del Gran Capitan, cap. 75, 76.--Zurita, Anales, +tom. v. lib. 5, cap. 27.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 256.--Ulloa, +Vita di Carlo V., fol. 16, 17. + +Giovio says, that he had heard Fabrizio Colonna remark more than once, in +allusion to the intrenchments at the base of the hill, "that the victory +was owing, not to the skill of the commander, nor the valor of the troops, +but to a mound and a ditch." This ancient mode of securing a position, +which had fallen into disuse, was revived after this, according to the +same author, and came into general practice among the best captains of the +age. Ubi supra. + +[18] Brantôme, Oeuvres, tom. ii. disc. 8.--Garnier, Histoire de France, +(Paris, 1783-8,) tom. v. pp. 395, 396.--Gaillard, Rivalité, tom. iv. p. +244.--St. Gelais, Hist. de Louys XII., p. 171. + +[19] Chrónica del Gran Capitan, cap. 76.--Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, +fol. 253-255.--Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 17. + +[20] Chrónica del Gran Capitan, cap. 75.--Garnier, Hist. de France, tom. +v. pp. 396, 397.--Fleurange, Mémoires, chap. 5, apud Petitot, Collection +des Mémoires, tom. xvi.--Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, ubi supra.-- +Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. i. pp. 303, 304.--St. Gelais, Hist. de Louys +XII., pp. 171, 172.--Brantôme, Oeuvres, tom. ii. disc. 8. + +[21] Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, fol. 255.--Garibay, Compendio, tom. +ii. lib. 19, cap. 15.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 180.--Peter +Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 256.--Fleurange, Mémoires, chap. 5. + +No account, that I know of, places the French loss so low as 3000; Garibay +raises it to 4500, and the French maréchal de Fleurange rates that of the +Swiss alone at 5000; a round exaggeration, not readily accounted for, as +he had undoubted access to the best means of information. The Spaniards +were too well screened to sustain much injury, and no estimate makes it +more than a hundred killed, and some considerable less. The odds are +indeed startling, but not impossible; as the Spaniards were not much +exposed by personal collision with the enemy, until the latter were thrown +into too much disorder to think of anything but escape. The more than +usual confusion and discrepancy in the various statements of the +particulars of this action may probably be attributed to the lateness of +the hour, and consequently imperfect light, in which it was fought. + +[22] Quintana, Españoles Célebres, tom i. p. 277.--Giovio, Vitae Illust. +Virorum, fol. 255.--Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, tom. viii. pp. 248, 249.-- +Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 17.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. +181. + +[23] It was to this same city of Venusium that the rash and unfortunate +Varro made his retreat, some seventeen centuries before, from the bloody +field of Cannae. Liv. Hist., lib. 22, cap. 49. + +[24] Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, fol. 255.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., +epist. 256.--Chrónica del Gran Capitan, cap. 80. + +Friday, says Guicciardini, alluding no doubt to Columbus's discoveries, as +well as these two victories, was observed to be a lucky day to the +Spaniards; according to Gaillard, it was regarded from this time by the +French with more superstitious dread than ever. Istoria, tom. i. p. 301.-- +Rivalité, tom. iv. p. 348. + +[25] Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, tom. i. lib. 5, cap. 8, 24.--Giovio, +Vitae Illust. Virorum, fol. 250. + +The reader may perhaps recollect the distinguished part played in the +Moorish war by Luis Portocarrero, lord of Palma. He was of noble Italian +origin, being descended from the ancient Genoese house of Boccanegra. The +Great Captain and he had married sisters; and this connection probably +recommended him, as much as his military talents, to the Calabrian +command, which it was highly important should be intrusted to one who +would maintain a good understanding with the commander-in-chief; a thing +not easy to secure among the haughty nobility of Castile. + +[26] Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, fol. 255.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., +epist. 256.--Chrónica del Gran Capitan, cap. 80.--Varillas, Histoire de +Louis XII. (Paris, 1688,) tom. i. pp. 289-292. See the account of +D'Aubigny's victories at Seminara, in Part II. Chapters 2 and 11, of this +History. + +[27] Since 1494 the sceptre of Naples had passed into the hands of no less +than seven princes, Ferdinand I., Alfonso II., Ferdinand II., Charles +VIII., Frederic III., Louis XII., Ferdinand the Catholic. No private +estate in the kingdom in the same time had probably changed masters half +so often. See Cartas del Gran Capitan, MS. + +[28] Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. i. p. 304.--Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, +lib. 29, cap. 4.--Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, tom. viii. p. 250.--Summonte, +Hist. di Napoli, tom. iii. pp. 552, 553.--Muratori, Annali d'Italia, tom. +xiv. p. 40.--Chrónica del Gran Capitan, cap. 81.--Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., +fol. 18. + +[29] The Italians, in their admiration of Pedro Navarro, caused medals to +be struck, on which the invention of mines was ascribed to him. (Marini, +apud Daru, Hist. de Venise, tom. iii. p. 351.) Although not actually the +inventor, his glory was scarcely less, since he was the first who +discovered the extensive and formidable uses to which they might be +applied in the science of destruction. See Part I. Chapter 13, note 23, of +this History. + +[30] Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, tom. i. lib. 5, cap. 30, 31, 34, 35. +--Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, fol. 255-257.--Garibay, Compendio, tom. +ii. lib. 19, cap. 15.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 183.-- +Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 6, pp. 307-309.--Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. +18, 19.--Ammirato, Istorie Florentine, tom. iii. p. 271.-Summonte, Hist. +di Napoli, tom. iii. p. 554.--Chrónica del Gran Capitan, cap. 84, 86, 87, +93, 95.--Sismondi, Hist. des Français, tom. xv. pp. 407-409. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +NEGOTIATIONS WITH FRANCE.--UNSUCCESSFUL INVASION OF SPAIN.--TRUCE. + +1503. + +Ferdinand's Policy Examined.--First Symptoms of Joanna's Insanity.-- +Isabella's Distress and Fortitude.--Efforts of France.--Siege of Salsas.-- +Isabella's Levies.--Ferdinand's Successes.--Reflections on the Campaign. + + +The events noticed in the preceding chapter glided away as rapidly as the +flitting phantoms of a dream. Scarcely had Louis the Twelfth received the +unwelcome intelligence of Gonsalvo de Cordova's refusal to obey the +mandate of the archduke Philip, before he was astounded with the tidings +of the victory of Cerignola, the march on Naples, and the surrender of +that capital, as well as of the greater part of the kingdom, following one +another in breathless succession. It seemed as if the very means on which +the French king had so confidently relied for calming the tempest, had +been the signal for awakening all its fury, and bringing it on his devoted +head. Mortified and incensed at being made the dupe of what he deemed a +perfidious policy, he demanded an explanation of the archduke, who was +still in France. The latter, vehemently protesting his own innocence, +felt, or affected to feel, so sensibly the ridiculous and, as it appeared, +dishonorable part played by him in the transaction, that he was thrown +into a severe illness, which confined him to his bed for several days. [1] +Without delay, he wrote to the Spanish court in terms of bitter +expostulation, urging the immediate ratification of the treaty made +pursuant to its orders, and an indemnification to France for its +subsequent violation. Such is the account given by the French historians. + +The Spanish writers, on the other hand, say, that before the news of +Gonsalvo's successes reached Spain, King Ferdinand refused to confirm the +treaty sent him by his son-in-law, until it had undergone certain material +modifications. If the Spanish monarch hesitated to approve the treaty in +the doubtful posture of his affairs, he was little likely to do so, when +he had the game entirely in his own hands. [2] + +He postponed an answer to Philip's application, willing probably to gain +time for the Great Captain to strengthen himself firmly in his recent +acquisitions. At length, after a considerable interval, he despatched an +embassy to France, announcing his final determination never to ratify a +treaty made in contempt of his orders, and so clearly detrimental to his +interests. He endeavored, however, to gain further time by spinning out +the negotiation, holding up for this purpose the prospect of an ultimate +accommodation, and suggesting the re-establishment of his kinsman, the +unfortunate Frederic, on the Neapolitan throne, as the best means of +effecting it. The artifice, however, was too gross even for the credulous +Louis; who peremptorily demanded of the ambassadors the instant and +absolute ratification of the treaty, and, on their declaring it was beyond +their powers, ordered them at once to leave his court. "I had rather," +said he, "suffer the loss of a kingdom, which may perhaps be retrieved, +than the loss of honor, which never can." A noble sentiment, but falling +with no particular grace from the lips of Louis the Twelfth. [3] + +The whole of this blind transaction is stated in so irreconcilable a +manner by the historians of the different nations, that it is extremely +difficult to draw anything like a probable narrative out of them. The +Spanish writers assert that the public commission of the archduke was +controlled by strict private instructions; [4] while the French, on the +other hand, are either silent as to the latter, or represent them to have +been as broad and unlimited as his credentials. [5] If this be true, the +negotiations must be admitted to exhibit, on the part of Ferdinand, as +gross an example of political jugglery and falsehood, as ever disgraced +the annals of diplomacy. [6] + +But it is altogether improbable, as I have before remarked, that a monarch +so astute and habitually cautious should have intrusted unlimited +authority, in so delicate a business, to a person whose discretion, +independent of his known partiality for the French monarch, he held so +lightly. It is much more likely that he limited, as is often done, the +full powers committed to him in public, by private instructions of the +most explicit character; and that the archduke was betrayed by his own +vanity, and perhaps ambition (for the treaty threw the immediate power +into his own hands), into arrangements unwarranted by the tenor of these +instructions. [7] + +If this were the case, the propriety of Ferdinand's conduct in refusing +the ratification depends on the question how far a sovereign is bound by +the acts of a plenipotentiary who departs from his private instructions. +Formerly, the question would seem to have been unsettled. Indeed, some of +the most respectable writers on public law in the beginning of the +seventeenth century maintain, that such a departure would not justify the +prince in withholding his ratification; deciding thus, no doubt, on +principles of natural equity, which appear to require that a principal +should be held responsible for the acts of an agent, coming within the +scope of his powers, though at variance with his secret orders, with which +the other contracting party can have no acquaintance or concern. [8] + +The inconvenience, however, arising from adopting a principle in political +negotiations, which must necessarily place the destinies of a whole nation +in the hands of a single individual, rash or incompetent, it may be, +without the power of interference or supervision on the part of the +government, has led to a different conclusion in practice; and it is now +generally admitted by European writers, not merely that the exchange of +ratifications is essential to the validity of a treaty, but that a +government is not bound to ratify the doings of a minister who has +transcended his private instructions. [9] + +But, whatever be thought of Ferdinand's good faith in the early stages of +this business, there is no doubt that, at a later period, when his +position was changed by the success of his arms in Italy, he sought only +to amuse the French court with a show of negotiation, in order, as we have +already intimated, to paralyze its operations and gain time for securing +his conquests. The French writers inveigh loudly against this crafty and +treacherous policy; and Louis the Twelfth gave vent to his own indignation +in no very measured terms. But, however we may now regard it, it was in +perfect accordance with the trickish spirit of the age; and the French +king resigned all right of rebuking his antagonist on this score, when he +condescended to become a party with him to the infamous partition treaty, +and still more when he so grossly violated it. He had voluntarily engaged +with his Spanish rival in the game, and it afforded no good ground of +complaint, that he was the least adroit of the two. + +While Ferdinand was thus triumphant in his schemes of foreign policy and +conquest, his domestic life was clouded with the deepest anxiety, in +consequence of the declining health of the queen, and the eccentric +conduct of his daughter, the infanta Joanna. We have already seen the +extravagant fondness with which that princess, notwithstanding her +occasional sallies of jealousy, doated on her young and handsome husband. +[10] From the hour of his departure she had been plunged in the deepest +dejection, sitting day and night with her eyes fixed on the ground, in +uninterrupted silence, or broken only by occasional expressions of +petulant discontent. She refused all consolation, thinking only of +rejoining her absent lord, and "equally regardless," says Martyr, who was +then at the court, "of herself, her future subjects, and her afflicted +parents." [11] + +On the 10th of March, 1503, she was delivered of her second son, who +received the baptismal name of Ferdinand, in compliment to his +grandfather. [12] No change, however, took place in the mind of the +unfortunate mother, who from this time was wholly occupied with the +project of returning to Flanders. An invitation to that effect, which she +received from her husband in the month of November, determined her to +undertake the journey, at all hazards, notwithstanding the affectionate +remonstrances of the queen, who represented the impracticability of +traversing France, agitated, as it then was, with all the bustle of +war-like preparation, or of venturing by sea at this inclement and +stormy season. + +One evening, while her mother was absent at Segovia, Joanna, whose +residence was at Medina del Campo, left her apartment in the castle, and +sallied out, though in dishabille, without announcing her purpose to any +of her attendants. They followed, however, and used every argument and +entreaty to prevail on her to return, at least for the night, but without +effect; until the bishop of Burgos, who had charge of her household, +finding every other means ineffectual, was compelled to close the castle +gates, in order to prevent her departure. + +The princess, thus thwarted in her purpose, gave way to the most violent +indignation. She menaced the attendants with her utmost vengeance for +their disobedience, and, taking her station on the barrier, she +obstinately refused to re-enter the castle, or even to put on any +additional clothing, but remained cold and shivering on the spot till the +following morning. The good bishop, sorely embarrassed by the dilemma to +which he found himself reduced, of offending the queen by complying with +the mad humor of the princess, or the latter still more, by resisting it, +despatched an express in all haste to Isabella, acquainting her with the +affair, and begging instructions how to proceed. + +The queen, who was staying, as has been said, at Segovia, about forty +miles distant, alarmed at the intelligence, sent the king's cousin, the +admiral Henriquez, together with the archbishop of Toledo, at once to +Medina, and prepared to follow as fast as the feeble state of her health +would permit. The efforts of these eminent persons, however, were not much +more successful than those of the bishop. All they could obtain from +Joanna was, that she would retire to a miserable kitchen in the +neighborhood, during the night; while she persisted in taking her station +on the barrier as soon as it was light, and continued there, immovable as +a statue, the whole day. In this deplorable state she was found by the +queen on her arrival; and it was not without great difficulty that the +latter, with all the deference habitually paid her by her daughter, +succeeded in persuading her to return to her own apartments in the castle. +These were the first unequivocal symptoms of that hereditary taint of +insanity which had clouded the latter days of Isabella's mother, and +which, with a few brief intervals, was to shed a deeper gloom over the +long-protracted existence of her unfortunate daughter. [13] + +The conviction of this sad infirmity of the princess gave a shock to the +unhappy mother, scarcely less than that which she had formerly been called +to endure in the death of her children. The sorrows, over which time had +had so little power, were opened afresh by a calamity, which naturally +filled her with the most gloomy forebodings for the fate of her people, +whose welfare was to be committed to such incompetent hands. These +domestic griefs were still further swelled at this time by the death of +two of her ancient friends and counsellors, Juan Chacon, adelantado of +Murcia, [14] and Gutierre de Cardenas, grand commander of Leon. [15] They +had attached themselves to Isabella in the early part of her life, when +her fortunes were still under a cloud; and they afterwards reaped the +requital of their services in such ample honors and emoluments as royal +gratitude could bestow, and in the full enjoyment of her confidence, to +which their steady devotion to her interests well entitled them. [16] + +But neither the domestic troubles which pressed so heavily on Isabella's +heart, nor the rapidly declining state of her own health, had power to +blunt the energies of her mind, or lessen the vigilance with which she +watched over the interests of her people. A remarkable proof of this was +given in the autumn of the present year, 1503, when the country was +menaced with an invasion from France. + +The whole French nation had shared the indignation of Louis the Twelfth, +at the mortifying result of his enterprise against Naples; and it answered +his call for supplies so promptly and liberally, that, in a few months +after the defeat of Cerignola, he was able to resume operations, on a more +formidable scale than France had witnessed for centuries. Three large +armies were raised, one to retrieve affairs in Italy, a second to +penetrate into Spain, by the way of Fontarabia, and a third to cross into +Roussillon, and get possession of the strong post of Salsas, the key of +the mountain passes in that quarter. Two fleets were also equipped in the +ports of Genoa and Marseilles, the latter of which was to support the +invasion of Roussillon by a descent on the coast of Catalonia. These +various corps were intended to act in concert, and thus, by one grand, +simultaneous movement, Spain was to be assailed on three several points of +her territory. The results did not correspond with the magnificence of the +apparatus. [17] + +The army destined to march on Fontarabia was placed under the command of +Alan d'Albret, father of the king of Navarre, along the frontiers of whose +dominions its route necessarily lay. Ferdinand had assured himself of the +favorable dispositions of this prince, the situation of whose kingdom, +more than its strength, made his friendship important; and the lord +d'Albret, whether from a direct understanding with the Spanish monarch, or +fearful of the consequences which might result to his son from the +hostility of the latter, detained the forces intrusted to him, so long +among the bleak and barren fastnesses of the mountains, that at length, +exhausted by fatigue and want of food, the army melted away without even +reaching the enemy's borders. [18] + +The force directed against Roussillon was of a more formidable character. +It was commanded by the maréchal de Rieux, a brave and experienced +officer, though much broken by age and bodily infirmities. It amounted to +more than twenty thousand men. Its strength, however, lay chiefly in its +numbers. It was, with the exception of a few thousand lansquenets under +William de la Marck, [19] made up of the arrière-ban of the kingdom, and +the undisciplined militia from the great towns of Languedoc. With this +numerous array the French marshal entered Roussillon without opposition, +and sat down before Salsas on the 16th of September, 1503. + +The old castle of Salsas, which had been carried without much difficulty +by the French in the preceding war, had been put in a defensible condition +at the commencement of the present, under the superintendence of Pedro +Navarro, although the repairs were not yet wholly completed. Ferdinand, on +the approach of the enemy, had thrown a thousand picked men into the +place, which was well victualled and provided for a siege; while a corps +of six thousand was placed under his cousin, Don Frederic de Toledo, duke +of Alva, with orders to take up a position in the neighborhood, where he +might watch the movements of the enemy, and annoy him as far as possible +by cutting off his supplies. [20] + +Ferdinand, in the mean while, lost no time in enforcing levies throughout +the kingdom, with which he might advance to the relief of the beleaguered +fortress. While thus occupied, he received such accounts of the queen's +indisposition as induced him to quit Aragon, where he then was, and hasten +by rapid journeys to Castile. The accounts were probably exaggerated; he +found no cause for immediate alarm on his arrival, and Isabella, ever +ready to sacrifice her own inclinations to the public weal, persuaded him +to return to the scene of operations, where his presence at this juncture +was so important. Forgetting her illness, she made the most unwearied +efforts for assembling troops without delay to support her husband. The +grand constable of Castile was commissioned to raise levies through every +part of the kingdom, and the principal nobility flocked in with their +retainers from the farthest provinces, all eager to obey the call of their +beloved mistress. Thus strengthened, Ferdinand, whose head-quarters were +established at Girona, saw himself in less than a month in possession of a +force, which, including the supplies of Aragon, amounted to ten or twelve +thousand horse, and three or four times that number of foot. He no longer +delayed his march, and about the middle of October put his army in motion, +proposing to effect a junction with the duke of Alva, then lying before +Perpignan, at a few leagues' distance from Salsas. [21] Isabella, who was +at Segovia, was made acquainted by regular expresses with every movement +of the army. She no sooner learned its departure from Gerona than she was +filled with disquietude at the prospect of a speedy encounter with the +enemy, whose defeat, whatever glory it might reflect on her own arms, +could be purchased only at the expense of Christian blood. She wrote in +earnest terms to her husband, requesting him not to drive his enemies to +despair by closing up their retreat to their own land, but to leave +vengeance to Him to whom alone it belonged. She passed her days, together +with her whole household, in fasting and continual prayer, and, in the +fervor of her pious zeal, personally visited the several religious houses +of the city, distributing alms among their holy inmates, and imploring +them humbly to supplicate the Almighty to avert the impending calamity. +[22] + +The prayers of the devout queen and her court found favor with Heaven. +[23] King Ferdinand reached Perpignan on the 19th of October, and on that +same night the French marshal, finding himself unequal to the rencontre +with the combined forces of Spain, broke up his camp, and, setting fire to +his tents, began his retreat towards the frontier, having consumed nearly +six weeks since first opening trenches. Ferdinand pressed close on his +flying enemy, whose rear sustained some annoyance from the Spanish +_ginetes_, in its passage through the defiles of the sierras. The retreat, +however, was conducted in too good order to allow any material loss to be +inflicted on the French, who succeeded at length in sheltering themselves +under the cannon of Narbonne, up to which place they were pursued by their +victorious foe. Several places on the frontier, as Leocate, Palme, Sigean, +Roquefort, and others, were abandoned to the Spaniards, who pillaged them +of whatever was worth carrying off; without any violence, however, to the +persons of the inhabitants, whom, as a Christian population, if we are to +believe Martyr, Ferdinand refused even to make prisoners. [24] + +The Spanish monarch made no attempt to retain these acquisitions; but, +having dismantled some of the towns, which offered most resistance, +returned loaded with the spoils of victory to his own dominions. "Had he +been as good a general as he was a statesman," says a Spanish historian, +"he might have penetrated to the centre of France." [25] Ferdinand, +however, was too prudent to attempt conquests which could only be +maintained, if maintained at all, at an infinite expense of blood and +treasure. He had sufficiently vindicated his honor by meeting his foe so +promptly, and driving him triumphantly over the border; and he preferred, +like a cautious prince, not to risk all he had gained by attempting more, +but to employ his present successes as a vantage-ground for entering on +negotiation, in which at all times he placed more reliance than on the +sword. + +In this, his good star still further favored him. The armada, equipped at +so much cost by the French king at Marseilles, had no sooner put to sea, +than it was assailed by furious tempests, and so far crippled, that it was +obliged to return to port without even effecting a descent on the Spanish +coast. + +These accumulated disasters so disheartened Louis the Twelfth, that he +consented to enter into negotiations for a suspension of hostilities; and +an armistice was finally arranged, through the mediation of his pensioner +Frederic, ex-king of Naples, between the hostile monarchs. It extended +only to their hereditary dominions; Italy and the circumjacent seas being +still left open as a common arena, on which the rival parties might meet, +and settle their respective titles by the sword. This truce, first +concluded for five months, was subsequently prolonged to three years. It +gave Ferdinand, what he most needed, leisure, and means to provide for the +security of his Italian possessions, on which the dark storm of war was +soon to burst with ten-fold fury. [26] + +The unfortunate Frederic, who had been drawn from his obscurity to take +part in these negotiations, died in the following year. It is singular +that the last act of his political life should have been to mediate a +peace between the dominions of two monarchs, who had united to strip him +of his own. + +The results of this campaign were as honorable to Spain, as they were +disastrous and humiliating to Louis the Twelfth, who had seen his arms +baffled on every point, and all his mighty apparatus of fleets and armies +dissolve, as if by enchantment, in less time than it had been preparing. +The immediate success of Spain may no doubt be ascribed in a considerable +degree to the improved organization and thorough discipline introduced by +the sovereigns into the national militia at the close of the Moorish war, +without which it would have been scarcely possible to concentrate so +promptly on a distant point such large masses of men, all well equipped +and trained for active service. So soon was the nation called to feel the +effect of these wise provisions. + +But the results of the campaign are, after all, less worthy of notice as +indicating the resources of the country, than as evidence of a pervading +patriotic feeling, which could alone make these resources available. +Instead of the narrow local jealousies, which had so long estranged the +people of the separate provinces, and more especially those of the rival +states of Aragon and Castile, from one another, there had been gradually +raised up a common national sentiment like that knitting together the +constituent parts of one great commonwealth. At the first alarm of +invasion on the frontier of Aragon, the whole extent of the sister +kingdom, from the green, valleys of the Guadalquivir up to the rocky +fastnesses of the Asturias, responded to the call, as to that of a common +country, sending forth, as we have seen, its swarms of warriors, to repel +the foe, and roll back the tide of war upon his own land. What a contrast +did all this present to the cold and parsimonious hand with which the +nation, thirty years before, dealt out its supplies to King John the +Second, Ferdinand's father, when he was left to cope single-handed with +the whole power of France, in this very quarter of Roussillon. Such was +the consequence of the glorious _union_, which brought together the +petty and hitherto discordant tribes of the Peninsula under the same rule; +and, by creating common interests and an harmonious principle of action, +was silently preparing them for constituting one great nation,--one and +indivisible, as intended by nature. + + * * * * * + +Those who have not themselves had occasion to pursue historical inquiries +will scarcely imagine on what loose grounds the greater part of the +narrative is to be built. With the exception of a few leading outlines, +there is such a mass of inconsistency and contradiction in the details, +even of contemporaries, that it seems almost as hopeless to seize the true +aspect of any particular age as it would be to transfer to the canvas a +faithful likeness of an individual from a description simply of his +prominent features. + +Much of the difficulty might seem to be removed, now that we are on the +luminous and beaten track of Italian history; but, in fact, the vision is +rather dazzled than assisted by the numerous cross lights thrown over the +path, and the infinitely various points of view from which every object is +contemplated. Besides the local and party prejudices which we had to +encounter in the contemporary Spanish historians, we have now a host of +national prejudices, not less unfavorable to truth; while the remoteness +of the scene of action necessarily begets a thousand additional +inaccuracies in the gossipping and credulous chroniclers of France and +Spain. + +The mode in which public negotiations were conducted at this period, +interposes still further embarrassments in our search after truth. They +were regarded as the personal concerns of the sovereign, in which the +nation at large had no right to interfere. They were settled, like the +rest of his private affairs, under his own eye, without the participation +of any other branch of the government. They were shrouded, therefore, +under an impenetrable secrecy, which permitted such results only to emerge +into light as suited the monarch. Even these results cannot be relied on +as furnishing the true key to the intentions of the parties. The science +of the cabinet, as then practised, authorized such a system of artifice +and shameless duplicity, as greatly impaired the credit of those official +documents which we are accustomed to regard as the surest foundations of +history. + +The only records which we can receive with full confidence are the private +correspondence of contemporaries, which, from its very nature, is exempt +from most of the restraints and affectations incident more or less to +every work destined for the public eye. Such communications, indeed, come +like the voice of departed years; and when, as in Martyr's case, they +proceed from one whose acuteness is combined with singular opportunities +for observation, they are of inestimable value. Instead of exposing to us +only the results, they lay open the interior workings of the machinery, +and we enter into all the shifting doubts, passions, and purposes which +agitate the minds of the actors. Unfortunately, the chain of +correspondence here, as in similar cases, when not originally designed for +historical uses, necessarily suffers from occasional breaks and +interruptions. The scattered gleams which are thrown over the most +prominent points, however, shed so strong a light, as materially to aid us +in groping our way through the darker and more perplexed passages of the +story. + +The obscurity which hangs over the period has not been dispelled by those +modern writers, who, like Varillas, in his well-known work, _Politique +de Ferdinand le Catholique_, affect to treat the subject philosophically, +paying less attention to facts than to their causes and consequences. +These ingenious persons, seldom willing to take things as they find them, +seem to think that truth is only to be reached by delving deep below the +surface. In this search after more profound causes of action, they reject +whatever is natural and obvious. They are inexhaustible in conjectures and +fine-spun conclusions, inferring quite as much from what is not said or +done, as from what is. In short, they put the reader as completely in +possession of their hero's thoughts on all occasions, as any professed +romance-writer would venture to do. All this may be very agreeable, and, +to persons of easy faith, very satisfactory; but it is not history and may +well remind us of the astonishment somewhere expressed by Cardinal de Retz +at the assurance of those who, at a distance from the scene of action, +pretended to lay open all the secret springs of policy, of which he +himself, though a principal party, was ignorant. + +No prince, on the whole, has suffered more from these unwarrantable +liberties than Ferdinand the Catholic. His reputation for shrewd policy +suggests a ready key to whatever is mysterious and otherwise inexplicable +in his government; while it puts writers like Gaillard and Varillas +constantly on the scent after the most secret and subtile sources of +action, as if there were always something more to be detected than readily +meets the eye. Instead of judging him by the general rules of human +conduct, everything is referred to deep-laid stratagem; no allowance is +made for the ordinary disturbing forces, the passions and casualties of +life; every action proceeds with the same wary calculation that regulates +the moves upon a chessboard; and thus a character of consummate artifice +is built up, not only unsupported by historical evidence, but in manifest +contradiction to the principles of our nature. The part of our subject +embraced in the present chapter has long been debatable ground between the +French and Spanish historians; and the obscurity which hangs over it has +furnished an ample range for speculation to the class of writers above +alluded to, which they have not failed to improve. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] St. Gelais seems willing to accept Philip's statement, and to consider +the whole affair of the negotiation as "one of Ferdinand's old tricks," +"l'ancienne cantele de celuy qui en sçavoit bien faire d'autres." Hist. de +Louys XII., p. 172. + +[2] Idem, ubi supra.--Garnier, Hist. de France, tom. v. p. 410.--Gaillard, +Rivalité, tom. iv. pp. 238, 239.--Zurita, Anales, tom. v. lib. 5, cap. +23.--Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. lib. 19, cap. 15.--Ferreras, Hist. +d'Espagne, tom. viii. p. 233. + +[3] Garnier, Hist. de France, tom. v. p. 388.--Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, +tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 13, sec. 3.--Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. i. p. 300, +ed. 1645.--Zurita, Anales, tom. v. lib. 5, cap. 9. + +It is amusing to see with what industry certain French writers, as +Gaillard and Varillas, are perpetually contrasting the _bonne foi_ of +Louis XII. with the _méchanceté_ of Ferdinand, whose secret intentions, +even, are quoted in evidence of his hypocrisy, while the most +objectionable acts of his rival seem to be abundantly compensated by some +fine sentiment like that in the text. + +[4] Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, tom. i. lib. 5, cap. 10.--Abarca, +Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 13, sec. 2.--Mariana, Hist. de +España, tom. ii. pp. 690, 691.--et al. + +[5] Seyssel, Hist. de Louys XII., p. 61.--St. Gelais, Hist. de Louys XII., +p. 171.--Gaillard, Rivalité, tom. iv. p. 239.--Garnier, Hist. de France, +tom. v. p. 387.--D'Auton, Hist. de Louys XII., part. 2, chap. 32. + +[6] Varillas regards Philip's mission to France as a _coup de maître_ +on the part of Ferdinand, who thereby rid himself of a dangerous rival at +home, likely to contest his succession to Castile on Isabella's death, +while he employed that rival in outwitting Louis XII. by a treaty which he +meant to disavow. (Politique de Ferdinand, liv. 1, pp. 146-150.) The first +of these imputations is sufficiently disproved by the fact that Philip +quitted Spain in opposition to the pressing remonstrances of the king, +queen, and cortes, and to the general disgust of the whole nation, as is +repeatedly stated by Gomez, Martyr, and other contemporaries. The second +will be difficult to refute, and still harder to prove, as it rests on a +man's secret intentions, known only to himself. Such are the flimsy +cobwebs of which this political dreamer's theories are made. Truly +_châteaux en Espagne_. + +[7] Martyr, whose copious correspondence furnishes the most valuable +commentary, unquestionably, on the proceedings of this reign, is +provokingly reserved in regard to this interesting matter. He contents +himself with remarking in one of his letters, that "the Spaniards derided +Philip's negotiations as of no consequence, and indeed altogether +preposterous, considering the attitude assumed by the nation at that very +time for maintaining its claims by the sword;" and he dismisses the +subject with a reflection, that seems to rest the merits of the case more +on might than right. "Exitus, qui judex est rerum aeternus, loquatur. +Nostri regno potiuntur majori ex parte." (Opus Epist., epist. 257.) This +reserve of Martyr might be construed unfavorably for Ferdinand, were it +not for the freedom with which he usually criticizes whatever appears +really objectionable to him in the measures of the government. + +[8] Grotius, De Jure Belli et Pacis, lib. 2, cap. 11, sec. 12; lib. 3, +cap. 22, sec. 4.--Gentilis, De Jure Belli, lib. 3, cap. 14, apud +Bynkershoek, Quaest. Juris Publici, lib. 2, cap. 7. + +[9] Bynkershoek, Quaest. Juris Publici, lib. 2, cap. 7.--Mably, Droit +Publique, chap. 1.--Vattel, Droit des Gens, liv. 2, chap. 12.--Martens, +Law of Nations, trans., book 2, chap. 1. + +Bynkershoek, the earliest of these writers, has discussed the question +with an amplitude, perspicuity, and fairness unsurpassed by any who have +followed him. + +[10] Philip is known in history by the title of "the Handsome," implying +that he was, at least, quite as remarkable for his personal qualities, as +his mental. + +[11] Opus Epist., epist. 253.--Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, tom. viii. pp. +235, 238.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 44. + +[12] Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1503.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 45, +46. + +He was born at Alcalá de Henares. Ximenes availed himself of this +circumstance to obtain from Isabella a permanent exemption from taxes for +his favorite city, which his princely patronage was fast raising up to +contest the palm of literary precedence with Salamanca, the ancient +"Athens of Spain." The citizens of the place long preserved, and still +preserve, for aught I know, the cradle of the royal infant, in token of +their gratitude. Robles, Vida de Ximenez, p. 127. + +[13] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 268.--Zurita, Hist. del Rey +Hernando, tom. i. lib. 5, cap. 56.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 46. + +[14] "Espejo de bondad," _mirror of virtue,_ as Oviedo styles this +cavalier. He was always much regarded by the sovereigns, and the lucrative +post of _contador mayor_, which he filled for many years, enabled him +to acquire an immense estate, 50,000 ducats a year, without imputation on +his honesty. Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 2, dial. 2. + +[15] The name of this cavalier, as well as that of his cousin, Alonso de +Cardenas, grand master of St. James, have become familiar to us in the +Granadine war. If Don Gutierre made a less brilliant figure than the +latter, he acquired, by means of his intimacy with the sovereigns, and his +personal qualities, as great weight in the royal councils as any subject +in the kingdom. "Nothing of any importance," says Oviedo, "was done +without his advice." He was raised to the important posts of comendador de +Leon, and contador mayor, which last, in the words of the same author, +"made its possessor a second king over the public treasury." He left large +estates, and more than five thousand vassals. His eldest son was created +duke of Maqueda. Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 2, dial. 1.--Col. de +Céd., tom. v. no. 182. + +[16] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 255.--Gomez, de Rebus Gestis, fol. +45.--For some further account of these individuals see Part I, Chapter 14, +note 10. + +Martyr thus panegyrizes the queen's fortitude under her accumulated +sorrows. "Sentit, licet constantissima sit, et supra foeminam prudens, has +alapas fortunae saevientis regina, ita concussa fluctibus undique, veluti +vasta rupes, maris in medio." Opus Epist., loc. cit. + +[17] Garnier, Hist. de France, tom. v. pp. 405, 406.--Ferreras, Hist. +d'Espagne, tom. viii. pp. 235-238.--Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. i. pp. +300, 301.--Mémoires de la Trémoille, chap. 19, apud Petitot, Collection +des Mémoires, tom. xiv. + +[18] Aleson, Annales de Navarra, tom. v. pp. 110-112. + +The king of Navarre promised to oppose the passage of the French, if +attempted, through his dominions; and, in order to obviate any distrust on +the part of Ferdinand, sent his daughter Margaret to reside at the court +of Castile, as a pledge for his fidelity. Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, tom. +viii. p. 235. + +[19] Younger brother of Robert, third duke of Bouillon. (D'Auton, Hist. de +Louys XII., part. 2, pp. 103, 186.) The reader will not confound him with +his namesake, the famous "boar of Ardennes,"--more familiar to us now in +the pages of romance than history,--who perished ignominiously some twenty +years before this period, in 1484, not in fight, but by the hands of the +common executioner at Utrecht. Duclos, Hist. de Louis XI., tom. ii. p. +379. + +[20] Gonzalo Ayora, Capitan de la Guardia Real, Cartas al Rey, Don +Fernando, (Madrid, 1794,) carta 9.--Aleson, Annales de Navarra, tom. v. +pp. 112, 113.--Garnier, Hist. de France, tom. v. p. 407.--Zurita, Anales, +tom. v. lib. 5, cap. 51.--Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom, ii, rey 30, cap. +13, sec. 11. + +[21] Gonzalo Ayora, Cartas, cap. 9.--Zurita, Anales, ubi supra.-- +Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 197, 198.--Carbajal, Anales, MS., +año 1503.--Sandoval, Hist. del Emp. Carlos V., tom. i. p. 8.--Col. de +Cédulas, tom. i. no. 97. + +The most authentic account of the siege of Salsas is to be found in the +correspondence of Gonzalo Ayora, dated in the Spanish camp. This +individual, equally eminent in letters and arms, filled the dissimilar +posts of captain of the royal guard and historiographer of the crown. He +served in the army at this time, and was present at all its operations. +Pref. ad Cartas, de Ayora; and Nic. Antonio, Biliotheca Nova, tom. i. p. +551. + +[22] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist, epist. 263. + +The loyal captain, Ayora, shows little of this Christian vein. He +concludes one of his letters with praying, no doubt most sincerely, "that +the Almighty would be pleased to infuse less benevolence into the hearts +of the sovereigns, and incite them to chastise and humble the proud +French, and strip them of their ill-gotten possessions, which, however +repugnant to their own godly inclinations, would tend greatly to replenish +their coffers, as well as those of their, faithful and loving subjects." +See this graceless petition in his Cartas, carta 9, p. 66. + +[23] "Exaudivit igitur sancte reginee religiosorumque ac virginum preces +summus Altitonans." (Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 263.) The learned +Theban borrows an epithet more familiar to Greek and Roman than to +Christian ears. + +[24] Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, tom. i. lib. 5, cap. 54.--Abarca, +Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 13, sec. 11.-Peter Martyr, Opus +Epist., epist. 264.--Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1503.--Bernaldez, Reyes +Católicos, MS., cap. 198.--Garnier, Hist. de France, tom. v. pp. 408, +409.--Gonzalo Ayora, Cartas, carta 11.--Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., dial. +de Deza. + +Peter Martyr seems to have shared none of Isabella's scruples in regard to +bringing the enemy to battle. On the contrary, he indulges in a most +querulous strain of sarcasm against the Catholic king for his remissness +in this particular. "Quar elucescente die moniti nostri de Gallorum +discessu ad eos, at sero, concurrerunt. Rex Perpiniani agebat, ad millia +passuum sex non brevia, uti nosti. Propterea sero id actum, venit +concitato cursu, at sero. Ad hostes itur, at sero. Cernunt hostium acies, +at sero, at a longe. Distabant jam milliaria circiter duo. Ergo sero +Phryges sapuerunt. Cujus haec culpa, tu scrutator aliunde; mea est, si +nescis. Maximam dedit ea dies, quae est, si nescis, calendarum Novembrium +sexta, Hispanis ignominiam, et aliquando jacturam illis pariet +collachrymandam." Letter to the cardinal of Santa Cruz, epist. 262. + +[25] Aleson, Annales de Navarra, tom. v. p. 113. + +Oviedo, who was present in this campaign, seems to have been of the same +opinion. At least he says, "If the king had pursued vigorously, not a +Frenchman would have lived to carry back the tidings of defeat to his own +land." If we are to believe him, Ferdinand desisted from the pursuit at +the earnest entreaty of Bishop Deza, his confessor. Quincuagenas, MS. + +[26] Zurita, Anales, tom. v. lib. 5, cap. 55.--Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, +tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 13, sec. 11.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. +264.--Lanuza, Historias, tom. i. cap. 17.--Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. +lib. 19, cap. 16.--Machiavelli, Legazione Prima a Roma, let. 27. + +Mons. Varillas notices as the weak side of Louis XII., "une démangeaison +de faire la paix à contre temps, dont il fut travaillé durant toute sa +vie." (Politique de Ferdinand, liv. 1, p. 148.) A statesman shrewder than +Varillas, De Retz, furnishes, perhaps, the best key to this policy, in the +remark, "Les gens foibles ne plient jamais quand ils le doivent." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +ITALIAN WARS.--CONDITION OF ITALY.--FRENCH AND SPANISH ARMIES ON THE +GARIGLIANO. + +1503. + +Melancholy State of Italy.--Great Preparations of Louis.--Gonsalvo +Repulsed before Gaeta.--Armies on the Garigliano.--Bloody Passage of the +Bridge.--Anxious Expectation of Italy.--Critical Situation of the +Spaniards.--Gonsalvo's Resolution.--Heroism of Paredes and Bayard. + + +We must now turn our eyes towards Italy, where the sounds of war, which +had lately died away, were again heard in wilder dissonance than ever. Our +attention, hitherto, has been too exclusively directed to mere military +manoeuvres to allow us to dwell much on the condition of this unhappy +land. The dreary progress of our story, over fields of blood and battle, +might naturally dispose the imagination to lay the scene of action in some +rude and savage age; an age, at best, of feudal heroism, when the energies +of the soul could be roused only by the fierce din of war. + +Far otherwise, however; the tents of the hostile armies were now pitched +in the bosom of the most lovely and cultivated regions on the globe; +inhabited by a people who had carried the various arts of policy and +social life to a degree of excellence elsewhere unknown; whose natural +resources had been augmented by all the appliances of ingenuity and +industry; whose cities were crowded with magnificent and costly works of +public utility; into whose ports every wind that blew wafted the rich +freights of distant climes; whose thousand hills were covered to their +very tops with the golden labors of the husbandman; and whose intellectual +development showed itself, not only in a liberal scholarship far +outstripping that of their contemporaries, but in works of imagination, +and of elegant art more particularly, which rivalled the best days of +antiquity. The period before us, indeed, the commencement of the sixteenth +century, was that of their meridian splendor, when Italian genius, +breaking through the cloud which had temporarily obscured its early dawn, +shone out in full effulgence; for we are now touching on the age of +Machiavelli, Ariosto, and Michael Angelo,--the golden age of Leo the +Tenth. + +It is impossible, even at this distance of time, to contemplate without +feelings of sadness the fate of such a country, thus suddenly converted +into an arena for the bloody exhibitions of the gladiators of Europe; to +behold her trodden under foot by the very nations on whom she had freely +poured the light of civilization; to see the fierce soldiery of Europe, +from the Danube to the Tagus, sweeping like an army of locusts over her +fields, defiling her pleasant places, and raising the shout of battle, or +of brutal triumph under the shadow of those monuments of genius, which +have been the delight and despair of succeeding ages. It was the old story +of the Goths and Vandals acted over again. Those more refined arts of the +cabinet, on which the Italians were accustomed to rely, much more than on +the sword, in their disputes with one another, were of no avail against +these rude invaders, whose strong arm easily broke through the subtile +webs of policy which entangled the movements of less formidable +adversaries. It was the triumph of brute force over civilization,--one of +the most humiliating lessons by which Providence has seen fit to rebuke +the pride of human intellect. [1] + +The fate of Italy inculcates a most important lesson. With all this +outward show of prosperity, her political institutions had gradually lost +the vital principle, which could alone give them stability or real value. +The forms of freedom, indeed, in most instances, had sunk under the +usurpation of some aspiring chief. Everywhere patriotism was lost in the +most intense selfishness. Moral principle was at as low an ebb in private, +as in public life. The hands, which shed their liberal patronage over +genius and learning, were too often red with blood. The courtly precincts, +which seemed the favorite haunt of the Muses, were too often the Epicurean +sty of brutish sensuality; while the head of the church itself, whose +station, exalted over that of every worldly potentate, should have raised +him at least above their grosser vices, was sunk in the foulest +corruptions that debase poor human nature. Was it surprising, then, that +the tree, thus cankered at heart, with all the goodly show of blossoms on +its branches, should have fallen before the blast, which now descended in +such pitiless fury from the mountains? + +Had there been an invigorating national feeling, any common principle of +coalition among the Italian states; had they, in short, been true to +themselves, they possessed abundant resources in their wealth, talent, and +superior science, to have shielded their soil from violation. +Unfortunately, while the other European states had been augmenting their +strength incalculably by the consolidation of their scattered fragments +into one whole, those of Italy, in the absence of some great central point +round which to rally, had grown more and more confirmed in their original +disunion. Thus, without concert in action, and destitute of the vivifying +impulse of patriotic sentiment, they were delivered up to be the spoil and +mockery of nations, whom in their proud language they still despised as +barbarians; an impressive example of the impotence of human genius, and of +the instability of human institutions, however excellent in themselves, +when unsustained by public and private virtue. [2] + +The great powers, who had now entered the lists, created entirely new +interests in Italy, which broke up the old political combinations. The +conquest of Milan enabled France to assume a decided control over the +affairs of the country. Her recent reverses in Naples, however, had +greatly loosened this authority; although Florence and other neighboring +states, which lay under her colossal shadow, still remained true to her. +Venice, with her usual crafty policy, kept aloof, maintaining a position +of neutrality between the belligerents, each of whom made the most +pressing efforts to secure so formidable an 'ally. She had, however, long +since entertained a deep distrust of her French neighbor; and, although +she would enter into no public engagements, she gave the Spanish minister +every assurance of her friendly disposition towards his government. [3] +She intimated this still more unequivocally, by the supplies she had +allowed her citizens to carry into Barleta during the late campaign, and +by other indirect aid of a similar nature during the present; for all +which she was one day to be called to a heavy reckoning by her enemies. + +The disposition of the papal court towards the French monarch was still +less favorable; and it took no pains to conceal this after his reverses in +Naples. Soon after the defeat of Cerignola, it entered into correspondence +with Gonsalvo de Cordova; and, although Alexander the Sixth refused to +break openly with France, and sign a treaty with the Spanish sovereigns, +he pledged himself to do so, on the reduction of Gaeta. In the mean time, +he freely allowed the Great Captain to raise such levies as he could in +Rome, before the very eyes of the French ambassador. So little had the +immense concessions of Louis, including those of principle and honor, +availed to secure the fidelity of this treacherous ally. [4] + +With the emperor Maximilian, notwithstanding repeated treaties, he was on +scarcely better terms. That prince was connected with Spain by the +matrimonial alliances of his family, and no less averse to France from +personal feeling, which, with the majority of minds, operates more +powerfully than motives of state policy. He had, moreover, always regarded +the occupation of Milan by the latter as an infringement, in some measure, +of his imperial rights. The Spanish government, availing itself of these +feelings, endeavored through its minister, Don Juan Manuel, to stimulate +Maximilian to the invasion of Lombardy. As the emperor, however, demanded, +as usual, a liberal subsidy for carrying on the war, King Ferdinand, who +was seldom incommoded by a superfluity of funds, preferred reserving them +for his own enterprises, to hazarding them on the Quixotic schemes of his +ally. But, although the negotiations were attended with no result, the +amicable dispositions of the Austrian government were evinced by the +permission given to its subjects to serve under the banners of Gonsalvo, +where indeed, as we have already seen, they formed some of his best +troops. [5] + +But while Louis the Twelfth drew so little assistance from abroad, the +heartiness with which the whole French people entered into his feelings at +this crisis, made him nearly independent of it, and, in an incredibly +short space of time, placed him in a condition for resuming operations on +a far more formidable scale than before. The preceding failures in Italy +he attributed in a great degree to an overweening confidence in the +superiority of his own troops, and his neglect to support them with the +necessary reinforcements and supplies. He now provided against this by +remitting large sums to Rome, and establishing ample magazines of grain +and military stores there, under the direction of commissaries for the +maintenance of the army. He equipped without loss of time a large armament +at Genoa, under the marquis of Saluzzo, for the relief of Gaeta, still +blockaded by the Spaniards. He obtained a small supply of men from his +Italian allies, and subsidized a corps of eight thousand Swiss, the +strength of his infantry; while the remainder of his army, comprehending a +fine body of cavalry, and the most complete train of artillery, probably, +in Europe, was drawn from his own dominions. Volunteers of the highest +rank pressed forward to serve in an expedition, to which they confidently +looked for the vindication of the national honor. The command was +intrusted to the maréchal de la Trémouille, esteemed the best general in +France; and the whole amount of force, exclusive of that employed +permanently in the fleet, is variously computed from twenty to thirty +thousand men. [6] + +In the month of July, the army was on its march across the broad plains of +Lombardy, but, on reaching Parma, the appointed place of rendezvous for +the Swiss and Italian mercenaries, was brought to a halt by tidings of an +unlooked-for event, the death of Pope Alexander the Sixth. He expired on +the 18th of August, 1503, at the age of seventy-two, the victim, there is +very little doubt, of poison he had prepared for others; thus closing an +infamous life by a death equally infamous. He was a man of undoubted +talent, and uncommon energy of character. But his powers were perverted to +the worst purposes, and his gross vices were unredeemed, if we are to +credit the report of his most respectable contemporaries, by a single +virtue. In him the papacy reached its lowest degradation. His pontificate, +however, was not without its use; since that Providence, which still +educes good from evil, made the scandal, which it occasioned to the +Christian world, a principal spring of the glorious Reformation. [7] + +The death of this pontiff occasioned no particular disquietude at the +Spanish court, where his immoral life had been viewed with undisguised +reprobation, and made the subject of more than one pressing remonstrance, +as we have already seen. His public course had been as little to its +satisfaction; since, although a Spaniard by birth, being a native of +Valencia, he had placed himself almost wholly at the disposal of Louis the +Twelfth, in return for the countenance afforded by that monarch to the +iniquitous schemes of his son, Caesar Borgia. + +The pope's death was attended with important consequences on the movements +of the French. Louis's favorite minister, Cardinal D'Amboise, had long +looked to this event as opening to him the succession to the tiara. He now +hastened to Italy, therefore, with his master's approbation, proposing to +enforce his pretensions by the presence of the French army, placed, as it +would seem, with this view at his disposal. + +The army, accordingly, was ordered to advance towards Rome, and halt +within a few miles of its gates. The conclave of cardinals, then convened +to supply the vacancy in the pontificate, were filled with indignation at +this attempt to overawe their election; and the citizens beheld with +anxiety the encampment of this formidable force under their walls, +anticipating some counteracting movement on the part of the Great Captain, +which might involve their capital, already in a state of anarchy, in all +the horrors of war. Gonsalvo, indeed, had sent forward a detachment of +between two and three thousand men, under Mendoza and Fabrizio Colonna, +who posted themselves in the neighborhood of the city, where they could +observe the movements of the enemy. [8] + +At length Cardinal D'Amboise, yielding to public feeling, and the +representations of pretended friends, consented to the removal of the +French forces from the neighborhood, and trusted for success to his +personal influence. He over-estimated its weight. It is foreign to our +purpose to detail the proceedings of the reverend body, thus convened to +supply the chair of St. Peter. They are displayed at full length by the +Italian writers, and must be allowed to form a most edifying chapter in +ecclesiastical history. [9] It is enough to state, that, on the departure +of the French, the suffrages of the conclave fell on an Italian, who +assumed the name of Pius the Third, and who justified the policy of the +choice by dying in less time than his best friends had anticipated;-- +within a month after his elevation. [10] + +The new vacancy was at once supplied by the election of Julius the Second, +the belligerent pontiff who made his tiara a helmet, and his crosier a +sword. It is remarkable, that, while his fierce, inexorable temper left +him with scarcely a personal friend, he came to the throne by the united +suffrages of each of the rival factions of France, Spain, and, above all, +Venice, whose ruin in return he made the great business of his restless +pontificate. [11] + +No sooner had the game, into which Cardinal D'Amboise had entered with +such prospects of success, been snatched from his grasp by the superior +address of his Italian rivals, and the election of Pius the Third been +publicly announced, than the French army was permitted to resume its march +on Naples, after the loss,--an irreparable loss,--of more than a month. A +still greater misfortune had befallen it, in the mean time, in the illness +of Trémouille, its chief; which compelled him to resign the command into +the hands of the marquis of Mantua, an Italian nobleman, who held the +second station in the army. He was a man of some military experience, +having fought in the Venetian service, and led the allied forces, with +doubtful credit indeed, against Charles the Eighth at the battle of +Fornovo. His elevation was more acceptable to his own countrymen than to +the French; and in truth, however competent to ordinary exigencies, he was +altogether unequal to the present, in, which he was compelled to measure +his genius with that of the greatest captain of the age. [12] + +The Spanish commander, in the mean while, was detained before the strong +post of Gaeta, into which Ives d'Allègre had thrown himself, as already +noticed, with the fugitives from the field of Cerignola, where he had been +subsequently reinforced by four thousand additional troops under the +marquis of Saluzzo. From these circumstances, as well as the great +strength of the place, Gonsalvo experienced an opposition, to which, of +late, he had been wholly unaccustomed. His exposed situation in the +plains, under the guns of the city, occasioned the loss of many of his +best men, and, among others, that of his friend Don Hugo de Cardona, one +of the late victors at Seminara, who was shot down at his side, while +conversing with him. At length, after a desperate but ineffectual attempt +to extricate himself from his perilous position by forcing the neighboring +eminence of Mount Orlando, he was compelled to retire to a greater +distance, and draw off his army to the adjacent village of Castellone, +which may call up more agreeable associations in the reader's mind, as the +site of the Villa Formiana of Cicero. [13] At this place he was still +occupied with the blockade of Gaeta, when he received intelligence that +the French had crossed the Tiber, and were in full march against him. [14] + +While Gonsalvo lay before Gaeta, he had been intent on collecting such +reinforcements as he could from every quarter. The Neapolitan division +under Navarro had already joined him, as well as the victorious legions of +Andrada from Calabria. His strength was further augmented by the arrival +of between two and three thousand troops, Spanish, German, and Italian, +which the Castilian minister, Francisco de Roxas, had levied in Rome; and +he was in daily hopes of a more important accession from the same quarter, +through the good offices of the Venetian ambassador. Lastly, he had +obtained some additional recruits, and a remittance of a considerable sum +of money, in a fleet of Catalan ships lately arrived from Spain. With all +this, however, a heavy amount of arrears remained due to his troops. In +point of numbers he was still far inferior to the enemy; no computation +swelling them higher than three thousand horse, two of them light cavalry, +and nine thousand foot. The strength of his army lay in his Spanish +infantry, on whose thorough discipline, steady nerve, and strong +attachment to his person he felt he might confidently rely. In cavalry, +and still more in artillery, he was far below the French, which, together +with his great numerical inferiority, made it impossible for him to keep +the open country. His only resource was to get possession of some pass or +strong position, which lay in their route, where he might detain them, +till the arrival of further reinforcements should enable him to face them +on more equal terms. The deep stream of the Garigliano presented such a +line of defence as he wanted. [15] + +On the 6th of October, therefore, the Great Captain broke up his camp at +Castellone, and, abandoning the whole region north of the Garigliano to +the enemy, struck into the interior of the country, and took post at San +Germano, a strong place on the other side of the river, covered by the two +fortresses of Monte Casino [16] and Rocca Secca. Into this last he threw a +body of determined men under Villalba, and waited calmly the approach of +the enemy. + +It was not long before the columns of the latter were descried in full +march on Ponte Corvo, at a few miles' distance only on the opposite side +of the Garigliano. After a brief halt there, they traversed the bridge +before that place and advanced confidently forward in the expectation of +encountering little resistance from a foe so much their inferior. In this +they were mistaken; the garrison of Rocca Secca, against which they +directed their arms, handled them so roughly, that, after in vain +endeavoring to carry the place in two desperate assaults, the marquis of +Mantua resolved to abandon the attempt altogether, and, recrossing the +river, to seek a more practicable point for his purpose lower down. [17] + +Keeping along the right bank, therefore, to the southeast of the mountains +of Fondi, he descended nearly to the mouth of the Garigliano, the site, as +commonly supposed, of the ancient Minturnae. [18] The place was covered by +a fortress called the Tower of the Garigliano, occupied by a small Spanish +garrison, who made some resistance, but surrendered on being permitted to +march out with the honors of war. On rejoining their countrymen under +Gonsalvo, the latter were so much incensed that the garrison should have +yielded on any terms, instead of dying on their posts, that, falling on +them with their pikes, they massacred them all to a man. Gonsalvo did not +think proper to punish this outrage, which, however shocking to his own +feelings, indicated a desperate tone of resolution, which he felt he +should have occasion to tax to the utmost in the present exigency. [19] + +The ground now occupied by the armies was low and swampy, a character +which it possessed in ancient times; the marshes on the southern side +being supposed to be the same in which Marius concealed himself from his +enemies during his proscription. [20] Its natural humidity was greatly +increased, at this time, by the excessive rains, which began earlier and +with much more violence than usual. The French position was neither so low +nor so wet as that of the Spaniards. It had the advantage, moreover, of +being supported by a well-peopled and friendly country in the rear, where +lay the large towns of Fondi, Itri, and Gaeta; while their fleet, under +the admiral Prejan, which rode at anchor in the mouth of the Garigliano, +might be of essential service in the passage of the river. + +In order to effect this, the marquis of Mantua prepared to throw a bridge +across, at a point not far from Trajetto. He succeeded in it, +notwithstanding the swollen and troubled condition of the waters, [20] in +a few days, under cover of the artillery, which he had planted on the bank +of the river, and which from its greater elevation entirely commanded the +opposite shore. + +The bridge was constructed of boats belonging to the fleet, strongly +secured together and covered with planks. The work being completed, on the +6th of November the army advanced upon the bridge, supported by such a +lively cannonade from the batteries along the shore, as made all +resistance on the part of the Spaniards ineffectual. The impetuosity with +which the French rushed forward was such as to drive back the advanced +guard of their enemy, which, giving way in disorder, retreated on the main +body. Before the confusion could extend further, Gonsalvo, mounted _á la +gineta_, in the manner of the light cavalry, rode through the broken +ranks, and, rallying the fugitives, quickly brought them to order. Navarro +and Andrada, at the same time, led up the Spanish infantry, and the whole +column charging furiously against the French, compelled them to falter and +at length to fall back on the bridge. + +The struggle now became desperate, officers and soldiers, horse and foot, +mingling together, and fighting hand to hand, with all the ferocity +kindled by close personal combat. Some were trodden under the feet of the +cavalry, many more were forced from the bridge, and the waters of the +Garigliano were covered with men and horses, borne down by the current, +and struggling in vain to gain the shore. It was a contest of mere bodily +strength and courage, in which skill and superior tactics were of little +avail. Among those who most distinguished themselves, the name of the +noble Italian, Fabrizio Colonna, is particularly mentioned. An heroic +action is recorded also of a person of inferior rank, a Spanish +_alferez_, or standard-bearer, named Illescas. The right hand of this +man was shot away by a cannon-ball. As a comrade was raising up the fallen +colors, the gallant ensign resolutely grasped them, exclaiming that "he +had one hand still left." At the same time, muffling a scarf round the +bleeding stump, he took his place in the ranks as before. This brave deed +did not go unrewarded, and a liberal pension was settled on him, at +Gonsalvo's instance. + +During the heat of the _mêlée_, the guns on the French shore had been +entirely silent, since they could not be worked without doing as much +mischief to their own men as to the Spaniards, with whom they were closely +mingled. But, as the French gradually recoiled before their impetuous +adversaries, fresh bodies of the latter rushing forward to support their +advance necessarily exposed a considerable length of column to the range +of the French guns, which opened a galling fire on the further extremity +of the bridge. The Spaniards, notwithstanding "they threw themselves into +the face of the cannon," as the marquis of Mantua exclaimed, "with as much +unconcern as if their bodies had been made of air instead of flesh and +blood," found themselves so much distressed by this terrible fire, that +they were compelled to fall back; and the van, thus left without support, +at length retreated in turn, abandoning the bridge to the enemy. [21] + +This action was one of the severest which occurred in these wars. Don Hugo +de Moncada, the veteran of many a fight by land and sea, told Paolo Giovio +that "he had never felt himself in such imminent peril in any of his +battles, as in this." [22] The French, notwithstanding they remained +masters of the contested bridge, had met with a resistance which greatly +discouraged them; and, instead of attempting to push their success +further, retired that same evening to their quarters on the other side of +the river. The tempestuous weather, which continued with unabated fury, +had now broken up the roads, and converted the soil into a morass, nearly +impracticable for the movements, of horse, and quite so for those of +artillery, on which the French chiefly relied; while it interposed +comparatively slight obstacles to the manoeuvres of infantry, which +constituted the strength of the Spaniards. From a consideration of these +circumstances, the French commander resolved not to resume active +operations till a change of weather, by restoring the roads, should enable +him to do so with advantage. Meanwhile he constructed a redoubt on the +Spanish extremity of the bridge, and threw a body of troops into it, in +order to command the pass whenever he should be disposed to use it. [23] + +While the hostile armies thus lay facing each other, the eyes of all Italy +were turned to them, in anxious expectation of a battle which should +finally decide the fate of Naples. Expresses were daily despatched from +the French camp to Rome, whence the ministers of the different European +powers transmitted the tidings to their respective governments. +Machiavelli represented at that time the Florentine republic at the papal +court, and his correspondence teems with as many floating rumors and +speculations as a modern gazette. There were many French residents in the +city, with whom the minister was personally acquainted. He frequently +notices their opinions on the progress of the war, which they regarded +with the most sanguine confidence, as sure to result in the triumph of +their own arms, when once fairly brought into collision with the enemy. +The calmer and more penetrating eye of the Florentine discerns symptoms in +the condition of the two armies of quite a different tendency. [24] + +It seemed now obvious, that victory must declare for that party which +could best endure the hardships and privations of its present situation. +The local position of the Spaniards was far more unfavorable than that of +the enemy. The Great Captain, soon after the affair of the bridge, had +drawn off his forces to a rising ground about a mile from the river, which +was crowned by the little hamlet of Cintura, and commanded the route to +Naples. In front of his camp he sunk a deep trench, which, in the +saturated soil, speedily filled with water; and he garnished it at each +extremity with a strong redoubt. Thus securely intrenched, he resolved +patiently to await the movements of the enemy. + +The situation of the army, in the mean time, was indeed deplorable. Those +who occupied the lower level were up to their knees in mud and water; for +the excessive rains, and the inundation of the Garigliano, had converted +the whole country into a mere quagmire, or rather standing pool. The only +way in which the men could secure themselves was by covering the earth as +far as possible with boughs and bundles of twigs; and it was altogether +uncertain how long even this expedient would serve against the encroaching +element. Those on the higher grounds were scarcely in better plight. The +driving storms of sleet and rain, which had continued for several weeks +without intermission, found their way into every crevice of the flimsy +tents and crazy hovels, thatched only with branches of trees, which +afforded a temporary shelter to the troops. In addition to these evils, +the soldiers were badly fed, from the difficulty of finding resources in +the waste and depopulated regions in which they were quartered, [25] and +badly paid, from the negligence, or perhaps poverty, of King Ferdinand, +whose inadequate remittances to his general exposed him, among many other +embarrassments, to the imminent hazard of disaffection among the soldiery, +especially the foreign mercenaries, which nothing, indeed, but the most +delicate and judicious conduct on his part could have averted. [26] + +In this difficult crisis, Gonsalvo de Cordova retained all his usual +equanimity, and even the cheerfulness, so indispensable in a leader who +would infuse heart into his followers. He entered freely into the +distresses and personal feelings of his men, and, instead of assuming any +exemption from fatigue or suffering on the score of his rank, took his +turn in the humblest tour of duty with the meanest of them, mounting guard +himself, it is said, on more than one occasion. Above all, he displayed +that inflexible constancy, which enables the strong mind in the hour of +darkness and peril to buoy up the sinking spirits around it. A remarkable +instance of this fixedness of purpose occurred at this time. + +The forlorn condition of the army, and the indefinite prospect of its +continuance, raised a natural apprehension in many of the officers, that, +if it did not provoke some open act of mutiny, would in all probability +break down the spirits and constitution of the soldiers. Several of them, +therefore, among the rest Mendoza and the two Colonnas, waited on the +commander-in-chief, and, after stating their fears without reserve, +besought him to remove the camp to Capua, where the troops might find +healthy and commodious quarters, at least until the severity of the season +was mitigated; before which, they insisted, there was no reason to +anticipate any movement on the part of the French. But Gonsalvo felt too +deeply the importance of grappling with the enemy, before they should gain +the open country, to be willing to trust to any such precarious +contingency. Besides, he distrusted the effect of such a retrograde +movement on the spirits of his own troops. He had decided on his course +after the most mature deliberation; and, having patiently heard his +officers to the end, replied in these few but memorable words; "It is +indispensable to the public service to maintain our present position; and +be assured, I would sooner march forward two steps, though it should bring +me to my grave, than fall back one, to gain a hundred years." The decided +tone of the reply relieved him from further importunity. [27] + +There is no act of Gonsalvo's life, which on the whole displays more +strikingly the strength of his character. When thus witnessing his +faithful followers drooping and dying around him, with the consciousness +that a word could relieve them from all their distresses, he yet refrained +from uttering it, in stern obedience to what he regarded as the call of +duty; and this too on his own responsibility, in opposition to the +remonstrances of those on whose judgment he most relied. + +Gonsalvo confided in the prudence, sobriety, and excellent constitution of +the Spaniards, for resisting the bad effects of the climate. He relied too +on their tried discipline, and their devotion to himself, for carrying +them through any sacrifice he should demand of them. His experience at +Barleta led him to anticipate results of a very opposite character with +the French troops. The event justified his conclusions in both respects. + +The French, as already noticed, occupied higher and more healthy ground, +on the other side of the Garigliano, than their rivals. They were +fortunate enough also to find more effectual protection from the weather +in the remains of a spacious amphitheatre, and some other edifices, which +still covered the site of Minturnae. With all this, however, they suffered +more severely from the inclement season than their robust adversaries. +Numbers daily sickened and died. They were much straitened, moreover, from +want of provisions, through the knavish peculations of the commissaries +who had charge of the magazines in Rome. Thus situated, the fiery spirits +of the French soldiery, eager for prompt and decisive action, and +impatient of delay, gradually sunk under the protracted miseries of a war, +where the elements were the principal enemy, and where they saw themselves +melting away like slaves in a prison-ship, without even the chance of +winning an honorable death on the field of battle. [28] + +The discontent occasioned by these circumstances was further swelled by +the imperfect success, which had attended their efforts, when allowed to +measure weapons with the enemy. + +At length the latent mass of disaffection found an object on which to vent +itself, in the person of their commander-in-chief, the marquis of Mantua, +never popular with the French soldiers. They now loudly taxed him with +imbecility, accused him of a secret understanding with the enemy, and +loaded him with the opprobrious epithets with which Trans-alpine insolence +was accustomed to stigmatize the Italians. In all this, they were secretly +supported by Ives d'Allègre, Sandricourt, and other French officers, who +had always regarded with dissatisfaction the elevation of the Italian +general; till at length the latter, finding that he had influence with +neither officers nor soldiers, and unwilling to retain command where he +had lost authority, availed himself of a temporary illness, under which he +was laboring, to throw up his commission, and withdrew abruptly to his own +estates. + +He was succeeded by the marquis of Saluzzo, an Italian, indeed, by birth, +being a native of Piedmont, but who had long served under the French +banners, where he had been intrusted by Louis the Twelfth with very +important commands. He was not deficient in energy of character or +military science. But it required powers of a higher order than his to +bring the army under subordination, and renew its confidence under present +circumstances. The Italians, disgusted with the treatment of their former +chief, deserted in great numbers. The great body of the French chivalry, +impatient of their present unhealthy position, dispersed among the +adjacent cities of Fondi, Itri, and Gaeta, leaving the low country around +the Tower of the Garigliano to the care of the Swiss and German infantry. +Thus, while the whole Spanish army lay within a mile of the river, under +the immediate eye of their commander, prepared for instant service, the +French were scattered over a country more than ten miles in extent, where, +without regard to military discipline, they sought to relieve the dreary +monotony of a camp, by all the relaxations which such comfortable quarters +could afford. [29] + +It must not be supposed that the repose of the two armies was never broken +by the sounds of war. More than one rencontre, on the contrary, with +various fortune, took place, and more than one display of personal prowess +by the knights of the two nations, as formerly at the siege of Barleta. +The Spaniards made two unsuccessful efforts to burn the enemy's bridge; +but they succeeded, on the other hand, in carrying the strong fortress of +Rocca Guglielma, garrisoned by the French. Among the feats of individual +heroism, the Castilian writers expatiate most complacently on that of +their favorite cavalier, Diego de Paredes, who descended alone on the +bridge against a body of French knights, all armed in proof, with a +desperate hardihood worthy of Don Quixote; and would most probably have +shared the usual fate of that renowned personage on such occasions, had he +not been rescued by a sally of his own countrymen. The French find a +counterpart to this adventure in that of the preux chevalier Bayard, who, +with his single arm, maintained the barriers of the bridge against two +hundred Spaniards, for an hour or more. [30] + +Such feats, indeed, are more easily achieved with the pen than with the +sword. It would be injustice, however, to the honest chronicler of the day +to suppose that he did not himself fully + + "Believe the magic wonders that he sung." + +Every heart confessed the influence of a romantic age,--the dying age, +indeed, of chivalry,--but when, with superior refinement, it had lost +nothing of the enthusiasm and exaltation of its prime. A shadowy twilight +of romance enveloped every object. Every day gave birth to such +extravagances, not merely of sentiment, but of action, as made it +difficult to discern the precise boundaries of fact and fiction. The +chronicler might innocently encroach sometimes on the province of the +poet, and the poet occasionally draw the theme of his visions from the +pages of the chronicler. Such, in fact, was the case; and the romantic +Muse of Italy, then coming forth in her glory, did little more than give a +brighter flush of color to the chimeras of real life. The characters of +living heroes, a Bayard, a Paredes, and a La Palice, readily supplied her +with the elements of those ideal combinations, in which she has so +gracefully embodied the perfections of chivalry. [31] + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] + "O pria sì cara al ciel del mondo parte, + Che l'acqua cigne, e 'l sasso orrido serra; + O lieta sopra ogn' altra e dolce terra, + Che 'l superbo Appennin segna e diparte; + Che val omai se 'l buon popol di Marte + Ti lasciò del mar donna e de la terra? + Le genti a te gia serve, or ti fan guerra, + E pongon man ne le tue treccie sparte. + Lasso nè manea de' tuoi figli ancora + Chi le più strane a te chiamando insieme + La spada sua nel tuo bel corpo adopre. + Or son queste simili a l' antich' opre? + O pur così pietate e Dio a' onora? + Ahi secol duro, ahi tralignato seme." + Bembo, rime Son. 108. + +This exquisite little lyric, inferior to none other which had appeared on +the same subject since the "Italia mia" of Petrarch, was composed by Bembo +at the period of which we are treating. + +[2] The philosophic Machiavelli discerned the true causes of the +calamities, in the corruptions of his country; which he has exposed, with +more than his usual boldness and bitterness of sarcasm, in the seventh +book of his "Arte della Guerra." + +[3] Lorenzo Suarez de la Vega filled the post of minister at the republic +during the whole of the war. His long continuance in the office at so +critical a period, under so vigilant a sovereign as Ferdinand, is +sufficient warrant for his ability. Peter Martyr, while he admits his +talents, makes some objections to his appointment, on the ground of his +want of scholarship. "Nec placet quod hunc elegeritis hac tempestate. +Maluissem namque virum, qui Latinum calleret, vel salterm intelligeret, +linguam; hic tantum suam patriam vernaculam novit; prudentem esse alias, +atque inter ignaros literarum satis esse gnarum, Rex ipse mihi testatus +est. Cupissem tamen ego, quae dixi." (See the letter to the Catholic +queen, Opus Epist., epist. 246.) The objections have weight undoubtedly, +the Latin being the common medium of diplomatic intercourse at that time. +Martyr, who on his return through Venice from his Egyptian mission took +charge for the time of the interests of Spain, might probably have been +prevailed on to assume the difficulties of a diplomatic station there +himself. See also Part II. Chapter 11, note 7, of this History. + +[4] Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, tom. i. lib. 5, cap. 38, 48.--Bembo, +Istoria Viniziana, tom. iii. lib. 6.--Daru, Hist. de Venise, tom. iii. p. +347.--Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. i. lib. 6, p. 311, ed. 1645.-- +Buonaccorsi, Diario, pp. 77, 81. + +[5] Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, tom. i. lib. 5, cap. 55.--Coxe, +History of the House of Austria, (London, 1807,) vol. i. chap. 23. + +[6] Buonaccorsi, Diario, p. 78.--St. Gelais, Hist. de Louys XII., pp. 173, +174.--Varillas, Hist. de Louis XII., tom. i. pp. 386, 387.--Mémoires de la +Trémoille, chap. 19, apud Petitot, Collection des Mémoires, tom. xiv.-- +Muratori, Annali d'Italia, tom. xiv. anno 1503.--Carta de Gonzalo, MS. + +Historians, as usual, differ widely in their estimates of the French +numbers. Guicciardini, whose moderate computation of 20,000 men is usually +followed, does not take the trouble to reconcile his sum total with the +various estimates given by him in detail, which considerably exceed that +amount. Istoria, pp. 308, 309, 312. + +[7] Buonaccorsi, Diario, p. 81.--Bembo, Istoria Viniziana, lib. 6. + +The little ceremony with which Alexander's remains were treated, while yet +scarcely cold, is the best commentary on the general detestation in which +he was held. "Lorsque Alexandre," says the pope's _maître des cérémonies_, +"rendit le dernier soupir, il n'y avait dans sa chambre que l'évêque de +Rieti, le dataire et quelques palefreniers. Cette chambre fut aussitôt +pillée. La face du cadavre devint noire; la langue s'enfla au point +qu'elle remplissait la bouche qui resta ouverte. La bière dans laquelle il +fallait mettre le corps se trouva trop petite; on l'y enfonça à coups de +poings. Les restes du pape insultés par ses domestiques furent portés dans +l'église de St. Pierre, sans être accompagnés de prêtres ni de torches, et +on les plaça en dedans de la grille du choeur pour les dérober aux +outrages de la populace." Notice de Burchard, apud Brequigny, Notices +et Extraits des Manuscrits de la Bibliothèque du Roi, (Paris, 1787-1818,) +tom. i. p. 120. + +[8] Buonaccorsi, Diario, p. 82.--Machiavelli, Legazione Prima a Roma, Let. +1, 3, et al.--Bembo, Istoria Viniziana, tom. iii. lib. 6.--Ammirato, +Istorie Fiorentine, tom. iii. lib. 28.--Zurita, Anales, tom. v. lib. 5, +cap. 47. + +[9] Guicciardini, in particular, has related them with a circumstantiality +which could scarcely have been exceeded by one of the conclave itself. +Istoria, lib. 6, pp. 316-318. + +[10] Bembo, Istoria Viniziana, lib. 6.--Ammirato, Istorie Fiorentine, tom. +iii. lib. 28. + +The election of Pius was extremely grateful to Queen Isabella, who caused +Te Deums and thanksgivings to be celebrated in the churches, for the +appointment of "so worthy a pastor over the Christian fold." See Peter +Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 265. + +[11] Machiavelli, Legazione Prima a Roma, let. 6.--Bembo, Istoria +Viniziana, lib. 7. + +[12] Garnier, Hist. de France, tom. v. pp. 435-438.--Guicciardini, +Istoria, lib. 6, p. 316.--Buonaccorsi, Diario, p. 83.--St. Gelais, Hist. +de Louys XII., p. 173. + +[13] Cicero's country seat stood midway between Gaeta and Mola, the +ancient Formiae, about two miles and a half from each. (Cluverius, Ital. +Antiq., lib. 3, cap. 6.) The remains of his mansion and of his mausoleum +may still be discerned, on the borders of the old Appian way, by the +classical and credulous tourist. + +[14] Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, fol. 258, 259.--Chrónica del Gran +Capitan, lib. 2, cap. 95.--Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 19.--Peter +Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 261. + +[15] Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, tom. i. lib. 5, cap. 38, 43, 44, 48, +57.--Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, fol. 258, 259.--Sismondi, Hist. des +Français, tom. xv. p. 417.--Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. lib. 19, cap. +16.--Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, tom. viii. pp. 252-257.--Carta del Gran +Capitan, MS. + +The Castilian writers do not state the sum total of the Spanish force, +which is to be inferred only from the scattered estimates, careless and +contradictory as usual, of the various detachments which joined it. + +[16] The Spaniards carried Monte Casino by storm, and with sacrilegious +violence plundered the Benedictine monastery of all its costly plate. They +were compelled, however, to respect the bones of the martyrs, and other +saintly relics; a division of spoil probably not entirely satisfactory to +its reverend inmates. Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, fol. 262. + +[17] Chrónica del Gran Capitan, lib. 2, cap. 102.--Ulloa, Vita di Carlo +V., fol. 21.--Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. i. lib. 6, pp. 326, 327.--Peter +Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 267.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. +188. + +[18] The remains of this city, which stood about four miles above the +mouth of the Liris, are still to be seen on the right of the road. In +ancient days it was of sufficient magnitude to cover both sides of the +river. See Strabo, Geographia, lib. 5, p. 233, (Paris, 1629, with +Casaubon's notes,) p. 110. + +[19] Chrónica del Gran Capitan, lib. 2, cap. 107.--Giovio, Vita Magni +Gonsalvi, fol. 263. + +[20] The marshes of Minturnae lay between the city and the mouth of the +Liris. (Cluverius, Ital. Antiq., lib. 3, cap. 10, sec. 9.) The Spanish +army encamped, says Guicciardini, "in a place called by Livy, from its +vicinity to Sessa, _aquae Sinuessanae_, being perhaps the marshes in +which Marius hid himself." (Istoria, lib. 6.) The historian makes two +blunders in a breath. 1st. _Aquae Sinuessanae_, was a name derived not +from Sessa, the ancient Suessa Aurunca, but from the adjacent Sinuessa, a +town about ten miles southeast of Minturnae. (Comp. Livy, lib. 22, cap. +14, and Strabo, lib. 5, p. 233.) 2d. The name did not indicate marshes, +but natural hot springs, particularly noted for their salubrity. +"Salubritate harum aquarum," says Tacitus in allusion to them (Annales, +lib. 12); and Pliny notices their medicinal properties more explicitly. +Hist. Naturalis, lib. 31, cap. 2. + +[20] This does not accord with Horace's character of the Garigliano, the +ancient Liris, as the "taciturnus amnis," (Carm., lib. i. 30,) and still +less with that of Silius Italicus, + + "Liris ... qui fonte quieto + Dissimulat cursum, et _nullo mutabilis imbre_ + Perstringit tacitas gemmanti gurgite ripas." + Puncia, lib. 4. + +Indeed, the stream exhibits at the present day the same soft and tranquil +aspect celebrated by the Roman poets. Its natural character, however, was +entirely changed at the period before us, in consequence of the unexampled +heaviness and duration of the autumnal rains. + +[21] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 188.--Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, +tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 14.--Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. lib. 19, cap. 16. +--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 269.--Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, +fol. 262-264.--Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 22.--Machiavelli, Legazione +Prima a Roma, let. 11, Nov. 10.--let. 16, Nov. 13.--let. 17.--Chrónica del +Gran Capitan, lib. 2, cap. 106.--Garnier, Hist. de France, tom. v. pp. +440, 441. + +[22] Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, fol. 264. + +[23] Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 6, pp. 327, 328.--Giovio, Vitae Illust. +Virorum, fol. 262.--Machiavelli, Legazione Prima a Roma, let. 29.-- +Garnier, Hist. de France, tom. v. pp. 443-445. + +[24] Legazione Prima a Roma, let. 9, 10, 18. + +The French showed the same confidence from the beginning of hostilities. +One of that nation having told Suarez, the Castilian minister at Venice, +that the marshal de la Trémouille said, "He would give 20,000 ducats, if +he could meet Gonsalvo de Cordova in the plains of Viterbo;" the Spaniard +smartly replied, "Nemours would have given twice as much not to have met +him at Cerignola." Zurita, Anales, tom. v. lib. 5, cap. 36. + +[25] This barren tract of uninhabited country must have been of very +limited extent; for it lay in the Campania Felix, in the neighborhood of +the cultivated plains of Sessa, the Massicau mountain, and Falernian +fields,--names, which call up associations, that must live while good +poetry and good wine shall be held in honor. + +[26] Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. lib. 28, cap. 5.--Guicciardini, +Istoria, tom. i. lib. 6, p. 328.--Machiavelli, Legazione Prima a Roma, +let. 44.--Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 22.--Chrónica del Gran Capitan, +cap. 107, 108.--The Neapolitan conquests, it will be remembered, were +undertaken exclusively for the crown of Aragon, the revenues of which were +far more limited than those of Castile. + +[27] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 188.--Chrónica del Gran +Capitan, lib. 2, cap. 108.--Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. lib. 19, cap, +16.--Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 6, p. 328.--Zurita, Anales, tom. v. lib. +5, cap. 58. + +[28] Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, fol. 265.--Garnier, Hist. de France, +tom. v. p. 445.--Zurita, Anales, tom. v. lib. 5, cap. 59.--Buonaccorsi, +Diario, fol. 85.--Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 22.--Varillas, Hist. de +Louis XII., tom. i. pp. 401, 402. + +[29] Garnier, Hist. de France, tom. v. pp. 440-443.--Giovio, Vitae Illust. +Virorum, fol. 264, 265.--Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. i. lib. 6, p. 329.-- +Machiavelli, Legazione Prima a Roma, let. 44.--St. Gelais, Hist. de Louys +XII., pp. 173, 174. + +[30] Chrónica del Gran Capitan, lib. 2, cap. 106.--Mémoires de Bayard, +chap. 25, apud Petitot, Collection des Mémoires, tom. xv.--Varillas, Hist. +de Louis XII., tom. i. p. 417.--Quintana, Españoles Célebres, tom. i. pp. +288-290.--Machiavelli, Legazione Prima a Roma, let. 39, 44. + +[31] Compare the prose romances of D'Auton, of the "loyal serviteur" of +Bayard, and the no less loyal biographer of the Great Captain, with the +poetic ones of Ariosto, Berni, and the like. + + "Magnanima menzogna! or quando è il vero + Si bello, che si possa a te preporre?" + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +ITALIAN WARS.--ROUT OF THE GARIGLIANO.--TREATY WITH FRANCE.--GONSALVO'S +MILITARY CONDUCT. + +1503, 1504. + +Gonsalvo Crosses the River.--Consternation of the French.--Action near +Gaeta.--Hotly Contested.--The French Defeated.--Gaeta Surrenders.--Public +Enthusiasm.--Treaty with France.--Review of Gonsalvo's Military Conduct.-- +Results of the Campaign. + + +Seven weeks had now elapsed, since the two armies had lain in sight of +each other without any decided movement on either side. During this time, +the Great Captain had made repeated efforts to strengthen himself, through +the intervention of the Spanish ambassador, Francisco de Rojas, [1] by +reinforcements from Rome. His negotiations were chiefly directed to secure +the alliance of the Orsini, a powerful family, long involved in a bitter +feud with the Colonnas, then in the Spanish service. A reconciliation +between these noble houses was at length happily effected; and Bartolomeo +d'Alviano, the head of the Orsini, agreed to enlist under the Spanish +commander with three thousand men. This arrangement was finally brought +about through the good offices of the Venetian minister at Rome, who even +advanced a considerable sum of money towards the payment of the new +levies. [2] + +The appearance of this corps, with one of the most able and valiant of the +Italian captains at its head, revived the drooping spirits of the camp. +Soon after his arrival, Alviano strongly urged Gonsalvo to abandon his +original plan of operations, and avail himself of his augmented strength +to attack the enemy in his own quarters. The Spanish commander had +intended to confine himself wholly to the defensive, and, too unequal in +force to meet the French in the open field, as before noticed, had +intrenched himself in his present strong position, with the fixed purpose +of awaiting the enemy there. Circumstances had now greatly changed. The +original inequality was diminished by the arrival of the Italian levies, +and still further compensated by the present disorderly state of the +French army. He knew, moreover, that in the most perilous enterprises, the +assailing party gathers an enthusiasm and an impetus in its career, which +counterbalance large numerical odds; while the party taken by surprise is +proportionably disconcerted, and prepared, as it were, for defeat before a +blow is struck. From these considerations, the cautious general acquiesced +in Alviano's project to cross the Garigliano, by establishing a bridge at +a point opposite Suzio, a small place garrisoned by the French on the +right bank, about four miles above their head-quarters. The time for the +attack was fixed as soon as possible after the approaching Christmas, when +the French, occupied with the festivities of the season, might be thrown +off their guard. [3] + +This day of general rejoicing to the Christian world at length arrived. It +brought little joy to the Spaniards, buried in the depths of these dreary +morasses, destitute of most of the necessaries of life, and with scarcely +any other means of resisting the climate, than those afforded by their +iron constitutions and invincible courage. They celebrated the day, +however, with all the devotional feeling, and the imposing solemnities, +with which it is commemorated by the Roman Catholic church; and the +exercises of religion, rendered more impressive by their situation, served +to exalt still higher the heroic constancy, which had sustained them under +such unparalleled sufferings. + +In the mean while, the materials for the bridge were collected, and the +work went forward with such despatch, that on the 28th of December all was +in readiness for carrying the plan of attack into execution. The task of +laying the bridge across the river was intrusted to Alviano, who had +charge of the van. The central and main division of the army under +Gonsalvo was to cross at the same point; while Andrada at the head of the +rear-guard was to force a passage at the old bridge, lower down the +stream, opposite to the Tower of the Garigliano. [4] + +The night was dark and stormy. Alviano performed the duty intrusted to him +with such silence and celerity, that the work was completed without +attracting the enemy's notice. He then crossed over with the van-guard, +consisting chiefly of cavalry, supported by Navarro, Paredes, and Pizarro; +and, falling on the sleeping garrison of Suzio, cut to pieces all who +offered resistance. + +The report of the Spaniards having passed the river spread far and wide, +and soon reached the head-quarters of the marquis of Saluzzo, near the +Tower of the Garigliano. The French commander-in-chief, who believed that +the Spaniards were lying on the other side of the river, as torpid as the +snakes in their own marshes, was as much astounded by the event as if a +thunderbolt had burst over his head from a cloudless sky. He lost no time, +however, in rallying such of his scattered forces as he could assemble, +and in the mean while despatched Ives d'Allègre with a body of horse to +hold the enemy in check, till he could make good his own retreat on Gaeta. +His first step was to demolish the bridge near his own quarters, cutting +the moorings of the boats and turning them adrift down the river. He +abandoned his tents and baggage, together with nine of his heaviest +cannon; leaving even the sick and wounded to the mercy of the enemy, +rather than encumber himself with anything that should retard his march. +The remainder of the artillery he sent forward in the van. The infantry +followed next, and the rear, in which Saluzzo took his own station, was +brought up by the men-at-arms to cover the retreat. + +Before Allègre could reach Suzio, the whole Spanish army had passed the +Garigliano, and formed on the right bank. Unable to face such superior +numbers, he fell back with precipitation, and joined himself to the main +body of the French, now in full retreat on Gaeta. [5] + +Gonsalvo, afraid the French might escape him, sent forward Prospero +Colonna, with a corps of light horse, to annoy and retard their march +until he could come up. Keeping the right bank of the river with the main +body, he marched rapidly through the deserted camp of the enemy, leaving +little leisure for his men to glean the rich spoil, which lay tempting +them on every side. It was not long before he came up with the French, +whose movements were greatly retarded by the difficulty of dragging their +guns over the ground completely saturated with rain. The retreat was +conducted, however, in excellent order; they were eminently favored by the +narrowness of the road, which, allowing but a comparatively small body of +troops on either side to come into action, made success chiefly depend on +the relative merits of these. The French rear, as already stated, was made +up of their men-at-arms, including Bayard, Sandricourt, La Fayette, and +others of their bravest chivalry, who, armed at all points, found no great +difficulty in beating off the light troops which formed the advance of the +Spaniards. At every bridge, stream, and narrow pass, which afforded a +favorable position, the French cavalry closed their ranks, and made a +resolute stand to gain time for the columns in advance. + +In this way, alternately halting and retreating, with perpetual +skirmishes, though without much loss on either side, they reached the +bridge before Mola di Gaeta. Here, some of the gun-carriages breaking down +or being overturned occasioned considerable delay and confusion. The +infantry, pressing on, became entangled with the artillery. The marquis of +Saluzzo endeavored to avail himself of the strong position afforded by the +bridge to restore order. A desperate struggle ensued. The French knights +dashed boldly into the Spanish ranks, driving back for a time the tide of +pursuit. The chevalier Bayard, who was seen as usual in the front of +danger, had three horses killed under him; and, at length, carried forward +by his ardor into the thickest of the enemy, was retrieved with difficulty +from their hands by a desperate charge of his friend Sandricourt. [6] + +The Spaniards, shaken by the violence of the assault, seemed for a moment +to hesitate; but Gonsalvo had now time to bring up his men-at-arms, who +sustained the faltering columns, and renewed the combat on more equal +terms. He himself was in the hottest of the _mêlée_; and at one time +was exposed to imminent hazard by his horse's losing his footing on the +slippery soil, and coming with him to the ground. The general fortunately +experienced no injury, and, quickly recovering himself, continued to +animate his followers by his voice and intrepid bearing, as before. + +The fight had now lasted two hours. The Spaniards, although still in +excellent heart, were faint with fatigue and want of food, having +travelled six leagues, without breaking their fast since the preceding +evening. It was, therefore, with no little anxiety, that Gonsalvo looked +for the coming up of his rear-guard, left, as the reader will remember, +under Andrada at the lower bridge, to decide the fortune of the day. + +The welcome spectacle at length presented itself. The dark columns of the +Spaniards were seen, at first faint in the distance, by degrees growing +more and more distinct to the eye. Andrada had easily carried the French +redoubt on his side of the Garigliano; but it was not without difficulty +and delay, that he recovered the scattered boats which the French had set +adrift down the stream, and finally succeeded in re-establishing his +communications with the opposite bank. Having accomplished this, he +rapidly advanced by a more direct road, to the east of that lately +traversed by Gonsalvo along the sea-side, in pursuit of the French. The +latter beheld with dismay the arrival of this fresh body of troops, who +seemed to have dropped from the clouds on the field of battle. They +scarcely waited for the shock before they broke, and gave way in all +directions. The disabled carriages of the artillery, which clogged up the +avenues in the rear, increased the confusion among the fugitives, and the +foot were trampled down without mercy under the heels of their own +cavalry, in the eagerness of the latter to extricate themselves from their +perilous situation. The Spanish light horse followed up their advantage +with the alacrity of vengeance long delayed, inflicting bloody retribution +for all they had so long suffered in the marshes of Sessa. + +At no great distance from the bridge the road takes two directions, the +one towards Itri, the other to Gaeta. The bewildered fugitives here +separated; by far the greater part keeping the latter route. Gonsalvo sent +forward a body of horse under Navarro and Pedro de la Paz by a short cut +across the country, to intercept their flight. A large number fell into +his hands in consequence of this manoeuvre; but the greater part of those +who escaped the sword succeeded in throwing themselves into Gaeta. [7] + +The Great Captain took up his quarters that night in the neighboring +village of Castellone. His brave followers had great need of refreshment, +having fasted and fought through the whole day, and that under a driving +storm of rain which had not ceased for a moment. Thus terminated the +battle, or rout, as it is commonly called, of the Garigliano, the most +important in its results of all Gonsalvo's victories, and furnishing a +suitable close to his brilliant military career. [8] The loss of the +French is computed at from three to four thousand men, left dead on the +field, together with all their baggage, colors, and splendid train of +artillery. The Spaniards must have suffered severely during the sharp +conflict on the bridge; but no estimate of their loss is to be met with, +in any native or foreign writer. [9] It was observed that the 29th of +December, on which this battle was won, came on Friday, the same ominous +day of the week, which had so often proved auspicious to the Spaniards +under the present reign. [10] + +The disparity of the forces actually engaged was probably not great, since +the extent of country over which the French were quartered prevented many +of them from coming up in time for action. Several corps, who succeeded in +reaching the field at the close of the fight, were seized with such a +panic as to throw down their arms without attempting resistance. [11] The +admirable artillery, on which the French placed chief reliance, was not +only of no service, but of infinite mischief to them, as we have seen. The +brunt of the battle fell on their chivalry, which bore itself throughout +the day with the spirit and gallantry worthy of its ancient renown; never +flinching, till the arrival of the Spanish rear-guard fresh in the field, +at so critical a juncture, turned the scale in their adversaries' favor. + +Early on the following morning, Gonsalvo made preparations for storming +the heights of Mount Orlando, which overlooked the city of Gaeta. Such was +the despondency of its garrison, however, that this strong position, which +bade defiance a few months before to the most desperate efforts of Spanish +valor, was now surrendered without a struggle. The same feeling of +despondency had communicated itself to the garrison of Gaeta; and, before +Navarro could bring the batteries of Mount Orlando to bear upon the city, +a flag of truce arrived from the marquis of Saluzzo with proposals for +capitulation. + +This was more than the Great Captain could have ventured to promise +himself. The French were in great force; the fortifications of the place +in excellent repair; it was well provided with artillery and ammunition, +and with provisions for ten days at least; while their fleet, riding in +the harbor, afforded the means of obtaining supplies from Leghorn, Genoa, +and other friendly ports. But the French had lost all heart; they were +sorely wasted by disease; their buoyant self-confidence was gone, and +their spirits broken by the series of reverses, which had followed without +interruption from the first hour of the campaign, to the last disastrous +affair of the Garigliano. The very elements seemed to have leagued against +them. Further efforts they deemed a fruitless struggle against destiny; +and they now looked with melancholy longing to their native land, eager +only to quit these ill-omened shores for ever. + +The Great Captain made no difficulty in granting such terms, as, while +they had a show of liberality, secured him the most important fruits of +victory. This suited his cautious temper far better than pressing a +desperate foe to extremity. He was, moreover, with all his successes, in +no condition to do so; he was without funds, and, as usual, deeply in +arrears to his army; while there was scarcely a ration of bread, says an +Italian historian, in his whole camp. [12] + +It was agreed by the terms of capitulation, January 1st, 1504, that the +French should evacuate Gaeta at once, and deliver it up to the Spaniards +with its artillery, munitions, and military stores of every description. +The prisoners on both sides, including those taken in the preceding +campaign, an arrangement greatly to the advantage of the enemy, were to be +restored; and the army in Gaeta was to be allowed a free passage by land +or sea, as they should prefer, to their own country. [13] + +From the moment hostilities were brought to a close; Gonsalvo displayed +such generous sympathy for his late enemies, and such humanity in +relieving them, as to reflect more honor on his character than all his +victories. He scrupulously enforced the faithful performance of the +treaty, and severely punished any violence offered to the French by his +own men. His benign and courteous demeanor towards the vanquished, so +remote from the images of terror with which he had been, hitherto +associated in their minds, excited unqualified admiration; and they +testified their sense of his amiable qualities, by speaking of him as the +"gentil capitaine et gentil cavalier." [14] + +The news of the rout of the Garigliano and the surrender of Gaeta diffused +general gloom and consternation over France. There was scarcely a family +of rank, says a writer of that country, that had not some one of its +members involved in these sad disasters. [15] The court went into +mourning. The king, mortified at the discomfiture of all his lofty +schemes, by the foe whom he despised, shut himself up in his palace, +refusing access to every one, until the agitation of his spirits threw him +into an illness, which had wellnigh proved fatal. + +Meanwhile his exasperated feelings found an object on which to vent +themselves in the unfortunate garrison of Gaeta, who so pusillanimously +abandoned their post to return to their own country. He commanded them to +winter in Italy, and not to recross the Alps without further orders. He +sentenced Sandricourt and Allègre to banishment for insubordination to +their commander-in-chief; the latter, for his conduct, more particularly, +before the battle of Cerignola; and he hanged up the commissaries of the +army, whose infamous peculations had been a principal cause of its ruin. +[16] + +But the impotent wrath of their monarch was not needed to fill the bitter +cup, which the French soldiers were now draining to the dregs. A large +number of those, who embarked for Genoa, died of the maladies contracted +during their long bivouac in the marshes of Minturnae. The rest recrossed +the Alps into France, too desperate to heed their master's prohibition. +Those who took their way by land suffered still more severely from the +Italian peasantry, who retaliated in full measure the barbarities they had +so long endured from the French. They were seen wandering like spectres +along the high roads and principal cities on the route, pining with cold +and famine; and all the hospitals in Rome, as well as the stables, sheds, +and every other place, however mean, affording shelter, were filled with +the wretched vagabonds, eager only to find some obscure retreat to die in. + +The chiefs of the expedition fared little better. Among others, the +marquis of Saluzzo, soon after reaching Genoa, was carried off by a fever, +caused by his distress of mind. Sandricourt, too haughty to endure +disgrace, laid violent hands on himself. Allègre, more culpable, but more +courageous, survived to be reconciled with his sovereign, and to die a +soldier's death on the field of battle. [17] + +Such are the dismal colors in which the French historians depict the last +struggle made by their monarch for the recovery of Naples. Few military +expeditions have commenced under more brilliant and imposing auspices; few +have been conducted in so ill-advised a manner through their whole +progress; and none attended in their close with more indiscriminate and +overwhelming ruin. + +On the 3d of January, 1504, Gonsalvo made his entry into Gaeta; and the +thunders of his ordnance, now for the first time heard from its +battlements, announced that this strong key to the dominions of Naples had +passed into the hands of Aragon. After a short delay for the refreshment +of his troops, he set out for the capital. But, amidst the general jubilee +which greeted his return, he was seized with a fever, brought on by the +incessant fatigue and high mental excitement in which he had been kept for +the last four months. The attack was severe, and the event for some time +doubtful. During this state of suspense the public mind was in the deepest +agitation. The popular manners of Gonsalvo had won the hearts of the giddy +people of Naples, who transferred their affections, indeed, as readily as +their allegiance; and prayers and vows for his restoration, were offered +up in all the churches and monasteries of the city. His excellent +constitution at length got the better of his disease. As soon as this +favorable result was ascertained, the whole population, rushing to the +other extreme, abandoned itself to a delirium of joy; and, when he was +sufficiently recovered to give them audience, men of all ranks thronged to +Castel Nuovo to tender their congratulations, and obtain a sight of the +hero, who now returned to their capital, for the third time, with the +laurel of victory on his brow. Every tongue, says his enthusiastic +biographer, was eloquent in his praise; some dwelling on his noble port, +and the beauty of his countenance; others on the elegance and amenity of +his manners; and all dazzled by a spirit of munificence, which would have +become royalty itself. [18] + +The tide of panegyric was swelled by more than one bard, who sought, +though with indifferent success, to catch inspiration from so glorious a +theme; trusting doubtless that his liberal hand would not stint the +recompense to the precise measure of desert. Amid this general burst of +adulation, the muse of Sannazaro, worth all his tribe, was alone silent; +for the trophies of the conqueror were raised on the ruins of that royal +house, under which the bard had been so long sheltered; and this silence, +so rare in his tuneful brethren, must be admitted to reflect more credit +on his name, than the best he ever sung. [19] + +The first business of Gonsalvo was to call together the different orders +of the state, and receive their oaths of allegiance to King Ferdinand. He +next occupied himself with the necessary arrangements for the +reorganization of the government, and for reforming various abuses which +had crept into the administration of justice, more particularly. In these +attempts to introduce order, he was not a little thwarted, however, by the +insubordination of his own soldiery, They loudly clamored for the +discharge of the arrears, still shamefully protracted, till, their +discontents swelling to open mutiny, they forcibly seized on two of the +principal places in the kingdom as security for the payment. Gonsalvo +chastised their insolence by disbanding several of the most refractory +companies, and sending them home for punishment. He endeavored to relieve +them in part by raising contributions from the Neapolitans. But the +soldiers took the matter into their own hands, oppressing the unfortunate +people on whom they were quartered in a manner which rendered their +condition scarcely more tolerable, than when exposed to the horrors of +actual war. [20] This was the introduction, according to Guicciardini, of +those systematic military exactions in time of peace, which became so +common afterwards in Italy, adding an inconceivable amount to the long +catalogue of woes which afflicted that unhappy land. [21] + +Amidst his manifold duties, Gonsalvo did not forget the gallant officers +who had borne with him the burdens of the war, and he requited their +services in a princely style, better suited to his feelings than his +interests, as subsequently appeared. Among them were Navarro, Mendoza, +Andrada, Benavides, Leyva, the Italians Alviano and the two Colonnas, most +of whom lived to display the lessons of tactics, which they learned under +this great commander, on a still wider theatre of glory, in the reign of +Charles the Fifth. He made them grants of cities, fortresses, and +extensive lands, according to their various claims, to be held as fiefs of +the crown. All this was done with the previous sanction of his royal +master, Ferdinand the Catholic. They did some violence, however, to his +more economical spirit, and he was heard somewhat peevishly to exclaim, +"It boots little for Gonsalvo de Cordova to have won a kingdom for me, if +he lavishes it all away before it comes into my hands." It began to be +perceived at court that the Great Captain was too powerful for a subject. +[22] + +Meanwhile, Louis the Twelfth was filled with serious apprehensions for the +fate of his possessions in the north of Italy. His former allies, the +emperor Maximilian and the republic of Venice, the latter more especially, +had shown many indications, not merely of coldness to himself, but of a +secret understanding with his rival, the king of Spain. The restless pope, +Julius the Second, had schemes of his own, wholly independent of France. +The republics of Pisa and Genoa, the latter one of her avowed +dependencies, had entered into correspondence with the Great Captain, and +invited him to assume their protection; while several of the disaffected +party in Milan had assured him of their active support, in case he would +march with a sufficient force to overturn the existing government. Indeed, +not only France, but Europe in general, expected that the Spanish +commander would avail himself of the present crisis, to push his +victorious arms into upper Italy, revolutionize Tuscany in his way, and, +wresting Milan from the French, drive them, crippled and disheartened by +their late reverses, beyond the Alps. [23] + +But Gonsalvo had occupation enough on his hands in settling the disordered +state of Naples. King Ferdinand, his sovereign, notwithstanding the +ambition of universal conquest absurdly imputed to him by the French +writers, had no design to extend his acquisitions beyond what he could +permanently maintain. His treasury, never overflowing, was too deeply +drained by the late heavy demands on it, for him so soon to embark on +another perilous enterprise, that must rouse anew the swarms of enemies, +who seemed willing to rest in quiet after their long and exhausting +struggle; nor is there any reason to suppose he sincerely contemplated +such a movement for a moment. [24] + +The apprehension of it, however, answered Ferdinand's purpose, by +preparing the French monarch to arrange his differences with his rival, as +the latter now earnestly desired, by negotiation. Indeed, two Spanish +ministers had resided during the greater part of the war at the French +court, with the view of improving the first opening that should occur for +accomplishing this object; and by their agency a treaty was concluded, to +continue for three years, which guaranteed to Aragon the undisturbed +possession of her conquests during that period. The chief articles +provided for the immediate cessation of hostilities between the +belligerents, and the complete re-establishment of their commercial +relations and intercourse, with the exception of Naples, from which the +French were to be excluded. The Spanish crown was to have full power to +reduce all refractory places in that kingdom; and the contracting parties +solemnly pledged themselves, each to render no assistance, secretly or +openly, to the enemies of the other. The treaty, which was to run from the +25th of February, 1504, was signed by the French king and the Spanish +plenipotentiaries at Lyons, on the 11th of that month, and ratified by +Ferdinand and Isabella, at the convent of Santa Maria de la Mejorada, the +31st of March following. [25] + +There was still a small spot in the heart of Naples, comprehending Venosa +and several adjoining towns, where Louis d'Ars and his brave associates +yet held out against the Spanish arms. Although cut off by the operation +of this treaty from the hope of further support from home, the French +knight disdained to surrender; but sallied out at the head of his little +troop of gallant veterans, and thus, armed at all points, says Brantôme, +with lance in rest, took his way through Naples, and the centre of Italy. +He marched in battle array, levying contributions for his support on the +places through which he passed. In this manner he entered France, and +presented himself before the court at Blois. The king and queen, delighted +with his prowess, came forward to welcome him, and made good cheer, says +the old chronicler, for himself and his companions, whom they recompensed +with liberal largesses, proffering at the same time any boon to the brave +knight, which he should demand for himself. The latter in return simply +requested that his old comrade Ives d'Allègre should be recalled from +exile. This trait of magnanimity, when contrasted with the general +ferocity of the times, has something in it inexpressibly pleasing. It +shows, like others recorded of the French gentlemen of that period, that +the age of chivalry,--the chivalry of romance, indeed,--had not wholly +passed away. [26] + +The pacification of Lyons sealed the fate of Naples; and, while it +terminated the wars in that kingdom, closed the military career of +Gonsalvo de Cordova. It is impossible to contemplate the magnitude of the +results, achieved with such slender resources, and in the face of such +overwhelming odds, without deep admiration for the genius of the man by +whom they were accomplished. + +His success, it is true, is imputable in part to the signal errors of his +adversaries. The magnificent expedition of Charles the Eighth failed to +produce any permanent impression, chiefly in consequence of the +precipitation with which it had been entered into, without sufficient +concert with the Italian states, who became a formidable enemy when united +in his rear. He did not even avail himself of his temporary acquisition of +Naples to gather support from the attachment of his new subjects. Far from +incorporating with them, he was regarded as a foreigner and an enemy, and, +as such, expelled by the joint action of all Italy from its bosom, as soon +as it had recovered sufficient strength to rally. + +Louis the Twelfth profited by the errors of his predecessor. His +acquisitions in the Milanese formed a basis for future operations; and by +negotiation and otherwise he secured the alliance and the interests of the +various Italian governments on his side. These preliminary arrangements +were followed by preparations every way commensurate with his object. He +failed in the first campaign, however, by intrusting the command to +incompetent hands, consulting birth rather than talent or experience. + +In the succeeding campaigns, his failure, though partly chargeable on +himself, was less so than on circumstances beyond his control. The first +of these was the long detention of the army before Rome by Cardinal +D'Amboise, and its consequent exposure to the unexampled severity of the +ensuing winter. A second was the fraudulent conduct of the commissaries, +implying, no doubt, some degree of negligence in the person who appointed +them; and lastly, the want of a suitable commander-in-chief of the army. +La Trémouille being ill, and D'Aubigny a prisoner in the hands of the +enemy, there appeared no one among the French qualified to cope with the +Spanish general. The marquis of Mantua, independently of the disadvantage +of being a foreigner, was too timid in council, and dilatory in conduct, +to be any way competent to this difficult task. + +If his enemies, however, committed great errors, it is altogether owing to +Gonsalvo that he was in a situation to take advantage of them. Nothing +could be more unpromising than his position on first entering Calabria. +Military operations had been conducted in Spain on principles totally +different from those which prevailed in the rest of Europe. This was the +case especially in the late Moorish wars, where the old tactics and the +character of the ground brought light cavalry chiefly into use. This, +indeed, constituted his principal strength at this period; for his +infantry, though accustomed to irregular service, was indifferently armed +and disciplined. An important revolution, however, had occurred in the +other parts of Europe. The infantry had there regained the superiority +which it maintained in the days of the Greeks and Romans. The experiment +had been made on more than one bloody field; and it was found that the +solid columns of Swiss and German pikes not only bore down all opposition +in their onward march, but presented an impregnable barrier, not to be +shaken by the most desperate charges of the best heavy-armed cavalry. It +was against these dreaded battalions that Gonsalvo was now called to +measure for the first time the bold but rudely armed and comparatively raw +recruits from Galicia and the Asturias. + +He lost his first battle, into which it should be remembered he was +precipitated against his will. He proceeded afterwards with the greatest +caution, gradually familiarizing his men with the aspect and usages of the +enemy whom they held in such awe, before bringing them again to a direct +encounter. He put himself to school during this whole campaign, carefully +acquainting himself with the tactics, discipline, and novel arms of his +adversaries, and borrowing just so much as he could incorporate into the +ancient system of the Spaniards, without discarding the latter altogether. +Thus, while he retained the short sword and buckler of his countrymen, he +fortified his battalions with a large number of spearmen, after the German +fashion. The arrangement is highly commended by the sagacious Machiavelli, +who considers it as combining the advantages of both systems, since, while +the long spear served all the purposes of resistance, or even of attack on +level ground, the short swords and targets enabled their wearers, as +already noticed, to cut in under the dense array of hostile pikes, and +bring the enemy to close quarters, where his formidable weapon was of no +avail. [27] + +While Gonsalvo made this innovation in the arms and tactics, he paid equal +attention to the formation of a suitable character in his soldiery. The +circumstances in which he was placed at Barleta, and on the Garigliano, +imperatively demanded this. Without food, clothes, or pay, without the +chance even of retrieving his desperate condition by venturing a blow at +the enemy, the Spanish soldier was required to remain passive. To do this +demanded, patience, abstinence, strict subordination, and a degree of +resolution far higher than that required to combat obstacles, however +formidable in themselves, where active exertion, which tasks the utmost +energies of the soldier, renews his spirits and raises them to a contempt +of danger. It was calling on him, in short, to begin with achieving that +most difficult of all victories, the victory over himself. + +All this the Spanish commander effected. He infused into his men a portion +of his own invincible energy. He inspired a love of his person, which led +them to emulate his example, and a confidence in his genius and resources, +which supported them under all their privations by a firm reliance on a +fortunate issue. His manners were distinguished by a graceful courtesy, +less encumbered with etiquette than was usual with persons of his high +rank in Castile. He knew well the proud and independent feelings of the +Spanish soldier; and, far from annoying him by unnecessary restraints, +showed the most liberal indulgence at all times. But his kindness was +tempered with severity, which displayed itself, on such occasions as +required interposition, in a manner that rarely failed to repress +everything like insubordination. The reader will readily recall an example +of this in the mutiny before Tarento; and it was doubtless by the +assertion of similar power, that he was so long able to keep in check his +German mercenaries, distinguished above the troops of every other nation +by their habitual license and contempt of authority. + +While Gonsalvo relied so freely on the hardy constitution and patient +habits of the Spaniards, he trusted no less to the deficiency of these +qualities in the French, who, possessing little of the artificial +character formed under the stern training of later times, resembled their +Gaulish ancestors in the facility with which they were discouraged by +unexpected obstacles, and the difficulty with which they could be brought +to rally. [28] In this he did not miscalculate. The French infantry, drawn +from the militia of the country, hastily collected and soon to be +disbanded, and the independent nobility and gentry who composed the +cavalry service, were alike difficult to be brought within the strict curb +of military rule. The severe trials, which steeled the souls, and gave +sinewy strength to the constitutions, of the Spanish soldiers, impaired +those of their enemies, introduced divisions into their councils, and +relaxed the whole tone of discipline. Gonsalvo watched the operation of +all this, and, coolly waiting the moment when his weary and disheartened +adversary should be thrown off his guard, collected all his strength for a +decisive blow, by which to terminate the action. Such was the history of +those memorable campaigns, which closed with the brilliant victories of +Cerignola and the Garigliano. + +In a review of his military conduct, we must not overlook his politic +deportment towards the Italians, altogether the reverse of the careless +and insolent bearing of the French. He availed himself liberally of their +superior science, showing great deference, and confiding the most +important trusts, to their officers. [29] Far from the reserve usually +shown to foreigners, he appeared insensible to national distinctions, and +ardently embraced them as companions in arms, embarked in a common cause +with himself. In their tourney with the French before Barleta, to which +the whole nation attached such importance as a vindication of national +honor, they were entirely supported by Gonsalvo, who furnished them with +arms, secured a fair field of fight, and shared the triumph of the victors +as that of his own countrymen,--paying those delicate attentions, which +cost far less, indeed, but to an honorable mind are of greater value, than +more substantial benefits. He conciliated the good-will of the Italian +states by various important services; of the Venetians, by his gallant +defence of their possessions in the Levant; of the people of Rome, by +delivering them from the pirates of Ostia; while he succeeded, +notwithstanding the excesses of his soldiery, in captivating the giddy +Neapolitans to such a degree, by his affable manners and splendid style of +life, as seemed to efface from their minds every recollection of the last +and most popular of their monarchs, the unfortunate Frederic. + +The distance of Gonsalvo's theatre of operations from his own country, +apparently most discouraging, proved extremely favorable to his purposes. +The troops, cut off from retreat by a wide sea and an impassable mountain +barrier, had no alternative but to conquer or to die. Their long +continuance in the field without disbanding gave them all the stern, +inflexible qualities of a standing army; and, as they served through so +many successive campaigns under the banner of the same leader, they were +drilled in a system of tactics far steadier and more uniform than could be +acquired under a variety of commanders, however able. Under these +circumstances, which so well fitted them for receiving impressions, the +Spanish army was gradually moulded into the form determined by the will of +its great chief. + +When we look at the amount offered at the disposal of Gonsalvo, it appears +so paltry, especially compared with the gigantic apparatus of later wars, +that it may well suggest disparaging ideas of the whole contest. To judge +correctly, we must direct our eyes to the result. With this insignificant +force, we shall then see the kingdom of Naples conquered, and the best +generals and armies of France annihilated; an important innovation +effected in military science; the art of mining, if not invented, carried +to unprecedented perfection; a thorough reform introduced in the arms and +discipline of the Spanish soldier; and the organization completed of that +valiant infantry, which is honestly eulogized by a French writer, as +irresistible in attack, and impossible to rout; [30] and which carried the +banners of Spain victorious, for more than a century, over the most +distant parts of Europe. + + * * * * * + +The brilliant qualities and achievements of Gonzalo de Cordova have +naturally made him a popular theme both for history and romance. Various +biographies of him have appeared in the different European languages, +though none, I believe, hitherto in English. The authority of principal +reference in these pages is the Life which Paolo Giovio has incorporated +in his great work, "Vitae Illustrium Virorum," which I have elsewhere +noticed. This Life of Gonsalvo is not exempt from the prejudices, nor from +the minor inaccuracies, which may be charged on most of this author's +productions; but these are abundantly compensated by the stores of novel +and interesting details which Giovio's familiarity with the principal +actors of the time enabled him to throw into his work, and by the skilful +arrangement. of his narrative, so disposed as, without studied effort, to +bring into light the prominent qualities of his hero. Every page bears the +marks of that "golden pen," which the politic Italian reserved for his +favorites; and, while this obvious partiality may put the reader somewhat +on his guard, it gives an interest to the work, inferior to none other of +his agreeable compositions. + +The most imposing of the Spanish memoirs of Gonsalvo, in bulk at least, is +the "Chrónica del Gran Capitan," Alcala de Henares, 1584. Nic. Antonio +doubts whether the author were Pulgar, who wrote the "History of the +Catholic Kings," of such frequent reference in the Granadine wars', or +another Pulgar del Salar, as he is called, who received the honors of +knighthood from King Ferdinand for his valorous exploits against the +Moors. (See Bibliotheca Uova, tom. i. p. 387.) With regard to the first +Pulgar, there is no reason to suppose that he lived into the sixteenth +century; and, as to the second, the work composed by him, so far from +being the one in question, was a compendium, bearing the title of "Sumario +de los Hechos del Gran Capitan," printed as early as 1527, at Seville, +(See the editor's prologue to Pulgar's "Chrónica de los Reyes Católicos," +ed Valencia, 1780.) Its author, therefore, remains in obscurity. He +sustains no great damage on the score of reputation, however, from this +circumstance; as his work is but an indifferent specimen of the rich old +Spanish chronicle, exhibiting most of its characteristic blemishes, with a +very small admixture of its beauties. The long and prosy narrative is +overloaded with the most frivolous details, trumpeted forth in a strain of +glorification, which sometimes disfigures more meritorious compositions in +the Castilian. Nothing like discrimination of character, of course, is to +be looked for in the unvarying swell of panegyric, which claims for its +subject all the extravagant flights of a hero of romance. With these +deductions, however, and a liberal allowance, consequently, for the +nationality of the work, it has considerable value as a record of events, +too recent in their occurrence to be seriously defaced by those deeper +stains of error, which are so apt to settle on the weather-beaten +monuments of antiquity. It has accordingly formed a principal source of +the "Vida del Gran Capitan," introduced by Quintana in the first volume of +his "Españoles Célebres," printed at Madrid, in 1807. This memoir, in +which the incidents are selected with discernment, displays the usual +freedom and vivacity of its poetic author. It does not bring the general +politics of the period under review, but will not be found deficient in +particulars having immediate connection with the personal history of its +subject; and, on the whole, exhibits in an agreeable and compendious form +whatever is of most interest or importance for the general reader. + +The French have also a "Histoire de Gonsalve de Cordoue," composed by +Father Duponcet, a Jesuit, in two vols. 12mo, Paris, 1714. Though an +ambitious, it is a bungling performance, most unskilfully put together, +and contains quite as much of what its hero did not do, as of what he did. +The prolixity of the narrative is not even relieved by the piquancy of +style, which forms something like a substitute for thought in many of the +lower order of French historians. It is less to history, however, than to +romance, that the French public is indebted for its conceptions of the +character of Gonsalvo de Cordova, as depicted by the gaudy pencil of +Florian, in that highly poetic coloring, which is more attractive to the +majority of readers than the cold and sober delineations of truth. + +The contemporary French accounts of the Neapolitan wars of Louis XII. are +extremely meagre, and few in number. The most striking, on the whole, is +D'Auton's chronicle, composed in the true chivalrous vein of old +Froissart, but unfortunately terminating before the close of the first +campaign. St. Gelais and Claude Seyssel touch very lightly on this part of +their subject. History becomes in their hands, moreover, little better +than fulsome panegyric, carried to such a height, indeed, by the latter +writer, as brought on him the most severe strictures from his +contemporaries; so that he was compelled to take up the pen more than once +in his own vindication. The "Mémoires de Bayard," Fleurange, and La +Trémouille, so diffuse in most military details, are nearly silent in +regard to those of the Neapolitan war. The truth is, the subject was too +ungrateful in itself, and presented too unbroken a series of calamities +and defeats, to invite the attention of the French historians, who +willingly turned to those brilliant passages in this reign, more soothing +to national vanity. + +The blank has been filled up, or rather attempted to be so, by the +assiduity of their later writers. Among these, occasionally consulted by +me, are Varillas, whose "Histoire de Louis XII.," loose as it is, rests on +a somewhat more solid basis than his metaphysical reveries, assuming the +title of "Politique de Ferdinand," already repeatedly noticed; Garnier, +whose perspicuous narrative, if inferior to that of Gaillard in acuteness +and epigrammatic point, makes a much nearer approach to truth; and, +lastly, Sismondi, who, if he may be charged, in his "Histoire des +Français," with some of the defect incident to indiscreet rapidity of +composition, succeeds by a few brief and animated touches in opening +deeper views into character and conduct than can be got from volumes of +ordinary writers. + +The want of authentic materials for a perfect acquaintance with the reign +of Louis XII. is a subject of complaint with French writers themselves. +The memoirs of the period, occupied with the more dazzling military +transactions, make no attempt to instruct us in the interior organization +or policy of the government. One might imagine, that their authors lived a +century before Philippe de Comines, instead of coming after him, so +inferior are they, in all the great properties of historic composition, to +this eminent statesman. The French _savans_ have made slender +contributions to the stock of original documents collected more than two +centuries ago by Godefroy for the illustration of this reign. It can +scarcely be supposed, however, that the labors of this early antiquary +exhausted the department, in which the French are rich beyond all others, +and that those, who work the same mine hereafter, should not find valuable +materials for a broader foundation of this interesting portion of their +history. + +It is fortunate that the reserve of the French in regard to their +relations with Italy, at this time, has been abundantly compensated by the +labors of the most eminent contemporary writers of the latter country, as +Bembo, Machiavelli, Giovio, and the philosophic Guicciardini; whose +situation as Italians enabled them to maintain the balance of historic +truth undisturbed, at least by undue partiality for either of the two +great rival powers; whose high public stations introduced them to the +principal characters of the day, and to springs of action hidden from +vulgar eyes; and whose superior science, as well as genius, qualified them +for rising above the humble level of garrulous chronicle and memoir to the +classic dignity of history. It is with regret that we must now strike into +a track unillumined by the labors of these great masters of their art in +modern times. + +Since the publication of this History, the Spanish Minister at Washington, +Don Angel Calderon de la Barca, did me the favor to send me a copy of the +biography above noticed as the "Sumario de los Hechos del Gran Capitan." +It is a recent reprint from the ancient edition of 1527, of which the +industrious editor, Don F. Martinez de la Rosa, was able to find but one +copy in Spain. In its new form, it covers about a hundred duodecimo pages. +It has positive value, as a contemporary document, and as such I gladly +avail myself of it. But the greater part is devoted to the early history +of Gonsalvo, over which my limits have compelled me to pass lightly; and, +for the rest, I am happy to find, on the perusal of it, nothing of moment, +which conflicts with the statements drawn from other sources. The able +editor has also combined an interesting notice of its author, Pulgar, +_El de las Hazañas_, one of those heroes whose doughty feats shed the +illusions of knight-errantry over the war of Granada. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] He succeeded Garcilasso de la Vega at the court of Rome. Oviedo says, +in reference to the illustrious house of Rojas, "En todas las historias de +España no se hallan tantos caballeros de un linage y nombre notados por +valerosos caballeros y valientes milites como deste nombre de Rojas." +Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 2, dial. 8. + +[2] Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. lib. 28, cap. 5.--Guicciardini, +Istoria, lib. 6, pp. 319, 320.--Zurita, Anales, tom. v. lib. 5, cap. 48, +57.--Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 14, sec. 4, 5.--Daru, +Hist. de Venise, tom. iii. pp. 364, 365. + +[3] Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, pp. 267, 268.--Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., +fol. 22.--Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. i. lib. 6, pp. 329, 330.-- +Machiavelli, Legazione Prima a Roma, let. 36. + +[4] Chrónica del Gran Capitan, lib. 2, cap. 110.--Bernaldez, Reyes +Católicos, MS., cap. 189.--Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, lib. 3, fol. 266. +--Zurita, Historia del Rey Hernando, tom. i. lib. 5, cap. 60.--Peter +Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 270.--Buonaccorsi, Diario, p. 84. + +[5] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 189.--Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., +fol. 22, 23.--Guicciardini, Istoria, p. 330.--Garnier, Hist. de France, +tom. v. pp. 448, 449.--Chrónica del Gran Capitan, lib. 2, cap. 110.-- +Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 14, sec. 6.--Zurita, +Anales, tom. v. lib. 5, cap. 60.--Senarega, apud Muratori, Rerum Ital. +Script., tom. xxiv. p. 579. + +[6] Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 6, pp. 330, 331.--Garnier, Hist. de +France, tom. v. pp. 449-451.--Chrónica del Gran Capitan, ubi supra.-- +Varillas, Hist. de Louis XII., tom. i. pp. 416-418.--Ammirato, Istorie +Florentine, tom. iii. lib. 28, p. 273.--Summonte, Hist. di Napoli, tom. +iii. p. 555.--Buonaccorsi, Diario, pp. 84, 85.--Giovio, Vitae Magni +Gonsalvi, fol. 268. + +[8] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 190.--Garnier, Hist. de France, +tom. v. pp. 452, 453.--Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 23.--Guicciardini, +Istoria, lib. 6, p. 331.--Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. lib. 19, cap. 16.-- +Chrónica del Gran Capitan, ubi supra.--Buonaccorsi, Diario, pp. 84, 85.-- +Ammirato, Istorie Fiorentine, ubi supra.--Varillas, Hist. de Louis XII., +tom. i. pp. 416-418. + +[8] Soon after the rout of the Garigliano, Bembo produced the following +sonnet, which most critics agree was intended, although no name appears in +it, for Gonsalvo de Cordova. + + "Ben devria farvi onor d' eterno esempio + Napoli vostra, e 'n mezzo al suo bel monte + Scolpirvi in lieta e ooronata fronte, + Gir trionfando, e dar i voti al tempio: + Poi che l' avete all' orgoglioso ed empio + Stuolo ritolta, e pareggiate l' onte; + Or ch' avea più la voglia e le man pronte + A far d' Italia tutta acerbo scempio. + Torcestel voi, Signor, dal corso ardito, + E foste tal, ch' ancora esser vorebbe + A por di qua dall' Alpe nostra il piede. + L' onda Tirrena del suo sangue crebbe, + E di tronchi resto coperto il lito, + E gli angelli ne fer secure prede." + Opere, tom. ii. p. 57. + +[9] The Curate of Los Palacios sums up the loss of the French, from the +time of Gonsalvo's occupation of Barleta to the surrender of Gaeta, in the +following manner; 6000 prisoners, 14,000 killed in battle, a still greater +number by exposure and fatigue, besides a considerable body cut off by the +peasantry. To balance this bloody roll, he computes the Spanish loss at +two hundred slain in the field! Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 191. + +[10] Chrónica del Gran Capitan, lib. 2, cap. 110.--Zurita, Anales, ubi +supra.--Garibay, Compendio, lib. 19, cap. 16.--Quintana, Españoles +Célebres, tom. i. pp. 296, 97. + +Guicciardini, who has been followed in this by the French writers, fixes +the date of the rout at the 28th of December. If, however, it occurred on +Friday, as he, and every authority, indeed, asserts, it must have been on +the 29th, as stated by the Spanish historians. Istoria, lib. 6, p. 330. + +[11] Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, fol. 268. + +[12] Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, fol. 268, 269.--Chrónica del Gran +Capitan, lib. 2, cap. 111.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 270.-- +Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 6, p. 331.--Zurita, Anales, tom. v. lib. 5, +cap. 61.--Garnier, Hist. de France, tom. v. pp. 454, 455.--Sismondi, Hist. +des Français, tom. xv. cap. 29. + +[13] Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, tom. i. lib. 5, cap. 61.--Garnier, +Hist. de France, tom. v. pp. 454, 455.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., +cap. 190.--Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, lib. 29, cap. 4. + +No particular mention was made of the Italian allies in the capitulation. +It so happened that several of the great Angevin lords, who had been taken +in the preceding campaigns of Calabria, were found in arms in the place. +(Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, fol. 252, 253, 269.) Gonsalvo, in +consequence of this manifest breach of faith, refusing to regard them as +comprehended in the treaty, sent them all prisoners of state to the +dungeons of Castel Nuovo in Naples. This action has brought on him much +unmerited obloquy with the French writers. Indeed, before the treaty was +signed, if we are to credit the Italian historians, Gonsalvo peremptorily +refused to include the Neapolitan lords within it. Thus much is certain; +that, after having been taken and released, they were now found under the +French banners a second time. It seems not improbable, therefore, that the +French, however naturally desirous they may have been of protection for +their allies, finding themselves unable to enforce it, acquiesced in such +an equivocal silence with respect to them as, without apparently +compromising their own honor, left the whole affair to the discretion of +the Great Captain. + +With regard to the sweeping charge made by certain modern French +historians against the Spanish general, of a similar severity to the other +Italians indiscriminately, found in the place, there is not the slightest +foundation for it in any contemporary authority. See Gaillard, Rivalité, +tom. iv. p. 254.--Garnier, Hist. de France, tom. v. p. 456.--Varillas, +Hist de Louis XII., tom. i. pp. 419, 420. + +[14] Fleurange, Mémoires, chap. 5, apud Petitot, Collection des Mémoires, +tom. xvi.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 190.--Giovio, Vitae +Illust. Virorum, fol. 269, 270.--Chrónica del Gran Capitan, cap. 111. + +[15] Brantôme, who visited the banks of the Garigliano, some fifty years +after this, beheld them in imagination thronged with the shades of the +illustrious dead, whose bones lay buried in its dreary and pestilent +marshes. There is a sombre coloring in the vision of the old chronicler, +not unpoetical. Vies des Hommes Illustres, disc. 6. + +[16] Garnier, Hist. de France, tom. v. pp. 456-458.--Giovio, Vitae Illust. +Virorum, fol. 269, 270.--Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. i. lib. 6, pp. 332, +337.--St. Gelais, Hist. de Louys XII., p. 173. + +[17] Buonaccorsi, Diario, p. 86.--Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 23.-- +Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 190.--Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, +ubi supra.--Gaillard, Rivalité, tom. iv. pp. 254-256. + +[18] Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, fol. 270, 271.--Quintana, Españoles +Célebres, tom. i. p. 298.--Chrónica del Gran Capitan, lib. 3, cap. 1.-- +Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. fol. 359.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, +MS., cap. 190, 191. + +[19] Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, fol. 271. + +[20] "Per servir sempre, vincitrice o vinia." + +The Italians began at this early period to feel the pressure of those +woes, which a century and a half later wrung out of Filicaja the beautiful +lament, which has lost something of its touching graces, even under the +hand of Lord Byron. + +[21] Zurita, Anales, tom. v. lib. 5, cap. 64.--Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. +6, pp. 340, 341.--Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, ubi supra.--Carta del Gran +Capitan, MS. + +[22] Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, fol. 270, 271.--Chrónica del Gran +Capitan, lib. 8, cap. 1.--Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 24. + +[23] Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 6, p. 338.--Zurita, Hist. del Rey +Hernando, tom. i. lib. 5, cap. 64.--Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, rey 30, cap. +14.--Buonaccorsi, Diario, pp. 85, 86. + +[24] Zurita, Anales, tom. v. lib. 5, cap. 66. + +The campaign against Louis XII. had cost the Spanish crown 331 +_cuentos_ or millions of maravedies, equivalent to 9,268,000 dollars of +the present time. A moderate charge enough for the conquest of a kingdom; +and made still lighter to the Spaniards by one-fifth of the whole being +drawn from Naples itself. See Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. fol. 359. + +[25] The treaty is to be found in Dumont, Corps Diplomatique, tom. iv. no. +26, pp. 51-53.--Zurita, Anales, tom. v. lib. 5, cap. 64.--Machiavelli, +Legazione Seconda a Francia, let. 9, Feb. 11. + +[26] Brantôme, Oeuvres, tom. ii. disc. 11.--Fleurange, Mémoires, chap. 5, +apud Petitot, Collection des Mémoires, tom. xvi.--Buonaccorsi, Diario, p. +85.--Gaillard, Rivalité, tom. iv. pp. 255-260. See also Mémoires de +Bayard, chap. 25; the good knight, "sans peur et sans reproche," made one +of this intrepid little band, having joined Louis d'Ars after the +capitulation of Gaeta. + +[27] Machiavelli, Arte della Guerra. lib. 2.--Machiavelli considers the +victory over D'Aubigny at Seminara as imputable in a great degree to the +peculiar arms of the Spaniards, who, with their short swords and shields, +gliding in among the deep ranks of the Swiss spearmen, brought them to +close combat, where the former had the whole advantage. Another instance +of the kind occurred at the memorable battle of Ravenna some years later. +Ubi supra. + +[28] "Prima," says Livy pithily, speaking of the Gauls in the time of the +Republic, "eorum proelia plus quam virorum, postrema minu quam +foeminarum." Lib. 10, cap. 28. + +[29] Two of the most distinguished of these were the Colonnas, Prospero +and Fabrizio, of whom frequent mention has been made in our narrative. The +best commentary on the military reputation of the latter, is the fact, +that he is selected by Machiavelli as the principal interlocutor in his +Dialogues on the Art of War. + +[30] See Dubos, Ligue de Cambray, dissert. prelim., p. 60.--This French +writer has shown himself superior to national distinctions, in the liberal +testimony which he bears to the character of these brave troops. See a +similar strain of panegyric from the chivalrous pen of old Brantôme, +Oeuvres, tom. i. disc. 27. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +ILLNESS AND DEATH OF ISABELLA.--HER CHARACTER. + +1504. + +Decline of the Queen's Health.--Alarm of the Nation.--Her Testament.--And +Codicil.--Her Resignation and Death.--Her Remains Transported to Granada. +--Isabella's Person.--Her Manners.--Her Character.--Parallel with Queen +Elizabeth. + + +The acquisition of an important kingdom in the heart of Europe, and of the +New World beyond the waters, which promised to pour into her lap all the +fabled treasures of the Indies, was rapidly raising Spain to the first +rank of European powers. But, in this noontide of her success, she was to +experience a fatal shock in the loss of that illustrious personage, who +had so long and so gloriously presided over her destinies. We have had +occasion to notice more than once the declining state of the queen's +health during the last few years. Her constitution had been greatly +impaired by incessant personal fatigue and exposure, and by the +unremitting activity of her mind. It had suffered far more severely, +however, from a series of heavy domestic calamities, which had fallen on +her with little intermission since the death of her mother in 1496. The +next year, she followed to the grave the remains of her only son, the heir +and hope of the monarchy, just entering on his prime; and in the +succeeding, was called on to render the same sad offices to the best +beloved of her daughters, the amiable queen of Portugal. + +The severe illness occasioned by this last blow terminated in a dejection +of spirits, from which she never entirely recovered. Her surviving +children were removed far from her into distant lands; with the occasional +exception, indeed, of Joanna, who caused a still deeper pang to her +mother's affectionate heart, by exhibiting infirmities which justified the +most melancholy presages for the future. + +Far from abandoning herself to weak and useless repining, however, +Isabella sought consolation, where it was best to be found, in the +exercises of piety, and in the earnest discharge of the duties attached to +her exalted station. Accordingly, we find her attentive as ever to the +minutest interests of her subjects; supporting her great minister Ximenes +in his schemes of reform, quickening the zeal for discovery in the west, +and, at the close of the year 1503, on the alarm of the French invasion, +rousing her dying energies, to kindle a spirit of resistance in her +people. These strong mental exertions, however, only accelerated the decay +of her bodily strength, which was gradually sinking under that sickness of +the heart, which admits of no cure, and scarcely of consolation. + +In the beginning of that very year she had declined so visibly, that the +cortes of Castile, much alarmed, petitioned her to provide for the +government of the kingdom after her decease, in case of the absence or +incapacity of Joanna. [1] She seems to have rallied in some measure after +this, but it was only to relapse into a state of greater debility, as her +spirits sunk under the conviction, which now forced itself on her, of her +daughter's settled insanity. + +Early in the spring of the following year, that unfortunate lady embarked +for Flanders, where, soon after her arrival, the inconstancy of her +husband, and her own ungovernable sensibilities, occasioned the most +scandalous scenes. Philip became openly enamoured of one of the ladies of +her suite, and his injured wife, in a paroxysm of jealousy, personally +assaulted her fair rival in the palace, and caused the beautiful locks, +which had excited the admiration of her fickle husband, to be shorn from +her head. This outrage so affected Philip, that he vented his indignation +against Joanna in the coarsest and most unmanly terms, and finally refused +to have any further intercourse with her. [2] + +The account of this disgraceful scene reached Castile in the month of +June. It occasioned the deepest chagrin and mortification to the unhappy +parents. Ferdinand soon after fell ill of a fever, and the queen was +seized with the same disorder, accompanied by more alarming symptoms. Her +illness was exasperated by anxiety for her husband, and she refused to +credit the favorable reports of his physicians while he was detained from +her presence. His vigorous constitution, however, threw off the malady, +while hers gradually failed under it. Her tender heart was more keenly +sensible than his to the unhappy condition of their child, and to the +gloomy prospects which awaited her beloved Castile. [3] + +Her faithful follower, Martyr, was with the court at this time in Medina +del Campo. In a letter to the count of Tendilla, dated October 7th, he +states that the most serious apprehensions were entertained by the +physicians for the queen's fate. "Her whole system," he says, "is pervaded +by a consuming fever. She loathes food of every kind, and is tormented +with incessant thirst, while the disorder has all the appearance of +terminating in a dropsy." [4] + +In the mean while, Isabella lost nothing of her solicitude for the welfare +of her people, and the great concerns of government. While reclining, as +she was obliged to do a great part of the day, on her couch, she listened +to the recital or reading of whatever occurred of interest, at home or +abroad. She gave audience to distinguished foreigners, especially such +Italians as could acquaint her with particulars of the late war, and, +above all, in regard to Gonsalvo de Cordova, in whose fortunes she had +always taken the liveliest concern. [5] She received with pleasure, too, +such intelligent travellers, as her renown had attracted to the Castilian +court. She drew forth their stores of various information, and dismissed +them, says a writer of the age, penetrated with the deepest admiration of +that masculine strength of mind, which sustained her so nobly under the +weight of a mortal malady. [6] + +This malady was now rapidly gaining ground. On the 15th of October we have +another epistle of Martyr, of the following melancholy tenor. "You ask me +respecting the state of the queen's health. We sit sorrowful in the palace +all day long, tremblingly waiting the hour, when religion and virtue shall +quit the earth with her. Let us pray that we may be permitted to follow +hereafter where she is soon to go. She so far transcends all human +excellence, that there is scarcely anything of mortality about her. She +can hardly be said to die, but to pass into a nobler existence, which +should rather excite our envy than our sorrow. She leaves the world filled +with her renown, and she goes to enjoy life eternal with her God in +heaven. I write this," he concludes, "between hope and fear, while the +breath is still fluttering within her." [7] + +The deepest gloom now overspread the nation. Even Isabella's long illness +had failed to prepare the minds of her faithful people for the sad +catastrophe. They recalled several ominous circumstances which had before +escaped their attention. In the preceding spring, an earthquake, +accompanied by a tremendous hurricane, such as the oldest men did not +remember, had visited Andalusia, and especially Carmona, a place belonging +to the queen, and occasioned frightful desolation there. The superstitious +Spaniards now read in these portents the prophetic signs, by which Heaven +announces some great calamity. Prayers were put up in every temple; +processions and pilgrimages made in every part of the country for the +recovery of their beloved sovereign,--but in vain. [8] + +Isabella, in the mean time, was deluded with no false hopes. She felt too +surely the decay of her bodily strength, and she resolved to perform what +temporal duties yet remained for her, while her faculties were still +unclouded. + +On the 12th of October she executed that celebrated testament, which +reflects so clearly the peculiar qualities of her mind and character. She +begins with prescribing the arrangements for her burial. She orders her +remains to be transported to Granada, to the Franciscan monastery of Santa +Isabella in the Alhambra, and there deposited in a low and humble +sepulchre, without other memorial than a plain inscription on it. "But," +she continues, "should the king, my lord, prefer a sepulchre in some other +place, then my will is that my body be there transported, and laid by his +side; that the union we have enjoyed in this world, and, through the mercy +of God, may hope again for our souls in heaven, may be represented by our +bodies in the earth." Then, desirous of correcting by her example, in this +last act of her life, the wasteful pomp of funeral obsequies to which the +Castilians were addicted, she commands that her own should be performed in +the plainest and most unostentatious manner, and that the sum saved by +this economy should be distributed in alms among the poor. + +She next provides for several charities, assigning, among others, marriage +portions for poor maidens, and a considerable sum for the redemption of +Christian captives in Barbary. She enjoins the punctual discharge of all +her personal debts within a year; she retrenches superfluous offices in +the royal household, and revokes all such grants, whether in the forms of +lands or annuities, as she conceives to have been made without sufficient +warrant. She inculcates on her successors the importance of maintaining +the integrity of the royal domains, and, above all, of never divesting +themselves of their title to the important fortress of Gibraltar. + +After this, she comes to the succession of the crown, which she settles on +the infanta Joanna, as "queen proprietor," and the archduke Philip as her +husband. She gives them much good counsel respecting their future +administration; enjoining them, as they would secure the love and +obedience of their subjects, to conform in all respects to the laws and +usages of the realm, to appoint no foreigner to office,-an error, into +which Philip's connections, she saw, would be very likely to betray them, +--and to make no laws or ordinances, "which necessarily require the +consent of cortes," during their absence from the kingdom. [9] She +recommends to them the same conjugal harmony which had ever subsisted +between her and her husband; she beseeches them to show the latter all +the deference and filial affection "due to him beyond every other parent, +for his eminent virtues;" and finally inculcates on them the most tender +regard for the liberties and welfare of their subjects. + +She next comes to the great question proposed by the cortes of 1503, +respecting the government of the realm in the absence or incapacity of +Joanna. She declares that, after mature deliberation, and with the advice +of many of the prelates and nobles of the kingdom, she appoints King +Ferdinand her husband to be the sole regent of Castile, in that exigency, +until the majority of her grandson Charles; being led to this, she adds, +"by the consideration of the magnanimity and illustrious qualities of the +king, my lord, as well as his large experience, and the great profit which +will redound to the state from his wise and beneficent rule." She +expresses her sincere conviction that his past conduct affords a +sufficient guarantee for his faithful administration, but, in compliance +with established usage, requires the customary oath from him on entering +on the duties of the office. + +She then makes a specific provision for her husband's personal +maintenance, which, "although less than she could wish, and far less than +he deserves, considering the eminent services he had rendered the state," +she settles at one-half of all the net proceeds and profits accruing from +the newly discovered countries in the west; together with ten million +maravedies annually, assigned on the _alcavalas_ of the grand-masterships +of the military orders. + +After some additional regulations, respecting the descent of the crown on +failure of Joanna's lineal heirs, she recommends in the kindest and most +emphatic terms to her successors the various members of her household, and +her personal friends, among whom we find the names of the marquis and +marchioness of Moya, (Beatrice de Bobadilla, the companion of her youth,) +and Garcilasso de la Vega, the accomplished minister at the papal court. + +And, lastly, concluding in the same beautiful strain of conjugal +tenderness in which she began, she says, "I beseech the king my lord, that +he will accept all my jewels, or such as he shall select, so that, seeing +them, he may be reminded of the singular love I always bore him while +living, and that I am now waiting for him in a better world; by which +remembrance he may be encouraged to live the more justly and holily in +this." + +Six executors were named to the will. The two principal were the king and +the primate Ximenes, who had full powers to act in conjunction with any +one of the others. [10] + + I have dwelt the more minutely on the details of Isabella's testament, +from the evidence it affords of her constancy in her dying hour to the +principles which had governed her through life; of her expansive and +sagacious policy; her prophetic insight into the evils to result from her +death,--evils, alas! which no forecast could avert; her scrupulous +attention to all her personal obligations; and that warm attachment to her +friends, which could never falter while a pulse beat in her bosom. + +After performing this duty, she daily grew weaker, the powers of her mind +seeming to brighten as those of her body declined. The concerns of her +government still occupied her thoughts; and several public measures, which +she had postponed through urgency of other business, or growing +infirmities, pressed so heavily on her heart, that she made them the +subject of a codicil to her former will. It was executed November 23d, +only three days before her death. + +Three of the provisions contained in it are too remarkable to pass +unnoticed. The first concerns the codification of the laws. For this +purpose, the queen appoints a commission to make a new digest of the +statutes and _pragmáticas_, the contradictory tenor of which still +occasioned much embarrassment in Castilian jurisprudence. This was a +subject she always had much at heart; but no nearer approach had been made +to it, than the valuable, though insufficient work of Montalvo, in the +early part of her reign; and, notwithstanding her precautions, none more +effectual was destined to take place till the reign of Philip the Second. +[11] + +The second item had reference to the natives of the New World. Gross +abuses had arisen there since the partial revival of the _repartimientos_, +although Las Casas says, "intelligence of this was carefully kept from the +ears of the queen." [12] Some vague apprehension of the truth, however, +appears to have forced itself on her; and she enjoins her successors, in +the most earnest manner, to quicken the good work of converting and +civilizing the poor Indians, to treat them with the greatest gentleness, +and redress any wrongs they may have suffered in their persons or +property. + +Lastly, she expresses her doubts as to the legality of the revenue drawn +from the _alcavalas_, constituting the principal income of the crown. +She directs a commission to ascertain whether it were originally intended +to be perpetual, and if this were done with the free consent of the +people; enjoining her heirs, in that event, to collect the tax so that it +should press least heavily on her subjects. Should it be found otherwise, +however, she directs that the legislature be summoned to devise proper +measures for supplying the wants of the crown,--"measures depending for +their validity on the good pleasure of the subjects of the realm." [13] + +Such were the dying words of this admirable woman; displaying the same +respect for the rights and liberties of the nation, which she had shown +through life, and striving to secure the blessings of her benign +administration to the most distant and barbarous regions under her sway. +These two documents were a precious legacy bequeathed to her people, to +guide them when the light of her personal example should be withdrawn for +ever. + +The queen's signature to the codicil, which still exists among the +manuscripts of the royal library at Madrid, shows, by its irregular and +scarcely legible characters, the feeble state to which she was then +reduced. [14] She had now adjusted all her worldly concerns, and she +prepared to devote herself, during the brief space which remained, to +those of a higher nature. It was but the last act of a life of +preparation. She had the misfortune, common to persons of her rank, to be +separated in her last moments from those whose filial tenderness might +have done so much to soften the bitterness of death. But she had the good +fortune, most rare, to have secured for this trying hour the solace of +disinterested friendship; for she beheld around her the friends of her +childhood, formed and proved in the dark season of adversity. + +As she saw them bathed in tears around her bed, she calmly said, "Do not +weep for me, nor waste your time in fruitless prayers for my recovery, but +pray rather for the salvation of my soul." [15] On receiving the extreme +unction, she refused to have her feet exposed, as was usual on that +occasion; a circumstance, which, occurring at a time when there can be no +suspicion of affectation, is often noticed by Spanish writers, as a proof +of that sensitive delicacy and decorum, which distinguished her through +life. [16] At length, having received the sacraments, and performed all +the offices of a sincere and devout Christian, she gently expired a little +before noon, on Wednesday, November 26th, 1504, in the fifty-fourth year +of her age, and thirtieth of her reign. [17] + +"My hand," says Peter Martyr, in a letter written on the same day to the +archbishop of Granada, "falls powerless by my side, for very sorrow. The +world has lost its noblest ornament; a loss to be deplored not only by +Spain, which she has so long carried forward in the career of glory, but +by every nation in Christendom; for she was the mirror of every virtue, +the shield of the innocent, and an avenging sword to the wicked. I know +none of her sex, in ancient or modern times, who in my judgment is at all +worthy to be named with this incomparable woman." [18] + +No time was lost in making preparations for transporting the queen's body +unembalmed to Granada, in strict conformity to her orders. It was escorted +by a numerous _cortège_ of cavaliers and ecclesiastics, among whom +was the faithful Martyr. The procession began its mournful march the day +following her death, taking the route through Arevalo, Toledo, and Jaen. +Scarcely had it left Medina del Campo, when a tremendous tempest set in, +which continued with little interruption during the whole journey. The +roads were rendered nearly impassable; the bridges swept away, the small +streams swollen to the size of the Tagus, and the level country buried +under a deluge of water. Neither sun nor stars were seen during their +whole progress. The horses and mules were borne down by the torrents, and +the riders in several instances perished with them. "Never," exclaims +Martyr, "did I encounter such perils, in the whole of my hazardous +pilgrimage to Egypt." [19] + +At length, on the 18th of December, the melancholy and way-worn cavalcade +reached the place of its destination; and, amidst the wild strife of the +elements, the peaceful remains of Isabella were laid, with simple +solemnities, in the Franciscan monastery of the Alhambra. Here, under the +shadow of those venerable Moslem towers, and in the heart of the capital +which her noble constancy had recovered for her country, they continued to +repose till after the death of Ferdinand, when they were removed to be +laid by his side, in the stately mausoleum of the cathedral church of +Granada. [20] + +I shall defer the review of Queen Isabella's administration, until it can +be done in conjunction with that of Ferdinand; and shall confine myself at +present to such considerations on the prominent traits of her character, +as have been suggested by the preceding history of her life. + +Her person, as mentioned in the early part of the narrative, was of the +middle height, and well proportioned. She had a clear, fresh complexion, +with light blue eyes and auburn hair,--a style of beauty exceedingly rare +in Spain. Her features were regular, and universally allowed to be +uncommonly handsome. [21] The illusion which attaches to rank, more +especially when united with engaging manners, might lead us to suspect +some exaggeration in the encomiums so liberally lavished on her. But they +would seem to be in a great measure justified by the portraits that remain +of her, which combine a faultless symmetry of features with singular +sweetness and intelligence of expression. + +Her manners were most gracious and pleasing. They were marked by natural +dignity and modest reserve, tempered by an affability which flowed from +the kindliness of her disposition. She was the last person to be +approached with undue familiarity; yet the respect which she imposed was +mingled with the strongest feelings of devotion and love. She showed great +tact in accommodating herself to the peculiar situation and character of +those around her. She appeared in arms at the head of her troops, and +shrunk from none of the hardships of war. During the reforms introduced +into the religious houses, she visited the nunneries in person, taking her +needle-work with her, and passing the day in the society of the inmates. +When travelling in Galicia, she attired herself in the costume of the +country, borrowing for that purpose the jewels and other ornaments of the +ladies there, and returning them with liberal additions. [22] By this +condescending and captivating deportment, as well as by her higher +qualities, she gained an ascendency over her turbulent subjects, which no +king of Spain could ever boast. + +She spoke the Castilian with much elegance and correctness. She had an +easy fluency of discourse, which, though generally of a serious +complexion, was occasionally seasoned with agreeable sallies, some of +which have passed into proverbs. [23] She was temperate even to +abstemiousness in her diet, seldom or never tasting wine; [24] and so +frugal in her table, that the daily expenses for herself and family did +not exceed the moderate sum of forty ducats. [25] She was equally simple +and economical in her apparel. On all public occasions, indeed, she +displayed a royal magnificence; [26] but she had no relish for it in +private, and she freely gave away her clothes [27] and jewels, [28] as +presents to her friends. Naturally of a sedate, though cheerful temper, +[29] she had little taste for the frivolous amusements which make up so +much of a court life; and, if she encouraged the presence of minstrels and +musicians in her palace, it was to wean her young nobility from the +coarser and less intellectual pleasures to which they were addicted. [30] + +Among her moral qualities, the most conspicuous, perhaps, was her +magnanimity. She betrayed nothing little or selfish, in thought or action. +Her schemes were vast, and executed in the same noble spirit in which they +were conceived. She never employed doubtful agents or sinister measures, +but the most direct and open policy. [31.] She scorned to avail herself of +advantages offered by the perfidy of others. [32] Where she had once given +her confidence, she gave her hearty and steady support; and she was +scrupulous to redeem any pledge she had made to those who ventured in her +cause, however unpopular. She sustained Ximenes in all his obnoxious but +salutary reforms. She seconded Columbus in the prosecution of his arduous +enterprise, and shielded him from the calumny of his enemies. She did the +same good service to her favorite, Gonsalvo de Cordova; and the day of her +death was felt, and, as it proved, truly felt by both, as the last of +their good fortune. [33] Artifice and duplicity were so abhorrent to her +character, and so averse from her domestic policy, that when they appear +in the foreign relations of Spain, it is certainly not imputable to her. +She was incapable of harboring any petty distrust, or latent malice; and, +although stern in the execution and exaction of public justice, she made +the most generous allowance, and even sometimes advances, to those who had +personally injured her. [34] + +But the principle, which gave a peculiar coloring to every feature of +Isabella's mind, was piety. It shone forth from the very depths of her +soul with a heavenly radiance, which illuminated her whole character. +Fortunately, her earliest years had been passed in the rugged school of +adversity, under the eye of a mother who implanted in her serious mind +such strong principles of religion as nothing in after life had power to +shake. At an early age, in the flower of youth and beauty, she was +introduced to her brother's court; but its blandishments, so dazzling to a +young imagination, had no power over hers; for she was surrounded by a +moral atmosphere of purity, + + "Driving far off each thing of sin and guilt." [35] + +Such was the decorum of her manners, that, though encompassed by false +friends and open enemies, not the slightest reproach was breathed on her +fair name in this corrupt and calumnious court. + +She gave a liberal portion of her time to private devotions, as well as to +the public exercises of religion. [36] She expended large sums in useful +charities, especially in the erection of hospitals and churches, and the +more doubtful endowments of monasteries. [37] Her piety was strikingly +exhibited in that unfeigned humility, which, although the very essence of +our faith, is so rarely found; and most rarely in those whose great powers +and exalted stations seem to raise them above the level of ordinary +mortals. A remarkable illustration of this is afforded in the queen's +correspondence with Talavera, in which her meek and docile spirit is +strikingly contrasted with the puritanical intolerance of her confessor. +[38] Yet Talavera, as we have seen, was sincere, and benevolent at heart. +Unfortunately, the royal conscience was at times committed to very +different keeping; and that humility which, as we have repeatedly had +occasion to notice, made her defer so reverentially to her ghostly +advisers, led, under the fanatic Torquemada, the confessor of her early +youth, to those deep blemishes on her administration, the establishment of +the Inquisition, and the exile of the Jews. + +But, though blemishes of the deepest dye on her administration, they are +certainly not to be regarded as such on her moral character. It will be +difficult to condemn her, indeed, without condemning the age; for these +very acts are not only excused, but extolled by her contemporaries, as +constituting her strongest claims to renown, and to the gratitude of her +country. [39] They proceeded from the principle, openly avowed by the +court of Rome, that zeal for the purity of the faith could atone for every +crime. This immoral maxim, flowing from the head of the church, was echoed +in a thousand different forms by the subordinate clergy, and greedily +received by a superstitious people. [40] It was not to be expected, that a +solitary woman, filled with natural diffidence of her own capacity on such +subjects, should array herself against those venerated counsellors, whom +she had been taught from her cradle to look to as the guides and guardians +of her conscience. + +However mischievous the operations of the Inquisition may have been in +Spain, its establishment, in point of principle, was not worse than many +other measures, which have passed with far less censure, though in a much +more advanced and civilized age. [41] Where, indeed, during the sixteenth, +and the greater part of the seventeenth century, was the principle of +persecution abandoned by the dominant party, whether Catholic or +Protestant? And where that of toleration asserted, except by the weaker? +It is true, to borrow Isabella's own expression, in her letter to +Talavera, the prevalence of a bad custom cannot constitute its apology. +But it should serve much to mitigate our condemnation of the queen, that +she fell into no greater error, in the imperfect light in which she lived, +than was common to the greatest minds in a later and far riper period. +[42] + +Isabella's actions, indeed, were habitually based on principle. Whatever +errors of judgment be imputed to her, she most anxiously sought in all +situations to discern and discharge her duty. Faithful in the dispensation +of justice, no bribe was large enough to ward off the execution of the +law. [43] No motive, not even conjugal affection, could induce her to make +an unsuitable appointment to public office. [44] No reverence for the +ministers of religion could lead her to wink at their misconduct; [45] nor +could the deference she entertained for the head of the church, allow her +to tolerate his encroachments on the rights of her crown. [46] She seemed +to consider herself especially bound to preserve entire the peculiar +claims and privileges of Castile, after its union under the same sovereign +with Aragon. [47] And although, "while her own will was law," says Peter +Martyr, "she governed in such a manner that it might appear the joint +action of both Ferdinand and herself," yet she was careful never to +surrender into his hands one of those prerogatives which belonged to her +as queen proprietor of the kingdom. [48] + +Isabella's measures were characterized by that practical good sense, +without which the most brilliant parts may work more to the woe than to +the weal of mankind. Though engaged all her life in reforms, she had none +of the failings so common in reformers. Her plans, though vast, were never +visionary. The best proof of this is, that she lived to see most of them +realized. + +She was quick to discern objects of real utility. She saw the importance +of the new discovery of printing, and liberally patronized it from the +first moment it appeared. [49] She had none of the exclusive, local +prejudices, too common with her countrymen. She drew talent from the most +remote quarters to her dominions, by munificent rewards. She imported +foreign artisans for her manufactures; foreign engineers and officers for +the discipline of her army; and foreign scholars to imbue her martial +subjects with more cultivated tastes. She consulted the useful in all her +subordinate regulations; in her sumptuary laws, for instance, directed +against the fashionable extravagances of dress, and the ruinous +ostentation, so much affected by the Castilians in their weddings and +funerals. [50] Lastly, she showed the same perspicacity in the selection +of her agents; well knowing that the best measures become bad in +incompetent hands. + +But, although the skilful selection of her agents was an obvious cause of +Isabella's success, yet another, even more important, is to be found in +her own vigilance and untiring exertions. During the first busy and +bustling years of her reign, these exertions were of incredible magnitude. +She was almost always in the saddle, for she made all her journeys on +horseback; and she travelled with a rapidity, which made her always +present on the spot where her presence was needed. She was never +intimidated by the weather, or the state of her own health; and this +reckless exposure undoubtedly contributed much to impair her excellent +constitution. [51] + +She was equally indefatigable in her mental application. After assiduous +attention to business through the day, she was often known to sit up all +night, dictating despatches to her secretaries. [52] In the midst of these +overwhelming cares, she found time to supply the defects of her early +education by learning Latin, so as to understand it without difficulty, +whether written or spoken; and indeed, in the opinion of a competent +judge, to attain a critical accuracy in it. [53] As she had little turn +for light amusements, she sought relief from graver cares by some useful +occupation appropriate to her sex; and she left ample evidence of her +skill in this way, in the rich specimens of embroidery, wrought with her +own fair hands, with which she decorated the churches. She was careful to +instruct her daughters in these more humble departments of domestic duty; +for she thought nothing too humble to learn, which was useful. [54] + +With all her high qualifications, Isabella would have been still unequal +to the achievement of her grand designs, without possessing a degree of +fortitude rare in either sex; not the courage, which implies contempt of +personal danger,--though of this she had a larger share than falls to most +men; [55] nor that which supports its possessor under the extremities of +bodily pain,--though of this she gave ample evidence, since she endured +the greatest suffering her sex is called to bear, without a groan; [56] +but that moral courage, which sustains the spirit in the dark hour of +adversity, and, gathering light from within to dispel the darkness, +imparts its own cheering influence to all around. This was shown +remarkably in the stormy season which ushered in her accession, as well as +through the whole of the Moorish war. It was her voice that decided never +to abandon Alhama. [57] Her remonstrances compelled the king and nobles to +return to the field, when they had quitted it, after an ineffectual +campaign. As dangers and difficulties multiplied, she multiplied resources +to meet them; and, when her soldiers lay drooping under the evils of some +protracted siege, she appeared in the midst, mounted on her war-horse, +with her delicate limbs cased in knightly mail; [58] and, riding through +their ranks, breathed new courage into their hearts by her own intrepid +bearing. To her personal efforts, indeed, as well as counsels, the success +of this glorious war may be mainly imputed; and the unsuspicious testimony +of the Venetian minister, Navagiero, a few years later, shows that the +nation so considered it. "Queen Isabel," says he, "by her singular genius, +masculine strength of mind, and other virtues most unusual in our own sex, +as well as hers, was not merely of great assistance in, but the chief +cause of the conquest of Granada. She was, indeed, a most rare and +virtuous lady, one of whom the Spaniards talk far more than of the king, +sagacious as he was, and uncommon for his time." [59] + +Happily, these masculine qualities in Isabella did not extinguish the +softer ones which constitute the charm of her sex. Her heart overflowed +with affectionate sensibility to her family and friends. She watched over +the declining days of her aged mother, and ministered to her sad +infirmities with all the delicacy of filial tenderness. [60] We have seen +abundant proofs how fondly and faithfully she loved her husband to the +last, [61] though this love was not always as faithfully requited. [62] +For her children she lived more than for herself; and for them too she +died, for it was their loss and their afflictions which froze the current +of her blood, before age had time to chill it. Her exalted state did not +remove her above the sympathies of friendship. [63.] With her friends she +forgot the usual distinctions of rank, sharing in their joys, visiting and +consoling them in sorrow and sickness, and condescending in more than one +instance to assume the office of executrix on their decease. [64] Her +heart, indeed, was filled with benevolence to all mankind. In the most +fiery heat of war, she was engaged in devising means for mitigating its +horrors. She is said to have been the first to introduce the benevolent +institution of camp hospitals; and we have seen, more than once, her +lively solicitude to spare the effusion of blood even of her enemies. But +it is needless to multiply examples of this beautiful, but familiar trait +in her character. [65] + +It is in these more amiable qualities of her sex, that Isabella's +superiority becomes most apparent over her illustrious namesake, Elizabeth +of England, [66] whose history presents some features parallel to her own. +Both were disciplined in early life by the teachings of that stern nurse +of wisdom, adversity. Both were made to experience the deepest humiliation +at the hands of their nearest relative, who should have cherished and +protected them. Both succeeded in establishing themselves on the throne +after the most precarious vicissitudes. Each conducted her kingdom, +through a long and triumphant reign, to a height of glory, which it had +never before reached. Both lived to see the vanity of all earthly +grandeur, and to fall the victims of an inconsolable melancholy; and both +left behind an illustrious name, unrivalled in the subsequent annals of +their country. + +But, with these few circumstances of their history, the resemblance +ceases. Their characters afford scarcely a point of contact. Elizabeth, +inheriting a large share of the bold and bluff King Harry's temperament, +was haughty, arrogant, coarse, and irascible; while with these fiercer +qualities she mingled deep dissimulation and strange irresolution. +Isabella, on the other hand, tempered the dignity of royal station with +the most bland and courteous manners. Once resolved, she was constant in +her purposes, and her conduct in public and private life was characterized +by candor and integrity. Both may be said to have shown that magnanimity +which is implied by the accomplishment of great objects in the face of +great obstacles. But Elizabeth was desperately selfish; she was incapable +of forgiving, not merely a real injury, but the slightest affront to her +vanity; and she was merciless in exacting retribution. Isabella, on the +other hand, lived only for others,--was ready at all times to sacrifice +self to considerations of public duty; and, far from personal resentments, +showed the greatest condescension and kindness to those who had most +sensibly injured her; while her benevolent heart sought every means to +mitigate the authorized severities of the law, even towards the guilty. +[67] + +Both possessed rare fortitude. Isabella, indeed, was placed in situations, +which demanded more frequent and higher displays of it than her rival; but +no one will doubt a full measure of this quality in the daughter of Henry +the Eighth. Elizabeth was better educated, and every way more highly +accomplished than Isabella. But the latter knew enough to maintain her +station with dignity; and she encouraged learning by a munificent +patronage. [68] The masculine powers and passions of Elizabeth seemed to +divorce her in a great measure from the peculiar attributes of her sex; at +least from those which constitute its peculiar charm; for she had +abundance of its foibles,--a coquetry and love of admiration, which age +could not chill; a levity, most careless, if not criminal; [69] and a +fondness for dress and tawdry magnificence of ornament, which was +ridiculous, or disgusting, according to the different periods of life in +which it was indulged. [70] Isabella, on the other hand, distinguished +through life for decorum of manners, and purity beyond the breath of +calumny, was content with the legitimate affection which she could inspire +within the range of her domestic circle. Far from a frivolous affectation +of ornament or dress, she was most simple in her own attire, and seemed to +set no value on her jewels, but as they could serve the necessities of the +state; [71] when they could be no longer useful in this way, she gave them +away, as we have seen, to her friends. + +Both were uncommonly sagacious in the selection of their ministers; though +Elizabeth was drawn into some errors in this particular, by her levity, +[72] as was Isabella by religious feeling. It was this, combined with her +excessive humility, which led to the only grave errors in the +administration of the latter. Her rival fell into no such errors; and she +was a stranger to the amiable qualities which led to them. Her conduct was +certainly not controlled by religious principle; and, though the bulwark +of the Protestant faith, it might be difficult to say whether she were at +heart most a Protestant or a Catholic. She viewed religion in its +connection with the state, in other words, with herself; and she took +measures for enforcing conformity to her own views, not a whit less +despotic, and scarcely less sanguinary, than those countenanced for +conscience' sake by her more bigoted rival. [73] + +This feature of bigotry, which has thrown a shade over Isabella's +otherwise beautiful character, might lead to a disparagement of her +intellectual power compared with that of the English queen. To estimate +this aright, we must contemplate the results of their respective reigns. +Elizabeth found all the materials of prosperity at hand, and availed +herself of them most ably to build up a solid fabric of national grandeur. +Isabella created these materials. She saw the faculties of her people +locked up in a deathlike lethargy, and she breathed into them the breath +of life for those great and heroic enterprises, which terminated in such +glorious consequences to the monarchy. It is when viewed from the +depressed position of her early days, that the achievements of her reign +seem scarcely less than miraculous. The masculine genius of the English +queen stands out relieved beyond its natural dimensions by its separation +from the softer qualities of her sex. While her rival's, like some vast +but symmetrical edifice, loses in appearance somewhat of its actual +grandeur from the perfect harmony of its proportions. + +The circumstances of their deaths, which were somewhat similar, displayed +the great dissimilarity of their characters. Both pined amidst their royal +state, a prey to incurable despondency, rather than any marked bodily +distemper. In Elizabeth it sprung from wounded vanity, a sullen conviction +that she had outlived the admiration on which she had so long fed,--and +even the solace of friendship, and the attachment of her subjects. Nor did +she seek consolation, where alone it was to be found, in that sad hour. +Isabella, on the other hand, sunk under a too acute sensibility to the +sufferings of others. But, amidst the gloom which gathered around her, she +looked with the eye of faith to the brighter prospects which unfolded of +the future; and, when she resigned her last breath, it was amidst the +tears and universal lamentations of her people. + +It is in this undying, unabated attachment of the nation, indeed, that we +see the most unequivocal testimony to the virtues of Isabella. In the +downward progress of things in Spain, some of the most ill-advised +measures of her administration have found favor and been perpetuated, +while the more salutary have been forgotten. This may lead to a +misconception of her real merits. In order to estimate these, we must +listen to the voice of her contemporaries, the eye-witnesses of the +condition in which she found the state, and in which she left it. We shall +then see but one judgment formed of her, whether by foreigners or natives. +The French and Italian writers equally join in celebrating the triumphant +glories of her reign, and her magnanimity, wisdom, and purity of +character. [74] Her own subjects extol her as "the most brilliant exemplar +of every virtue," and mourn over the day of her death as "the last of the +prosperity and happiness of their country." [75] While those who had +nearer access to her person are unbounded in their admiration of those +amiable qualities, whose full power is revealed only in the unrestrained +intimacies of domestic life. [76] The judgment of posterity has ratified +the sentence of her own age. The most enlightened Spaniards of the present +day, by no means insensible to the errors of her government, but more +capable of appreciating its merits than those of a less instructed age, +bear honorable testimony to her deserts; and, while they pass over the +bloated magnificence of succeeding monarchs, who arrest the popular eye, +dwell with enthusiasm on Isabella's character, as the most truly great in +their line of princes. [77] + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. lib. 28, cap. 11.--Zurita, Anales, +tom. v. lib. 5, cap. 84. + +[2] Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. lib. 19, cap. 16.--Peter Martyr, Opus +Epist., epist. 271, 272.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 46.--Carbajal, +Anales, MS., año 1504. + +[3] Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 46, 47.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., +epist. 273.--Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1504. + +[4] Opus Epist., epist. 274. + +[5] A short time before her death, she received a visit from the +distinguished officer, Prospero Colonna. The Italian noble, on being +presented to King Ferdinand, told him, that "he had come to Castile to +behold the woman, who from her sick bed ruled the world;" "ver una señora +que desde la cama mandava al mundo." Sandoval, Hist. del Emp. Carlos V., +tom. i. p. 8.--Carta de Gonzalo, MS. + +[6] Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 47. + +Among the foreigners introduced to the queen at this time, was a +celebrated Venetian traveller, named Vianelli, who presented her with a +cross of pure gold set with precious stones, among which was a carbuncle +of inestimable value. The liberal Italian met with rather an uncourtly +rebuke from Ximenes, who told him, on leaving the presence, that "he had +rather have the money his diamonds cost, to spend in the service of the +church, than all the gems of the Indies." Ibid. + +[7] Opus Epist., epist. 276. + +[8] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 200, 201.--Carbajal, Anales, +MS., año 1504.--Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. lib. 19, cap. 16.--Zuñiga, +Annales de Sevilla, pp. 423, 424. + +[9] "Ni fagan fnera de los dichos mis Reynos e Señorios, Leyes e +Premáticas, ni las otras cosas que en Cortes se deven hazer segand las +Leyes de ellos;" (Testamento, apud Dormer, Discursos Varios, p. 343;) an +honorable testimony to the legislative rights of the cortes, which +contrasts strongly with the despotic assumption of preceding and +succeeding princes. + +[10] I have before me three copies of Isabella's testament; one in MS., +apud Carbajal, Anales, año 1504; a second printed in the beautiful +Valencia edition of Mariana, tom. ix. apend. no. 1; and a third published +in Dormer's Discursos Varios de Historia, pp. 314-388. I am not aware that +it has been printed elsewhere. + +[11] The "Ordenanjas Reales de Castilla," published in 1484, and the +"Pragmáticas del Reyno," first printed in 1503, comprehend the general +legislation of this reign; a particular account of which the reader may +find in Part I. Chapter 6, and Part II. Chapter 26, of this History. + +[12] Las Casas, who will not be suspected of sycophancy, remarks, in his +narrative of the destruction of the Indies, "Les plus grandes horreurs de +ces guerres et de cette boucherie commencèrent aussitôt qu'on sut en +Amérique que la reine Isabelle venait de mourir; car jusqu'alors il ne +s'était pas commis autant de crimes dans l'île Espagnole, et l'on avait +même eu soin de les cacher à cette princesse, parce qu'elle ne cessait de +recommander de traiter les Indiens avec douceur, et de ne rien négliger +pour les rendre heureux: _j'ai vu, ainsi que beaucoup d'Espagnols, les +lettres qu'elle écrivait à ce sujet, et les ordres qu'elle envoyait; ce +qui prouve que cette admirable reine aurait mis fin à tant de cruautés, si +elle avait pu les connaître_." Oeuvres, ed. de Llorente, tom. i. p. 21. + +[13] The original codicil is still preserved among the manuscripts of the +Royal Library at Madrid. It is appended to the queen's testament in the +works before noticed. + +[14] Clemencin has given a fac-simile of this last signature of the queen, +in the Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. Ilust. 21. + +[15] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 187.--Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. +lib. 19, cap. 16. + +[16] Arevalo, Historia Palentina, MS., apud Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., +tom. vi. p. 572.--L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 187.--Garibay, +Compendio, ubi supra. + +[17] Isabella was born April 22d, 1451, and ascended the throne December +12th, 1474. + +[18] Opus Epist., epist. 279. + +[19] Opus Epist., epist. 280.--The text does not exaggerate the language +of the epistle. + +[20] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 201.--Carbajal, Anales, MS., +año 1504.--Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. lib. 19, cap. 16.--Zurita, tom. v. +lib. 5, cap. 84.--Navagiero, Viaggio, fol. 23. + +[21] The Curate of Los Palacios remarks of her, "Fue muger hermosa, de muy +gentil cuerpo, e gesto, e composicion." (Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 201.) +Pulgar, another contemporary, eulogizes "el mirar muy gracioso, y honesto, +las facciones del rostro bien puestas, la cara toda muy hermosa." (Reyes +Católicos, part. 1, cap. 4.) L. Marineo says, "Todo lo que avia en el rey +de dignidad, se hallava en la reyna de graciosa hermosura, y en entrambos +se mostrava una majestad venerable, aunque a juyzio de muchos la reyna era +de mayor hermosura." (Cosas Memorables, fol. 182.) And Oviedo, who had +likewise frequent opportunities of personal observation, does not hesitate +to declare, "En hermosura puestas delante de S. A. todas las mugeres que +yo he visto, ninguna vi tan graciosa, ni tanto de ver como su persona." +Quincuagenas, MS. + +[22] Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. Ilust. 8. + +[23] Ibid., ubi supra. + +[24] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 182.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, +part. 1, cap, 4. + +[25] Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. p. 323. + +[26] Such occasions have rare charms, of course, for the gossipping +chroniclers of the period. See, among others, the gorgeous ceremonial of +the baptism and presentation of Prince John at Seville, 1478, as related +by the good Curate of Los Palacios. (Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 32, 33.) +"Isabella was surrounded and served," says Pulgar, "by grandees and lords +of the highest rank, so that it was said she maintained too great pomp; +_pompa demasiada_." Reyes Católicos, part. 1, cap. 4. + +[27] Florez quotes a passage from an original letter of the queen, written +soon after one of her progresses into Galicia, showing her habitual +liberality in this way. "Decid a doña Luisa, que porque vengo de Galicia +desecha de vestidos, no le envio para su hermana; que no tengo agora cosa +buena; mas yo ge los enviare presto buenos." Reynas Cathólicas, tom. ii. +p. 839. + +[28] See the magnificent inventory presented to her daughter-in-law, +Margaret of Austria, and to her daughter Maria, queen of Portugal, apud +Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. Ilust. 12. + +[29] "Alegre," says the author of "Carro de las Doñas," "de una alegria +honesta y mui mesurada." Ibid., p. 558. + +[30] Among the retainers of the court, Bernaldez notices "la moltitud de +poetas, de trobadores, e músicos de todas partes." Reyes Católicos, MS., +cap. 201. + +[31] "Queria que sus cartas é mandamientos fuesen complidos con +diligencia." Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, part. 1, cap. 4 + +[32] See a remarkable instance of this, in her treatment of the faithless +Juan de Corral, noticed in Part I. Chapter 10, of this History. + +[33] The melancholy tone of Columbus's correspondence after the queen's +death, shows too well the color of his fortunes and feelings. (Navarrete, +Coleccion de Viages, tom. i. pp. 341 et seq.) The sentiments of the Great +Captain were still more unequivocally expressed, according to Giovio. "Nec +multis inde diebus Regina fato concessit, incredibili cum dolore atque +jacturâ Consalvi; nam ab eâ tanquam alumnus, ac in ejus regiâ educatus, +cuncta quae exoptari possent virtutis et dignitatis incrementa ademptum +fuisse fatebatur, rege ipso quanquam minus benigno parumque liberali +nunquam reginae voluntati reluctari anso. Id vero praeclare tanquam +verissimum apparuit elatâ reginâ." Vitae Illust. Virorum, p. 275. + +[34] The reader may recall a striking example of this, in the early part +of her reign, in her great tenderness and forbearance towards the humors +of Carillo, archbishop of Toledo, her quondam friend, but then her most +implacable foe. + +[35] Isabella at her brother's court might well have sat for the whole of +Milton's beautiful portraiture. + + "So dear to heaven is saintly chastity, + That, when a soul is found sincerely so, + A thousand liveried angels lackey her. + Driving far off each thing of sin and guilt, + And, in clear dream and solemn vision. + Tell her of things that no gross ear can hear, + Till oft converse with heavenly habitants + Begin to cast a beam on the outward shape, + The unpolluted temple of the mind, + And turns it by degrees to the soul's essence, + Till all be made immortal." + +[36] "Era tanto," says L. Marineo, "el ardor y diligencia que tenia cerca +el culto divino, que aunque de dia y de noche estava muy ocupada en +grandes y arduos negocios de la governacion de muchos reynos y señorios, +parescia que _su vida era mas contemplativa que activa_. Porque siempre se +hallava presente a los divinos oficios y a la palabra de Dios. Era tanta +su atencion que si alguno de los que celebravan o cantavan los psalmos, o +otras cosas de la yglesia errava alguna dicion o syllaba, lo sintia y lo +notava, y despues como maestro a discipulo se lo emendava y corregia. +Acostumbrava cada dia dezir todas las horas canónicas demas de otras +muchas votivas y extraordinarias devociones que tenia." Cosas Memorables, +fol. 183. + +[37] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, part. 1, cap. 4.--Lucio Marineo enumerates +many of these splendid charities.--(Cosas Memorables, fol. 165.) See also +the notices scattered over the Itinerary (Viaggio in Spagna) of Navagiero, +who travelled through the country a few years after. + +[38] The archbishop's letters are little better than a homily on the sins +of dancing, feasting, dressing, and the like, garnished with scriptural +allusions, and conveyed in a tone of sour rebuke, that would have done +credit to the most canting Roundhead in Oliver Cromwell's court. The +queen, far from taking exception at it, vindicates herself from the grave +imputations with a degree of earnestness and simplicity, which may provoke +a smile in the reader. "I am aware," she concludes, "that custom cannot +make an action, bad in itself, good; but I wish your opinion, whether, +under all the circumstances, these can be considered bad; that, if so, +they may be discontinued in future." See this curious correspondence in +Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. Ilust. 13. + +[39] Such encomiums become still more striking in writers of sound and +expansive views like Zurita and Blancas, who, although flourishing in a +better instructed age, do not scruple to pronounce the Inquisition "the +greatest evidence of her prudence and piety, whose uncommon utility, not +only Spain, but all Christendom, freely acknowledged!" Blancas, +Commentarii, p. 263.--Zurita, Anales, tom. v. lib. 1, cap. 6. + +[40] Sismondi displays the mischievous influence of these theological +dogmas in Italy, as well as Spain, under the pontificate of Alexander VI. +and his immediate predecessors, in the 90th chapter of his eloquent and +philosophical "Histoire des Républiques Italiennes." + +[41] I borrow almost the words of Mr. Hallam, who, noticing the penal +statutes against Catholics under Elizabeth, says, "They established a +persecution, which fell not at all short in principle of that for which +the Inquisition had become so odious." (Constitutional History of England, +(Paris, 1827,) vol. i. chap. 3.) Even Lord Burleigh, commenting on the +mode of examination adopted in certain cases by the High Commission court, +does not hesitate to say, the interrogatories were "so curiously penned, +so full of branches and circumstances, as he thought the inquisitors of +Spain used not so many questions to comprehend and to trap their preys." +Ibid., chap. 4. + +[42] Even Milton, in his essay on the "Liberty of Unlicensed Printing," +the most splendid argument, perhaps, the world had then witnessed in +behalf of intellectual liberty, would exclude Popery from the benefits of +toleration, as a religion which the public good required at all events to +be extirpated. Such were the crude views of the rights of conscience +entertained in the latter half of the seventeenth century, by one of those +gifted minds, whose extraordinary elevation enabled it to catch and +reflect back the coming light of knowledge, long before it had fallen on +the rest of mankind. + +[43] The most remarkable example of this, perhaps, occurred in the case of +the wealthy Galician knight, Yañez de Lugo, who endeavored to purchase a +pardon of the queen by the enormous bribe of 40,000 doblas of gold. The +attempt failed, though warmly supported by some of the royal counsellors. +The story is well vouched. Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, part. 2, cap. 97.--L. +Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 180. + +[44] The reader may recollect a pertinent illustration of this, on the +occasion of Ximenes's appointment to the primacy. See Part II. Chapter 5, +of this History. + +[45] See, among other instances, her exemplary chastisement of the +ecclesiastics of Truxillo. Part I. Chapter 12, of this History. + +[46] Ibid., Part I. Chapter 6, Part II. Chapter 10, et alibi. Indeed, this +independent attitude was shown, as I have more than once had occasion to +notice, not merely in shielding the rights of her own crown, but in the +boldest remonstrances against the corrupt practices and personal +immorality of those who filled the chair of St. Peter at this period. + +[47] The public acts of this reign afford repeated evidence of the +pertinacity with which Isabella insisted on reserving the benefits of the +Moorish conquests and the American discoveries for her own subjects of +Castile, by whom and for whom they had been mainly achieved. The same +thing is reiterated in the most emphatic manner in her testament. + +[48] Opus Epist., epist. 31. + +[49] Mem. de la. Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. p. 49. + +[50] The preamble of one of her _pragmáticas_ against this lavish +expenditure at funerals, contains some reflections worth quoting for the +evidence they afford of her practical good sense. "Nos deseando proveer e +remediar al tal gasto sin provecho, e considerando que esto no redunda en +sufragio e alivio de las animas de los defuntos," etc. "Pero los Católicos +Christianos que creemos que hai otra vida despues desta, donde las animas +esperan folganza e vida perdurable, _desta habemos de curar e procurar +de la ganar por obras meritorias, e no por cosas transitorias e vanas como +son los lutos e gastos excesivos_," Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. +p. 318. + +[51] Her exposure in this way on one occasion brought on a miscarriage. +According to Gomez, indeed, she finally died of a painful internal +disorder, occasioned by her long and laborious journeys. (De Rebus Gestis, +fol. 47.) Giovio adopts the same account. (Vitae Illust. Virorum, p. 275.) +The authorities are good, certainly; but Martyr, who was in the palace, +with every opportunity of correct information, and with no reason for +concealment of the truth, in his private correspondence with Tendilla and +Talavera, makes no allusion whatever to such a complaint, in his +circumstantial account of the queen's illness. + +[52] Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, tom. vii. p. 411.--Mem. de la Acad. de +Hist., tom. vi. p. 29. + +[53] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 182.--"Pronunciaba con primor el +latin, y era tan habil en la prosodia, que si erraban algun acento, luego +le corregia." Idem., apud Florez, Reynas Cathólicas, tom. ii. pp. 834. + +[54] If we are to believe Florez, the king wore no shirt but of the +queen's making. "Preciabase de no haverse puesto su marido camisa, que +elle no huviesse hilado y cosido." (Reynas Cathólicas, tom. ii. p. 832.) +If this be taken literally, his wardrobe, considering the multitude of her +avocations, must have been indifferently furnished. + +[55] Among many evidences of this, what other need be given than her +conduct at the famous riot at Segovia? Part I. Chapter 6, of this History. + +[56] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, part. 1, cap. 4.--"No fue la Reyna," says L. +Marineo, "de animo menos fuerte para sufrir los dolores corporales. Porque +como yo fuy informado de las dueñas que le servian en la camara, ni en los +dolores que padescia de sus enfermidades, ni en los del parto (que es cosa +de grande admiracion) nunca la vieron quexar se; antes con increyble y +maravillosa fortaleza los suffria y dissimulava." (Cosas Memorables, fol. +186.) To the same effect writes the anonymous author of the "Carro de las +Doñas," apud Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. p. 559. + +[57] "Era firme en sus propósitos, de los quales se retraia con gran +dificultad." Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, part. 1, cap. 4. + +[58] The reader may refresh his recollection of Tasso's graceful sketch of +Erminia in similar warlike panoply. + + "Col durissimo acciar preme ed offende + Il delicato collo e l'aurea chioma; + E la tenera man lo scudo prende + Pur troppo grave e insopportabil soma. + Cosi tutta di ferro intorno splende, + E in atto militar se stessa doma." + Gerusalemme Liberata, canto 6, stanza 92. + +[59] Viaggio, fol. 27. + +[60] We find one of the first articles in the marriage treaty with +Ferdinand enjoining him to cherish, and treat her mother with all +reverence, and to provide suitably for her royal maintenance. (Mem. de la +Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. Apend. no. 1.) The author of the "Carro de las +Doñas" thus notices her tender devotedness to her parent, at a later +period. "Y esto me dijo quien lo vido por sus proprios ojos, que la Reyna +Doña Isabel, nuestra señora, cuando estaba alli en Arevalo visitando a su +madre, ella misma por su persona servia a su misma madre. E aqui tomen +ejemplo los hijos como han de servir à sus padres, pues una Reina tan +poderosa y en negocios tan arduos puesta, todos los mas de los años +(puesto todo aparte y pospuesto) iba a visitar a su madre y la servia +humilmente." Viaggio, p. 557. + +[61] Among other little tokens of mutual affection, it may be mentioned +that not only the public coin, but their furniture, books, and other +articles of personal property, were stamped with their initials, F & I, or +emblazoned with their devices, his being a yoke, and hers a sheaf of +arrows. (Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 2, dial. 3.) It was +common, says Oviedo, for each party to take a device, whose initial +corresponded with that of the name of the other; as was the case here, +with _jugo_ and _flechas_. + +[62] Marineo thus speaks of the queen's discreet and most amiable conduct +in these delicate matters. "Amava en tanta manera al Rey su marido, que +andava sobre aviso con celos a ver si el amava a otras. Y si sentia que +mirava a alguna dama o donzella de su casa con señal de amores, con mucha +prudencia buscava medios y maneras con que despedir aquella tal persona de +su casa, con su mucha honrra y provecho." (Cosas Memorables, fol. 182.) +There was unfortunately too much cause for this uneasiness. See Part II. +Chapter 24, of this History. + +[63] The best beloved of her friends, probably, was the marchioness of +Moya, who, seldom separated from her royal mistress through life, had the +melancholy satisfaction of closing her eyes in death. Oviedo, who saw them +frequently together, says, that the queen never addressed this lady, even +in later life, with any other than the endearing title of _hija marquesa_, +"daughter marchioness." Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 23 + +[64] As was the case with Cardenas, the comendador mayor, and the grand +cardinal Mendoza, to whom, as we have already seen, she paid the kindest +attentions during their last illness. While in this way she indulged the +natural dictates of her heart, she was careful to render every outward +mark of respect to the memory of those whose rank or services entitled +them to such consideration. "Quando," says the author so often quoted, +"quiera que fallescia alguno de los grandes de su reyno, o algun príncipe +Christiano, luego embiavan varones sabios y religiosos para consolar a sus +heredores y deudos. Y demas desto se vestian de ropas de luto en +testimonio del dolor y sentimiento que hazian." L. Marineo, Cosas +Memorables, fol. 185. + +[65] Her humanity was shown in her attempts to mitigate the ferocious +character of those national amusements, the bull-fights, the popularity of +which throughout the country was too great, as she intimates in one of her +letters, to admit of her abolishing them altogether. She was so much moved +at the sanguinary issue of one of these combats, which she witnessed at +Arevalo, says a contemporary, that she devised a plan, by guarding the +horns of the bulls, for preventing any serious injury to the men and +horses; and she never would attend another of these spectacles until this +precaution had been adopted. Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. + +[66] Isabella, the name of the Catholic queen, is correctly rendered into +English by that of Elizabeth. + +[67] She gave evidence of this, in the commutation of the sentence she +obtained for the wretch who stabbed her husband, and whom her ferocious +nobles would have put to death, without the opportunity of confession and +absolution, that "his soul might perish with his body!" (See her letter to +Talavera.) She showed this merciful temper, so rare in that rough age, by +dispensing altogether with the preliminary barbarities, sometimes +prescribed by the law in capital executions. Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., +tom. vi. Ilust. 13. + +[68] Hume admits, that, "unhappily for literature, at least for the +learned of this age, Queen Elizabeth's vanity lay more in shining by her +own learning, than in encouraging men of genius by her liberality." + +[69] Which of the two, the reader of the records of these times may be +somewhat puzzled to determine.--If one need be convinced how many faces +history can wear, and how difficult it is to get at the true one, he has +only to compare Dr. Lingard's account of this reign with Mr. Turner's. +Much obliquity was to be expected, indeed, from the avowed apologist of a +persecuted party, like the former writer. But it attaches, I fear, to the +latter in more than one instance,--as in the reign of Richard III., for +example. Does it proceed from the desire of saying something new on a +beaten topic, where the new cannot always be true? Or, as is most +probable, from that confiding benevolence, which throws somewhat of its +own light over the darkest shades of human character? The unprejudiced +reader may perhaps agree, that the balance of this great queen's good and +bad qualities is held with a more steady and impartial hand by Mr. Hallam +than any preceding writer. + +[70] The unsuspicious testimony of her godson, Harrington, places these +foibles in the most ludicrous light. If the well-known story, repeated by +historians, of the three thousand dresses left in her wardrobe at her +decease, be true, or near truth, it affords a singular contrast with +Isabella's taste in these matters. + +[71] The reader will remember how effectually they answered this purpose +in the Moorish war. See Part I. Chapter 14, of this History. + +[72] It is scarcely necessary to mention the names of Hatton and +Leicester, both recommended to the first offices in the state chiefly by +their personal attractions, and the latter of whom continued to maintain +the highest place in his sovereign's favor for thirty years or more, in +despite of his total destitution of moral worth. + +[73] Queen Elizabeth, indeed, in a declaration to her people, proclaims, +"We know not, nor have any meaning to allow, that any of our subjects +should be molested, either by examination or inquisition, in any matter of +faith, as long as they shall profess the Christian faith." (Turner's +Elizabeth, vol. ii. p. 241, note.) One is reminded of Parson Thwackum's +definition in "Tom Jones," "When I mention religion, I mean the Christian +religion; and not only the Christian religion, but the Protestant +religion; and not only the Protestant religion, but the church of +England." It would be difficult to say which fared worst, Puritans or +Catholics, under this system of toleration. + +[74] "Quum generosi," says Paolo Giovio, speaking of her, "prudentisque +animi magnitudine, tum pudicitiae et pietatis laude antiquis heroidibus +comparanda." (Vitae Illust. Virorum, p. 205.) Guicciardini eulogizes her +as "Donna di onestissimi costumi, e in concetto grandissimo nei Regni suoi +di magnanimità e prudenza." (Istoria, lib. 6.) The _loyal serviteur_ +notices her death in the following chivalrous strain. "L'an 1506, une des +plus triumphantes e glorieuses dames qui puis mille ans ait esté sur terre +alla de vie a trespas; ce fut la royne Ysabel de Castille, qui ayda, le +bras armé, à conquester le royaulme de Grenade sur les Mores. Je veux bien +asseurer aux lecteurs de ceste presente hystoire, que sa vie a esté telle, +qu'elle a bien mérité couronne de laurier après sa mort." Mémoires de +Bayard, chap. 26.--See also Comines, Mémoires, chap. 23.--Navagiero, +Viaggio, fol. 27.--et al. auct. + +[75] I borrow the words of one contemporary; "Quo quidem die omnis +Hispaniae felicitas, omne decus, omnium virtutum pulcherrimum specimen +interiit," (L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, lib. 21,)--and the sentiments of +all. + +[76] If the reader needs further testimony of this, he will find abundance +collected by the indefatigable Clemencin, in the 21st Ilust. of the Mem. +de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. + +[77] It would be easy to cite the authority over and over again of such +writers as Marina, Sempere, Llorente, Navarrete, Quintana, and others, who +have done such honor to the literature of Spain in the present century. It +will be sufficient, however, to advert to the remarkable tribute paid to +Isabella's character by the Royal Spanish Academy of History; who in 1805 +appointed their late secretary, Clemencin, to deliver a eulogy on that +illustrious theme; and who raised a still nobler monument to her memory, +by the publication, in 1821, of the various documents compiled by him for +the illustration of her reign, as a separate volume of their valuable +Memoirs. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +FERDINAND REGENT.--HIS SECOND MARRIAGE.--DISSENSIONS WITH PHILIP.-- +RESIGNATION OF THE REGENCY. + +1504-1506. + +Ferdinand Regent.--Philip's Pretensions.--Ferdinand's Perplexities.-- +Impolitic Treaty with France.--The King's Second Marriage.--Landing of +Philip and Joanna.--Unpopularity of Ferdinand.--His Interview with his +Son-in-law.--He resigns the Regency. + + +The death of Isabella gives a new complexion to our history, a principal +object of which has been the illustration of her personal character and +public administration. The latter part of the narrative, it is true, has +been chiefly occupied with the foreign relations of Spain, in which her +interference has been less obvious than in the domestic. But still we have +been made conscious of her presence and parental supervision, by the +maintenance of order, and the general prosperity of the nation. Her death +will make us more sensible of this influence; since it was the signal for +disorders which even the genius and authority of Ferdinand were unable to +suppress. + +While the queen's remains were yet scarcely cold, King Ferdinand took the +usual measures for announcing the succession. He resigned the crown of +Castile, which he had worn with so much glory for thirty years. From a +platform raised in the great square of Toledo, the heralds proclaimed, +with sound of trumpet, the accession of Philip and Joanna to the Castilian +throne, and the royal standard was unfurled by the duke of Alva, in honor +of the illustrious pair. The king of Aragon then publicly assumed the +title of administrator or governor of Castile, as provided by the queen's +testament, and received the obeisance of such of the nobles as were +present, in his new capacity. These proceedings took place on the evening +of the same day on which the queen expired. [1] + +A circular letter was next addressed to the principal cities, requiring +them, after the customary celebration of the obsequies of their late +sovereign, to raise the royal banners in the name of Joanna; and writs +were immediately issued in her name, without mention of Philip's, for the +convocation of a cortes to ratify these proceedings. [2] + +The assembly met at Toro, January 11th, 1505. The queen's will, or rather +such clauses of it as related to the succession, were read aloud, and +received the entire approbation of the commons, who, together with the +grandees and prelates present, took the oaths of allegiance to Joanna, as +queen and lady proprietor, and to Philip as her husband. They then +determined that the exigency, contemplated in the testament, of Joanna's +incapacity, actually existed, [3] and proceeded to tender their homage to +King Ferdinand, as the lawful governor of the realm in her name. The +latter in turn made the customary oath to respect the laws and liberties +of the kingdom, and the whole was terminated by an embassy from the +cortes, with a written account of its proceedings, to their new sovereigns +in Flanders. [4] + +All seemed now done, that was demanded for giving a constitutional +sanction to Ferdinand's authority as regent. By the written law of the +land, the sovereign was empowered to nominate a regency, in case of the +minority or incapacity of the heir apparent. [5] This had been done in the +present instance by Isabella, and at the earnest solicitation of the +cortes, made two years previously to her death. It had received the +cordial approbation of that body, which had undeniable authority to +control such testamentary provisions. [6] Thus, from the first to the last +stage of the proceeding, the whole had gone on with a scrupulous attention +to constitutional forms. Yet the authority of the new regent was far from +being firmly seated; and it was the conviction of this, which had led him +to accelerate measures. + +Many of the nobles were extremely dissatisfied with the queen's settlement +of the regency, which had taken air before her death; and they had even +gone so far as to send to Flanders before that event, and invite Philip to +assume the government himself, as the natural guardian of his wife. [7] +These discontented lords, if they did not refuse to join in the public +acts of acknowledgment to Ferdinand at Toro, at least were not reserved in +intimating their dissatisfaction. [8] Among the most prominent were the +marquis of Villena, who may be said to have been nursed to faction from +the cradle, and the duke of Najara, both potent nobles, whose broad +domains had been grievously clipped by the resumption of the crown lands +so scrupulously enforced by the late government, and who looked forward to +their speedy recovery under the careless rule of a young, inexperienced +prince like Philip. [9] + +But the most efficient of his partisans was Don Juan Manuel, Ferdinand's +ambassador at the court of Maximilian. This nobleman, descended from one +of the most illustrious houses in Castile, was a person of uncommon parts; +restless and intriguing, plausible in his address, bold in his plans, but +exceedingly cautious, and even cunning, in the execution of them. He had +formerly insinuated himself into Philip's confidence, during his visit to +Spain, and, on receiving news of the queen's death, hastened without delay +to join him in the Netherlands. + +Through his means, an extensive correspondence was soon opened with the +discontented Castilian lords; and Philip was persuaded, not only to assert +his pretensions to undivided supremacy in Castile, but to send a letter to +his royal father-in-law, requiring him to resign the government at once, +and retire into Aragon. [10] The demand was treated with some contempt by +Ferdinand, who admonished him of his incompetency to govern a nation like +the Spaniards, whom he understood so little, but urged him at the same +time to present himself before them with his wife, as soon as possible. +[12] + +Ferdinand's situation, however, was far from comfortable. Philip's, or +rather Manuel's, emissaries were busily stirring up the embers of +disaffection. They dwelt on the advantages to be gained from the free and +lavish disposition of Philip, which they contrasted with the parsimonious +temper of the stern _old Catalan_, who had so long held them under +his yoke. [13] Ferdinand, whose policy it had been to crush the overgrown +power of the nobility, and who, as a foreigner, had none of the natural +claims to loyalty enjoyed by his late queen, was extremely odious to that +jealous and haughty body. The number of Philip's adherents increased in it +every day, and soon comprehended the most considerable names in the +kingdom. + +The king, who watched these symptoms of disaffection with deep anxiety, +said little, says Martyr, but coolly scrutinized the minds of those around +him, dissembling as far as possible his own sentiments. [14] He received +further and more unequivocal evidence, at this time, of the alienation of +his son-in-law. An Aragonese gentleman, named Conchillos, whom he had +placed near the person of his daughter, obtained a letter from her, in +which she approved in the fullest manner of her father's retaining the +administration of the kingdom. The letter was betrayed to Philip; the +unfortunate secretary was seized and thrown into a dungeon, and Joanna was +placed under a rigorous confinement, which much aggravated her malady. +[15] + +With this affront, the king received also the alarming intelligence, that +the emperor Maximilian and his son Philip were tampering with the fidelity +of the Great Captain; endeavoring to secure Naples in any event to the +archduke, who claimed it as the appurtenance of Castile, by whose armies +its conquest, in fact, had been achieved. There were not wanting persons +of high standing at Ferdinand's court, to infuse suspicions, however +unwarrantable, into the royal mind, of the loyalty of his viceroy, a +Castilian by birth, and who owed his elevation exclusively to the queen. +[16] + +The king was still further annoyed by reports of the intimate relations +subsisting between his old enemy, Louis the Twelfth, and Philip, whose +children were affianced to each other. The French monarch, it was said, +was prepared to support his ally in an invasion of Castile, for the +recovery of his rights, by a diversion in his favor on the side of +Roussillon, as well as of Naples. [17] + +The Catholic king felt sorely perplexed by these multiplied +embarrassments. During the brief period of his regency, he had endeavored +to recommend himself to the people by a strict and impartial +administration of the laws, and the maintenance of public order. The +people, indeed, appreciated the value of a government under which they had +been protected from the oppressions of the aristocracy more effectually +than at any former period. They had testified their good-will by the +alacrity with which they confirmed Isabella's testamentary dispositions, +at Toro. But all this served only to sharpen the aversion of the nobles. +Some of Ferdinand's counsellors would have persuaded him to carry measures +with a higher hand. They urged him to resume the title of King of Castile, +which he had so long possessed as husband of the late queen; [18] and +others even advised him to assemble an armed force, which should overawe +all opposition to his authority at home, and secure the country from +invasion. He had facilities for this in the disbanded levies lately +returned from Italy, as well as in a considerable body drawn from his +native dominions of Aragon, waiting his orders on the frontier. [19] Such +violent measures, however, were repugnant to his habitual policy, +temperate and cautious. He shrunk from a contest, in which even success +must bring unspeakable calamities on the country, [20] and, if he ever +seriously entertained such views, [21] he abandoned them, and employed his +levies on another destination in Africa. [22] His situation, however, grew +every hour more critical. Alarmed by rumors of Louis's military +preparations, for which liberal supplies were voted by the states general; +trembling for the fate of his Italian possessions; deserted and betrayed +by the great nobility at home; there seemed now no alternative left for +him but to maintain his ground by force, or to resign at once, as required +by Philip, and retire into Aragon. This latter course appears never to +have been contemplated by him. He resolved at all hazards to keep the +reins in his own grasp, influenced in part, probably, by the consciousness +of his rights, as well as by a sense of duty, which forbade him to resign +the trust he had voluntarily assumed into such incompetent hands as those +of Philip and his counsellors; and partly, no doubt, by natural reluctance +to relinquish the authority which he had enjoyed for so many years. To +keep it, he had recourse to an expedient, such as neither friend nor foe +could have anticipated. + +He saw the only chance of maintaining his present position lay in +detaching France from the interests of Philip, and securing her to +himself. The great obstacle to this was their conflicting claims on +Naples. This he proposed to obviate by proposals of marriage to some +member of the royal family, in whose favor these claims, with the consent +of King Louis, might be resigned. He accordingly despatched a confidential +envoy privately into France, with ample instructions for arranging the +preliminaries. This person was Juan de Enguera, a Catalan monk of much +repute for his learning, and a member of the royal council. [23] + +Louis the Twelfth had viewed with much satisfaction the growing +misunderstanding betwixt Philip and his father-in-law, and had cunningly +used his influence over the young prince to foment it. He felt the deepest +disquietude at the prospect of the enormous inheritance which was to +devolve on the former, comprehending Burgundy and Flanders, Austria, and +probably the Empire, together with the united crowns of Spain and their +rich dependencies. By the proposed marriage, a dismemberment might be made +at least of the Spanish monarchy; and the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon, +passing under different sceptres, might serve, as they had formerly done, +to neutralize each other. It was true, this would involve a rupture with +Philip, to whose son his own daughter was promised in marriage. But this +match, extremely distasteful to his subjects, gradually became so to +Louis, as every way prejudicial to the interests of France. [24] + +Without much delay, therefore, preliminaries were arranged with the +Aragonese envoy, and immediately after, in the month of August, the count +of Cifuentes, and Thomas Malferit, regent of the royal chancery, were +publicly sent as plenipotentiaries on the part of King Ferdinand, to +conclude and execute the treaty. + +It was agreed, as the basis of the alliance, that the Catholic king should +be married to Germaine, daughter of Jean de Foix, viscount of Narbonne, +and of one of the sisters of Louis the Twelfth, and granddaughter to +Leonora, queen of Navarre,--that guilty sister of King Ferdinand, whose +fate is recorded in the earlier part of our History. The princess +Germaine, it will be seen, therefore, was nearly related to both the +contracting parties. She was at this time eighteen years of age, and very +beautiful. [25] She had been educated in the palace of her royal uncle, +where she had imbibed the free and volatile manners of his gay, luxurious +court. To this lady Louis the Twelfth consented to resign his claims on +Naples, to be secured by way of dowry to her and her heirs, male or +female, in perpetuity. In case of her decease without issue, the moiety of +the kingdom recognized as his by the partition treaty with Spain was to +revert to him. It was further agreed, that Ferdinand should reimburse +Louis the Twelfth for the expenses of the Neapolitan war, by the payment +of one million gold ducats, in ten yearly instalments; and lastly, that a +complete amnesty should be granted by him to the lords of the Angevin or +French party in Naples, who should receive full restitution of their +confiscated honors and estates. A mutual treaty of alliance and commerce +was to subsist henceforth between France and Spain, and the two monarchs, +holding one another, to quote the words of the instrument, "as two souls, +in one and the same body," pledged themselves to the maintenance and +defence of their respective rights and kingdoms against every other power +whatever. This treaty was signed by the French king at Blois, October +12th, 1505, and ratified by Ferdinand the Catholic, at Segovia, on the +16th of the same month. [26] + +Such were the disgraceful and most impolitic terms of this compact, by +which Ferdinand, in order to secure the brief possession of a barren +authority, and perhaps to gratify some unworthy feelings of revenge, was +content to barter away all those solid advantages, flowing from the union +of the Spanish monarchies, which had been the great and wise object of his +own and Isabella's policy. For, in the event of male issue,--and that he +should have issue was by no means improbable, considering he was not yet +fifty-four years of age,--Aragon and its dependencies must be totally +severed from Castile. [27] In the other alternative, the splendid Italian +conquests, which after such cost of toil and treasure he had finally +secured to himself, must be shared with his unsuccessful competitor. In +any event, he had pledged himself to such an indemnification of the +Angevin faction in Naples, as must create inextricable embarrassment, and +inflict great injury on his loyal partisans, into whose hands their +estates had already passed. And last, though not least, he dishonored by +this unsuitable and precipitate alliance his late illustrious queen, the +memory of whose transcendent excellence, if it had faded in any degree +from his own breast, was too deeply seated in those of her subjects, to +allow them to look on the present union otherwise than as a national +indignity. + +So, indeed, they did regard it; although the people of Aragon, in whom +late events had rekindled their ancient jealousy of Castile, viewed the +match with more complacency, as likely to restore them to that political +importance which had been somewhat impaired by the union with their more +powerful neighbor. [28] + +The European nations could not comprehend an arrangement, so +irreconcilable with the usual sagacious policy of the Catholic king. The +petty Italian powers, who, since the introduction of France and Spain into +their political system, were controlled by them more or less in all their +movements, viewed this sinister conjunction as auspicious of no good to +their interests or independence. As for the archduke Philip, he could +scarcely credit the possibility of this desperate act, which struck off at +a blow so rich a portion of his inheritance. He soon received +confirmation, however, of its truth, by a prohibition from Louis the +Twelfth, to attempt a passage through his dominions into Spain, until he +should come to some amicable understanding with his father-in-law. [29] + +Philip, or rather Manuel, who exercised unbounded influence over his +counsels, saw the necessity now of temporizing. The correspondence was +resumed with Ferdinand, and an arrangement was at length concluded between +the parties, known as the concord of Salamanca, November 24th, 1505. The +substance of it was, that Castile should be governed in the joint names of +Ferdinand, Philip, and Joanna, but that the first should be entitled, as +his share, to one-half of the public revenue. This treaty, executed in +good faith by the Catholic king, was only intended by Philip to lull the +suspicions of the former, until he could effect a landing in the kingdom, +where, he confidently believed, nothing but his presence was wanting to +insure success. He completed the perfidious proceeding by sending an +epistle, well garnished with soft and honeyed phrase, to his royal father- +in-law. These artifices had their effect, and completely imposed, not only +on Louis, but on the more shrewd and suspicious Ferdinand. [30] + +On the 8th of January, 1506, Philip and Joanna embarked on board a +splendid and numerous armada, and set sail from a port in Zealand. A +furious tempest scattered the fleet soon after leaving the harbor; +Philip's ship, which took fire in the storm, narrowly escaped foundering; +and it was not without great difficulty that they succeeded in bringing +her, a miserable wreck, into the English port of Weymouth. [31] King Henry +the Seventh, on learning the misfortunes of Philip and his consort, was +prompt to show every mark of respect and consideration for the royal pair, +thus thrown upon his island. They were escorted in magnificent style to +Windsor, and detained with dubious hospitality for nearly three months. +During this time, Henry the Seventh availed himself of the situation and +inexperience of his young guest so far as to extort from him two treaties, +not altogether reconcilable, as far as the latter was concerned, with +sound policy or honor. [32] The respect which the English monarch +entertained for Ferdinand the Catholic, as well as their family +connection, led him to offer his services as a common mediator between the +father and son. He would have persuaded the latter, says Lord Bacon, "to +be ruled by the counsel of a prince, so prudent, so experienced, and so +fortunate as King Ferdinand;" to which the archduke replied, "If his +father-in-law would let him govern Castile, he should govern him." [33] + +At length Philip, having reassembled his Flemish fleet at Weymouth, +embarked with Joanna and his numerous suite of courtiers and military +retainers, and reached Coruña, in the northwestern corner of Galicia, +after a prosperous voyage, on the 28th of April. + +A short time previous to this event, the count of Cifuentes having passed +into France for the purpose, the betrothed bride of King Ferdinand quitted +that country under his escort, attended by a brilliant train of French and +Neapolitan lords. [34] On the borders, at Fontarabia, she was received by +the archbishop of Saragossa, Ferdinand's natural son, with a numerous +retinue, composed chiefly of Aragonese and Catalan nobility, and was +conducted with much solemnity to Dueñas, where she was joined by the king. +In this place, where thirty years before he had been united to Isabella, +he now, as if to embitter still further the recollections of the past, led +to the altar her young and beautiful successor. "It seemed hard," says +Martyr, in his quiet way, "that these nuptials should take place so soon, +and that too in Isabella's own kingdom of Castile, where she had lived +without peer, and where her ashes are still held in as much veneration as +she enjoyed while living." [35] + +It was less than six weeks after this that Philip and Joanna landed at +Coruña. Ferdinand, who had expected them at some nearer northern port, +prepared without loss of time to go forward and receive them. He sent on +an express to arrange the place of meeting with Philip, and advanced +himself as far as Leon. But Philip had no intention of such an interview +at present. He had purposely landed in a remote corner of the country, in +order to gain time for his partisans to come forward and declare +themselves. Missives had been despatched to the principal nobles and +cavaliers, and they were answered by great numbers of all ranks, who +pressed forward to welcome and pay court to the young monarch. [36] Among +them were the names of most of the considerable Castilian families, and +several, as Villena and Najara, were accompanied by large, well-appointed +retinues of armed followers. The archduke brought over with him a body of +three thousand German infantry, in complete order. He soon mustered an +additional force of six thousand native Spaniards, which, with the +chivalry who thronged to meet him, placed him in a condition to dictate +terms to his father-in-law; and he now openly proclaimed, that he had no +intention of abiding by the concord of Salamanca, and that he would never +consent to an arrangement prejudicing in any degree his and his wife's +exclusive possession of the crown of Castile. [37] It was in vain that +Ferdinand endeavored to gain Don Juan Manuel to his interests by the most +liberal offers. He could offer nothing to compete with the absolute +ascendency which the favorite held over his young sovereign. It was in +vain that Martyr, and afterwards Ximenes, were sent to the archduke, to +settle the grounds of accommodation, or at least the place of interview +with the king. Philip listened to them with courtesy, but would abate not +a jot of his pretensions; and Manuel did not care to expose his royal +master to the influence of Ferdinand's superior address and sagacity in a +personal interview. [38] + +Martyr gives a picture, by no means unfavorable, of Philip at this time. +He had an agreeable person, a generous disposition, free and open manners, +with a certain nobleness of soul, although spurred on by a most craving +ambition. But he was so ignorant of affairs, that he became the dupe of +artful men, who played on him for their own purposes. [39] + +Ferdinand, at length, finding that Philip, who had now left Coruña, was +advancing by a circuitous route into the interior, on purpose to avoid +him, and that all access to his daughter was absolutely refused, could no +longer repress his indignation; and he prepared a circular letter, to be +sent to the different parts of the country, calling on it to rise and aid +him in rescuing the queen, their sovereign, from her present shameful +captivity. [40] It does not appear that he sent it. He probably found that +the call would not be answered; for the French match had lost him even +that degree of favor, with which he had been regarded by the commons; so +the very expedient, on which he relied for perpetuating his authority in +Castile, was the chief cause of his losing it altogether. + +He was doomed to experience still more mortifying indignities. By the +orders of the marquis of Astorga and the count of Benevente, he was +actually refused admittance into those cities; while proclamation was made +by the same arrogant lords, prohibiting any of their vassals from aiding +or harboring his Aragonese followers. "A sad spectacle, indeed," exclaims +the loyal Martyr, "to behold a monarch, yesterday almost omnipotent, thus +wandering a vagabond in his own kingdom, refused even the sight of his own +child!" [41] + +Of all the gay tribe of courtiers who fluttered around him in his +prosperity, the only Castilians of note who now remained true were the +duke of Alva and the count of Cifuentes. [42] For even his son-in-law, the +constable of Castile, had deserted him. There were some, however, at a +distance from the scene of operations, as the good Talavera, for instance, +and the count of Tendilla, who saw with much concern the prospect of +changing the steady and well-tried hand, which had held the helm for more +than thirty years, for the capricious guidance of Philip and his +favorites. [43] + +An end was at length put to this scandalous exhibition, and Manuel, +whether from increased confidence in his own resources, or the fear of +bringing public odium on himself, consented to trust his royal charge to +the peril of an interview. The place selected was an open plain near +Puebla de Senabria, on the borders of Leon and Galicia. But, even then, +the precautions taken were of a kind truly ludicrous, considering the +forlorn condition of King Ferdinand. The whole military apparatus of the +archduke was put in motion, as if he expected to win the crown by battle. +First came the well-appointed German spearmen, all in fighting order. +Then, the shining squadrons of the noble Castilian chivalry, and their +armed retainers. Next followed the + + "Ayer era Rey de España, + oy no lo soy de una villa; + ayer villas y castillos, + oy ninguno posseya; + ayer tenia criados," etc. + +The lament of King Roderic, in this fine old ballad, would seem hardly too +extravagant in the mouth of his royal descendant. archduke, seated on his +war-horse and encompassed by his body-guard; while the rear was closed by +the long files of archers and light cavalry of the country. [44] + +Ferdinand, on the other hand, came into the field attended by about two +hundred nobles and gentlemen, chiefly Aragonese and Italians, riding on +mules, and simply attired in the short black cloak and bonnet of the +country, with no other weapon than the sword usually worn. The king +trusted, says Zurita, to the majesty of his presence, and the reputation +he had acquired by his long and able administration. + +The Castilian nobles, brought into contact with Ferdinand, could not well +avoid paying their obeisance to him. He received them in his usual +gracious and affable manner, making remarks, the good humor of which was +occasionally seasoned with something of a more pungent character. To the +duke of Najara, who was noted for being a vain-glorious person, and who +came forward with a gallant retinue in all the panoply of war, he +exclaimed, "So, duke, you are mindful as ever, I see, of the duties of a +great captain!" Among others, was Garcilasso de la Vega, Ferdinand's +minister formerly at Rome. Like many of the Castilian lords, he wore armor +under his dress, the better to guard against surprise. The king, embracing +him, felt the mail beneath, and, tapping him familiarly on the shoulder, +said, "I congratulate you, Garcilasso; you have grown wonderfully lusty +since we last met." The desertion, however, of one who had received so +many favors from him, touched him more nearly than all the rest. + +As Philip drew near, it was observed he wore an anxious, embarrassed air, +while his father-in-law maintained the same serene and cheerful aspect as +usual. After exchanging salutations, the two monarchs alighted, and +entered a small hermitage in the neighborhood, attended only by Manuel and +Archbishop Ximenes. They had no sooner entered, than the latter, +addressing the favorite with an air of authority it was not easy to +resist, told him, "It was not meet to intrude on the private concerns of +their masters," and, taking his arm, led him out of the apartment and +coolly locked the door on him, saying at the same time, that "He would +serve as porter." The conference led to no result. Philip was well +schooled in his part, and remained, says Martyr, immovable as a rock. [45] +There was so little mutual confidence between the parties, that the name +of Joanna, whom Ferdinand desired so much to see, was not even mentioned +during the interview. [46] + +But, however reluctant Ferdinand might be to admit it, he was no longer in +a condition to stand upon terms; and, in addition to the entire loss of +influence in Castile, he received such alarming accounts from Naples, as +made him determine on an immediate visit in person to that kingdom. He +resolved, therefore, to bow his head to the present storm, in hopes that a +brighter day was in reserve for him. He saw the jealousy hourly springing +up between the Flemish and Castilian courtiers, and he probably +anticipated such misrule as would afford an opening, perhaps with the +good-will of the nation, for him to resume the reins, so unceremoniously +snatched from his grasp. [47] + +At any rate, should force be necessary, he would be better able to employ +it effectively, with the aid of his ally, the French king, after he had +adjusted the affairs of Naples. [48] + +Whatever considerations may have influenced the prudent monarch, he +authorized the archbishop of Toledo, who kept near the person of the +archduke, to consent to an accommodation on the very grounds proposed by +the latter. On the 27th of June, he signed and solemnly swore to an +agreement, by which he surrendered the entire sovereignty of Castile to +Philip and Joanna, reserving to himself only the grand-masterships of the +military orders, and the revenues secured by Isabella's testament. [49] + +On the following day, he executed another instrument of most singular +import, in which, after avowing in unequivocal terms his daughter's +incapacity, he engages to assist Philip in preventing any interference in +her behalf, and to maintain him, as far as in his power, in the sole, +exclusive authority. [50] + +Before signing these papers, he privately made a protest, in the presence +of several witnesses, that what he was about to do was not of his own free +will, but from necessity, to extricate himself from his perilous +situation, and shield the country from the impending evils of a civil war. +He concluded with asserting, that, so far from relinquishing his claims to +the regency, it was his design to enforce them, as well as to rescue his +daughter from her captivity, as soon as he was in a condition to do so. +[51] Finally, he completed this chain of inconsistencies by addressing a +circular letter, dated July 1st, to the different parts of the kingdom, +announcing his resignation of the government into the hands of Philip and +Joanna, and declaring the act one which, notwithstanding his own right and +power to the contrary, he had previously determined on executing, so soon +as his children should set foot in Spain. [52] + +It is not easy to reconcile this monstrous tissue of incongruity and +dissimulation with any motives of necessity or expediency. Why should he, +so soon after preparing to raise the kingdom in his daughter's cause, thus +publicly avow her imbecility, and deposit the whole authority in the hands +of Philip? Was it to bring odium on the head of the latter, by encouraging +him to a measure which he knew must disgust the Castilians? [53] But +Ferdinand by this very act shared the responsibility with him. Was it in +the expectation that uncontrolled and undivided power, in the hands of one +so rash and improvident, would the more speedily work his ruin? As to his +clandestine protest, its design was obviously to afford a plausible +pretext at some future time for reasserting his claims to the government, +on the ground, that his concessions had been the result of force. But +then, why neutralize the operation of this, by the declaration, +spontaneously made in his manifesto to the people, that his abdication was +not only a free, but most deliberate and premeditated act? He was led to +this last avowal, probably, by the desire of covering over the +mortification of his defeat; a thin varnish, which could impose on nobody. +The whole of the proceedings are of so ambiguous a character as to suggest +the inevitable inference, that they flowed from habits of dissimulation +too strong to be controlled, even when there was no occasion for its +exercise. We occasionally meet with examples of a similar fondness for +superfluous manoeuvring in the humbler concerns of private life. + +After these events, one more interview took place between King Ferdinand +and Philip, in which the former prevailed on his son-in-law to pay such +attention to decorum, and exhibit such outward marks of a cordial +reconciliation, as, if they did not altogether impose on the public, might +at least throw a decent veil over the coming separation. Even at this last +meeting, however, such was the distrust and apprehension entertained of +him, that the unhappy father was not permitted to see and embrace his +daughter before his departure. [54] + +Throughout the whole of these trying scenes, says his biographer, the king +maintained that propriety and entire self-possession, which comported with +the dignity of his station and character, and strikingly contrasted with +the conduct of his enemies. However much he may have been touched with the +desertion of a people, who had enjoyed the blessings of peace and security +under his government for more than thirty years, he manifested no outward +sign of discontent. On the contrary, he took leave of the assembled +grandees with many expressions of regard, noticing kindly their past +services to him, and studying to leave such an impression, as should +efface the recollection of recent differences. [55] The circumspect +monarch looked forward, no doubt, to the day of his return. The event did +not seem very improbable; and there were other sagacious persons besides +himself, who read in the dark signs of the times abundant augury of some +speedy revolution. [56] + + * * * * * + +The principal authorities for the events in this Chapter, as the reader +may remark, are Martyr and Zurita. The former, not merely a spectator, but +actor in them, had undoubtedly the most intimate opportunities of +observation. He seems to have been sufficiently impartial too, and prompt +to do justice to what was really good in Philip's character; although that +of his royal master was of course calculated to impress the deepest +respect on a person of Martyr's uncommon penetration and sagacity. The +Aragonese chronicler, however, though removed to a somewhat further +distance as to time, was from that circumstance placed in a point of view +more favorable for embracing the whole field of action, than if he had +taken part and jostled in the crowd, as one of it. He has accordingly +given much wider scope to his survey, exhibiting full details of the +alleged grievances, pretensions, and policy of the opposite party; and, +although condemning them himself without reserve, has conveyed impressions +of Ferdinand's conduct less favorable, on the whole, than Martyr. + +But neither the Aragonese historian, nor Martyr, nor any contemporary +writer, native or foreign, whom I have consulted, countenances the +extremely unfavorable portrait which Dr. Robertson has given of Ferdinand +in his transactions with Philip. It is difficult to account for the bias +which this eminent historian's mind has received in this matter, unless it +be that he has taken his impressions from the popular notions entertained +of the character of the parties, rather than from the circumstances of the +particular case under review; a mode of proceeding extremely objectionable +in the present instance, where Philip, however good his natural qualities, +was obviously a mere tool in the hands of corrupt and artful men, working +exclusively for their own selfish purposes. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 52.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. +279.--Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. lib. 20, cap. 1.--Carbajal, Anales, +MS., año 1504.--Sandoval, Hist. del Emp. Carlos V., tom. i. p. 9. + +"Sapientiae alii," says Martyr, in allusion to those prompt proceedings, +"et summae bonitati adscribunt; alii, rem novam admirati, regem incusant, +remque arguunt non debuisse fieri." Ubi supra. + +[2] Philip's name was omitted, as being a foreigner, until he should have +taken the customary oath to respect the laws of the realm, and especially +to confer office on none but native Castilians. Zurita, Anales, tom. v. +lib. 5, cap. 84. + +[3] The maternal tenderness and delicacy, which had led Isabella to allude +to her daughter's infirmity only in very general terms, are well remarked +by the cortes. See the copy of the original act in Zurita, tom. vi. lib. +6, cap. 4. + +[4] Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 15, sec. 2.--Zurita, +Anales, tom. vi. lib. 6, cap. 3.--Marina, Teoría, part. 2, cap. 4.-- +Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. lib. 28, cap. 12.--Sandoval, Hist. del +Emp. Carlos V., tom. i. p. 9. + +[5] Siete Partidas, part. 2, tit. 15, ley 3. + +Guicciardini, with the ignorance of the Spanish constitution natural +enough in a foreigner, disputes the queen's right to make any such +settlement. Istoria, lib. 7. + +[6] See the whole subject of the powers of cortes in this particular, as +discussed very fully and satisfactorily by Marina, Teoría, part. 2, cap +13. + +[7] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 203.--Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, +tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 15, sec. 3.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 274, +277. + +[8] Zurita's assertion, that all the nobility present did homage to +Ferdinand, (Anales, tom. vi. cap. 3,) would seem to be contradicted by a +subsequent passage. Comp. cap. 4. + +[9] Isabella in her will particularly enjoins on her successors never to +alienate or to restore the crown lands recovered from the marquisate of +Villena. Dormer, Discursos Varios, p. 331. + +[10] "Nor was it sufficient," says Dr. Robertson, in allusion to Philip's +pretensions to the government, "to oppose to these just rights, and to the +inclination of the people of Castile, the authority of a testament, _the +genuineness of which was perhaps doubtful_, and its contents to him +appeared certainly to be iniquitous." (History of the Reign of the Emperor +Charles V., (London, 1796,) vol. ii. p. 7.) But who ever intimated a doubt +of its genuineness, before Dr. Robertson? Certainly no one living at that +time; for the will was produced before cortes, by the royal secretary, in +the session immediately following the queen's death; and Zurita has +preserved the address of that body, commenting on the part of its contents +relating to the succession. (Anales, tom. vi. cap. 4.) Dr. Carbajal, a +member of the royal council, and who was present, as he expressly +declares, at the approval of the testament, "a cuyo otorgamiento y aun +ordenacion me hallé," has transcribed the whole of the document in his +Annals, with the signatures of the notary and the seven distinguished +persons who witnessed its execution. Dormer, the national historiographer +of Aragon, has published the instrument with the same minuteness in his +"Discursos Varios," "from authentic MSS. in his possession," "escrituras +auténticas en mi poder." Where the original is now to be found, or whether +it be in existence, I have no knowledge. The codicil, as we have seen, +with the queen's signature, is still extant in the Royal Library at +Madrid. + +[12] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 282.--Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. +6, cap. 1.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 53.--Mariana, Hist. de España, +tom. ii. lib. 28, cap. 12. + +[13] "Existimantes," says Giovio, "sub florentissimo juvene rege aliquanto +liberius atque licentius ipsorum potentiâ fruituros, quam sub austero et +parum liberali, ut aiebant, _sene Catalano_." Vitae Illust. Virorum, p. +277. + +[14] "Rex quaecunque versant atque ordiuntur, sentit, dissimulat et animos +omnium tacitus scrutatur." Opus Epist., epist. 289. + +[15] Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 15, sec. 4.--Lanuza, +Historias, tom. i. lib. 1, cap. 18.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. +286.--Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 6, cap. 8.--Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., +bat. 1, quinc. 3, dial. 9.--Oviedo had the story from Conchillos's +brother. + +[16] Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, pp. 275-277.--Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. +lib. 6, cap. 5, 11.--Ulloa, Vita de Carlo V., fol. 25.--Abarca, Reyes de +Aragon, tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 15, sec. 3. + +[17] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 290.--Buonaccorsi, Diario, p. 94. + +[18] The vice-chancellor Alonso de la Caballería, prepared an elaborate +argument in support of Ferdinand's pretensions to the regal authority and +title, less as husband of the late queen, than as the lawful guardian and +administrator of his daughter. See Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. cap. 14. + +[19] Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 6, cap. 5, 15.--Lanuza, Historias, tom. +i. lib. 1, cap. 18. + +[20] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 291. + +[21] Robertson speaks with confidence of Ferdinand's intention to "oppose +Philip's landing by force of arms," (History of Charles V., vol. ii. p. +13,) an imputation, which has brought a heavy judgment on the historian's +head from the clever author of the "History of Spain and Portugal." +(Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopaedia.) "All this," says the latter, "is at +variance with both truth and probability; nor does Ferreras, the only +authority cited for this unjust declamation, afford the slightest ground +for it." (Vol. ii. p. 286, note.) Nevertheless, this is so stated by +Ferreras, (Hist. d'Espagne, tom. viii. p. 282,) who is supported by +Mariana, (Hist. de España, tom. ii. lib. 28, cap. 16,) and, in the most +unequivocal manner, by Zurita, (Anales, tom. vi. lib. 6, cap. 21,) a much +higher authority than either. Martyr, it is true, whom Dr. Dunham does not +appear to have consulted on this occasion, declares that the king had no +design of resorting to force. See Opus Epist., epist. 291, 305. + +[22] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 202.--Carbajal, Anales, MS., +año 1505. + +[23] Before venturing on this step, it was currently reported, that +Ferdinand had offered his hand, though unsuccessfully, to Joanna +Beltraneja, Isabella's unfortunate competitor for the crown of Castile, +who still survived in Portugal. (Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 6, cap. +14.--Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. vi. lib. 28, cap. 13.--et al.) The +report originated, doubtless, in the malice of the Castilian nobles, who +wished in this way to discredit the king still more with the people. It +received, perhaps, some degree of credit from a silly story, in +circulation, of a testament of Henry IV. having lately come into +Ferdinand's possession, avowing Joanna to be his legitimate daughter. See +Carbajal, (Anales, MS., año 1474,) the only authority for this last rumor. + +Robertson has given an incautious credence to the first story, which has +brought Dr. Dunham's iron flail somewhat unmercifully on his shoulders +again; yet his easy faith in the matter may find some palliation, at least +sufficient to screen him from the charge of wilful misstatement, in the +fact, that Clemencin, a native historian, and a most patient and fair +inquirer after truth, has come to the same conclusion. (Mem. de la Acad. +de Hist., tom. vi. Ilust. 19.) Both writers rely on the authority of +Sandoval, an historian of the latter half of the sixteenth century, whose +naked assertion cannot be permitted to counterbalance the strong testimony +afforded by the silence of contemporaries and the general discredit of +succeeding writers. (Hist. del Emp. Carlos V., tom. i. p. 10.) + +Sismondi, not content with this first offer of King Ferdinand, makes him +afterwards propose for a daughter of King Emanuel, or in other words, his +own granddaughter! Hist. des Français, tom. xv. chap. 30. + +[24] Fleurange, Mémoires, chap. 15.--Seyssel, Hist. de Louys XII., pp. +223-229. + +[25] Aleson, Annales de Navarra, tom. v. lib. 35, cap. 7, sec. 4.--Gomez, +De Rebus Gestis, fol. 58.--Salazar de Mendoza, Monarquía, tom. i. p. 410. + +"Laquelle," says Fleurange, who had doubtless often seen the princess, +"étoit bonne et fort belle princesse, du moins elle n'avoit point perdu +son embonpoint." (Mémoires, chap. 19.) It would be strange if she had at +the age of eighteen. Varillas gets over the discrepancy of age between the +parties very well, by making Ferdinand's at this time only thirty-seven +years! Hist. de Louis XII., tom. i. p. 457. + +[26] Dumont, Corps Diplomatique, tom. iv. no 40, pp. 72-74. + +[27] These dependencies did not embrace, however, the half of Granada and +the West Indies, as supposed by Mons. Gaillard, who gravely assures us, +that "Les états conquis par Ferdinand étoient conquêtes de communauté, +dont la moitié appartenoit au mari, et la moitié aux enfans." (Rivalité, +tom. iv. p. 306.) Such are the gross misconceptions of fact, on which this +writer's _speculations_ rest! + +[28] Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 6, cap. 19.--Mariana, Hist. de España, +tom. ii. lib. 28, cap. 16. + +[29] Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 15, sec. 8.--Zurita, +Anales, tom. vi. lib. 6, cap. 21.--Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 7. + +He received much more unequivocal intimation in a letter from Ferdinand, +curious as showing that the latter sensibly felt the nature and extent of +the sacrifices he was making. "You," says he to Philip, "by lending +yourself to be the easy dupe of France, have driven me most reluctantly +into a second marriage; have stripped me of the fair fruits of my +Neapolitan conquests," etc. He concludes with this appeal to him. "Sit +satis, fili, pervagatum; redi in te, si filius, non hostis accesseris; his +non obstantibus, mi filius, amplexabere. Magna est paternae vis naturae." +Philip may have thought his father-in-law's late conduct an indifferent +commentary on the "paternae vis naturae." See the king's letter quoted by +Peter Martyr in his correspondence with the count of Tendilla. Opus +Epist., epist 293. + +[30] Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1506.--Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 6, +cap. 23.--Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. lib. 28, cap, 16.--Peter +Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 292.--Zurita has transcribed the whole of this +dutiful and most loving epistle. Ubi supra. + +Guicciardini considers Philip as only practising the lessons he had +learned in Spain, "le arti Spagnuole." (Istoria, lib. 7.) The phrase would +seem to have been proverbial with the Italians, like the "Punica fides," +which their Roman ancestors fastened on the character of their African +enemy;--perhaps with equal justice. + +[31] Joanna, according to Sandoval, displayed much composure in her +alarming situation. When informed by Philip of their danger, she attired +herself in her richest dress, securing a considerable sum of money to her +person, that her body, if found, might be recognized, and receive the +obsequies suited to her rank. Hist. del Emp. Carlos V., tom. i. p. 10. + +[32] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 204--Carbajal, Anales, MS., año +1506.--St. Gelais, Hist. de Louys XII., p. 186.--Bacon, Hist. of Henry +VII., Works, vol. v. pp. 177-179.--Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 7.--Rymer, +Foedera, tom. xiii. pp. 123-132. + +One was a commercial treaty with Flanders, so disastrous as to be known in +that country by the name of "malus intercursus;" the other involved the +surrender of the unfortunate duke of Suffolk. + +[33] Bacon, Hist. of Henry VII., Works, vol. v. p. 179. + +[34] Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 2, dial. 36.--Mémoires de +Bayard, chap. 26. + +[35] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 300.--Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., +bat. 1, quinc. 2, dial. 36.--Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1506.--Bernaldez, +Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 203. + +"_Some affirmed_," says Zurita, "that Isabella, before appointing her +husband to the regency, exacted an oath from him, that he would not marry +a second time." (Anales, tom. v. lib. 5, cap. 84.) This improbable story, +so inconsistent with the queen's character, has been transcribed with more +or less qualification by succeeding historians from Mariana to Quintana. +Robertson repeats it without any qualification at all. See History of +Charles V., vol. ii. p. 6. + +[36] "Quisque enim in spes suas pronus et expeditus, commodo serviendum," +says Giovio, borrowing the familiar metaphor, "et orientem solem potius +quam occidentem adorandum esse dictitabat." Vitae Illust. Virorum, p. 278. + +[37] Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 6, cap. 29, 30.--Gomez, De Rebus +Gestis, fol. 57.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 204.--Peter +Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 304, 305.--Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1506.-- +Sandoval, Hist. del Emp. Carlos V., tom. i. p. 10. + +[38] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 306, 308, 309.--Gomez, De Rebus +Gestis, fol. 59.--Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, p. 278. + +[39] "Nil benignius Philippo in terris, nullus inter orbis principes +animosior, inter juvenes pulchrior," etc. (Opus Epist., epist. 285.) In a +subsequent letter he thus describes the unhappy predicament of the young +prince; "Nescit hic juvenis, nescit quo se vertat, hinc avaris, illinc +ambitiosis, atque utrimque vafris hominibus circumseptus alienigena, bonae +naturae, apertique animi. Trahetur in diversa, perturbabitur ipse atque +obtundetur. Omnia confundentur. Utinam vana praedicem!" Epist. 308. + +[40] Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 7, cap. 2. + +[41] Opus Epist., epist. 308. + +[42] + "Ipsae amicos res optimae pariunt, adversae probant." + Pub. Syrus. + +[43] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 306, 311.--Robles, Vida de Ximenez, +p. 143.--Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. lib. 28, cap. 19.--Lanuza, +Historias, tom. i. lib. 1, cap. 19.--Sandoval, Hist. del Emp. Carlos V., +tom. i. p. 10. + +[44] The only pretext for all this pomp of war was the rumor, that the +king was levying a considerable force, and the duke of Alva mustering his +followers in Leon;--rumors willingly circulated, no doubt, if not a sheer +device of the enemy. Zurita, Anales, lib. 7, cap. 2. + +[45] "Durior Caucasiâ rupe, paternum nihil auscultavit." Opus Epist., +epist. 310. + +[46] Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 3, dial. 43.--Robles, Vida +de Ximenez, pp. 146-149.--Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. lib. 28, cap. +20.---Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 7, cap. 5.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, +fol. 61, 62.--Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 15.-- +Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1506.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS, cap. +204. + +[47] Lord Bacon remarks, in allusion to Philip's premature death, "There +was an observation by the wisest of that court, that, if he had lived, his +father would have gained upon him in that sort, as he would have governed +his councils and designs, if not his affections." (Hist. of Henry VII., +Works, vol. v. p. 180.) The prediction must have been suggested by the +general estimation of their respective characters; for the parties never +met again after Ferdinand withdrew to Aragon. + +[48] Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 7, cap. 8. + +[49] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 204.--Carbajal, Anales, MS., +año 1506.--Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 7, cap. 7.--Peter Martyr, Opus +Epist., epist. 210. + +[50] Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 7, cap. 8. + +[51] Zurita, Anales, ubi supra. + +[52] Idem, ubi supra. + +Ferdinand's manifesto, as well as the instrument declaring his daughter's +incapacity, are given at length by Zurita. The secret protest rests on the +unsupported authority of the historian; and surely a better authority +cannot easily be found, considering his proximity to the period, his +resources as national historiographer, and the extreme caution and candor +with which he discriminates between fact and rumor. It is very remarkable, +however, that Peter Martyr, with every opportunity for information, as a +member of the royal household, apparently high in the king's confidence, +should have made no allusion to this secret protest in his correspondence +with Tendilla and Talavera, both attached to the royal party, and to whom +he appears to have communicated all matters of interest without reserve. + +[53] This motive is charitably imputed to him by Gaillard. (Rivalité, tom. +iv. p. 311.) The same writer commends Ferdinand's _habilité_, in +extricating himself from his embarrassments by the treaty, "auquel _il +fit consentir_ Philippe dans leur entrevue"! p. 310. + +[54] Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 7, cap. 10.--Mariana, Hist. de España, +tom. ii. lib. 28, cap. 21.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 64.--Peter +Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 210. + +[55] Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 7, cap. 10.--Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., +bat. 1. quinc. 3, dial. 9. + +[56] Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 7, cap. 10.--See also the melancholy +vaticinations of Martyr, (Opus Epist., epist. 311,) who seems to echo back +the sentiments of his friends Tendilla and Talavera. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +COLUMBUS.--HIS RETURN TO SPAIN.--HIS DEATH. + +1504-1506. + +Return of Columbus from his Fourth Voyage.--His Illness.--Neglected by +Ferdinand.--His Death.--His Person.--And Character. + + +While the events were passing, which occupy the beginning of the preceding +chapter, Christopher Columbus returned from his fourth and last voyage. It +had been one unbroken series of disappointment and disaster. After +quitting Hispaniola, and being driven by storms nearly to the island of +Cuba, he traversed the Gulf of Honduras, and coasted along the margin of +the golden region, which had so long flitted before his fancy. The natives +invited him to strike into its western depths in vain, and he pressed +forward to the south, now solely occupied with the grand object of +discovering a passage into the Indian Ocean. At length, after having with +great difficulty advanced somewhat beyond the point of Nombre de Dios, he +was compelled by the fury of the elements, and the murmurs of his men, to +abandon the enterprise, and retrace his steps. He was subsequently +defeated in an attempt to establish a colony on terra firma, by the +ferocity of the natives; was wrecked on the island of Jamaica, where he +was permitted to linger more than a year, through the malice of Ovando, +the new governor of St. Domingo; and finally, having re-embarked with his +shattered crew in a vessel freighted at at his own expense, was driven by +a succession of terrible tempests across the ocean, until, on the 7th of +November, 1504, he anchored in the little port of St. Lucar, twelve +leagues from Seville. [1] + +In this quiet haven, Columbus hoped to find the repose his broken +constitution and wounded spirit so much needed, and to obtain a speedy +restitution of his honors and emoluments from the hand of Isabella. But +here he was to experience his bitterest disappointment. At the time of his +arrival, the queen was on her death-bed; and in a very few days Columbus +received the afflicting intelligence, that the friend, on whose steady +support he had so confidently relied, was no more. It was a heavy blow to +his hopes, for "he had always experienced favor and protection from her," +says his son Ferdinand, "while the king had not only been indifferent, but +positively unfriendly to his interests." [2] We may readily credit, that a +man of the cold and prudent character of the Spanish monarch would not be +very likely to comprehend one so ardent and aspiring as that of Columbus, +nor to make allowance for his extravagant sallies. And, if nothing has +hitherto met our eye to warrant the strong language of the son, yet we +have seen that the king, from the first, distrusted the admiral's +projects, as having something unsound and chimerical in them. + +The affliction of the latter at the tidings of Isabella's death is +strongly depicted in a letter written immediately after to his son Diego. +"It is our chief duty," he says, "to commend to God most affectionately +and devoutly the soul of our deceased lady, the queen. Her life was always +Catholic and virtuous, and prompt to whatever could redound to His holy +service; wherefore, we may trust, she now rests in glory, far from all +concern for this rough and weary world." [3] + +Columbus, at this time, was so much crippled by the gout, to which he had +been long subject, that he was unable to undertake a journey to Segovia, +where the court was, during the winter. He lost no time, however, in +laying his situation before the king through his son Diego, who was +attached to the royal household. He urged his past services, the original +terms of the capitulation made with him, their infringement in almost +every particular, and his own necessitous condition. But Ferdinand was too +busily occupied with his own concerns, at this crisis, to give much heed +to those of Columbus, who repeatedly complains of the inattention shown to +his application. [4] At length, on the approach of a milder season, the +admiral, having obtained a dispensation in his favor from the ordinance +prohibiting the use of mules, was able by easy journeys to reach Segovia, +and present himself before the monarch. [5] + +He was received with all the outward marks of courtesy and regard by +Ferdinand, who assured him that "he fully estimated his important +services, and, far from stinting his recompense to the precise terms of +the capitulation, intended to confer more ample favors on him in Castile." +[6] + +These fair words, however, were not seconded by actions. The king probably +had no serious thoughts of reinstating the admiral in his government. His +successor, Ovando, was high in the royal favor. His rule, however +objectionable as regards the Indians, was every way acceptable to the +Spanish colonists; [7] and even his oppression of the poor natives was so +far favorable to his cause, that it enabled him to pour much larger sums +into the royal coffers, than had been gleaned by his more humane +predecessor. [8] + +The events of the last voyage, moreover, had probably not tended to dispel +any distrust, which the king previously entertained of the admiral's +capacity for government. His men had been in a state of perpetual +insubordination; while his letter to the sovereigns, written under +distressing circumstances, indeed, from Jamaica, exhibited such a deep +coloring of despondency, and occasionally such wild and visionary +projects, as might almost suggest the suspicion of a temporary alienation +of mind. [9] + +But whatever reasons may have operated to postpone Columbus's restoration +to power, it was the grossest injustice to withhold from him the revenues +secured by the original contract with the crown. According to his own +statement, he was so far from receiving his share of the remittances made +by Ovando, that he was obliged to borrow money, and had actually incurred +a heavy debt for his necessary expenses. [10] The truth was, that, as the +resources of the new countries began to develop themselves more +abundantly, Ferdinand felt greater reluctance to comply with the letter of +the original capitulation; he now considered the compensation as too vast +and altogether disproportioned to the services of any subject; and at +length was so ungenerous as to propose that the admiral should relinquish +his claims, in consideration of other estates and dignities to be assigned +him in Castile. [11] It argued less knowledge of character, than the king +usually showed, that he should have thought the man, who had broken off +all negotiations on the threshold of a dubious enterprise, rather than +abate one tittle of his demands, would consent to such abatement when the +success of that enterprise was so gloriously established. + +What assistance Columbus actually received from the crown at this time, or +whether he received any, does not appear. He continued to reside with the +court, and accompanied it in its removal to Valladolid. He no doubt +enjoyed the public consideration due to his high repute and extraordinary +achievements; though by the monarch he might be regarded in the unwelcome +light of a creditor, whose claims were too just to be disavowed, and too +large to be satisfied. + +With spirits broken by this unthankful requital of his services, and with +a constitution impaired by a life of unmitigated hardship, Columbus's +health now rapidly sunk under the severe and reiterated attacks of his +disorder. On the arrival of Philip and Joanna, he addressed a letter to +them, through his brother Bartholomew, in which he lamented the +infirmities which prevented him from paying his respects in person, and +made a tender of his future services. The communication was graciously +received, but Columbus did not survive to behold the young sovereigns. +[12] + +His mental vigor, however, was not impaired by the ravages of disease, and +on the 19th of May, 1506, he executed a codicil, confirming certain +testamentary dispositions formerly made, with special reference to the +entail of his estates and dignities, manifesting, in his latest act, the +same solicitude he had shown through life, to perpetuate an honorable +name. Having completed these arrangements with perfect composure, he +expired on the following day, being that of our Lord's ascension, with +little apparent suffering, and in the most Christian spirit of +resignation. [13] His remains, first deposited in the convent of St. +Francis at Valladolid, were, six years later, removed to the Carthusian +monastery of Las Cuevas at Seville, where a costly monument was raised +over them by King Ferdinand, with the memorable inscription, + + "A Castilla y á Leon + Nuevo mundo dió Colon;" + +"the like of which," says his son Ferdinand, with as much truth as +simplicity, "was never recorded of any man in ancient or modern times." +[14] From this spot his body was transported, in the year 1536, to the +island of St. Domingo, the proper theatre of his discoveries; and, on the +cession of that island to the French, in 1795, was again removed to Cuba, +where his ashes now quietly repose in the cathedral church of its capital. +[15] + +There is considerable uncertainty as to Columbus's age, though it seems +probable it was not far from seventy at the time of his death. [16] His +person has been minutely described by his son. He was tall and well made, +his head large, with an aquiline nose, small light-blue or grayish eyes, a +fresh complexion and red hair, though incessant toil and exposure had +bronzed the former, and bleached the latter, before the age of thirty. He +had a majestic presence, with much dignity, and at the same time +affability of manner. He was fluent, even eloquent in discourse; generally +temperate in deportment, but sometimes hurried by a too lively sensibility +into a sally of passion. [17] He was abstemious in his diet, indulged +little in amusements of any kind, and, in truth, seemed too much absorbed +by the great cause to which he had consecrated his life, to allow scope +for the lower pursuits and pleasures, which engage ordinary men. Indeed, +his imagination, by feeding too exclusively on this lofty theme, acquired +an unnatural exaltation, which raised him too much above the sober +realities of existence, leading him to spurn at difficulties, which in the +end proved insurmountable, and to color the future with those rainbow +tints, which too often melted into air. + +This exalted state of the imagination was the result in part, no doubt, of +the peculiar circumstances of his life. For the glorious enterprise which +he had achieved almost justified the conviction of his acting under the +influence of some higher inspiration than mere human reason, and led his +devout mind to discern intimations respecting himself in the dark and +mysterious annunciations of sacred prophecy. [18] + +That the romantic coloring of his mind, however, was natural to him, and +not purely the growth of circumstances, is evident from the chimerical +speculations, in which he seriously indulged before the accomplishment of +his great discoveries. His scheme of a crusade for the recovery of the +Holy Sepulchre was most deliberately meditated, and strenuously avowed +from the very first date of his proposals to the Spanish government. His +enthusiastic communications on the subject must have provoked a smile from +a pontiff like Alexander the Sixth; [19] and may suggest some apology for +the tardiness, with which his more rational projects were accredited by +the Castilian government. But these visionary fancies never clouded his +judgment in matters relating to his great undertaking; and it is curious +to observe the prophetic accuracy, with which he discerned, not only the +existence, but the eventual resources of the western world; as is +sufficiently evinced by his precautions, to the very last, to secure the +full fruits of them, unimpaired, to his posterity. + +Whatever were the defects of his mental constitution, the finger of the +historian will find it difficult to point to a single blemish in his moral +character. His correspondence breathes the sentiment of devoted loyalty to +his sovereigns. His conduct habitually displayed the utmost solicitude for +the interests of his followers. He expended almost his last maravedi in +restoring his unfortunate crew to their native land. His dealings were +regulated by the nicest principles of honor and justice. His last +communication to the sovereigns from the Indies remonstrates against the +use of violent measures in order to extract gold from the natives, as a +thing equally scandalous and impolitic. [20] The grand object to which he +dedicated himself seemed to expand his whole soul, and raised it above the +petty shifts and artifices, by which great ends are sometimes sought to be +compassed. There are some men, in whom rare virtues have been closely +allied, if not to positive vice, to degrading weakness. Columbus's +character presented no such humiliating incongruity. Whether we +contemplate it in its public or private relations, in all its features it +wears the same noble aspect. It was in perfect harmony with the grandeur +of his plans, and their results, more stupendous than those which Heaven +has permitted any other mortal to achieve. [21] + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] Martyr, De Rebus Oceanicis, dec. 3, lib. 4.--Benzoni, Novi Orbis +Hist., lib. 1, cap. 14.--Fernando Colon, Hist. del Almirante, cap. 88- +108.--Herrera, Indias Occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 5, cap. 2-12; lib. 6, +cap. 1-13.--Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. i. pp. 282-325. + +The best authorities for the fourth voyage are the relations of Mendez and +Porras, both engaged in it; and above all the admiral's own letter to the +sovereigns from Jamaica. They are all collected in the first volume of +Navarrete. (Ubi supra.) Whatever cloud may be thrown over the early part +of Columbus's career, there is abundant light on every step of his path +after the commencement of his great enterprise. + +[2] Hist. del Almirante, cap. 108. + +[3] Cartas de Colon, apud Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. i. p. 341. + +[4] See his interesting correspondence with his son Diego; now printed for +the first time by Señor Navarrete from the original MSS. in the duke of +Veragua's possession. Coleccion de Viages, tom. i. p. 338 et seq. + +[5] Herrera, Indias Occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 6, cap. 14.--Fernando +Colon, Hist. del Almirante, cap. 108. + +For an account of this ordinance see Part II. Chapter 3, note 12, of this +History. + +[6] Herrera, Indias Occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 6, cap. 14. + +[7] Ibid., dec. 1, lib. 5, cap. 12. + +[8] Ibid., dec. 1, lib. 5, cap. 12; lib. 6, cap. 16-18.--Garibay, +Compendio, tom. ii. lib. 19, cap. 14. + +[9] This document exhibits a medley, in which sober narrative and sound +reasoning are strangely blended with crazy dreams, doleful lamentation, +and wild schemes for the recovery of Jerusalem, the conversion of the +Grand Khan, etc. Vagaries like these, which come occasionally like clouds +over his soul, to shut out the light of reason, cannot fail to fill the +mind of the reader, as they doubtless did those of the sovereigns at the +time, with mingled sentiments of wonder and compassion. See Cartas de +Colon, apud Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. i. p. 296. + +[10] Ibid., p. 338. + +[11] Fernando Colon, Hist. del Almirante, cap. 108.--Herrera, Indias +Occidentales, lib. 6, cap. 14. + +[12] Navarrete has given the letter, Coleccion de Viages, tom. iii. p. +530.--Herrera, Indias Occidentales, ubi supra. + +[13] Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, p. 429.--Fernando Colon, Hist. del +Almirante, cap. 108.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 131.-- +Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom, ii., Doc. Dipl., 158. + +[14] Hist. del Almirante, ubi supra. + +The following eulogium of Paolo Giovio is a pleasing tribute to the +deserts of the great navigator, showing the high estimation in which he +was held, abroad as well as at home, by the enlightened of his own day. +"Incomparabilis Liguribus honos, eximium Italiae decus, et praefulgidum +jubar seculo nostro nasceretur, quod priscorum heroum, Herculis, et Liberi +patris famam obscuraret. Quorum memoriam grata olim mortalitas aeternis +literarum monumentis coelo consecrarit." Elogia Virorum Illust., lib. 4, +p. 123. + +[15] Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. ii., Doc. Dipl., 177. + +On the left of the grand altar of this stately edifice, is a bust of +Columbus, placed in a niche in the wall, and near it a silver urn, +containing all that now remains of the illustrious voyager. See Abbot's +"Letters from Cuba," a work of much interest and information, with the +requisite allowance for the inaccuracies of a posthumous publication. + +[16] The various theories respecting the date of Columbus's birth cover a +range of twenty years, from 1436 to 1456. There are sturdy objections to +either of the hypotheses; and the historian will find it easier to cut the +knot than to unravel it. Comp. Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. i. +Intr., sec. 54.--Muñoz, Hist. del Nuevo-Mundo, lib. 2, sec. 12.--Spotorno, +Memorials of Columbus, pp. 12, 25.--Irving, Life of Columbus, vol. iv. +book 18, chap. 4. + +[17] Fernando Colon, Hist. del Almirante, cap. 3.--Novi Orbis Hist., lib. +1, cap. 14.--Herrera, Indias Occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 6, cap. 15. + +[18] See the extracts from Columbus's book of Prophecies, (apud Navarrete, +Coleccion de Viages, tom, ii., Doc. Dipl., no. 140,) as still existing in +the Bibliotheca Colombina at Seville. + +[19] See his epistle to the most selfish and sensual of the successors of +St. Peter, in Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom, ii., Doc. Dipl., no. +145. + +[20] "El oro, bien que segun informacion el sea mucho, no me paresció bien +ni servicio de vuestras Altezas de se le tomar por via de robo. La buena +orden evitará escándolo y mala fama," etc. Cartas de Colon, apud +Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. i. p. 310. + +[21] Columbus left two sons, Fernando and Diego. The former, illegitimate, +inherited his father's genius, says a Castilian writer, and the latter, +his honors and estates. (Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, año 1506.) Fernando, +besides other works now lost, left a valuable memoir of his father, often +cited in this history. He was a person of rather uncommon literary +attainments, and amassed a library, in his extensive travels, of 20,000 +volumes, perhaps the largest private collection in Europe at that day. +(Ibid., año 1539.) Diego did not succeed to his father's dignities, till +he had obtained a judgment in his favor against the crown from the Council +of the Indies, an act highly honorable to that tribunal, and showing that +the independence of the courts of justice, the greatest bulwark of civil +liberty, was well maintained under King Ferdinand. (Navarrete, Coleccion +de Viages, tom. ii., Doc. Dipl., nos. 163, 164; tom. iii., Supl. Col. +Dipl., no. 69.) The young _admiral_ subsequently married a lady of the +great Toledo family, niece of the duke of Alva. (Oviedo, Quincuagenas, +MS., bat. 1, quinc. 2, dial. 8.) This alliance with one of the most +ancient branches of the haughty aristocracy of Castile, proves the +extraordinary consideration, which Columbus must have attained during his +own lifetime. A new opposition was made by Charles V. to the succession of +Diego's son; and the latter, discouraged by the prospect of this +interminable litigation with the crown, prudently consented to commute his +claims, too vast and indefinite for any subject to enforce, for specific +honors and revenues in Castile. The titles of Duke of Veragua and Marquis +of Jamaica, derived from the places visited by the admiral in his last +voyage, still distinguish the family, whose proudest title, above all that +monarchs can confer, is, to have descended from Columbus. Spotorno, +Memorials of Columbus, p. 123. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +REIGN AND DEATH OF PHILIP I.--PROCEEDINGS IN CASTILE.--FERDINAND VISITS +NAPLES. + +1506. + +Philip and Joanna.--Their Reckless Administration.--Ferdinand Distrusts +Gonsalvo.--He Sails for Naples.--Philip's Death and Character.--The +Provisional Government.--Joanna's Condition.--Ferdinand's Entry into +Naples.--Discontent Caused by his Measures there. + + +King Ferdinand had no sooner concluded the arrangement with Philip, and +withdrawn into his hereditary dominions, than the archduke and his wife +proceeded towards Valladolid, to receive the homage of the estates +convened in that city. Joanna, oppressed with an habitual melancholy, and +clad in the sable habiliments better suited to a season of mourning than +rejoicing, refused the splendid ceremonial and festivities, with which the +city was prepared to welcome her. Her dissipated husband, who had long +since ceased to treat her not merely with affection, but even decency, +would fain have persuaded the cortes to authorize the confinement of his +wife, as disordered in intellect, and to devolve on him the whole charge +of the government. In this he was supported by the archbishop of Toledo, +and some of the principal nobility. But the thing was distasteful to the +commons, who could not brook such an indignity to their own "natural +sovereign;" and they were so stanchly supported by the admiral Enriquez, a +grandee of the highest authority from his connection with the crown, that +Philip was at length induced to abandon his purpose, and to content +himself with an act of recognition similar to that made at Toro. [1] No +notice whatever was taken of the Catholic king, or of his recent +arrangement transferring the regency to Philip. The usual oaths of +allegiance were tendered to Joanna as queen and lady proprietor of the +kingdom, and to Philip as her husband, and finally to their eldest son, +prince Charles, as heir apparent and lawful successor on the demise of his +mother. [2] + +By the tenor of these acts the royal authority would seem to be virtually +vested in Joanna. From this moment, however, Philip assumed the government +into his own hands. The effects were soon visible in the thorough +revolution introduced into every department. Old incumbents in office were +ejected without ceremony, to make way for new favorites. The Flemings, in +particular, were placed in every considerable post, and the principal +fortresses of the kingdom intrusted to their keeping. No length or degree +of service was allowed to plead in behalf of the ancient occupant. The +marquis and marchioness of Moya, the personal friends of the late queen, +and who had been particularly recommended by her to her daughter's favor, +were forcibly expelled from Segovia, whose strong citadel was given to Don +Juan Manuel. There were no limits to the estates and honors lavished on +this crafty minion. [3] + +The style of living at the court was on the most thoughtless scale of +wasteful expenditure. The public revenues, notwithstanding liberal +appropriations by the late cortes, were wholly unequal to it. To supply +the deficit, offices were sold to the highest bidder. The income drawn +from the silk manufactures of Granada, which had been appropriated to +defray King Ferdinand's pension, was assigned by Philip to one of the +royal treasurers. Fortunately, Ximenes obtained possession of the order +and had the boldness to tear it in pieces. He then waited on the young +monarch and remonstrated with him on the recklessness of measures which +must infallibly ruin his credit with the people. Philip yielded in this +instance; but, although he treated the archbishop with the greatest +outward deference, it is not easy to discern the habitual influence over +his counsels claimed for the prelate by his adulatory biographers. [4] + +All this could not fail to excite disgust and disquietude throughout the +nation. The most alarming symptoms of insubordination began to appear in +different parts of the kingdom. In Andalusia, in particular, a +confederation of the nobles was organized, with the avowed purpose of +rescuing the queen from the duress, in which it was said she was held by +her husband. At the same time the most tumultuous scenes were exhibited in +Cordova, in consequence of the high hand with which the Inquisition was +carrying matters there. Members of many of the principal families, +including persons of both sexes, had been arrested on the charge of +heresy. This sweeping proscription provoked an insurrection, countenanced +by the marquis of Priego, in which the prisons were broken open, and +Lucero, an inquisitor who had made himself deservedly odious by his +cruelties, narrowly escaped falling into the hands of the infuriated +populace. [5] The grand inquisitor, Deza, archbishop of Seville, the +steady friend of Columbus, but whose name is unhappily registered on some +of the darkest pages of the tribunal, was so intimidated as to resign his +office. [6] The whole affair was referred to the royal council by Philip, +whose Flemish education had not predisposed him to any reverence for the +institution; a circumstance, which operated quite as much to his +prejudice, with the more bigoted part of the nation, as his really +exceptionable acts. [7] + +The minds of the wise and the good were filled with sadness, as they +listened to the low murmurs of popular discontent, which seemed to be +gradually swelling into strength for some terrible convulsion; and they +looked back with fond regret to the halcyon days, which they had enjoyed +under the temperate rule of Ferdinand and Isabella. + +The Catholic king, in the mean time, was pursuing his voyage to Naples. He +had been earnestly pressed by the Neapolitans to visit his new dominions, +soon after the conquest. [8] He now went, less, however, in compliance +with that request, than to relieve his own mind, by assuring himself of +the fidelity of his viceroy, Gonsalvo de Cordova. That illustrious man had +not escaped the usual lot of humanity; his brilliant successes had brought +on him a full measure of the envy, which seems to wait on merit like its +shadow. Even men like Rojas, the Castilian ambassador at Rome, and +Prospero Colonna, the distinguished Italian commander, condescended to +employ their influence at court to depreciate the Great Captain's +services, and raise suspicions of his loyalty. His courteous manners, +bountiful largesses, and magnificent style of living were represented as +politic arts, to seduce the affections of the soldiery and the people. His +services were in the market for the highest bidder. He had received the +most splendid offers from the king of France and the pope. He had carried +on a correspondence with Maximilian and Philip, who would purchase his +adhesion, if possible, to the latter, at any price; and, if he had not +hitherto committed himself by any overt act, it seemed probable he was +only waiting to be determined in his future course by the result of King +Ferdinand's struggle with his son-in-law. [9] + +These suggestions, in which some truth, as usual, was mingled with a large +infusion of error, gradually excited more and more uneasiness in the +breast of the cautious and naturally distrustful Ferdinand. He at first +endeavored to abridge the powers of the Great Captain by recalling half +the troops in his service, notwithstanding the unsettled state of the +kingdom. [10] He then took the decisive step of ordering his return to +Castile, on pretence of employing him in affairs of great importance at +home. To allure him more effectually, he solemnly pledged himself by an +oath to transfer to him, on his landing in Spain, the grandmastership of +St. Jago, with all its princely dependencies and emoluments, the noblest +gift in the possession of the crown. Finding all this ineffectual, and +that Gonsalvo still procrastinated his return on various pretexts, the +king's uneasiness increased to such a degree, that he determined to press +his own departure for Naples, and bring back, if not too late, his too +powerful vassal. [11] + +On the 4th of September, 1506, Ferdinand embarked at Barcelona, on board a +well-armed squadron of Catalan galleys, taking with him his young and +beautiful bride, and a numerous train of Aragonese nobles. On the 24th of +the month, after a boisterous and tedious passage, he reached the port of +Genoa. Here, to his astonishment, he was joined by the Great Captain, who, +advised of the king's movements, had come from Naples with a small fleet +to meet him. This frank conduct of his general, if it did not disarm +Ferdinand of his suspicions, showed him the policy of concealing them; and +he treated Gonsalvo with all the consideration and show of confidence, +which might impose, not merely on the public, but on the immediate subject +of them. [12] + +The Italian writers of the time express their astonishment that the +Spanish general should have so blindly trusted himself into the hands of +his suspicious master. [13] But he, doubtless, felt strong in the +consciousness of his own integrity. There appears to have been no good +reason for impeaching this. His most equivocal act was his delay to obey +the royal summons. But much weight is reasonably due to his own +explanation, that he was deterred by the distracted state of the country, +arising from the proposed transfer of property to the Angevin barons, as +well as from the precipitate disbanding of the army, which it required all +his authority to prevent from breaking into open mutiny. [14] To these +motives may be probably added the natural, though perhaps unconscious +reluctance to relinquish the exalted station, little short of absolute +sovereignty, which he had so long and so gloriously filled. + +He had, indeed, lorded it over his viceroyalty with most princely sway. +But he had assumed no powers to which he was not entitled by his services +and peculiar situation. His public operations in Italy had been uniformly +conducted for the advantage of his country, and, until the late final +treaty with France, were mainly directed to the expulsion of that power +beyond the Alps. [15] Since that event, he had busily occupied himself +with the internal affairs of Naples, for which he made many excellent +provisions, contriving by his consummate address to reconcile the most +conflicting interests and parties. Although the idol of the army and of +the people, there is not the slightest evidence of an attempt to pervert +his popularity to an unworthy purpose. There is no appearance of his +having been corrupted, or even dazzled, by the splendid offers repeatedly +made him by the different potentates of Europe. On the contrary, the proud +answer recorded of him, to Pope Julius the Second, breathes a spirit of +determined loyalty, perfectly irreconcilable with anything sinister or +selfish in his motives. [16] The Italian writers of the time, who affect +to speak of these motives with some distrust, were little accustomed to +such examples of steady devotion; [17] but the historian, who reviews all +the circumstances, must admit that there was nothing to justify such +distrust, and that the only exceptionable acts in Gonsalvo's +administration were performed not to advance his own interests, but those +of his master, and in too strict obedience to his commands. King Ferdinand +was the last person who had cause to complain of them. + +After quitting Genoa, the royal squadron was driven by contrary winds into +the neighboring harbor of Portofino, where Ferdinand received +intelligence, which promised to change his destination altogether. This +was the death of his son-in-law, the young king of Castile. + +This event, so unexpected and awfully sudden, was occasioned by a fever, +brought on by too violent exercise at a game of ball, at an entertainment +made for Philip by his favorite, Manuel, in Burgos, where the court was +then held. Through the unskilfulness of his physicians, as it was said, +who neglected to bleed him, the disorder rapidly gained ground, [18] and +on the sixth day after his attack, being the 25th of September, 1506, he +breathed his last. [19] He was but twenty-eight years old, of which brief +period he had enjoyed, or endured, the "golden cares" of sovereignty but +little more than two months, dating from his recognition by the cortes. +His body, after being embalmed, lay in state for two days, decorated with +the insignia,--the mockery of royalty, as it had proved to him,--and was +then deposited in the convent of Miraflores near Burgos, to await its +final removal to Granada, agreeably to his last request. [20] + +Philip was of the middle height; he had a fair, florid complexion, regular +features, long flowing locks, and a well-made, symmetrical figure. Indeed, +he was so distinguished for comeliness both of person and countenance, +that he is designated on the roll of Spanish sovereigns as Felipe el +Hermoso, or the Handsome. [21] His mental endowments were not so +extraordinary. The father of Charles the Fifth possessed scarcely a single +quality in common with his remarkable son. He was rash and impetuous in +his temper, frank, and careless. He was born to great expectations, and +early accustomed to command, which seemed to fill him with a crude, +intemperate ambition, impatient alike of control or counsel. He was not +without generous, and even magnanimous sentiments; but he abandoned +himself to the impulse of the moment, whether for good or evil; and, as he +was naturally indolent and fond of pleasure, he willingly reposed the +burden of government on others, who, as usual, thought more of their own +interests than those of the public. His early education exempted him from +the bigotry characteristic of the Spaniards; and, had he lived, he might +have done much to mitigate the grievous abuses of the Inquisition. As it +was, his premature death deprived him of the opportunity of compensating, +by this single good act, the manifold mischiefs of his administration. + +This event, too improbable to have formed any part of the calculations of +the most far-sighted politician, spread general consternation throughout +the country. The old adherents of Ferdinand, with Ximenes at their head, +now looked forward with confidence to his re-establishment in the regency. +Many others, however, like Garcilasso de la Vega, whose loyalty to their +old master had not been proof against the times, viewed this with some +apprehension. [22] Others, again, who had openly from the first linked +their fortunes to those of his rival, as the duke of Najara, the marquis +of Villena, and, above all, Don Juan Manuel, saw in it their certain ruin, +and turned their thoughts towards Maximilian, or the king of Portugal, or +any other monarch, whose connection with the royal family might afford a +plausible pretext for interference in the government. On Philip's Flemish +followers the tidings fell like a thunderbolt, and in their bewilderment +they seemed like so many famished birds of prey, still hovering round the +half-devoured carcass from which they had been unceremoniously scared. +[23] + +The weight of talent and popular consideration was undoubtedly on the +king's side. The most formidable of the opposition, Manuel, had declined +greatly in credit with the nation during the short, disastrous period of +his administration; while the archbishop of Toledo, who might be +considered as the leader of Ferdinand's party, possessed talents, energy, +and reputed sanctity of character, which, combined with the authority of +his station, gave him unbounded influence over all classes of the +Castilians. It was fortunate for the land, in this emergency, that the +primacy was in such able hands. It justified the wisdom of Isabella's +choice, made in opposition, it may be remembered, to the wishes of +Ferdinand, who was now to reap the greatest benefit from it. + +That prelate, foreseeing the anarchy likely to arise on Philip's death, +assembled the nobility present at the court, in his own palace, the day +before this event took place. It was there agreed to name a provisional +council, or regency, who should carry on the government, and provide for +the tranquillity of the kingdom. It consisted of seven members, with the +archbishop of Toledo at its head, the duke of Infantado, the grand +constable and the admiral of Castile, both connected with the royal +family, the duke of Najara, a principal leader of the opposite faction, +and two Flemish lords. No mention was made of Manuel. [24] + +The nobles, in a subsequent convention on the 1st of October, ratified +these proceedings, and bound themselves not to carry on private war, or +attempt to possess themselves of the queen's person, and to employ all +their authority in supporting the provisional government, whose term was +limited to the end of December. [25] + +A meeting of cortes was wanting to give validity to their acts, as well as +to express the popular will in reference to a permanent settlement of the +government. There was some difference of opinion, even among the king's +friends, as to the expediency of summoning that body at this crisis; but +the greatest impediment arose from the queen's refusal to sign the writs. +[26] + +This unhappy lady's condition had become truly deplorable. During her +husband's illness, she had never left his bedside; but neither then, nor +since his death, had been seen to shed a tear. She remained in a state of +stupid insensibility, sitting in a darkened apartment, her head resting on +her hand, and her lips closed, as mute and immovable as a statue. When +applied to, for issuing the necessary summons for the cortes, or to make +appointments to office, or for any other pressing business, which required +her signature, she replied, "My father will attend to all this when he +returns; he is much more conversant with business than I am; I have no +other duties now, but to pray for the soul of my departed husband." The +only orders she was known to sign were for paying the salaries of her +Flemish musicians; for in her abject state she found some consolation in +music, of which she had been passionately fond from childhood. The few +remarks which she uttered were discreet and sensible, forming a singular +contrast with the general extravagance of her actions. On the whole, +however, her pertinacity in refusing to sign anything was attended with as +much good as evil, since it prevented her name from being used, as it +would undoubtedly have often been, in the existing state of things, for +pernicious and party purposes. [27] + +Finding it impossible to obtain the queen's co-operation, the council at +length resolved to issue the writs of summons in their own name, as a +measure justified by necessity. The place of meeting was fixed at Burgos +in the ensuing month of November; and great pains were taken, that the +different cities should instruct their representatives in their views +respecting the ultimate disposition of the government. [28] + +Long before this, indeed immediately after Philip's death, letters had +been despatched by Ximenes and his friends to the Catholic king, +acquainting him with the state of affairs, and urging his immediate return +to Castile. He received them at Portofino. He determined, however, to +continue his voyage, in which he had already advanced so far, to Naples. +The wary monarch perhaps thought, that the Castilians, whose attachment to +his own person he might with some reason distrust, would not be the less +inclined to his rule after having tasted the bitterness of anarchy. In his +reply, therefore, after briefly expressing a decent regret at the untimely +death of his son-in-law, and his uudoubting confidence in the loyalty of +the Castilians to their queen, his daughter, he prudently intimates that +he retains nothing but kindly recollections of his ancient subjects, and +promises to use all possible despatch in adjusting the affairs of Naples, +that he may again return to them. [29] + +After this, the king resumed his voyage, and having touched at several +places on the coast, in all which he was received with great enthusiasm, +arrived before the capital of his new dominions in the latter part of +October. All were anxious, says the great Tuscan historian of the time, to +behold the prince who had acquired a mighty reputation throughout Europe +for his victories both over Christian and infidel; and whose name was +everywhere revered for the wisdom and equity with which he had ruled in +his own kingdom. They looked to his coming, therefore, as an event fraught +with importance, not merely to Naples, but to all Italy, where his +personal presence and authority might do so much to heal existing feuds, +and establish permanent tranquillity. [30] The Neapolitans, in particular, +were intoxicated with joy at his arrival. The most splendid preparations +were made for his reception. A fleet of twenty vessels of war came out to +meet him and conduct him into port; and, as he touched the shores of his +new dominions, the air was rent with acclamations of the people, and with +the thunders of artillery from the fortresses, which crowned the heights +of the city, and from the gallant navy which rode in her waters. [31] + +The faithful chronicler of Los Palacios, who generally officiates as the +master of ceremonies on these occasions, dilates with great complacency on +all the circumstances of the celebration, even to the minutest details of +the costume worn by the king and his nobility. According to him, the +monarch was arrayed in a long, flowing mantle of crimson velvet, lined +with satin of the same color. On his head was a black velvet bonnet, +garnished with a resplendent ruby, and a pearl of inestimable price. He +rode a noble white charger, whose burnished caparisons dazzled the eye +with their splendor. By his side was his young queen, mounted on a milk- +white palfrey, and wearing a skirt or undergarment of rich brocade, and a +French robe, simply fastened with clasps or loops of fine wrought gold. + +On the mole they were received by the Great Captain, who, surrounded by +his guard of halberdiers, and his silken array of pages wearing his +device, displayed all the pomp and magnificence of his household. After +passing under a triumphal arch, where Ferdinand swore to respect the +liberties and privileges of Naples, the royal pair moved forward under a +gorgeous canopy, borne by the members of the municipality, while the reins +of their steeds were held by some of the principal nobles. After them +followed the other lords and cavaliers of the kingdom, with the clergy, +and ambassadors assembled from every part of Italy and Europe, bearing +congratulations and presents from their respective courts. As the +procession halted in the various quarters of the city, it was greeted with +joyous bursts of music from a brilliant assemblage of knights and ladies, +who did homage by kneeling down and saluting the hands of their new +sovereigns. At length, after defiling through, the principal streets and +squares, it reached the great cathedral, where the day was devoutly closed +with solemn prayer and thanksgiving. [32] + +Ferdinand was too severe an economist of time, to waste it willingly on +idle pomp and ceremonial. His heart swelled with satisfaction, however, as +he gazed on the magnificent capital thus laid at his feet, and pouring +forth the most lively expressions of a loyalty, which of late he had been +led to distrust. With all his impatience, therefore, he was not disposed +to rebuke this spirit by abridging the season of hilarity. But, after +allowing sufficient scope for its indulgence, he devoted himself +assiduously to the great purposes of his visit. + +He summoned a parliament general of the kingdom, where, after his own +recognition, oaths of allegiance were tendered to his daughter Joanna and +her posterity, as his successors, without any allusion being made to the +rights of his wife. This was a clear evasion of the treaty with France. +But Ferdinand, though late, was too sensible of the folly of that +stipulation which secured the reversion of his wife's dower to the latter +crown, to allow it to receive any sanction from the Neapolitans. [33] + +Another, and scarcely less disastrous provision of the treaty he complied +with in better faith. This was the reestablishment of the Angevin +proprietors in their ancient estates; the greater part of which, as +already noticed, had been parcelled out among his own followers, both +Spaniards and Italians. It was, of course, a work of extraordinary +difficulty and vexation. When any flaw or impediment could be raised in +the Angevin title, the transfer was evaded. When it could not, a grant of +other land or money was substituted, if possible. More frequently, +however, the equivalent, which probably was not very scrupulously meted +out, was obliged to be taken by the Aragonese proprietor. To accomplish +this the king was compelled to draw largely on the royal patrimony in +Naples, as well as to make liberal appropriations of land and rents in his +native dominions. As all this proved insufficient, he was driven to the +expedient of replenishing the exchequer by draughts on his new subjects. +[34] + +The result, although effected without violence or disorder, was +unsatisfactory to all parties. The Angevins rarely received the full +extent of their demands. The loyal partisans of Aragon saw the fruits of +many a hard-fought battle snatched from their grasp, to be given back +again to their enemies. [35] Lastly, the wretched Neapolitans, instead of +the favors and immunities incident to a new reign, found themselves +burdened with additional imposts, which, in the exhausted state of the +country, were perfectly intolerable. So soon were the fair expectations +formed of Ferdinand's coming, like most other indefinite expectations, +clouded over by disappointment; and such were some of the bitter fruits of +the disgraceful treaty with Louis the Twelfth. [36] + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] Marina tells an anecdote too long for insertion here, in relation to +this cortes, showing the sturdy stuff of which a Castilian commoner in +that day was made. (Teoría, part. 2, cap. 7.) It will scarcely gain credit +without a better voucher than the anonymous scribbler from whom he has +borrowed it. + +[2] Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. lib. 28, cap. 22.--Zurita, Anales, +tom. vi. lib. 7, cap. 11.--Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. rey 30, cap. +15. + +Joanna on this occasion was careful to inspect the powers of the deputies +herself, to see they were all regularly authenticated. Singular astuteness +for a mad woman! + +[3] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 312.--Mariana, Hist. De España, tom. +ii. lib. 28, cap. 22.--Lanuza, Historias, tom. i. lib. 1, cap. 21.--Gomez, +De Rebus Gestis, fol. 65.--Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, +dial. 23. + +[4] Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 17.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 65.-- +Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, rey 30, cap. 16.--Quintanilla, Archetypo, lib. 3, +cap. 14. + +[5] Lucero (whom honest Martyr, with a sort of back-handed pun, usually +nicknames Tenebrero) resumed his inquisitorial functions on Philip's +death. Among his subsequent victims was the good archbishop Talavera, +whose last days were embittered by his persecution. His insane violence at +length provoked again the interference of government. His case was +referred to a special commission, with Ximenes at its head. Sentence was +pronounced against him. The prisons he had filled were emptied. His +judgments were reversed, as founded on insufficient and frivolous grounds. +But alas! what was this to the hundreds he had consigned to the stake, and +the thousands he had plunged in misery? He was in the end sentenced,--not +to be roasted alive,--but to retire to his own benefice, and confine +himself to the duties of a Christian minister! Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, +fol. 77.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist, 333, 334, et al.--Llorente, +Hist. de l'Inquisition, tom. i. chap. 10, art. 3, 4.--Oviedo, +Quincuagenas, MS., dial, de Deza. + +[6] Oviedo has given an ample notice of this prelate, Ferdinand's +confessor, in one of his dialogues. He mentions a singular taste, in one +respect, quite worthy of an inquisitor. The archbishop kept a tame lion in +his palace, which used to accompany him when he went abroad, and lie down +at his feet when he said mass in the church. The monster had been stripped +of his teeth and claws when young, but he was "espantable en su vista é +aspeto," says Oviedo, who records two or three of his gambols, lion's +play, at best. Quincuagenas, MS. + +[7] Llorente, Hist. de l'Inquisition, tom. i. chap. 10, art. 3, 4.-- +Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, rey 30, cap.--Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS.--Peter +Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 333, 334, et al. + +"Toda la gente," says Zurita, in reference to this affair, "noble y de +limpia sangre se avia escandalizado dello;" (Anales, tom. vi. lib. 7, cap. +11;) and he plainly intimates his conviction, that Philip's profane +interference brought Heaven's vengeance on his head, in the shape of a +premature death. Zurita was secretary of the Holy Office in the early part +of the sixteenth century. Had he lived in the nineteenth, he might have +acted the part of a Llorente. He was certainly not born for a bigot. + +[8] Summonte, Hist. di Napoli, tom. iv. lib. 6, cap. 5. + +[9] Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, p. 276.--Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. +ii. rey 30, cap. 16.--Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 6, cap. 5, 11, 17, 27, +31; lib. 7, cap, 14.--Buonaccorsi, Diario, p. 123.--Gonsalvo, in a letter +to the king dated July 2, 1506, alludes bitterly to these unfounded +imputations on his honor. Cartas, MS. + +[10] Mariana, Hist. de España, lib. 28, cap. 12.--Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. +lib. 6, cap. 5. + +[11] Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 7, cap. 6.--Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. +iv. p. 12, ed. di Milano, 1803.--Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, lib. 30, +cap. 1.--Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, p. 280.--Oviedo, Quincuagenas, +MS., bat. 1, quinc. 3, dial. 9. + +[12] Giannone, Istoria de Napoli, ubi supra.--Summonte, Hist. di Napoli, +tom. iv. lib. 6, cap. 5.--L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 187.-- +Buonaccorsi Diario, p. 123.--Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, tom. i. p. 152.-- +"Este," says Capmany of the squadron which bore the king from Barcelona, +"se puede decir fué el último armamento que salió de aquella capital." + +[13] Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. iv. p. 30.--Machiavelli, Legazione +Seconda a Roma, let. 23.--Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, lib. 30, cap. 1. + +[14] Zurita, Anales, lib. 6, cap. 31. + +[15] My limits will not allow room for the complex politics and feuds of +Italy, into which Gonsalvo entered with all the freedom of an independent +potentate. See the details, apud Chrónica del Gran Capitan, lib. 2, cap. +112-127.--Sismondi, Républiques Italiennes, tom. xiii. chap. 103.-- +Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. iii. p. 235 et alibi.--Zurita, Anales, tom. +vi. lib. 6, cap. 7, 9.--Carta del Gran Capitan, MS. + +[16] Zurita, Anales, lib. 6, cap. 11. + +[17] "Il Gran Capitan," says Guicciardini, "conscio dei sospetti, i quali +il re _forse non vanamente_ aveva avuti di lui," etc. (Istoria, tom, +iv. p. 30.) This way of damning a character by surmise, is very common +with Italian writers of this age, who uniformly resort to the very worst +motive as the key of whatever is dubious or inexplicable in conduct. Not a +sudden death, for example, occurs, without at least a _sospetto_ of +poison from some hand or other. What a fearful commentary on the morals of +the land! + +[18] Philip's disorder was lightly regarded at first by his Flemish +physicians; whose practice and predictions were alike condemned by their +coadjutor Lodovico Marliano, an Italian doctor, highly commended by +Martyr, as "inter philosophos et medicos lucida lampas." 'He was at least +the better prophet on this occasion. Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. +313.--Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 7, cap. 14. + +[19] Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 3, dial. 9.--Fortunately +for Ferdinand's reputation, Philip's death was attended by too unequivocal +circumstances, and recorded by too many eyewitnesses, to admit the +suggestion of poison. It seems he drank freely of cold water while very +hot. The fever he brought on was an epidemic, which at that time afflicted +Castile. Machiavelli, Legazione Seconda a Roma, let. 29.--Zuñiga, Annales +de Sevilla, año 1506. + +[20] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 313, 316.--Bernaldez, Reyes +Católicos, MS., cap. 206.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 66.--Carbajal, +Anales, MS., año 1506.--L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 187.--Sandoval, +Hist. del Emp. Carlos V., tom. i. p. 11. + +[21] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 187, 188.--Sandoval, Hist. del +Emp. Carlos V., ubi supra. + +Martyr, touched with the melancholy fate of his young sovereign, pays the +following not inelegant, and certainly not parsimonious tribute to his +memory, in a letter written a few days after his death, which, it may be +noticed, he makes a day earlier than other contemporary accounts. "Octavo +Calendas Octobris animam emisit ille juvenis, formosus, pulcher, elegans, +animo pollens et ingesio, procerae validaeque naturae, uti flos vernus +evanuit." Opus Epist., epist. 316. + +[22] Garcilasso de la Vega appears to have been one of those dubious +politicians, who, to make use of a modern phrase, are always "on the +fence." The wags of his day applied to him a coarse saying of the old duke +of Alva in Henry IV.'s time, "Que era como el perro del ventero, que ladra +a los de fuera, y muerde a los de dentro." Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. +7, cap. 39. + +[23] Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. lib. 29, cap. 2.--Bernaldez, Reyes +Católicos, MS., cap. 206.--Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 7, cap. 22. + +[24] Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 7, cap. 15.--Mariana, Hist. de España, +tom. ii. lib. 29, cap. 1.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 317.--Zuñiga, +Annales de Sevilla, año 1506.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 67. + +[25] Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 7, cap. 16. + +I find no authority for the statement made by Alvaro Gomez (De Rebus +Gestis, fol. 68), and faithfully echoed by Robles (Vida de Ximenez, cap. +17) and Quintanilla (Archetypo, lib. 3, cap. 14), that Ximenes filled the +office of sole regent at this juncture. It is not warranted by Martyr, +(Opus Epist., epist. 317,) and is contradicted by the words of the +original instrument cited as usual by Zurita, (ubi supra.) The +archbishop's biographers, one and all, claim as many merits and services +for their hero, as if, like Quintanilla, they were working expressly for +his beatification. + +[26] The duke of Alva, the staunch supporter of King Ferdinand in all his +difficulties, objected to calling the cortes together, on the grounds, +that the summonses, not being by the proper authority, would be informal; +that many cities might consequently refuse to obey them, and the acts of +the remainder be open to objection, as not those of the nation; that, +after all, should cortes assemble, it was quite uncertain under what +influences it might be made to act, and whether it would pursue the course +most expedient for Ferdinand's interests; and finally, that if the +intention was to procure the appointment of a regency, this had already +been done by the nomination of King Ferdinand at Toro, in 1505; that to +start the question anew was unnecessarily to bring that act into doubt. +The duke does not seem to have considered that Ferdinand had forfeited his +original claim to the regency by his abdication; perhaps, on the ground, +that it had never been formally accepted by the commons. I shall have +occasion to return to this hereafter. See the discussion _in extenso_, +apud Zurita, Anales, lib. 7, cap. 26. + +[27] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 318.--Mariana, Hist. de España, +tom. ii. lib. 29, cap. 2.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 71-73. + +[28] Zurita, Anales, lib. 7, cap. 22. + +[29] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 187.--Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, +año 1506.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 317.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, +fol. 68, 69, 71. + +Shall we wrong Ferdinand much by applying to him the pertinent verses of +Lucan, on a somewhat similar occasion? + + "Tutumque putavit + Jam bonus esse socer; lacrymas non sponte cadentes + Effudit, gemitusque expressit pectore laeto, + Non aliter manifesta putans abscondere mentis + Gaudía, quam lacrymis." + Pharsalia, lib. 9. + +[30] "Un re glorioso per tante vittorie avute contro gl' Infedeli, e +contro i Cristiani, venerabile per opinione di prudenza, e del quale +risonava fama Cristianissima, che avesse con singolare giustizia, e +tranquillità governato i reami suoi." Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. iv. p. +31.--Also Buonaccorsi, Diario, p. 124.--Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, lib. +30, cap. 1. + +[31] Summonte, Hist. di Napoli, tom. iv. lib. 6, cap. 5.--Guicciardini, +Istoria, tom. iv. p. 31.--Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, pp. 278, 279.-- +Bembo, Istoria Viniziana, lib. 7. + +[32] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 210.--Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. +lib. 7, cap. 20.--Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, ubi supra.--Garibay, +Compendio, lib. 20, cap. 9. + +[33] Zurita, Anales, ubi supra.--Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. iv. pp. 72, +73. + +[34] Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, lib. 30, cap. 1.--Summonte, Hist. di +Napoli, tom. iv. lib. 6, cap. 5.--Buonaccorsi, Diario, p. 129.-- +Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. iv. p. 71. + +[35] Such, for example, was the fate of the doughty little cavalier, Pedro +de la Paz, the gallant Leyva, so celebrated in the subsequent wars of +Charles V., the ambassador Rojas, the Quixotic Paredes, and others. The +last of these adventurers, according to Mariana, endeavored to repair his +broken fortunes by driving the trade of a corsair in the Levant. Hist. de +España, tom. ii. lib. 29, cap. 4. + +[36] If any one would see a perfect specimen of the triumph of style, let +him compare the interminable prolixities of Zurita with Mariana, who, in +this portion of his narrative, has embodied the facts and opinions of his +predecessor, with scarcely any alteration, save that of greater +condensation, in his own transparent and harmonious diction. It is quite +as great a miracle in its way as the _rifacimento_ of Berni. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +FERDINAND'S RETURN AND REGENCY.--GONSALVO'S HONORS AND RETIREMENT. + +1506-1509 + +Joanna's Mad Conduct.--She Changes her Ministers.--Disorders in Castile.-- +Ferdinand's Politic Behavior.--He Leaves Naples.--His Brilliant Reception +by Louis XII.--Honors to Gonsalvo.--Ferdinand's Return to Castile.--His +Excessive Severity.--Neglect of the Great Captain.--His Honorable +Retirement. + + +While Ferdinand was thus occupied in Naples, the representatives of most +of the cities, summoned by the provisional government, had assembled in +Burgos. Before entering on business, they were desirous to obtain the +queen's sanction to their proceedings. A committee waited on her for that +purpose, but she obstinately refused to give them audience. [1] + +She still continued plunged in moody melancholy, exhibiting, however, +occasionally the wildest freaks of insanity. Towards the latter end of +December, she determined to leave Burgos, and remove her husband's remains +to their final resting-place in Granada. She insisted on seeing them +herself, before her departure. The remonstrances of her counsellors, and +the holy men of the monastery of Miraflores, proved equally fruitless. +Opposition only roused her passions into frenzy, and they were obliged to +comply with her mad humors. The corpse was removed from the vault; the two +coffins of lead and wood were opened, and such as chose gazed on the +mouldering relics, which, notwithstanding their having been embalmed, +exhibited scarcely a trace of humanity. The queen was not satisfied till +she touched them with her own hand, which she did without shedding a tear, +or testifying the least emotion. The unfortunate lady, indeed, was said +never to have been seen to weep, since she detected her husband's intrigue +with the Flemish courtesan. + +The body was then placed on a magnificent car, or hearse, drawn by four +horses. It was accompanied by a long train of ecclesiastics and nobles, +who, together with the queen, left the city on the night of the 20th of +December. She made her journeys by night, saying, that "a widow, who had +lost the sun of her own soul, should never expose herself to the light of +day." When she halted, the body was deposited in some church or monastery, +where the funeral services were performed, as if her husband had just +died; and a corps of armed men kept constant guard, chiefly, as it would +seem, with the view of preventing any female from profaning the place by +her presence. For Joanna still retained the same jealousy of her sex, +which she had unhappily so much cause to feel during Philip's lifetime. +[2] + +In a subsequent journey, when at a short distance from Torquemada, she +ordered the corpse to be carried into the court-yard of a convent, +occupied, as she supposed, by monks. She was filled with horror, however, +on finding it a nunnery, and immediately commanded the body to be removed +into the open fields. Here she encamped with her whole party at dead of +night; not, however, until she had caused the coffins to be unsealed, that +she might satisfy herself of the safety of her husband's relics; although +it was very difficult to keep the torches, during the time, from being +extinguished by the violence of the wind, and leaving the company in total +darkness. [3] + +These mad pranks, savoring of absolute idiocy, were occasionally checkered +by other acts of more intelligence, but not less startling. She had early +shown a disgust to her father's old counsellors, and especially to +Ximenes, who, she thought, interfered too authoritatively in her domestic +concerns. Before leaving Burgos, however, she electrified her husband's +adherents, by revoking all grants made by the crown since Isabella's +death. This, almost the only act she was ever known to sign, was a severe +blow to the courtly tribe of sycophants, on whom the golden favors of the +late reign had been so prodigally showered. At the same time she reformed +her privy council, by dismissing the present members, and reinstating +those appointed by her royal mother, sarcastically telling one of the +ejected counsellors, that, "he might go and complete his studies at +Salamanca." The remark had a biting edge to it, as the worthy jurist was +reputed somewhat low in his scholarship. [4] + +These partial gleams of intelligence, directed in this peculiar way too, +led many to discern the secret influence of her father. She still, +however, pertinaciously refused to sanction any measures of cortes for his +recall; and, when pressed by that body on this and other matters, at an +audience which she granted before leaving Burgos, she plainly told them +"to return to their quarters, and not to meddle further in the public +business without her express commands." Not long after this, the +legislature was prorogued by the royal council for four months. + +The term assigned for the provisional government expired in December, and +was not renewed. No other regency was appointed by the nobles; and the +kingdom, without even the shadow of protection afforded by its cortes, and +with no other guide but its crazy sovereign, was left to drift at random +amidst the winds and waves of faction. This was not slow in brewing in +every quarter, with the aid especially of the overgrown nobles, whose +license, on such occasions as this, proved too plainly, that public +tranquillity was not founded so much on the stability of law, as on the +personal character of the reigning sovereign. [5] + +The king's enemies, in the mean time, were pressing their correspondence +with the emperor Maximilian, and urging his immediate presence in Spain. +Others devised schemes for marrying the poor queen to the young duke of +Calabria, or some other prince, whose years or incapacity might enable +them to act over again the farce of King Philip. To add to the troubles +occasioned by this mesh of intrigue and faction, the country, which of +late years had suffered from scarcity, was visited by a pestilence, that +fell most heavily on the south. In Seville alone, Bernaldez reports the +incredible number of thirty thousand persons to have fallen victims to it. +[6] + +But, although the storm was thus darkening from every quarter, there was +no general explosion, to shake the state to its foundations, as in the +time of Henry the Fourth. Orderly habits, if not principles, had been +gradually formed. under the long reign of Isabella. The great mass of the +people had learned to respect the operation, and appreciate the benefits +of law; and notwithstanding the menacing attitude, the bustle, and +transitory ebullitions of the rival factions, there seemed a manifest +reluctance to break up the established order of things, and, by deeds of +violence and bloodshed, to renew the days of ancient anarchy. + +Much of this good result was undoubtedly to be attributed to the vigorous +counsels and conduct of Ximenes, [7] who, together with the grand +constable and the duke of Alva, had received full powers from Ferdinand to +act in his name. Much is also to be ascribed to the politic conduct of the +king. Far from an intemperate zeal to resume the sceptre of Castile, he +had shown throughout a discreet forbearance. He used the most courteous +and condescending style, in his communications to the nobles and the +municipalities, expressing his entire confidence in their patriotism, and +their loyalty to the queen, his daughter. Through the archbishop, and +other important agents, he had taken effectual measures to soften the +opposition of the more considerable lords; until, at length, not only such +accommodating statesmen as Garcilasso de la Vega, but more sturdy +opponents, as Villena, Benavente, and Bejar, were brought to give in their +adhesion to their old master. Liberal promises, indeed, had been made by +the emperor, in the name of his grandson Charles, who had already been +made to assume the title of King of Castile. But the promises of the +imperial braggart passed lightly with the more considerate Castilians, who +knew how far they usually outstripped his performance, and who felt, on +the other hand, that their true interests were connected with those of a +prince, whose superior talents and personal relations all concurred to +recommend him to the seat, which he had once so honorably occupied. The +great mass of the common people, too, notwithstanding the temporary +alienation of their feelings from the Catholic king by his recent +marriage, were driven by the evils they actually suffered, and the vague +apprehension of greater, to participate in the same sentiments; so that, +in less than eight months from Philip's death, the whole nation may be +said to have returned to its allegiance to its ancient sovereign. The only +considerable exceptions were Don Juan Manuel and the duke of Najara. The +former had gone too far to recede, and the latter possessed too +chivalrous, or too stubborn, a temper to do so. [8] + +At length, the Catholic monarch, having completed his arrangements at +Naples, and waited until the affairs of Castile were fully ripe for his +return, set sail from his Italian capital, June 4th, 1507. He proposed to +touch at the Genoese port of Savona, where an interview had been arranged +between him and Louis the Twelfth. During his residence in Naples, he had +assiduously devoted himself to the affairs of the kingdom. He had avoided +entering into the local politics of Italy, refusing all treaties and +alliances proposed to him by its various states, whether offensive or +defensive. He had evaded the importunate solicitations and remonstrances +of Maximilian in regard to the Castilian regency, and had declined, +moreover, a personal conference proposed to him by the emperor, during his +stay in Italy. After the great work of restoring the Angevins to their +estates, he had thoroughly reorganized the interior administration of the +kingdom; creating new offices, and entirely new departments. He made large +reforms, moreover, in the courts of law, and prepared the way for the new +system, demanded by its relations as a dependency of the Spanish monarchy. +Lastly, before leaving the city, he acceded to the request of the +inhabitants for the re-establishment of their ancient university. [9] + +In all these sagacious measures, he had been ably assisted by his viceroy, +Gonsalvo de Cordova. Ferdinand's deportment towards the latter had been +studied, as I have said, to efface every uncomfortable impression from his +mind. On his first arrival, indeed, the king had condescended to listen to +complaints, made by certain officers of the exchequer, of Gonsalvo's waste +and misapplication of the public moneys. The general simply asked leave to +produce his own accounts in his defence. The first item, which he read +aloud, was two hundred thousand seven hundred and thirty-six ducats, given +in alms to the monasteries and the poor, to secure their prayers for the +success of the king's enterprise. The second was seven hundred thousand +four hundred and ninety-four ducats to the spies employed in his service. +Other charges equally preposterous followed; while some of the audience +stared incredulous, others laughed, and the king himself, ashamed of the +paltry part he was playing, dismissed the whole affair as a jest. The +common saying of _cuentas del Gran Capitan_, at this day, attests at +least the popular faith in the anecdote. [10] + +From this moment, Ferdinand continued to show Gonsalvo unbounded marks of +confidence; advising with him on all important matters, and making him the +only channel of royal favor. He again renewed, in the most emphatic +manner, his promise to resign the grand-mastership of St. Jago in his +favor, on their return to Spain, and made formal application to the pope +to confirm it. [11] In addition to the princely honors already conferred +on the Great Captain, he granted him the noble duchy of Sessa, by an +instrument, which, after a pompous recapitulation of his stately titles +and manifold services, [12] declares that these latter were too great for +recompense. Unfortunately for both king and subject, this was too true. +[13] + +Gonsalvo remained a day or two behind his royal master in Naples, to +settle his private affairs. In addition to the heavy debts incurred by his +own generous style of living, he had assumed those of many of his old +companions in arms, with whom the world had gone less prosperously than +with himself. The claims of his creditors, therefore, had swollen to such +an amount, that, in order to satisfy them fully, he was driven to +sacrifice part of the domains lately granted him. Having discharged all +the obligations of a man of honor, he prepared to quit the land, over +which he had ruled with so much splendor and renown for nearly four years. +The Neapolitans in a body followed him to the vessel; and nobles, +cavaliers, and even ladies of the highest rank lingered on the shore to +bid him a last adieu. Not a dry eye, says the historian, was to be seen. +So completely had he dazzled their imaginations, and captivated their +hearts, by his brilliant and popular manners, his munificent spirit, and +the equity of his administration,--qualities more useful, and probably +more rare in those turbulent times, than military talent. He was succeeded +in the office of grand constable of the kingdom by Prospero Colonna, and +in that of viceroy by the count of Ribagorza, Ferdinand's nephew. [14] + +On the 28th of June, the royal fleet of Aragon entered the little port of +Savona, where the king of France had already been waiting for it several +days. The French navy was ordered out to receive the Catholic monarch, and +the vessels on either side, gayly decorated with the national flags and +ensigns, rivalled each other in the beauty and magnificence of their +equipments. King Ferdinand's galleys were spread with rich carpets and +awnings of yellow and scarlet, and every sailor in the fleet exhibited the +same gaudy-colored livery of the royal house of Aragon. Louis the Twelfth +came to welcome his illustrious guests, attended by a gallant train of his +nobility and chivalry; and, in order to reciprocate, as far as possible, +the confidence reposed in him by the monarch with whom he had been so +recently at deadly feud, immediately went on board the vessel of the +latter. [15] Horses and mules richly caparisoned awaited them at the +landing. The French king, mounting his steed, gallantly placed the young +queen of Aragon behind him. His cavaliers did the same with the ladies of +her suite, most of them French women, though attired, as an old chronicler +of the nation rather peevishly complains, after the Spanish fashion; and +the whole party, with the ladies _en croupe_, galloped off to the royal +quarters in Savona. [16] + +Blithe and jocund were the revels, which rung through the halls of this +fair city, during the brief residence of its royal visitors. Abundance of +good cheer had been provided by Louis's orders, writes an old cavalier, +[17] who was there to profit by it; and the larders of Savona were filled +with the choicest game, and its cellars well stored with the delicious +wines of Corsica, Languedoc, and Provence. Among the followers of Louis +were the marquis of Mantua, the brave La Palice, the veteran D'Aubigny, +and many others of renown, who had so lately measured swords with the +Spaniards on the fields of Italy, and who now vied with each other in +rendering them these more grateful, and no less honorable, offices of +chivalry. [18] + +As the gallant D'Aubigny was confined to his apartment by the gout, +Ferdinand, who had always held his talents and conduct in high esteem, +complimented him by a visit in person. But no one excited such general +interest and attention as Gonsalvo de Cordova, who was emphatically the +hero of the day. At least, such is the testimony of Guicciardini, who will +not be suspected of undue partiality. Many a Frenchman there had had +bitter experience of his military prowess. Many others had grown familiar +with his exploits in the exaggerated reports of their country-men. They +had been taught to regard him with mingled feelings of fear and hatred, +and could scarcely credit their senses, as they beheld the bugbear of +their imaginations distinguished above all others for "the majesty of his +presence, the polished elegance of his discourse, and manners in which +dignity was blended with grace." [19] + +But none were so open in their admiration as King Louis. At his request, +Gonsalvo was admitted to sup at the same table with the Aragonese +sovereigns and himself. During the repast he surveyed his illustrious +guest with the deepest interest, asking him various particulars respecting +those memorable campaigns, which had proved so fatal to France. To all +these the Great Captain responded with becoming gravity, says the +chronicler; and the French monarch testified his satisfaction, at parting, +by taking a massive chain of exquisite workmanship from his own neck, and +throwing it round Gonsalvo's. The historians of the event appear to be +entirely overwhelmed with the magnitude of the honor conferred on the +Great Captain, by thus admitting him to the same table with three crowned +heads; and Guicciardini does not hesitate to pronounce it a more glorious +epoch in his life than even that of his triumphal entry into the capital +of Naples. [20] + +During this interview, the monarchs held repeated conferences, at which +none were present but the papal envoy, and Louis's favorite minister, +D'Amboise. The subject of discussion can only be conjectured by the +subsequent proceedings, which make it probable that it related to Italy; +and that it was in this season of idle dalliance and festivity, that the +two princes, who held the destinies of that country in their hands, +matured the famous league of Cambray, so disastrous to Venice, and +reflecting little credit on its projectors, either on the score of good +faith or sound policy. But to this we shall have occasion to return +hereafter. [21] + +At length, after enjoying for four days the splendid hospitality of their +royal entertainer, the king and queen of Aragon re-embarked, and reached +their own port of Valencia, after various detentions, on the 20th of July, +1507. Ferdinand, having rested a short time in his beautiful capital, +pressed forward to Castile, where his presence was eagerly expected. On +the borders, he was met by the dukes of Albuquerque and Medina Celi, his +faithful follower the count of Cifuentes, and many other nobles and +cavaliers. He was soon after joined by deputies from many of the principal +cities in the kingdom, and, thus escorted, made his entry into it by the +way of Monteagudo, on the 21st of August. How different from the forlorn +and outcast condition, in which he had quitted the country a short year +before! He intimated the change in his own circumstances, by the greater +state and show of authority which he now assumed. The residue of the old +Italian army, just arrived under the celebrated Pedro Navarro, count of +Oliveto, [22] preceded him on the march; and he was personally attended by +his alcaldes, alguazils, and kings-at-arms, with all the appropriate +insignia of royal supremacy. [23] At Tortoles he was met by the queen, his +daughter, accompanied by Archbishop Ximenes. The interview between them +had more of pain than pleasure in it. The king was greatly shocked by +Joanna's appearance; for her wild and haggard features, emaciated figure, +and the mean, squalid attire in which she was dressed, made it difficult +to recognize any trace of the daughter, from whom he had been so long +separated. She discovered more sensibility on seeing him, than she had +shown since her husband's death, and henceforth resigned herself to her +father's will with little opposition. She was soon after induced by him to +change her unsuitable residence for more commodious quarters at +Tordesillas. Her husband's remains were laid in the monastery of Santa +Clara, adjoining the palace, from whose windows she could behold his +sepulchre. From this period, although she survived forty-seven years, she +never quitted the walls of her habitation. And, although her name appeared +jointly with that of her son, Charles the Fifth, in all public acts, she +never afterwards could be induced to sign a paper, or take part in any +transactions of a public nature. She lingered out a half century of dreary +existence, as completely dead to the world, as the remains which slept in +the monastery of Santa Clara beside her. [24] + +From this time the Catholic king exercised an authority nearly as +undisputed, and far less limited and defined than in the days of Isabella. +So firm did he feel in his seat, indeed, that he omitted to obtain the +constitutional warrant of cortes. He had greatly desired this at the late +irregular meeting of that body. But it broke up, as we have seen, without +effecting anything; and, indeed, the disaffection of Burgos and some other +principal cities at that time, must have made the success of such an +application very doubtful. But the general cordiality, with which +Ferdinand was greeted, gave no ground for apprehending such a result at +present. + +Many, indeed, of his partisans objected to any intervention of the +legislature in this matter, as superfluous; alleging that he held the +regency as natural guardian of his daughter, nominated, moreover, by the +queen's will, and confirmed by the cortes at Toro. These rights, they +argued, were not disturbed by his resignation, which was a compulsory act, +and had never received any express legislative sanction; and which, in any +event, must be considered as intended only for Philip's lifetime, and to +be necessarily determined with that. + +But, however plausible these views, the irregularity of Ferdinand's +proceedings furnished an argument for disobedience on the part of +discontented nobles, who maintained, that they knew no supreme authority +but that of their queen, Joanna, till some other had been sanctioned by +the legislature. The whole affair was finally settled, with more attention +to constitutional forms, in the cortes held at Madrid, October 6th, 1510, +when the king took the regular oaths as administrator of the realm in his +daughter's name, and as guardian of her son. [25] + +Ferdinand's deportment, on his first return, was distinguished by a most +gracious clemency, evinced not so much, indeed, by any excessive +remuneration of services, as by the politic oblivion of injuries. If he +ever alluded to these, it was in a sportive way, implying that there was +no rancor or ill-will at heart. "Who would have thought," he exclaimed one +day to a courtier near him, "that you could so easily abandon your old +master, for one so young and inexperienced?" "Who would have thought," +replied the other with equal bluntness, "that my old master would have +outlived my young one?" [26] + +With all this complaisance, however, the king did not neglect precautions +for placing his authority on a sure basis, and fencing it round so as to +screen it effectually from the insults to which it had been formerly +exposed. He retained in pay most of the old Italian levies, with the +ostensible purpose of an African expedition. He took good care that the +military orders should hold their troops in constant readiness, and that +the militia of the kingdom should be in condition for instant service. He +formed a body-guard to attend the royal person on all occasions. It +consisted at first of only two hundred men, armed and drilled after the +fashion of the Swiss ordonnance, and placed under the command of his +chronicler, Ayora, an experienced martinet, who made some figure at the +defence of Salsas. This institution probably was immediately suggested by +the _garde du corps_ of Louis the Twelfth, at Savona, which, altogether on +a more formidable scale, indeed, had excited his admiration by the +magnificence of its appointments and its thorough discipline. [27] + +Notwithstanding the king's general popularity, there were still a few +considerable persons, who regarded his resumption of authority with an +evil eye. Of these Don Juan Manuel had fled the kingdom before his +approach, and taken refuge at the court of Maximilian, where the +counsellors of that monarch took good care that he should not acquire the +ascendency he had obtained over Philip. The duke of Najara, however, still +remained in Castile, shutting himself up in his fortresses, and refusing +all compromise or obedience. The king without hesitation commanded Navarro +to march against him with his whole force. Najara was persuaded by his +friends to tender his submission, without waiting the encounter; and he +surrendered his strong-holds to the king, who, after detaining them some +time in his keeping, delivered them over to the duke's eldest son. [28] + +With another offender he dealt more sternly. This was Don Pedro de +Cordova, marquis of Priego, who, the reader may remember, when quite a +boy, narrowly escaped the bloody fate of his father, Alonso de Aguilar, in +the fatal slaughter of the Sierra Vermeja. This nobleman, in common with +some other Andalusian lords, had taken umbrage at the little estimation +and favor shown them, as they conceived, by Ferdinand, in comparison with +the nobles of the north; and his temerity went so far, as not only to +obstruct the proceedings of one of the royal officers, sent to Cordova to +inquire into recent disturbances there, but to imprison him in the +dungeons of his castle of Montilla. + +This outrage on the person of his own servant exasperated the king beyond +all bounds. He resolved at once to make such an example of the offender, +as should strike terror into the disaffected nobles, and shield the royal +authority from the repetition of similar indignities. As the marquis was +one of the most potent and extensively allied grandees in the kingdom, +Ferdinand made his preparations on a formidable scale, ordering, in +addition to the regular troops, a levy of all between the ages of twenty +and seventy throughout Andalusia. Priego's friends, alarmed at these signs +of the gathering tempest, besought him to avert it, if possible, by +instant concession; and his uncle, the Great Captain, urged this most +emphatically, as the only way of escaping utter ruin. + +The rash young man, finding himself likely to receive no support in the +unequal contest, accepted the counsel, and hastened to Toledo, to throw +himself at the king's feet. The indignant monarch, however, would not +admit him into his presence, but ordered him to deliver up his fortresses, +and to remove to the distance of five leagues from the court. The Great +Captain soon after sent the king an inventory of his nephew's castles and +estates, at the same time deprecating his wrath, in consideration of the +youth and inexperience of the offender. + +Ferdinand, however, without heeding this, went on with his preparations, +and, having completed them, advanced rapidly to the south. When arrived at +Cordova, he ordered the imprisonment of the marquis. A formal process was +then instituted against him before the royal council, on the charge of +high treason. He made no defence, but threw himself on the mercy of his +sovereign. The court declared, that he had incurred the penalty of death, +but that the king, in consideration of his submission, was graciously +pleased to commute this for a fine of twenty millions of maravedies, +perpetual banishment from Cordova and its district, and the delivery of +his fortresses into the royal keeping, with the entire demolition of the +offending castle of Montilla. This last, famous as the birth-place of the +Great Captain, was one of the strongest and most beautiful buildings in +all Andalusia. [29] Sentence of death was at the same time pronounced +against several cavaliers, and other inferior persons concerned in the +affair, and was immediately executed. + +The Castilian aristocracy, alarmed and disgusted by the severity of a +sentence, which struck down one of the most considerable of their order, +were open in their remonstrances to the king, beseeching him, if no other +consideration moved him in favor of the young nobleman, to grant something +to the distinguished services of his father and his uncle. The latter, as +well as the grand constable, Velasco, who enjoyed the highest +consideration at court, were equally pressing in their solicitations. +Ferdinand, however, was inexorable; and the sentence was executed. The +nobles chafed in vain; although the constable expostulated with the king +in a tone, which no subject in Europe but a Castilian grandee would have +ventured to assume. Gonsalvo coolly remarked, "It was crime enough in Don +Pedro to be related to me." [30] + +This illustrious man had had good reason to feel, before this, that his +credit at court was on the wane. On his return to Spain, he was received +with unbounded enthusiasm by the nation. He was detained by illness a few +days behind the court, and his journey towards Burgos to rejoin it, on his +recovery, was a triumphal procession the whole way. The roads were +thronged with multitudes so numerous, that accommodations could scarcely +be found for them in the towns on the route. [31] For they came from the +remotest parts of the country, all eager to catch a glimpse of the hero, +whose name and exploits, the theme of story and of song, were familiar to +the meanest peasant in Castile. In this way he made his entry into Burgos, +amid the cheering acclamations of the people, and attended by a +_cortège_ of officers, who pompously displayed on their own persons, +and the caparisons of their steeds, the rich spoils of Italian conquests. +The old count of Ureña, his friend, who, with the whole court, came out by +Ferdinand's orders to receive him, exclaimed with a prophetic sigh, as he +saw the splendid pageant come sweeping by, "This gallant ship, I fear, +will require deeper water to ride in than she will find in Castile!" [32] + +Ferdinand showed his usual gracious manners in his reception of Gonsalvo. +It was not long, however, before the latter found that this was all he was +to expect. No allusion was made to the grand-mastership. When it was at +length brought before the king, and he was reminded of his promises, he +contrived to defer their performance under various pretexts; until, at +length, it became too apparent, that it was his intention to evade them +altogether. + +While the Great Captain and his friends were filled with an indignation, +at this duplicity, which they could ill suppress, a circumstance occurred +to increase the coldness arising in Ferdinand's mind towards his injured +subject. This was the proposed marriage (a marriage which, from whatever +cause, never took place [33]) of Gonsalvo's daughter Elvira, to his friend +the constable of Castile. [34] Ferdinand had designed to secure her large +inheritance to his own family, by an alliance with his grandson, Juan de +Aragon, son of the archbishop of Saragossa. His displeasure, at finding +himself crossed in this, was further sharpened by the petulant spirit of +his young queen. The constable, now a widower, had been formerly married +to a natural daughter of Ferdinand. Queen Germaine, adverting to his +intended union with the lady Elvira, unceremoniously asked him, "If he did +not feel it a degradation to accept the hand of a subject, after having +wedded the daughter of a king?" "How can I feel it so," he replied, +alluding to the king's marriage with her, "when so illustrious an example +has been set me!" Germaine, who certainly could not boast the magnanimity +of her predecessor, was so stung with the retort, that she not only never +forgave the constable, but extended her petty resentment to Gonsalvo, who +saw the duke of Alva from this time installed in the honors he had before +exclusively enjoyed, of immediate attendance on her royal person whenever +she appeared in public. [35] + +However indifferent Gonsalvo may have been to the little mortifications +inflicted by female spleen, he could no longer endure his residence at a +court, where he had lost all consideration with the sovereign, and +experienced nothing but duplicity and base ingratitude. He obtained leave, +without difficulty, to withdraw to his own estates; where, not long after, +the king, as if to make some amends for the gross violation of his +promises, granted him the royal city of Loja, not many leagues from +Granada. It was given to him for life, and Ferdinand had the effrontery to +propose, as a condition of making the grant perpetual to his heirs, that +Gonsalvo should relinquish his claim to the grandmastership of St. Jago. +But the latter haughtily answered, "He would not give up the right of +complaining of the injustice done him, for the finest city in the king's +dominions." [36] + +From this time he remained on his estates in the south, chiefly at Loja, +with an occasional residence in Granada, where he enjoyed the society of +his old friend and military instructor, the count of Tendilla. He found +abundant occupation in schemes for improving the condition of his +tenantry, and of the neighboring districts. He took great interest in the +fate of the unfortunate Moriscoes, numerous in this quarter, whom he +shielded as far as possible from the merciless grasp of the Inquisition, +while he supplied teachers and other enlightened means for converting +them, or confirming them in a pure faith. He displayed the same +magnificence and profuse hospitality in his living that he had always +done. His house was visited by such intelligent foreigners as came to +Spain, and by the most distinguished of his countrymen, especially the +younger nobility and cavaliers, who resorted to it, as the best school of +high-bred and knightly courtesy, He showed a lively curiosity in all that +was going on abroad, keeping up his information by an extensive +correspondence with agents, whom he regularly employed for the purpose in +the principal European courts. When the league of Cambray was adjusted, +the king of France and the pope were desirous of giving him the command of +the allied armies. But Ferdinand had injured him too sensibly, to care to +see him again at the head of a military force in Italy. He was as little +desirous of employing him in public affairs at home, and suffered the +remainder of his days to pass away in distant seclusion; a seclusion, +however, not unpleasing to himself, nor unprofitable to others. [37] The +world called it disgrace; and the old count of Ureña exclaimed, "The good +ship is stranded at last, as I predicted!" "Not so," said Gonsalvo, to +whom the observation was reported; "she is still in excellent trim, and +waits only the rising of the tide, to bear away as bravely as ever." [38] + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. lib, 29, cap. 2.--Zurita, Anales, +tom. vi. lib. 7, cap. 29. + +[2] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 324, 332, 339, 363.--Mariana, Hist. +de España, tom. ii. lib. 29, cap. 3.--Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1506.-- +Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 206.--Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. +17. + +"Childish as was the affection," says Dr. Dunham, "of Joanna for her +husband, she did not, as Robertson relates, cause the body to be removed +from the sepulchre after it was buried, and brought to her apartment. She +once visited the sepulchre, and, after affectionately gazing on the +corpse, was persuaded to retire. Robertson seems not to have read, at +least not with care, the authorities for the reign of Fernando." (History +of Spain and Portugal, vol. ii. p. 287, note.) Whoever will take the +trouble to examine these authorities, will probably not find Dr. Dunham +much more accurate in the matter than his predecessor. Robertson, indeed, +draws largely from the Epistles of Peter Martyr, the best voucher for this +period, which his critic apparently has not consulted. In the very page +preceding that in which he thus taxes Robertson with inaccuracy, we find +him speaking of Charles VIII. as the reigning monarch of France; an error +not merely clerical, since it is repeated no less than three times. Such +mistakes would be too trivial for notice in any but an author, who has +made similar ones the ground for unsparing condemnation of others. + +[3] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 339. + +A foolish Carthusian monk, "laevi sicco folio levior," to borrow Martyr's +words, though more knave than fool probably, filled Joanna with absurd +hopes of her husband's returning to life, which, he assured her, had +happened, as he had read, to a certain prince, after he had been dead +fourteen years. As Philip was disembowelled, he was hardly in a condition +for such an auspicious event. The queen, however, seems to have been +caught with the idea. (Opus Epist., epist. 328.) Martyr loses all patience +at the inventions of this "blactero cucullatus," as he calls him in his +abominable Latin, as well as at the mad pranks of the queen, and the +ridiculous figure which he and the other grave personages of the court +were compelled to make on the occasion. It is impossible to read his +Jeremiads on the subject without a smile. See, in particular, his +whimsical epistle to his old friend, the archbishop of Granada. Opus +Epist., epist. 333. + +[4] Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. lib. 29, cap. 3.--Zurita, Anales, +tom. vi. lib. 7, cap. 26, 38, 54.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 72.-- +Sandoval, Hist. del Emp. Carlos V., tom. i. p. 11. + +[5] Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 16.--Peter Martyr, Opus +Epist., epist. 346.--Zurita, Anales, lib. 7, cap. 36-38.--Zuñiga, Annales +de Sevilla, año 1507.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 206. + +The duke of Medina Sidonia, son of the nobleman who bore so honorable a +part in the Granadine war, mustered a large force by land and sea for the +recovery of his ancient patrimony of Gibraltar.--Isabella's high-spirited +friend, the marchioness of Moya, put herself at the head of a body of +troops with better success, during her husband's illness, and +re-established herself in the strong fortress of Segovia, which Philip had +transferred to Manuel. (Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 343.--Bernaldez, +Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 207.) "No one lamented the circumstance," says +Oviedo. The marchioness closed her life not long after this, at about +sixty years of age. Her husband, though much older, survived her. +Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 23. + +[6] Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 208.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 71.-- +Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. lib. 29, cap. 2. + +The worthy Curate of Los Palacios does not vouch for this exact amount +from his own knowledge. He states, however, that 170 died, out of his own +little parish of 500 persons, and he narrowly escaped with life himself, +after a severe attack. Ubi supra. + +[7] Ximenes equipped and paid out of his own funds a strong corps, for the +ostensible purpose of protecting the queen's person, but quite as much to +enforce order by checking the turbulent spirit of the grandees; a stretch +of authority, which this haughty body could ill brook. (Robles, Vida de +Ximenez, cap. 17.) Zurita, indeed, who thinks the archbishop had a strong +relish for sovereign power, accuses him of being "at heart much more of a +king than a friar." (Anales, tom. vi. lib. 7, cap. 29.) Gomez, on the +contrary, traces every political act of his to the purest patriotism. (De +Rebus Gestis, fol. 70, et alib.) In the mixed motives of action, Ximenes +might probably have been puzzled himself, to determine how much belonged +to the one principle, and how much to the other. + +[8] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 351.--L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, +fol. 187.--Lanuza, Historias, tom. i. lib. 1, cap. 21.--Zurita, Anales, +tom. vi. lib. 7, cap. 19, 22, 25, 30, 39.--Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. iv. +p. 76, ed Milano, 1803.--Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 17.--Sandoval, +Hist. del Emp. Carlos V., tom. i. p. 12. + +[9] Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, lib. 30, cap. 1-5.--Summonte, Hist. di +Napoli, tom. iv. lib. 6, cap. 5.--L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 187. +--Buonaccorsi, Diario, p. 129.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 210. +--Signorelli, Coltura nelle Sicilie, tom. iv. p. 84. + +The learned Neapolitan civilian, Giannone, bears emphatic testimony to the +general excellence of the Spanish legislation for Naples. Ubi supra. + +[10] Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, p. 102.--Chrónica del Gran Capitan, +lib. 3. + +[11] Machiavelli expresses his astonishment, that Gonsalvo should have +been the dupe of promises, the very magnitude of which made them +suspicious. "Ho sentito ragionare di questo accordo fra Consalvo e il Re, +e maravigliarsi ciascuno che Consalvo se ne fidi; _e quanto qual Re è +stato più liberale verso di lui, tanto più, ne insospettisce la brigata,_ +pensando che il Re abbi fatto per assicurarlo, e per poterne meglio +disporre sotto questa sicurtà." (Legazione Seconda a Roma, let. 23, Oct. +6.) But what alternative had he, unless indeed that of open rebellion, for +which he seems to have had no relish? And, if he had, it was too late +after Ferdinand was in Naples. + +[12] Chrónica del Gran Capitan, lib. 3, cap. 3.--Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. +lib. 7, cap. 6, 49.--Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, p. 279. + +"Vos el ilustre Don Gonzalo Hernandez de Cordoba," begins the instrument, +"Duque de Terra Nova, Marques de Santangelo y Vitonto, y mi Condestable +del reyno de Nápoles, nuestro muy charo y muy amado primo, y uno del +nuestro secreto Consejo," etc. (See the document, apud Quintana, Españoles +Célebres, tom. i. Apend. no. 1.) The revenues from his various estates +amounted to 40,000 ducats. Zurita speaks of another instrument, a public +manifesto of the Catholic king, proclaiming to the world his sense of his +general's exalted services and unimpeachable loyalty. (Anales, tom. vi. +lib. 8, cap. 3.) This sort of testimony seems to contain an implication +not very flattering, and on the whole is so improbable, that I cannot but +think the Aragonese historian has confounded it with the grant of Sessa, +bearing precisely the same date, February 25th, and containing also, +though incidentally, and as a thing of course, the most ample tribute to +the Great Captain.--Comp. also Pulgar, Sum., p. 138. + +[13] Tacitus may explain why. "Beneficia eo usque laeta sunt, dum videntur +exsolvi posse; ubi multum antevenere, pro gratia odium redditur." +(Annales, lib. 4. sec. 18.) "Il n'est pas si dangereux," says +Rochefoucault, in a more caustic vein, "de faire du mal à la plûpart des +hommes, que de leur faire trop de bien." + +[14] Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, pp. 280, 281.--Garibay, Compendio, +tom. ii. lib. 20, cap. 9.--Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, lib. 30, cap. 1.-- +Summonte, Hist. di Napoli, tom. iv. lib. 6, cap 5.--Guicciardini, Istoria, +tom. iv. p. 72.--Chrónica del Gran Capitan, lib. 3, cap. 4. + +[15] "Spettacolo certamente memorabile, vedere insieme due Re potentissimi +tra tutti i Principi Cristiani, stati poco innanzi si acerbissimi inimici, +non solo riconciliati, e congiunti di parentado, ma deposti i segni dell' +odio, e della memoria delle offese, commettere ciascuno di loro la vita +propria in arbitrio dell' altro con non minore confidenza, che se sempre +fossero stati concordissimi fratelli." (Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. iv. p. +75.) This astonishment of the Italian is an indifferent tribute to the +habitual good faith of the times. + +[16] D'Auton, Hist. de Louys XII., part. 3, chap. 38.--Buonaccorsi, +Diario, p. 132.--St. Gelais, Hist. de Louys XII, p. 204. + + Germaine appears to have been no great favorite with the French +chroniclers. "Et y estoit sa femme Germaine de Fouez, _qui tenoit une +marveilleuse audace_. Elle fist peu de compte de tous les François, +mesmement de son frère, le gentil duc de Nemours." (Mémoires de Bayard, +chap. 27, apud Petitot, Collection des Mémoires, tom. xv.) See also +Fleurange, (Mémoires, chap. 19, apud Petitot, Collection des Mémoires, +tom. xvi.) who notices the same arrogant bearing. + +[17] For fighting, and feasting, and all the generous pastimes of +chivalry, none of the old French chroniclers of this time rivals D'Auton. +He is the very Froissart of the sixteenth century. A part of his works +still remains in manuscript. That which is printed retains the same form, +I believe, in which it was given to the public by Godefroy, in the +beginning of the seventeenth century; while many an inferior chronicler +and memoirmonger has been published and republished, with all the lights +of editorial erudition. + +[18] D'Auton, Hist. de Louys XII., part. 3, chap. 38.--Bernaldez, Reyes +Católicos, MS., ubi supra.--Bembo, Istoria Viniziana, lib. 7.--St. Gelais, +Hist. de Louys XII., p. 201. + +[19] Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. iv. pp. 76, 77.--Giovio, Vitae Illust. +Virorum, p. 282.--Chrónica del Gran Capitan, lib. 3, cap. 4. + +"Ma non dava minore materia ai ragionamenti il Gran Capitano, al quale non +erano meno volti gli occhi degli uomini per la fama del suo valore, e per +la memoria di tante vittorie, la quale faceva, che i Franzesi, ancora che +vinti tante volte di lui, e che solevano avere in sommo odio, e orrore il +suo nome, non si saziassero di contemplarlo e onorarlo. ***** E accresceva +l'ammirazione degli uomini la maestà eccellente della presenza sua, la +magnificenza delle parole, i gesti, e la maniera piena di gravità condita +di grazia: ma sopra tutti il Re di Francia," etc. Guicciardini, ubi supra. + +[20] Brantôme, Vies des Hommes Illustres, disc. 6.--Chrónica del Gran +Capitan, lib. 3, cap. 4.--Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. iv. pp. 77, 78.-- +D'Auton, Hist. de Louys XII., ubi supra.--Quintana, Españoles Célebres, +tom. i. p. 319.--Mémoires de Bayard, chap. 27, apud Petitot, Collection +des Mémoires, tom. xv.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 210.-- +Pulgar, Sumario, p. 195. + +[21] D'Auton, Hist. de Louys XII., part. 3, chap. 38.--Buonaccorsi, +Diario, p. 133.--Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 36. + +[22] King Ferdinand had granted him the title and territory of Oliveto in +the kingdom of Naples, in recompense for his eminent services in the +Italian wars. Aleson, Annales de Navarra, tom. v. p. 178.--Giovio, Vitae +Illust. Virorum, p. 190. + +[23] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 210.--Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. +lib. 8, cap. 4, 7.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 358.--Gomez, De +Rebus Gestis, fol. 74.--Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. + +[24] Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 75.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. +363.--Zurita, Anales, lib. 8, cap. 49.--Sandoval, Hist. del Emp. Carlos +V., tom. i. p. 13. + +Philip's remains were afterwards removed to the cathedral church of +Granada; where they were deposited, together with those of his wife +Joanna, in a magnificent sepulchre erected by Charles V., near that of +Ferdinand and Isabella. Pedraza, Antiguedad de Granada, lib. 3, cap. 7.-- +Colmenar, Délices de l'Espagne et du Portugal, (Leide, 1715,) tom. iii. p. +490. + +[25] Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 7, cap. 26, 34; lib. 9, cap. 20. + +See the bold language of the protest of the marquis of Priego, against +this assumption of the regency by the Catholic king. "En caso tan grande," +he says, "que se trata de gobernacion de grandes reinos é señoríos justa é +razonable cosa fuera, é sería que fueramos llamados é certificados de +ello, porque yo é los otros caballeros grandes é las ciudades é alcaldes +mayores vieramos lo que debiamos hacer é consentir como vasallos é leales +servidores de la reina nuestra señora, porque la administration é +gobernacion destos reinos se diera é concediera á quien las leyes destos +reynos mandan que se den é encomienden en caso," etc. (MS. de la +Biblioteca de la Real Acad. de Hist., apud Marina, Teoría, tom. ii. part. +2, cap. 18.) Marina, however, is not justified in regarding Ferdinand's +subsequent convocation of cortes for this purpose, as a concession to the +demands of the nation. (Teoría, ubi supra.) It was the result of the +treaty of Blois, with Maximilian, guaranteed by Louis XII., the object of +which was to secure the succession to the archduke Charles. Zurita, +Anales, lib. 8, cap. 47. + +[26] Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, p. 282.--Chrónica del Gran Capitan, +lib. 3, cap. 4. + +[27] Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 8, cap. 10.--MSS. de Torres y de +Oviedo, apud Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. Ilust. 6.--D'Auton, Hist. +de Louys XII., part. 3, chap. 38. + +The Catholic king was very minute in his inquiries, according to Auton, +"du faict et de l'estat des gardes du Roy, et de ses Gentilshommes, qu'il +réputoit à grande chose, et triomphale ordonnance." Ubi supra. + +[28] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 210.--Peter Martyr, Opus +Epist., epist. 363.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 75.--Zurita, Anales, +tom. vi. lib. 8, cap. 15. + +[29] "Montiliana," writes Peter Martyr, "illa atria, quae vidisti +aliquando, multo auro, multoque ebore compta ornataque, proh dolor! +funditus dirui sunt jussa." (Opus Epist., epist. 405.) He was well +acquainted with the lordly halls of Montilla, for he had been preceptor to +their young master, who was a favorite pupil, to judge from the bitter +wailings of the kind-hearted pedagogue over his fate. See epist. 404, 405. + +[30] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 215.--Peter Martyr, Opus +Epist., epist. 392, 393, 405.--Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, p. 284.-- +Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 8, cap. 20, 21, 22.--Carbajal, Anales, MS., +año 1507.--Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. lib. 20, cap. 10.--Chrónica del +Gran Capitan, lib. 3, cap. 6.--Sandoval, Hist. del Emp. Carlos V., tom. i. +p. 13. + +[31] Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, p, 282.--Pulgar, Sumario, p. 197. + +[32] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 210.--Giovio, Vitae Illust. +Virorum, ubi supra.--Chrónica del Gran Capitan, lib. 3, cap. 5. + +[33] Quintana errs in stating that Doña Elvira _married_ the constable. +(Españoles Célebres, tom. i. p. 321.) He had two wives, Doña Blanca de +Herrera, and Doña Juana de Aragon, and at his death was laid by their side +in the church of Santa Clara de Medina del Pomar. (Salazar de Mendoza, +Dignidades, lib. 3, cap. 21.) Elvira married the count of Cabra. Ulloa, +Vita di Carlo V., fol. 42. + +[34] Bernardino de Velasco, _grand_ constable of Castile, as he was +called, _par excellence_, succeeded in 1492 to that dignity, which +became hereditary in his family. He was third count of Haro, and was +created by the Catholic sovereigns, for his distinguished services, duke +of Frias. He had large estates, chiefly in Old Castile, with a yearly +revenue, according to L. Marineo, of 60,000 ducats. He appears to have +possessed many noble and brilliant qualities, accompanied, however, with a +haughtiness, which made him feared, rather than loved. He died in +February, 1512, after a few hours' illness, as appears by a letter of +Peter Martyr. Opus Epist., epist. 479.--Salazar de Mendoza, Dignidades, +ubi supra.--L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 23. + +[35] Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, pp. 282, 283. + +[36] Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, pp. 284, 285.--Chrónica del Gran +Capitan, lib. 3, cap. 6.--Pulgar, Sumario, p. 208. + +[37] The inscription on Guicciardini's monument might have been written on +Gonsalvo's. + + "Cujus negotium, an otium gloriosius incertum." + +See Pignotti, Storia della Toscana, (Pisa, 1813,) tom. ix. p. 155. + +[38] Quintana, Españoles Célebres, tom. i. pp. 322-334.--Giovio, Vitae +Illust. Virorum, p. 286.--Chrónica del Gran Capitan, lib. 3, cap. 7-9.-- +Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 560.--Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. iv. +pp. 77, 78. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +XIMENES.--CONQUESTS IN AFRICA--UNIVERSITY OF ALCALÁ.--POLYGLOT BIBLE. + +1508-1510. + +Enthusiasm of Ximenes.--His Warlike Preparations.--He Sends an Army to +Africa.--Storms Oran.--His Triumphant Entry.--The King's Distrust of Him. +--He Returns to Spain.--Navarro's African Conquests.--Magnificent +Endowments of Ximenes.--University of Alcalá.--Complutensian Polyglot. + + +The high-handed measures of Ferdinand, in regard to the marquis of Priego +and some other nobles, excited general disgust among the jealous +aristocracy of Castile. But they appear to have found more favor with the +commons, who were probably not unwilling to see that haughty body humbled, +which had so often trampled on the rights of its inferiors. [1] As a +matter of policy, however, even with the nobles, this course does not seem +to have been miscalculated; since it showed, that the king, whose talents +they had always respected, was now possessed of power to enforce +obedience, and was fully resolved to exert it. + +Indeed, notwithstanding a few deviations, it must be allowed that +Ferdinand's conduct on his return was extremely lenient and liberal; more +especially, considering the subjects of provocation he had sustained, in +the personal insults and desertion of those, on whom he had heaped so many +favors. History affords few examples of similar moderation on the +restoration of a banished prince, or party. In fact, a violent and +tyrannical course would not have been agreeable to his character, in which +passion, however strong by nature, was habitually subjected to reason. The +present, as it would seem, excessive acts of severity are to be regarded, +therefore, not as the sallies of personal resentment, but as the dictates +of a calculating policy, intended to strike terror into the turbulent +spirits, whom fear only could hold in check. + +To this energetic course he was stimulated, as was said, by the counsels +of Ximenes. This eminent prelate had now reached the highest +ecclesiastical honors short of the papacy. Soon after Ferdinand's +restoration, he received a cardinal's hat from Pope Julius the Second; [2] +and this was followed by his appointment to the office of inquisitor +general of Castile, in the place of Deza, archbishop of Seville. The +important functions devolved on him by these offices, in conjunction with +the primacy of Spain, might be supposed to furnish abundant subject and +scope for his aspiring spirit. But his views, on the contrary, expanded +with every step of his elevation, and now fell little short of those of an +independent monarch. His zeal glowed fiercer than ever for the propagation +of the Catholic faith. Had he lived in the age of the crusades, he would +indubitably have headed one of those expeditions himself; for the spirit +of the soldier burned strong and bright under his monastic weeds. [3] +Indeed, like Columbus, he had formed plans for the recovery of the Holy +Sepulchre, even at this late day. [4] But his zeal found a better +direction in a crusade against the neighboring Moslems of Africa, who had +retaliated the wrongs of Granada by repeated descents on the southern +coasts of the Peninsula, calling in vain for the interference of +government. At the instigation and with the aid of Ximenes, an expedition +had been fitted out soon after Isabella's death, which resulted in the +capture of Mazarquivir, an important port, and formidable nest of pirates, +on the Barbary coast, nearly opposite Carthagena. He now meditated a more +difficult enterprise, the conquest of Oran. [5] + +This place, situated about a league from the former, was one of the most +considerable of the Moslem possessions in the Mediterranean, being a +principal mart for the trade of the Levant. It contained about twenty +thousand inhabitants, was strongly fortified, and had acquired a degree of +opulence by its extensive commerce, which enabled it to maintain a swarm +of cruisers, that swept this inland sea, and made fearful depredations on +its populous borders. [6] + +No sooner was Ferdinand quietly established again in the government, than +Ximenes urged him to undertake this new conquest. The king saw its +importance, but objected the want of funds. The cardinal, who was prepared +for this, replied, that "he was ready to lend whatever sums were +necessary, and to take sole charge of the expedition, leading it, if the +king pleased, in person." Ferdinand, who had no objection to this mode of +making acquisitions, more especially as it would open a vent for the +turbulent spirits of his subjects, readily acquiesced in the proposition. +The enterprise, however disproportionate it might seem to the resources of +a private individual, was not beyond those of the cardinal. He had been +carefully husbanding his revenues for some time past, with a view to this +object; although he had occasionally broken in upon his appropriations, to +redeem unfortunate Spaniards, who had been swept into slavery. He had +obtained accurate surveys of the Barbary coast from an Italian engineer +named Vianelli. He had advised, as to the best mode of conducting +operations, with his friend Gonsalvo de Cordova, to whom, if it had been +the king's pleasure, he would gladly have intrusted the conduct of the +expedition. At his suggestion, that post was now assigned to the +celebrated engineer, Count Pedro Navarro. [7] + +No time was lost in completing the requisite preparations. Besides the +Italian veterans, levies were drawn from all quarters of the country, +especially from the cardinal's own diocese. The chapter of Toledo entered +heartily into his views, furnishing liberal supplies, and offering to +accompany the expedition in person. An ample train of ordnance was +procured, with provisions and military stores for the maintenance of an +army four months. Before the close of the spring, in 1509, all was in +readiness, and a fleet of ten galleys and eighty smaller vessels rode in +the harbor of Carthagena, having on board a force, amounting in all to +four thousand horse and ten thousand foot. Such were the resources, +activity, and energy, displayed by a man whose life, until within a very +few years, had been spent in cloistered solitudes, and in the quiet +practices of religion, and who now, oppressed with infirmities more than +usual, had passed the seventieth year of his age. + +In accomplishing all this, the cardinal had experienced greater obstacles +than those arising from bodily infirmity or age. His plans had been +constantly discouraged and thwarted by the nobles, who derided the idea of +"a monk fighting the battles of Spain, while the Great Captain was left to +stay at home, and count his beads like a hermit." The soldiers, especially +those of Italy, as well as their commander Navarro, trained under the +banners of Gonsalvo, showed little inclination to serve under their +spiritual leader. The king himself was cooled by these various +manifestations of discontent. But the storm, which prostrates the weaker +spirit, serves only to root the stronger more firmly in its purpose; and +the genius of Ximenes, rising with the obstacles it had to encounter, +finally succeeded in triumphing over all, in reconciling the king, +disappointing the nobles, and restoring obedience and discipline to the +army. [8] + +On the 16th of May, 1509, the fleet weighed anchor, and on the following +day reached the African port of Mazarquivir. No time was lost in +disembarking; for the fires on the hill-tops showed that the country was +already in alarm. It was proposed to direct the main attack against a +lofty height, or ridge of land, rising between Mazarquivir and Oran, so +near the latter as entirely to command it. At the same time, the fleet was +to drop down before the Moorish city, and by opening a brisk cannonade, +divert the attention of the inhabitants from the principal point of +assault. + +As soon as the Spanish army had landed, and formed in order of battle, +Ximenes mounted his mule, and rode along the ranks. He was dressed in his +pontifical robes, with a belted sword at his side. A Franciscan friar rode +before him, bearing aloft the massive silver cross, the archiepiscopal +standard of Toledo. Around him were other brethren of the order, wearing +their monastic frocks, with scimitars hanging from their girdles. As the +ghostly cavalcade advanced, they raised the triumphant hymn of _Vexilla +regis_, until at length the cardinal, ascending a rising ground, imposed +silence, and made a brief but animated harangue to his soldiers. He +reminded them of the wrongs they had suffered from the Moslems, the +devastation of their coasts, and their brethren dragged into merciless +slavery. When he had sufficiently roused their resentment against the +enemies of their country and religion, he stimulated their cupidity by +dwelling on the golden spoil, which awaited them in the opulent city of +Oran; and he concluded his discourse by declaring, that he had come to +peril his own life in the good cause of the Cross, and to lead them on to +battle, as his predecessors had often done before him. [9] + +The venerable aspect and heart-stirring eloquence of the primate kindled a +deep, reverential enthusiasm in the bosoms of his martial audience, which +showed itself by the profoundest silence. The officers, however, closed +around him at the conclusion of the address, and besought him not to +expose his sacred person to the hazard of the fight; reminding him, that +his presence would probably do more harm than good, by drawing off the +attention of the men to his personal safety. This last consideration moved +the cardinal, who, though reluctantly, consented to relinquish the command +to Navarro, and, after uttering his parting benediction over the prostrate +ranks, he withdrew to the neighboring fortress of Mazarquivir. + +The day was now far spent, and dark clouds of the enemy were seen +gathering along the tops of the sierra, which it was proposed first to +attack. Navarro, seeing this post so strongly occupied, doubted whether +his men would be able to carry it before nightfall, if indeed at all, +without previous rest and refreshment, after the exhausting labors of the +day. He returned, therefore, to Mazarquivir, to take counsel of Ximenes. +The latter, whom he found at his devotions, besought him "not to falter at +this hour, but to go forward in God's name, since both the blessed Saviour +and the false prophet Mahomet conspired to deliver the enemy into his +hands." The soldier's scruples vanished before the intrepid bearing of the +prelate, and, returning to the army, he gave instant orders to advance. +[10] + +Slowly and silently the Spanish troops began their ascent up the steep +sides of the sierra, under the friendly cover of a thick mist, which, +rolling heavily down the skirts of the hills, shielded them for a time +from the eye of the enemy. As soon as they emerged from it, however, they +were saluted with showers of balls, arrows, and other deadly missiles, +followed by the desperate charges of the Moors, who, rushing down, +endeavored to drive back the assailants. But they made no impression on +the long pikes and deep ranks of the latter, which remained unshaken as a +rock. Still the numbers of the enemy, fully equal to those of the +Spaniards, and the advantages of their position enabled them to dispute +the ground with fearful obstinacy. At length Navarro got a small battery +of heavy guns to operate on the flank of the Moors. The effect of this +movement was soon visible. The exposed sides of the Moslem column, finding +no shelter from the deadly volleys, were shaken and thrown into disorder. +The confusion extended to the leading files, which now, pressed heavily by +the iron array of spearmen in the Christian van, began to give ground. +Retreat was soon quickened into a disorderly flight. The Spaniards +pursued; many of them, especially the raw levies, breaking their ranks, +and following up the flying foe without the least regard to the commands +or menaces of their officers; a circumstance which might have proved +fatal, had the Moors had strength or discipline to rally. As it was, the +scattered numbers of the Christians, magnifying to the eye their real +force, served only to increase the panic, and accelerate the speed of the +fugitives. [11] + +While this was going on, the fleet had anchored before the city, and +opened a very heavy cannonade, which was answered with equal spirit from +sixty pieces of artillery which garnished the fortifications. The troops +on board, however, made good their landing, and soon joined themselves to +their victorious countrymen, descending from the sierra. They then pushed +forward in all haste towards Oran, proposing to carry the place by +escalade. They were poorly provided with ladders, but the desperate energy +of the moment overleaped every obstacle; and planting their long pikes +against the walls, or thrusting them into the crevices of the stones, they +clambered up with incredible dexterity, although they were utterly unable +to repeat the feat the next day in cold blood. The first who gained the +summit was Sousa, captain of the cardinal's guard, who, shouting forth +"St. Jago and Ximenes," unfurled his colors, emblazoned with the primate's +arms on one side, and the Cross on the other, and planted them on the +battlements. Six other banners were soon seen streaming from the ramparts; +and the soldiers leaping into the town got possession of the gates, and +threw them open to their comrades. The whole army now rushed in, sweeping +everything before it. Some few of the Moors endeavored to make head +against the tide, but most fled into the houses and mosques for +protection. Resistance and flight were alike unavailing. No mercy was +shown; no respect for age or sex; and the soldiery abandoned themselves to +all the brutal license and ferocity, which seem to stain religious wars +above every other. It was in vain Navarro called them off. They returned +like bloodhounds to the slaughter, and never slackened, till at last, +wearied with butchery, and gorged with the food and wine found in the +houses, they sunk down to sleep promiscuously in the streets and public +squares. [12] + +The sun, which on the preceding morning had shed its rays on Oran, +flourishing in all the pride of commercial opulence, and teeming with a +free and industrious population, next rose on it a captive city, with its +ferocious conquerors stretched in slumber on the heaps of their +slaughtered victims. [13] No less than four thousand Moors were said to +have fallen in the battle, and from five to eight thousand were made +prisoners. The loss of the Christians was inconsiderable. As soon as the +Spanish commander had taken the necessary measures for cleansing the place +from its foul and dismal impurities, he sent to the cardinal, and invited +him to take possession of it. The latter embarked on board his galley, +and, as he coasted along the margin of the city, and saw its gay pavilions +and sparkling minarets reflected in the waters, his soul swelled with +satisfaction at the glorious acquisition he had made for Christian Spain. +It seemed incredible, that a town so strongly manned and fortified, should +have been carried so easily. + +As Ximenes landed and entered the gates, attended by his train of monkish +brethren, he was hailed with thundering acclamations by the army as the +true victor of Oran, in whose behalf Heaven had condescended to repeat the +stupendous miracle of Joshua, by stopping the sun in his career. [14] But +the cardinal, humbly disclaiming all merits of his own, was heard to +repeat aloud the sublime language of the Psalmist, "Non nobis, Domine, non +nobis," while he gave his benedictions to the soldiery. He was then +conducted to the alcazar, and the keys of the fortress were put into his +hand. The spoil of the captured city, amounting, as was said, to half a +million of gold ducats, the fruit of long successful trade and piracy, was +placed at his disposal for distribution. But that which gave most joy to +his heart was the liberation of three hundred Christian captives, +languishing in the dungeons of Oran. A few hours after the surrender, the +_mezuar_ of Tremecen arrived with a powerful reinforcement to its relief; +but instantly retreated on learning the tidings. Fortunate, indeed, was +it, that the battle had not been deferred to the succeeding day. This, +which must be wholly ascribed to Ximenes, was by most referred to direct +inspiration. Quite as probable an explanation may be found in the boldness +and impetuous enthusiasm of the cardinal's character. [15] + +The conquest of Oran opened unbounded scope to the ambition of Ximenes; +who saw in imagination the banner of the Cross floating triumphant from +the walls of every Moslem city on the Mediterranean. He experienced, +however, serious impediments to his further progress. Navarro, accustomed +to an independent command, chafed in his present subordinate situation, +especially under a spiritual leader, whose military science he justly held +in contempt. He was a rude, unlettered soldier, and bluntly spoke his mind +to the primate. He told him, "his commission under him terminated with the +capture of Oran; that two generals were too many in one army; that the +cardinal should rest contented with the laurels he had already won, and, +instead of playing the king, go home to his flock, and leave fighting to +those to whom the trade belonged." [16] + +But what troubled the prelate more than this insolence of his general, was +a letter which fell into his hands, addressed by the king to Count +Navarro, in which he requested him to be sure to find some pretence for +detaining the cardinal in Africa, as long as his presence could be made +any way serviceable. Ximenes had good reason before to feel that the royal +favor to him flowed from selfishness, rather than from any personal +regard. The king had always wished the archbishopric of Toledo for his +favorite, and natural son, Alfonso of Aragon. After his return from +Naples, he importuned Ximenes to resign his see, and exchange it for that +of Saragossa, held by Alfonso; till, at length, the indignant prelate +replied, "that he would never consent to barter away the dignities of the +church; that if his Highness pressed him any further, he would indeed +throw up the primacy, but it should be to bury himself in the friar's cell +from which the queen had originally called him." Ferdinand, who, +independently of the odium of such a proceeding, could ill afford to part +with so able a minister, knew his inflexible temper too well ever to +resume the subject. [17] + +With some reason, therefore, for distrusting the good-will of his +sovereign, Ximenes put the worst possible construction on the expressions +in his letter. He saw himself a mere tool in Ferdinand's hands, to be used +so long as occasion might serve, with the utmost indifference to his own +interests or convenience. These humiliating suspicions, together with the +arrogant bearing of his general, disgusted him with the further +prosecution of the expedition; while he was confirmed in his purpose of +returning to Spain, and found an obvious apology for it in the state of +his own health, too infirm to encounter, with safety, the wasting heats of +an African summer. + +Before his departure, he summoned Navarro and his officers about him, and, +after giving them much good counsel respecting the government and defence +of their new acquisitions, he placed at their disposal an ample supply of +funds and stores, for the maintenance of the army several months. He then +embarked, not with the pompous array and circumstance of a hero returning +from his conquests, but with a few domestics only, in an unarmed galley, +showing, as it were, by this very act, the good effects of his enterprise, +in the security which it brought to the before perilous navigation of +these inland seas. [18] + +Splendid preparations were made for his reception in Spain, and he was +invited to visit the court at Valladolid, to receive the homage and public +testimonials due to his eminent services. But his ambition was of too +noble a kind to be dazzled by the false lights of an ephemeral popularity. +He had too much pride of character, indeed, to allow room for the +indulgence of vanity. He declined, these compliments, and hastened without +loss of time to his favorite city of Alcalá. There, too, the citizens, +anxious to do him honor, turned out under arms to receive him, and made a +breach in the walls, that he might make his entry in a style worthy of a +conqueror. But this also he declined choosing to pass into the town by the +regular avenue, with no peculiar circumstances attending his entrance, +save only a small train of camels, led by African slaves, and laden with +gold and silver plate from the mosques of Oran, and a precious collection +of Arabian manuscripts, for the library of his infant university of +Alcalá. + +He showed similar modesty and simplicity in his deportment and +conversation. He made no allusion to the stirring scenes in which he had +been so gloriously engaged; and, if others made any, turned the discourse +into some other channel, particularly to the condition of his college, its +discipline, and literary progress, which, with the great project for the +publication of his famous Polyglot Bible, seemed now almost wholly to +absorb his attention. [19] + +His first care, however, was to visit the families in his diocese, and +minister consolation and relief, which he did in the most benevolent +manner, to those who were suffering from the loss of friends, whether by +death or absence, in the late campaign. Nor did he in his academical +retreat lose sight of the great object which had so deeply interested him, +of extending the empire of the Cross over Africa. From time to time he +remitted supplies for the maintenance of Oran; and he lost no opportunity +of stimulating Ferdinand to prosecute his conquests. + +The Catholic king, however, felt too sensibly the importance of his new +possessions to require such admonition; and Count Pedro Navarro was +furnished with ample resources of every kind, and, above all, with the +veterans formed under the eye of Gonsalvo de Cordova. Thus placed on an +independent field of conquest, the Spanish general was not slow in pushing +his advantages. His first enterprise was against Bugia, whose king, at the +head of a powerful army, he routed in two pitched battles, and got +possession of his flourishing capital. Algiers, Tennis, Tremecen, and +other cities on the Barbary coast, submitted one after another to the +Spanish arms. The inhabitants were received as vassals of the Catholic +king, engaging to pay the taxes usually imposed by their Moslem princes, +and to serve him in war, with the addition of the whimsical provision, so +often found in the old Granadine treaties, to attend him in cortes. They +guaranteed, moreover, the liberation of all Christian captives in their +dominions; for which the Algerines, however, took care to indemnify +themselves, by extorting the full ransom from their Jewish residents. It +was of little moment to the wretched Israelite which party won the day, +Christian or Mussulman; he was sure to be stripped in either case. [20] + +On the 26th of July, 1510, the ancient city of Tripoli, after a most +bloody and desperate defence, surrendered to the arms of the victorious +general, whose name had now become terrible along the whole northern +borders of Africa. In the following month, however, he met with a serious +discomfiture in the island of Gelves, where four thousand of his men were +slain or made prisoners. [21] This check in the brilliant career of Count +Navarro put a final stop to the progress of the Castilian arms in Africa +under Ferdinand. [22] + +The results already obtained, however, were of great importance, whether +we consider the value of the acquisitions, being some of the most opulent +marts on the Barbary coast, or the security gained for commerce, by +sweeping the Mediterranean of the pestilent hordes of marauders, which had +so long infested it. Most of the new conquests escaped from the Spanish +crown in later times, through the imbecility or indolence of Ferdinand's +successors. The conquests of Ximenes, however, were placed in so strong a +posture of defence, as to resist every attempt for their recovery by the +enemy, and to remain permanently incorporated with the Spanish empire. +[23] + +This illustrious prelate, in the mean while, was busily occupied, in his +retirement at Alcalá de Henares, with watching over the interests and +rapid development of his infant university. This institution was too +important in itself, and exercised too large an influence over the +intellectual progress of the country, to pass unnoticed in a history of +the present reign. + +As far back as 1497, Ximenes had conceived the idea of establishing a +university in the ancient town of Alcalá, where the salubrity of the air, +and the sober, tranquil complexion of the scenery, on the beautiful +borders of the Henares, seemed well suited to academic study and +meditation. He even went so far as to obtain plans at this time for his +buildings from a celebrated architect. Other engagements, however, +postponed the commencement of the work till 1500, when the cardinal +himself laid the cornerstone of the principal college, with a solemn +ceremonial, [24] and invocation of the blessing of Heaven on his designs. +From that hour, amidst all the engrossing cares of church and state, he +never lost sight of this great object. When at Alcalá, he might be +frequently seen on the ground, with the rule in his hand, taking the +admeasurements of the buildings, and stimulating the industry of the +workmen by seasonable rewards. [25] + +The plans were too extensive, however, to admit of being speedily +accomplished. Besides the principal college of San Ildefonso, named in +honor of the patron saint of Toledo, there were nine others, together with +an hospital for the reception of invalids at the university. These +edifices were built in the most substantial manner, and such parts as +admitted of it, as the libraries, refectories, and chapels, were finished +with elegance, and even splendor. The city of Alcalá underwent many +important and expensive alterations, in order to render it more worthy of +being the seat of a great and flourishing university. The stagnant water +was carried off by drains, the streets were paved, old buildings removed, +and new and spacious avenues thrown open. [26] + +At the expiration of eight years, the cardinal had the satisfaction of +seeing the whole of his vast design completed, and every apartment of the +spacious pile carefully furnished with all that was requisite for the +comfort and accommodation of the student. It was, indeed, a noble +enterprise, more particularly when viewed as the work of a private +individual. As such it raised the deepest admiration in Francis the First, +when he visited the spot, a few years after the cardinal's death. "Your +Ximenes," said he, "has executed more than I should have dared to +conceive; he has done, with his single hand, what in France it has cost a +line of kings to accomplish." [27] + +The erection of the buildings, however, did not terminate the labors of +the primate, who now assumed the task of digesting a scheme of instruction +and discipline for his infant seminary. In doing this, he sought light +wherever it was to be found; and borrowed many useful hints from the +venerable university of Paris. His system was of the most enlightened +kind, being directed to call all the powers of the student into action, +and not to leave him a mere passive recipient in the hands of his +teachers. Besides daily recitations and lectures, he was required to take +part in public examinations and discussions, so conducted as to prove +effectually his talent and acquisitions. In these gladiatorial displays, +Ximenes took the deepest interest, and often encouraged the generous +emulation of the scholar by attending in person. + +Two provisions may be noticed as characteristic of the man. One, that the +salary of a professor should be regulated by the number of his disciples. +Another, that every professor should be re-eligible at the expiration of +every four years. It was impossible, that any servant of Ximenes should +sleep on his post. [28] + +Liberal foundations were made for indigent students, especially in +divinity. Indeed, theological studies, or rather such a general course of +study as should properly enter into the education of a Christian minister, +was the avowed object of the institution. For the Spanish clergy up to +this period, as before noticed, were too often deficient in the most +common elements of learning. But in this preparatory discipline, the +comprehensive mind of Ximenes embraced nearly the whole circle of sciences +taught in other universities. Out of the forty-two chairs, indeed, twelve +only were dedicated to divinity and the canon law; while fourteen were +appropriated to grammar, rhetoric, and the ancient classics; studies, +which probably found especial favor with the cardinal, as furnishing the +only keys to a correct criticism and interpretation of the Scriptures. +[29] + +Having completed his arrangements, the cardinal sought the most competent +agents for carrying his plans into execution; and this indifferently from +abroad and at home. His mind was too lofty for narrow local prejudices, +and the tree of knowledge, he knew, bore fruit in every clime. [30] He +took especial care, that the emolument should be sufficient to tempt +talent from obscurity, and from quarters however remote, where it was to +be found. In this he was perfectly successful, and we find the university +catalogue at this time inscribed with the names of the most distinguished +scholars in their various departments, many of whom we are enabled to +appreciate by the enduring memorials of erudition, which they have +bequeathed to us. [31] + +In July, 1508, the cardinal received the welcome intelligence, that his +academy was opened for the admission of pupils; and in the following month +the first lecture, being on Aristotle's Ethics, was publicly delivered. +Students soon flocked to the new university, attracted by the reputation +of its professors, its ample apparatus, its thorough system of +instruction, and, above all, its splendid patronage, and the high +character of its founder. We have no information of their number in +Ximenes's lifetime; but it must have been very considerable, since no less +than seven thousand came out to receive Francis the First on his visit to +the university, within twenty years after it was opened. [32] + +Five years after this period, in 1513, King Ferdinand, in an excursion +made for the benefit of his declining health, paid a visit to Alcalá. Ever +since his return from Oran, the cardinal, disgusted with public life, had +remained with a few brief exceptions in his own diocese, devoted solely to +his personal and professional duties. It was with proud satisfaction that +he now received his sovereign, and exhibited to him the noble testimony of +the great objects, to which his retirement had been consecrated. The king, +whose naturally inquisitive mind no illness could damp, visited every part +of the establishment, and attended the examinations, and listened to the +public disputations of the scholars with interest. With little learning of +his own, he had been made too often sensible, of his deficiencies not to +appreciate it in others. His acute perception readily discerned the +immense benefit to his kingdom, and the glory conferred on his reign by +the labors of his ancient minister, and he did ample justice to them in +the unqualified terms of his commendation. + +It was on this occasion that the rector of San Ildefonso, the head of the +university, came out to receive the king, preceded by his usual train of +attendants, with their maces or wands of office. The royal guard, at this +exhibition, called out to them to lay aside these insignia, as unbecoming +any subject in the presence of his sovereign. "Not so," said Ferdinand, +who had the good sense to perceive that majesty could not be degraded by +its homage to letters; "not so; this is the seat of the Muses, and those, +who are initiated in their mysteries, have the best right to reign here." +[33] + +In the midst of his pressing duties, Ximenes found time for the execution +of another work, which would alone have been sufficient to render his name +immortal in the republic of letters. This was his famous Bible, or +Complutensian Polyglot, as usually termed, from the place where it was +printed. [34] It was on the plan, first conceived by Origen, of exhibiting +in one view the Scriptures in their various ancient languages. It was a +work of surpassing difficulty, demanding an extensive and critical +acquaintance with the most ancient, and consequently the rarest, +manuscripts. The character and station of the cardinal afforded him, it is +true, uncommon facilities. The precious collection of the Vatican was +liberally thrown open to him, especially under Leo the Tenth, whose +munificent spirit delighted in the undertaking. [35] He obtained copies, +in like manner, of whatever was of value in the other libraries of Italy, +and, indeed, of Europe generally; and Spain supplied him with editions of +the Old Testament of great antiquity, which had been treasured up by the +banished Israelites. [36] Some idea may be formed of the lavish +expenditure in this way, from the fact that four thousand gold crowns were +paid for seven foreign manuscripts, which, however, came too late to be of +use in the compilation. [37] + +The conduct of the work was entrusted to nine scholars, well skilled in +the ancient tongues, as most of them had evinced by works of critical +acuteness and erudition. After the labors of the day, these learned sages +were accustomed to meet, in order to settle the doubts and difficulties +which had arisen in the course of their researches, and, in short, to +compare the results of their observations. Ximenes, who, however limited +his attainments in general literature, [38] was an excellent biblical +critic, frequently presided, and took a prominent part in these +deliberations. "Lose no time, my friends," he would say, "in the +prosecution of our glorious work; lest, in the casualties of life, you +should lose your patron, or I have to lament the loss of those, whose +services are of more price in my eyes than wealth and worldly honors." +[39] + + The difficulties of the undertaking were sensibly increased by those of +the printing. The art was then in its infancy, and there were no types in +Spain, if indeed in any part of Europe, in the Oriental character. +Ximenes, however, careful to have the whole executed under his own eye, +imported artists from Germany, and had types cast in the various languages +required, in his foundries at Alcala. [40] The work when completed +occupied six volumes folio; [41] the first four devoted to the Old +Testament, the fifth to the New; the last containing a Hebrew and Chaldaic +vocabulary, with other elementary treatises of singular labor and +learning. It was not brought to an end till 1517, fifteen years after its +commencement, and a few months only before the death of its illustrious +projector. Alvaro Gomez relates, that he had often heard John Broccario, +the son of the printer, [42] say, that when the last sheet was struck off, +he, then a child, was dressed in his best attire, and sent with a copy to +the cardinal. The latter, as he took it, raised his eyes to Heaven, and +devoutly offered up his thanks, for being spared to the completion of this +good work. Then, turning to his friends who were present, he said, that +"of all the acts which distinguished his administration, there was none, +however arduous, better entitled to their congratulation than this." [43] + +This is not the place, if I were competent, to discuss the merits of this +great work, the reputation of which is familiar to every scholar. Critics, +indeed, have disputed the antiquity of the manuscripts used in the +compilation, as well as the correctness and value of the emendations. [44] +Unfortunately, the destruction of the original manuscripts, in a manner +which forms one of the most whimsical anecdotes in literary history, makes +it impossible to settle the question satisfactorily. [45] Undoubtedly, +many blemishes may be charged on it, necessarily incident to an age when +the science of criticism was imperfectly understood, [46] and the stock of +materials much more limited, or at least more difficult of access, than at +the present day. [47] After every deduction, however, the cardinal's Bible +has the merit of being the first successful attempt at a polyglot version +of the Scriptures, and consequently of facilitating, even by its errors, +the execution of more perfect and later works of the kind. [48] Nor can we +look at it in connection with the age, and the auspices under which it was +accomplished, without regarding it as a noble monument of piety, learning, +and munificence, which entitles its author to the gratitude of the whole +Christian world. + +Such were the gigantic projects which amused the leisure hours of this +great prelate. Though gigantic, they were neither beyond his strength to +execute, nor beyond the demands of his age and country. They were not like +those works, which, forced into being by whim, or transitory impulse, +perish with the breath that made them; but, taking deep root, were +cherished and invigorated by the national sentiment, so as to bear rich +fruit for posterity. This was particularly the case with the institution +at Alcalá. It soon became the subject of royal and private benefaction. +Its founder bequeathed it, at his death, a clear revenue of fourteen +thousand ducats. By the middle of the seventeenth century, this had +increased to forty-two thousand, and the colleges had multiplied from ten +to thirty-five. [49] + +The rising reputation of the new academy, which attracted students from +every quarter of the Peninsula to its halls, threatened to eclipse the +glories of the ancient seminary at Salamanca, and occasioned bitter +jealousies between them. The field of letters, however, was wide enough +for both, especially as the one was more immediately devoted to +theological preparation, to the entire exclusion of civil jurisprudence, +which formed a prominent branch of instruction at the other. In this state +of things, their rivalry, far from being productive of mischief, might be +regarded as salutary, by quickening literary ardor, too prone to languish +without the spur of competition. Side by side the sister universities went +forward, dividing the public patronage and estimation. As long as the good +era of letters lasted in Spain, the academy of Ximenes, under the +influence of its admirable discipline, maintained a reputation inferior to +none other in the Peninsula, [50] and continued to send forth its sons to +occupy the most exalted posts in church and state, and shed the light of +genius and science over their own and future ages. [51] + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] On his return from Cordova, he experienced a most loyal and +enthusiastic reception from the ancient capital of Andalusia. The most +interesting part of the pageant was the troops of children, gayly dressed, +who came out to meet him, presenting the keys of the city and an imperial +crown, after which the whole procession moved under thirteen triumphal +arches, each inscribed with the name of one of his victories. For a +description of these civic honors, see Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., +cap. 216, and Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, año 1508. + +[2] He obtained this dignity at the king's solicitation, during his visit +to Naples. See Ferdinand's letter, apud Quintanilla, copied from the +archives of Alcalá. Archetypo, Apend. no. 15. + +[3] "Ego tamen dum universas ejus actiones comparo," says Alvaro Gomez, +"magis ad bellica exercitia a naturâ effictum esse judico. Erat enim vir +animi invicti et sublimis, omniaque in melius asserere conantis." De Rebus +Gestis, fol. 95. + +[4] From a letter of King Emanuel of Portugal, it appears that Ximenes had +endeavored to interest him, together with the kings of Aragon and England, +in a crusade to the Holy Land. There was much method in his madness, if we +may judge from the careful survey he had procured of the coast, as well as +his plan of operations. The Portuguese monarch praises in round terms the +edifying zeal of the primate, but wisely confined himself to his own +crusades in India, which were likely to make better returns, at least in +this world, than those to Palestine. The letter is still preserved in the +archives of Alcalá; see a copy in Quintanilla, Archetype, Apend. no. 16. + +[5] Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 6, cap. 15.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, +fol. 77.--Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 17.--Carbajal, Anales, MS., año +1507.--Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. lib. 28, cap. 15; lib. 29, cap. +9. + +[6] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 418. + +[7] Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 96-100.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., +cap. 218--Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 17.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., +epist. 413.--Chrónica del Gran Capitan, lib. 3, cap. 7. + +[8] Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 100-102.--Robles, Vida de Ximenez, ubi +supra.--Quintanilla, Archetypo, lib. 3, cap. 19.--Bernaldez, Reyes +Católicos, MS., cap. 218. + +[9] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., ubi supra.--Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. +lib. 8, cap. 30.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 108.--Oviedo, Quincuagenas, +MS., dial. de Ximenez. + +[10] Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 108-110.--Quintanilla, Archetypo, lib. +3, cap. 19.--Zurita, Anales, lib. 8, cap. 30. + +[11] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 418.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, +MS., cap. 218.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 110, 111.--Abarca, Reyes de +Aragon, tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 18. + +[12] Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, ubi supra.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., +cap. 218.--Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 22.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., +ubi supra.--Quintanilla, Archetypo, lib. 3, cap. 19.--Carbajal, Anales, +MS., año 1509.--Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS.--Sandoval, Hist. del Emp. Carlos +V., tom. i. p. 15. + +[13] "Sed tandem somnus ex labore et vino obortus eos oppressit, et +cruentis hostium cadaveribus tantâ securitate et fiduciâ indormierunt, ut +permulti in Oranis urbis plateis ad multam diem stertuerint." Gomez, De +Rebus Gestis, fol. 111. + +[14] To accommodate the Christians, as the day was far advanced when the +action began, the sun was permitted to stand still several hours; there is +some discrepancy as to the precise number; most authorities, however, make +it four. There is no miracle in the whole Roman Catholic budget, better +vouched than this. It is recorded by four eye-witnesses, men of learning +and character. It is attested, moreover, by a cloud of witnesses, who +depose to have received it, some from tradition, others from direct +communication with their ancestors present in the action; and who all +agree that it was matter of public notoriety and belief at the time. See +the whole formidable array of evidence set forth by Quintanilla. +(Archetypo, pp. 236 et seq. and Apend. p. 103.) It was scarcely to have +been expected that so astounding a miracle should escape the notice of all +Europe, where it must have been as apparent as at Oran. This universal +silence may be thought, indeed, the greater miracle of the two. + +[15] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 218.--Robles, Vida de Ximenez, +cap. 22.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 113.--Lanuza, Historias, tom. i. +lib. 1, cap. 22.--Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS.--Sandoval, Hist. del Emp. +Carlos V., tom. i. p. 15. + +[16] Fléchier, Histoire de Ximenes, pp. 308, 309.--Abarca, Reyes de +Aragon, tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 18. + +[17] Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, lib. 3, p. 107.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, +fol. 117.--Sandoval, Hist. del Emp. Carlos V., tom. i. p. 16.--"The worthy +brother," says Sandoval of the prelate, "thought his archbishopric worth +more than the good graces of a covetous old monarch." + +[18] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 420.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. +118.--Quintanilla, Archetypo, lib. 3, cap. 20. + +[19] Quintanilla, Archetypo, lib. 3, cap. 20.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, +fol. 119, 120.--Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 8, cap. 30.--Robles, Vida de +Ximenez, cap. 22. + +[20] Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 9, cap. 1, 2, 4, 13.--Peter Martyr, +Opus Epist., epist. 435-437.--Quintanilla, Archetypo, lib. 3, cap. 20.-- +Mariana, Hist. de España, lib. 29, cap. 22.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. +122-124.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 222.--Zurita gives at +length the capitulation with Algiers, lib. 9, cap. 13. + +[21] Chénier, Recherches sur les Manures, tom. ii. pp. 355, 356.--It is +but just to state, that this disaster was imputable to Don Garcia de +Toledo, who had charge of the expedition, and who expiated his temerity +with his life. He was eldest son of the old duke of Alva, and father of +that nobleman, who subsequently acquired such gloomy celebrity by his +conquests and cruelties in the Netherlands. The tender poet, Garcilasso de +la Vega, offers sweet incense to the house of Toledo, in one of his +pastorals, in which he mourns over the disastrous day of Gelves; + + "O patria lagrimosa, i como buelves + los ojos a los Gelves sospirando!" + +The death of the young nobleman is veiled under a beautiful simile, which +challenges comparison with the great masters of Latin and Italian song, +from whom the Castilian bard derived it. + + "Puso en el duro suelo la hermosa + cara, como la rosa matutina, + cuando ya el sol declina 'l medio dia; + que pierde su alegria, i marchitando + va la color mudando; o en el campo + cual queda el lirio blanco, qu' el arado + crudamente cortado al passar dexa; + del cual aun no s' alexa pressuroso + aquel color hermoso, o se destierra; + mas ya la madre tierra descuidada, + no l' administra nada de su aliento, + qu' era el sustentamiento i vigor suyo; + tal esta el rostro tuyo en el arena, + fresca rosa, acucena blanea i pura." + Garcilasso de la Vega, Obras, ed. de Herrera, pp. 507, 508. + +[22] The reader may feel some curiosity respecting the fate of count Pedro +Navarro. He soon after this went to Italy, where he held a high command, +and maintained his reputation in the wars of that country, until he was +taken by the French in the great battle of Ravenna. Through the +carelessness or coldness of Ferdinand he was permitted to languish in +captivity, till he took his revenge by enlisting in the service of the +French monarch. Before doing this, however, he resigned his Neapolitan +estates, and formally renounced his allegiance to the Catholic king; of +whom, being a Navarese by birth, he was not a native subject. He +unfortunately fell into the hands of his own countrymen in one of the +subsequent actions in Italy, and was imprisoned at Naples, in Castel +Nuovo, which he had himself formerly gained from the French. Here he soon +after died; if we are to believe Brantôme, being privately despatched by +command of Charles V., or, as other writers intimate, by his own hand. His +remains, first deposited in an obscure corner of the church of Santa +Maria, were afterwards removed to the chapel of the great Gonsalvo, and a +superb mausoleum was erected over them by the prince of Sessa, grandson of +the hero. Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 124.--Aleson, Annales de Navarra, +tom. v. pp. 226, 289, 406.--Brantôme, Vies des Hommes Illustres, disc. 9. +--Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, pp. 190-193. + +[23] Ximenes continued to watch over the city which he had so valiantly +won, long after his death. He never failed to be present in seasons of +extraordinary peril. At least the gaunt, gigantic figure of a monk, +dressed in the robes of his order, and wearing a cardinal's hat, was seen, +sometimes stalking along the battlements at midnight, and, at others, +mounted on a white charger and brandishing a naked sword in the thick of +the fight. His last appearance was in 1643, when Oran was closely +beleaguered by the Algerines. A sentinel on duty saw a figure moving along +the parapet one clear, moonlight night, dressed in a Franciscan frock, +with a general's baton in his hand. As soon as it was hailed by the +terrified soldier, it called to him to "tell the garrison to be of good +heart, for the enemy should not prevail against them." Having uttered +these words, the apparition vanished without ceremony. It repeated its +visit in the same manner on the following night, and, a few days after, +its assurance was verified by the total discomfiture of the Algerines, in +a bloody battle under the walls. See the evidence of these various +apparitions, as collected, for the edification of the court of Rome, by +that prince of miracle-mongers, Quintanilla. (Archetypo, pp. 317, 335, +338, 340.) Bishop Fléchier appears to have no misgivings as to the truth +of these old wives' tales. (Histoire de Ximenés, liv. 6.) + +Oran, after resisting repeated assaults by the Moors, was at length so +much damaged by an earthquake, in 1790, that it was abandoned, and its +Spanish garrison and population were transferred to the neighboring city +of Mazarquivir. + +[24] The custom, familiar at the present day, of depositing coins and +other tokens, with inscriptions bearing the names of the architect and +founder and date of the building, under the corner-stone was observed on +this occasion, where it is noticed as of ancient usage, _more prisco_. +Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 28. + +[25] Fléchier, Histoire de Ximenés, p. 597. + +[26] Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS.--Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 16.-- +Quintanilla, Archetypo, p. 178.--Colmenar, Délices de l'Espagne, tom. ii. +pp. 308-310.--Navagiero, Viaggio, fol. 7,--who notices particularly the +library, "piena di molti libri et Latini et Greci et Hebraici." + +The good people accused the cardinal of too great a passion for building; +and punningly said, "The church of Toledo had never had a bishop of +greater _edification_, in every, sense than Ximenes." Fléchier, Histoire +de Ximenés, p. 597. + +[27] Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 79. + +[28] Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 82-84. + +[29] Navagiero says, it was prescribed the lectures should be in Latin. +Viaggio, fol. 7.--Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 16. + +Of these professorships, six were appropriated to theology; six to canon +law; four to medicine; one to anatomy; one to surgery; eight to the arts, +as they were called, embracing logic, physics, and metaphysics; one to +ethics; one to mathematics; four to the ancient languages; four to +rhetoric; and six to grammar. One is struck with the disproportion of the +mathematical studies to the rest. Though an important part of general +education, and consequently of the course embraced in most universities, +it had too little reference to a religious one, to find much favor with +the cardinal. + +[30] Lampillas, in his usual patriotic vein, stoutly maintains that the +chairs of the university were all supplied by native Spaniards. "Trovó in +Spagna," he says of the cardinal, "tutta quella scelta copia di grandi +uomini, quali richiedeva la grande impresa," etc. (Letteratura Spagnuola, +tom. i, part. 2, p. 160.) Alvaro Gomez, who flourished two centuries +earlier, and personally knew the professors, is the better authority. De +Rebus Gestis, fol. 80-82. + +[31] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 13. + +Alvaro Gomez knew several of these _savans_ whose scholarship (and he +was a competent judge) he notices with liberal panegyric. De Rebus Gestis, +fol. 80 et seq. + +[32] Quintanilla, Archetypo, lib. 3, cap. 17. + +[33] Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 86. + +The reader will readily call to mind the familiar anecdote of King Charles +and Dr. Busby. + +[34] "Alcalá de Henares," says Martyr in one of his early letters, "quae +dicitur esse Complutum. Sit, vel ne, nil mihi curae." (Opus Epist., epist. +254.) These irreverent doubts were uttered before it had gained its +literary celebrity. L. Marineo derives the name _Complutum_ from the +abundant fruitfulness of the soil,--"cumplumiento que tiene de cada cosa." +Cosas Memorables, fol. 13. + +[35] Ximenes acknowledges his obligations to his Holiness, in particular +for the Greek MSS. "Atque ex ipsis [exemplaribus] quidem Graeca Sanctitati +tuae debemus; qui ex istâ Apostolicâ bibliothecâ antiquissimos tam Veteris +quam Novi codices perquam humane ad nos misisti." Biblia Polyglotta, +(Compluti, 1514-17,) Prólogo. + +[36] "Maximam," says the cardinal in his Preface, "laboris nostri partem +in eo praecipue fuisse versatam; ut et virorum in linguarum cognitione +eminentissimorum operâ uteremur, et castigatissima omni ex parte +vetustissimaque exemplaria pro archetypis haberemus; quorum quidem, tam +Hebraeorum quam Graecorum ac Latinorum, multiplicem copiam, variis ex +locis, non sine summo labore conquisivimus." Biblia Polyglotta, Compluti, +Prólogo. + +[37] Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 39.--Quintanilla, Archetypo, lib. 3, +cap. 10. + +[38] Martyr speaks of Ximenes, in one of his epistles, as "doctrinâ +singulari oppletum." (Opus Epist., epist. 108.) He speaks with more +distrust in another; "Aiunt esse virum, _si non literis_, morum taraen +sanctitate egregium." (Epist. 160.) This was written some years later, +when he had better knowledge of him. + +[39] Quintanilla, Archetype, lib. 3, cap. lo.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, +fol. 38. + +The scholars employed in the compilation were the venerable Lebrija, the +learned Nuñez, or Pinciano, of whom the reader has had some account, Lopez +de Zuñiga, a controversialist of Erasmus, Bartholomeo de Castro, the +famous Greek Demetrius Cretensis, and Juan de Vergara;--all thorough +linguists, especially in the Greek and Latin. To these were joined Paulo +Coronel, Alfonso a physician, and Alfonso Zamora, converted Jews, and +familiar with the Oriental languages. Zamora has the merit of the +philological compilations relative to the Hebrew and Chaldaic, in the last +volume, lidem auct. ut supra; et Suma de la Vida de Cisneros, MS. + +[40] Quintanilla, Archetypo, lib. 3, cap. 10. + +[41] The work was originally put at the extremely low price of six ducats +and a half a copy. (Biblia Polyglotta Compluti, Praefix.) As only 600 +copies, however, were struck off, it has become exceedingly rare and +valuable. According to Brunei, it has been sold as high as £63. + +[42] "Industriâ et solertiâ honorabilis viri Arnaldi Guillelmi de +Brocario, artis impressoris Magistri. Anno Domini 1517. Julii die decimo." +Biblia Polyglotta Compluti. Postscript to 4th and last part of Vetus Test. + +[43] Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 38. The part devoted to the Old +Testament contains the Hebrew original with the Latin Vulgate, the +Septuagint version, and the Chaldaic paraphrase, with Latin translations +by the Spanish scholars. The New Testament was printed in the original +Greek, with the Vulgate of Jerome. After the completion of this work, the +cardinal projected an edition of Aristotle on the same scale, which was +unfortunately defeated by his death. Ibid., fol. 39. + +[44] The principal controversy on this subject was carried on in Germany +between Wetstein and Goeze; the former impugning, the latter defending the +Complutensian Bible. The cautious and candid Michaelis, whose +prepossessions appear to have been on the side of Goeze, decides +ultimately, after his own examination, in favor of Wetstein, as regards +the value of the MSS. employed; not however as relates to the grave charge +of wilfully accommodating the Greek text to the Vulgate. See the grounds +and merits of the controversy, apud Michaelis, Introduction to the New +Testament, translated by Marsh, vol. ii. part 1, chap. 12, sec. 1; part 2, +notes. + +[45] Professor Moldenhauer, of Germany, visited Alcalá in 1784, for the +interesting purpose of examining the MSS. used in the Complutensian +Polyglot. He there learned that they had all been disposed of, as so much +waste paper, (_membranas inutiles_) by the librarian of that time to +a rocket-maker of the town, who soon worked them up in the regular way of +his vocation! He assigns no reason for doubting the truth of the story. +The name of the librarian, unfortunately, is not recorded. It would have +been as imperishable as that of Omar. Marsh's Michaelis, vol. ii. part l, +chap. 12, sec. 1, note. + +[46] The celebrated text of "the three witnesses," formerly cited in the +Trinitarian controversy, and which Porson so completely overturned, rests +in part on what Gibbon calls "the honest bigotry of the Complutensian +editors." One of the three Greek manuscripts, in which that text is found, +is a forgery from the Polyglot of Alcalá, according to Mr. Norton, in his +recent work, "The Evidences of the Genuineness of the Gospels," (Boston, +1837, vol. i. Additional Notes, p. xxxix.),--a work which few can be fully +competent to criticize, but which no person can peruse without confessing +the acuteness and strength of its reasoning, the nice discrimination of +its criticism, and the precision and purity of its diction. Whatever +difference of opinion may be formed as to some of its conclusions, no one +will deny that the originality and importance of its views make it a +substantial accession to theological science; and that, within the range +permitted by the subject, it presents, on the whole, one of the noblest +specimens of scholarship, and elegance of composition, to be found in our +youthful literature. + +[47] "Accedit," says the editors of the Polyglot, adverting to the +blunders of early transcribers, "ubicunque Latinorum codicum varietas est, +aut depravatae lectionis suspitio (id quod librariorum imperitiâ simul et +negligentiâ frequentissimè accidere videmus), ad primam Scriptunae +originem recurrendum est." Biblia Polyglotta, Compluti, Prólogo. + +[48] Tiraboschi adduces a Psalter, published in four of the ancient +tongues, at Genoa, in 1516, as the first essay of a polyglot version. +(Letteratura Italiana, tom. viii. p. 191.) Lampillas does not fail to add +this enormity to the black catalogue which he has mustered against the +librarian of Modena. (Letteratura Spagnuola, tom. ii. part. 2, p. 290.) +The first three volumes of the Complutensian Bible were printed before +1516, although the whole work did not pass the press till the following +year. + +[49] Quintanilla, Archetypo, lib. 3, cap. 17.--Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., +dial. de Ximeni. + +Ferdinand and Isabella conceded liberal grants and immunities to Alcalá on +more than one occasion. Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 43, 45. + +[50] Erasmus, in a letter to his friend Vergara, in 1527, perpetrates a +Greek pun on the classic name of Alcalá, intimating the highest opinion of +the state of science there. "Gratulor tibi, ornatissime adolescens, +gratulor vestrae Hispaniae ad pristinam eruditionis laudem veluti +postliminio reflorescenti. Gratulor Compluto, quod duorum praesulum +Francisci et Alfonsi felicibus auspiciis sic efflorescit omni genere +studiorum, ut jure optimo _pamplouton_ appellare possimus." Epistolae, p. +771. + +[51] Quintanilla is for passing the sum total of the good works of these +worthies of Alcalá to the credit of its founder. They might serve as a +makeweight to turn the scale in favor of his beatification. Archetypo, +lib. 3, cap. 17. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +WARS AND POLITICS OF ITALY. 1508-1513. + +League of Cambray.--Alarm of Ferdinand.--Holy League.--Battle of Ravenna. +--Death of Gaston de Foix.--Retreat of the French.--The Spaniards +Victorious. + + +The domestic history of Spain, after Ferdinand's resumption of the +regency, contains few remarkable events. Its foreign relations were more +important. Those with Africa have been already noticed, and we must now +turn to Italy and Navarre. + +The possession of Naples necessarily brought Ferdinand within the sphere +of Italian politics. He showed little disposition, however, to avail +himself of it for the further extension of his conquests. Gonsalvo, +indeed, during his administration, meditated various schemes for the +overthrow of the French power in Italy, but with a view rather to the +preservation than enlargement of his present acquisitions. After the +treaty with Louis the Twelfth, even these designs were abandoned, and the +Catholic monarch seemed wholly occupied with the internal affairs of his +kingdom, and the establishment of his rising empire in Africa. [1] + +The craving appetite of Louis the Twelfth, on the other hand, sharpened by +the loss of Naples, sought to indemnify itself by more ample acquisitions +in the north. As far back as 1504, he had arranged a plan with the +emperor, for the partition of the continental possessions of Venice, +introducing it into one of those abortive treaties at Blois for the +marriage of his daughter. [2] The scheme is said to have been communicated +to Ferdinand in the royal interview at Savona. No immediate action +followed, and it seems probable that the latter monarch, with his usual +circumspection, reserved his decision until he should be more clearly +satisfied of the advantages to himself. [3] + +At length the projected partition was definitely settled by the celebrated +treaty of Cambray, December 10th, 1508, between Louis the Twelfth and the +emperor Maximilian, in which the pope, King Ferdinand, and all princes who +had any claims for spoliations by the Venetians, were invited to take +part. The share of the spoil assigned to the Catholic monarch was the five +Neapolitan cities, Trani, Brindisi, Gallipoli, Pulignano, and Otranto, +pledged to Venice for considerable sums advanced by her during the late +war. [4] The Spanish court, and, not long after, Julius the Second, +ratified the treaty, although it was in direct contravention of the avowed +purpose of the pontiff to chase the _barbarians_ from Italy. It was +his bold policy, however, to make use of them first for the aggrandizement +of the church, and then to trust to his augmented strength and more +favorable opportunities for eradicating them altogether. + +Never was there a project more destitute of principle or sound policy. +There was not one of the contracting parties, who was not at that very +time in close alliance with the state, the dismemberment of which he was +plotting. As a matter of policy, it went to break down the principal +barrier, on which each of these powers could rely for keeping in check the +overweening ambition of its neighbors, and maintaining the balance of +Italy. [5] The alarm of Venice was quieted for a time by assurances from +the courts of France and Spain, that the league was solely directed +against the Turks, accompanied by the most hypocritical professions of +good-will, and amicable offers to the republic. [6] + +The preamble of the treaty declares, that, it being the intention of the +allies to support the pope in a crusade against the infidel, they first +proposed to recover from Venice the territories of which she had despoiled +the church and other powers, to the manifest hindrance of these pious +designs. The more flagitious the meditated enterprise, the deeper was the +veil of hypocrisy thrown over it in this corrupt age. The true reasons for +the confederacy are to be found in a speech delivered at the German diet, +some time after, by the French minister Hélian. "We," he remarks, after +enumerating various enormities of the republic, "we wear no fine purple; +feast from no sumptuous services of plate; have no coffers overflowing +with gold. We are barbarians. Surely," he continues in another place, "if +it is derogatory to princes to act the part of merchants, it is unbecoming +in merchants to assume the state of princes." [7] This, then, was the true +key to the conspiracy against Venice; envy of her superior wealth and +magnificence, hatred engendered by her too arrogant bearing, and lastly +the evil eye, with which kings naturally regard the movements of an +active, aspiring republic. [8] + +To secure the co-operation of Florence, the kings of France and Spain +agreed to withdraw their protection from Pisa, for a stipulated sum of +money. There is nothing in the whole history of the merchant princes of +Venice so mercenary and base, as this bartering away for gold the +independence, for which this little republic had been so nobly contending +for more than fourteen years. [9] + +Early in April, 1509, Louis the Twelfth crossed the Alps at the head of a +force which bore down all opposition. City and castle fell before him, and +his demeanor to the vanquished, over whom he had no rights beyond the +ordinary ones of war, was that of an incensed master taking vengeance on +his rebellious vassals. In revenge for his detention before Peschiera, he +hung the Venetian governor and his son from the battlements. This was an +outrage on the laws of chivalry, which, however hard they bore on the +peasant, respected those of high degree. Louis's rank, and his heart it +seems, unhappily, raised him equally above sympathy with either class. +[10] + +On the 14th of May was fought the bloody battle of Agnadel, which broke +the power of Venice, and at once decided the fate of the war. [11] +Ferdinand had contributed nothing to these operations, except by his +diversion on the side of Naples, where he possessed himself without +difficulty of the cities allotted to his share. They were the cheapest, +and if not the most valuable, were the most permanent acquisitions of the +war, being reincorporated in the monarchy of Naples. + +Then followed the memorable decree, by which Venice released her +continental provinces from their allegiance, authorizing them to provide +in any way they could for their safety; a measure, which, whether +originating in panic or policy, was perfectly consonant with the latter. +[12] The confederates, who had remained united during the chase, soon +quarrelled over the division of the spoil. Ancient jealousies revived. The +republic, with cool and consummate diplomacy, availed herself of this +state of feeling. + +Pope Julius, who had gained all that he had proposed, and was satisfied +with the humiliation of Venice, now felt all his former antipathies and +distrust of the French return in full force. The rising flame was +diligently fanned by the artful emissaries of the republic, who at length +effected a reconciliation on her behalf with the haughty pontiff. The +latter, having taken this direction, went forward in it with his usual +impetuosity. He planned a new coalition for the expulsion of the French, +calling on the other allies to take part in it. Louis retaliated by +summoning a council to inquire into the pope's conduct, and by marching +his troops into the territories of the church. [13] + +The advance of the French, who had now got possession of Bologna, alarmed +Ferdinand. He had secured the objects for which he had entered into the +war, and was loath to be diverted from enterprises in which he was +interested nearer home, "I know not," writes Peter Martyr, at this time, +"on what the king will decide. He is intent on following up his African +conquests. He feels natural reluctance at breaking with his French ally. +But I do not well see how he can avoid supporting the pope and the church, +not only as the cause of religion, but of freedom. For if the French get +possession of Rome, the liberties of all Italy and of every state in +Europe are in peril." [14] + +The Catholic king viewed it in this light, and sent repeated and earnest +remonstrances to Louis the Twelfth, against his aggressions on the church, +beseeching him not to interrupt the peace of Christendom, and his own +pious purpose, more particularly, of spreading the banners of the Cross +over the infidel regions of Africa. The very sweet and fraternal tone of +these communications filled the king of France, says Guicciardini, with +much distrust of his royal brother; and he was heard to say, in allusion +to the great preparations which the Spanish monarch was making by sea and +land, "I am the Saracen against whom they are directed." [14] + +To secure Ferdinand more to his interests, the pope granted him the +investiture, so long withheld, of Naples, on the same easy terms on which +it was formerly held by the Aragonese line. His Holiness further released +him from the obligation of his marriage treaty, by which the moiety of +Naples was to revert to the French crown, in case of Germaine's dying +without issue. This dispensing power of the successors of St. Peter, so +convenient for princes in their good graces, is undoubtedly the severest +tax ever levied by superstition on human reason. [15] + +On the 4th of October, 1511, a treaty was concluded between Julius the +Second, Ferdinand, and Venice, with the avowed object of protecting the +church,--in other words, driving the French out of Italy. [16] From the +pious purpose to which it was devoted, it was called the Holy League. The +quota to be furnished by the king of Aragon was twelve hundred heavy and +one thousand light cavalry, ten thousand foot, and a squadron of eleven +galleys, to act in concert with the Venetian fleet. The combined forces +were to be placed under the command of Hugo de Cardona, viceroy of Naples, +a person of polished and engaging address, but without the resolution or +experience requisite to military success. The rough old pope sarcastically +nicknamed him "Lady Cardona." It was an appointment, that would certainly +have never been made by Queen Isabella. Indeed, the favor shown this +nobleman on this and other occasions was so much beyond his deserts, as to +raise a suspicion in many, that he was more nearly allied by blood to +Ferdinand, than was usually imagined. [17] + +Early in 1512, France, by great exertions, and without a single +confederate out of Italy, save the false and fluctuating emperor, got an +army into the field superior to that of the allies in point of numbers, +and still more so in the character of its commander. This was Gaston de +Foix, duke de Nemours, and brother of the queen of Aragon. Though a boy in +years, for he was but twenty-two, he was ripe in understanding, and +possessed consummate military talents. He introduced a severer discipline +into his army, and an entirely new system of tactics. He looked forward to +his results with stern indifference to the means by which they were to be +effected. He disregarded the difficulties of the roads, and the inclemency +of the season, which had hitherto put a check on military operations. +Through the midst of frightful morasses, or in the depth of winter snows, +he performed his marches with a celerity unknown in the warfare of that +age. In less than a fortnight after leaving Milan, he relieved Bologna, +then besieged by the allies, made a countermarch on Brescia, defeated a +detachment by the way, and the whole Venetian army under its walls; and, +on the same day with the last event, succeeded in carrying the place by +storm. After a few weeks' dissipation of the carnival, he again put +himself in motion, and, descending on Ravenna, succeeded in bringing the +allied army to a decisive action under its walls. Ferdinand, well +understanding the peculiar characters of the French and of the Spanish +soldier, had cautioned his general to adopt the Fabian policy of Gonsalvo, +and avoid a close encounter as long as possible. [18] + +This battle, fought with the greatest numbers, was also the most +murderous, which had stained the fair soil of Italy for a century. No less +than eighteen or twenty thousand, according to authentic accounts, fell in +it, comprehending the best blood of France and Italy. [19] The viceroy +Cardona went off somewhat too early for his reputation. But the Spanish +infantry, under the count Pedro Navarro, behaved in a style worthy of the +school of Gonsalvo. During the early part of the day, they lay on the +ground, in a position which sheltered them from the deadly artillery of +Este, then the best mounted and best served of any in Europe. When at +length, as the tide of battle was going against them, they were brought +into the field, Navarro led them at once against a deep column of +landsknechts, who, armed with the long German pike, were bearing down all +before them. The Spaniards received the shock of this formidable weapon on +the mailed panoply with which their bodies were covered, and, dexterously +gliding into the hostile ranks, contrived with their short swords to do +such execution on the enemy, unprotected except by corselets in front, and +incapable of availing themselves of their long weapon, that they were +thrown into confusion, and totally discomfited. It was repeating the +experiment more than once made during these wars, but never on so great a +scale, and it fully established the superiority of the Spanish arms. [20] + +The Italian infantry, which had fallen back before the landsknechts, now +rallied under cover of the Spanish charge; until at length the +overwhelming clouds of French gendarmerie, headed by Ives d'Allègre, who +lost his own life in the _mêlée_, compelled the allies to give ground. The +retreat of the Spaniards, however, was conducted with admirable order, and +they preserved their ranks unbroken, as they repeatedly turned to drive +back the tide of pursuit. At this crisis, Gaston de Foix, flushed with +success, was so exasperated by the sight of this valiant corps going off +in so cool and orderly a manner from the field, that he made a desperate +charge at the head of his chivalry, in hopes of breaking it. +Unfortunately, his wounded horse fell under him. It was in vain his +followers called out, "It is our viceroy, the brother of your queen!" The +words had no charm for a Spanish ear, and he was despatched with a +multitude of wounds. He received fourteen or fifteen in the face; good +proof, says the _loyal serviteur_, "that the gentle prince had never +turned his back." [21] + +There are few instances in history, if indeed there be any, of so brief, +and at the same time so brilliant a military career, as that of Gaston de +Foix; and it well entitled him to the epithet his countrymen gave him of +the "thunderbolt of Italy." [22] He had not merely given extraordinary +promise, but in the course of a very few months had achieved such results, +as might well make the greatest powers of the peninsula tremble for their +possessions. His precocious military talents, the early age at which he +assumed the command of armies, as well as many peculiarities of his +discipline and tactics, suggest some resemblance to the beginning of +Napoleon's career. + +Unhappily, his brilliant fame is sullied by a recklessness of human life, +the more odious in one too young to be steeled by familiarity with the +iron trade to which he was devoted. It may be fair, however, to charge +this on the age rather than on the individual, for surely never was there +one characterized by greater brutality, and more unsparing ferocity in its +wars. [23] So little had the progress of civilization done for humanity. +It is not until a recent period, that a more generous spirit has operated; +that a fellow-creature has been understood not to forfeit his rights as a +man, because he is an enemy; that conventional laws have been established, +tending greatly to mitigate the evils of a condition, which with every +alleviation is one of unspeakable misery; and that those who hold the +destinies of nations in their hands have been made to feel, that there is +less true glory, and far less profit, to be derived from war, than from +the wise prevention of it. + +The defeat at Ravenna struck a panic into the confederates. The stout +heart of Julius the Second faltered, and it required all the assurances of +the Spanish and Venetian ministers to keep him staunch to his purpose. +King Ferdinand issued orders to the Great Captain to hold himself in +readiness for taking the command of forces to be instantly raised for +Naples. There could be no better proof of the royal consternation. [24] + +The victory of Ravenna, however, was more fatal to the French than to +their foes. The uninterrupted successes of a commander are so far +unfortunate, that they incline his followers, by the brilliant illusion +they throw around his name, to rely less on their own resources, than on +him whom they have hitherto found invincible; and thus subject their own +destiny to all the casualties which attach to the fortunes of a single +individual. The death of Gaston de Foix seemed to dissolve the only bond +which held the French together. The officers became divided, the soldiers +disheartened, and, with the loss of their young hero, lost all interest in +the service. The allies, advised of this disorderly state of the army, +recovered confidence, and renewed their exertions. Through Ferdinand's +influence over his son-in-law, Henry the Eighth of England, the latter had +been induced openly to join the League in the beginning of the present +year. [25] The Catholic king had the address, moreover, just before the +battle to detach the emperor from France, by effecting a truce between him +and Venice. [26] The French, now menaced and pressed on every side, began +their retreat under the brave La Palice, and, to such an impotent state +were they reduced, that, in less than three months after the fatal +victory, they were at the foot of the Alps, having abandoned not only +their recent, but all their conquests in the north of Italy. [27] + +The same results now took place as in the late war against Venice. The +confederates quarrelled over the division of the spoil. The republic, with +the largest claims, obtained the least concessions. She felt that she was +to be made to descend to an inferior rank in the scale of nations. +Ferdinand earnestly remonstrated with the pope, and subsequently, by means +of his Venetian minister, with Maximilian, on this mistaken policy. [28] +But the indifference of the one, and the cupidity of the other, were +closed against argument. The result was precisely what the prudent monarch +foresaw. Venice was driven into the arms of her perfidious ancient ally, +and on the 23d of March, 1513, a definitive treaty was arranged with +France for their mutual defence. [29] Thus the most efficient member was +alienated from the confederacy. All the recent advantages of the allies +were compromised. New combinations were to be formed, and new and +interminable prospects of hostility opened. + +Ferdinand, relieved from immediate apprehensions of the French, took +comparatively little interest in Italian politics. He was too much +occupied with settling his conquests in Navarre. The army, indeed, under +Cardona still kept the field in the north of Italy. The viceroy, after +re-establishing the Medici in Florence, remained inactive. The French, +in the mean while, had again mustered in force, and crossing the mountains +encountered the Swiss in a bloody battle at Novara, where the former were +entirely routed. Cardona, then rousing from his lethargy, traversed the +Milanese without opposition, laying waste the ancient territories of +Venice, burning the palaces and pleasure-houses of its lordly inhabitants +on the beautiful banks of the Brenta, and approaching so near to the +"Queen of the Adriatic" as to throw a few impotent balls into the +monastery of San Secondo. + +The indignation of the Venetians and of Alviano, the same general who had +fought so gallantly under Gonsalvo at the Garigliano, hurried them into an +engagement with the allies near La Motta, at two miles' distance from +Vicenza. Cardona, loaded with booty and entangled among the mountain +passes, was assailed under every disadvantage. The German allies gave way +before the impetuous charge of Alviano, but the Spanish infantry stood its +ground unshaken, and by extraordinary discipline and valor succeeded in +turning the fortunes of the day. More than four thousand of the enemy were +left on the field, and a large number of prisoners, including many of +rank, with all the baggage and artillery, fell into the hands of the +victors. [30] + +Thus ended the campaign of 1513; the French driven again beyond the +mountains; Venice cooped up within her sea-girt fastnesses, and compelled +to enrol her artisans and common laborers in her defence,--but still +strong in resources, above all in the patriotism and unconquerable spirit +of her people. [31] + + * * * * * + +Count Daru has supplied the desideratum, so long standing, of a full, +authentic history of a state, whose institutions were the admiration of +earlier times, and whose long stability and success make them deservedly +an object of curiosity and interest to our own. The style of the work, at +once lively and condensed, is not that best suited to historic writing, +being of the piquant, epigrammatic kind, much affected by French writers. +The subject, too, of the revolutions of empire, does not afford room for +the dramatic interest, attaching to works which admit of more extended +biographical development. Abundant interest will be found, however, in the +dexterity with which he has disentangled the tortuous politics of the +republic; in the acute and always sensible reflections with which he +clothes the dry skeleton of fact; and in the novel stores of information +he has opened. The foreign policy of Venice excited too much interest +among friends and enemies in the day of her glory, not to occupy the pens +of the most intelligent writers. But no Italian chronicler, not even one +intrusted with the office by the government itself, has been able to +exhibit the interior workings of the complicated machinery so +satisfactorily as M. Daru has done, with the aid of those voluminous state +papers, which were as jealously guarded from inspection, until the +downfall of the republic, as the records of the Spanish Inquisition. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. iii. lib. 5, p. 257, ed. Milano, 1803.-- +Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 6, cap. 7, 9, et alibi. + +[2] Dumont, Corps Diplomatique, tom. iv. part. 1, no. 30.--Flassan, +Diplomatie Française, tom. i. pp. 282, 283. + +[3] Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. iv. p. 78. + +[4] Flassan, Diplomatie Française, tom. i. lib. 2, p. 283.--Dumont, Corps +Diplomatique, tom. iv. part 1, no. 52. + +[5] This argument, used by Machiavelli against Louis's rupture with +Venice, applies with more or less force to all the other allies. Opere, Il +Principe, cap. 3. + +[6] Du Bos, Ligue de Cambray, tom. i. pp. 66, 67.--Ulloa, Vita di Carlo +V., fol. 36, 37. Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. iv. p. 141.--Bembo, Istoria +Viniziana, tom. ii. lib. 7. + +[7] See a liberal extract from this harangue, apud Daru, Hist. de Venise, +tom. iii. liv. 23,--also apud Du Bos, Ligue de Cambray, tom. i. p. 240 et +seq.--The old poet, Jean Marot, sums up the sins of the republic in the +following verse: + + "Autre Dieu n'ont que l'or, c'est leur créance." + +Oeuvres de Clément Marot, avec les Ouvrages de Jean Marot, (La Haye, +1731,) tom. v. p. 71. + +[8] See the undisguised satisfaction, with which Martyr, a Milanese, +predicts (Opus Epist., epist. 410), and Guicciardini, a Florentine, +records the humiliation of Venice. (Istoria, lib. 4, p. 137.) The +arrogance of the rival republic does not escape the satirical lash of +Machiavelli; + + "San Marco, impetuoso ed importuno, + Credendosi haver sempre il vento in poppa, + Non si curu di rovinare ognuno; + Ne vidde come la potenza troppa + Era nociva." + Dell' Asino d'Oro, cap. 5. + +[9] Mariana, Hist. de España, lib. 29, cap. 15.--Ammirato, Istorie +Florentine, tom. iii. lib. 28, p. 286.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. +423. + +Louis XII. was in alliance with Florence, but insisted on 100,000 ducats +as the price of his acquiescence in her recovery of Pisa. Ferdinand, or +rather his general, Gonsalvo de Cordova, had taken Pisa under his +protection, and the king insisted on 50,000 ducats for his abandonment of +her. This honorable transaction resulted in the payment of the respective +amounts to the royal jobbers; the 50,000 excess of Louis's portion being +kept a profound secret from Ferdinand, who was made to believe by the +parties that his ally received only a like sum with himself. Guicciardini, +Istoria, tom. iv. pp. 78, 80, 156, 157. + +[10] Mémoires de Bayard, chap. 30.--Fleurange, Mémoires, chap. 8.-- +Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. iv. p. 183. + +Jean Marot describes the execution in the following cool and summary +style. + + "Ce chastelain de là, aussi le capitaine, + Pour la derrision et response vilaine + Qu'ils firent au hérault, furent pris et sanglez + Puis devant tout le monde pendus et estranglez." + Oeuvres, tom. v. p. 158. + +[11] The fullest account, probably, of the action is in the "Voyage de +Venise" of Jean Marot. (Oeuvres, tom. v. pp. 124-139.) This pioneer of +French song, since eclipsed by his more polished son, accompanied his +master, Louis XII., on his Italian expedition, as his poet chronicler; and +the subject has elicited occasionally some sparks of poetic fire, though +struck out with a rude hand. The poem is so conscientious in its facts and +dates, that it is commended by a French critic as the most exact record of +the Italian campaign. Ibid. Remarques, p. 16. + +[12] Foreign historians impute this measure to the former motive, the +Venetians to the latter. The cool and deliberate conduct of this +government, from which all passion, to use the language of the abbé Du +Bos, seems to have been banished, may authorize our acquiescence in the +statement most flattering to the national vanity. See the discussion apud +Ligue de Cambray, pp. 126 et seq. + +[13] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 221.--Fleurange, Mémoires, +chap. 7.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 416.--Guicciardini, Istoria, +tom. iv. pp. 178, 179, 190, 191; tom. v. pp. 71, 82-86.--Bembo, Istoria +Viniziana, lib. 7, 9, 10. + +[14] Opus Epist., epist. 465.-Mémoires de Bayard, chap. 46.--Fleurange, +Mémoires, chap. 26.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 225. + +[14] Istoria, lib. 9, p. 135.--Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1511.-- +Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 225.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., +epist. 465. + +Machiavelli's friend Vettori, in one of his letters, speaks of the +Catholic king as the principal author of the new coalition against France, +and notices three hundred lances which he furnished the pope in advance, +for this purpose. (Machiavelli, Opere, Lettere Famigliari, no. 8.) He does +not seem to understand that these lances were part of the services due for +the fief of Naples. The letter above quoted of Martyr, a more competent +and unsuspicious authority, shows Ferdinand's sincere aversion to a +rupture with Louis at the present juncture; and a subsequent passage of +the same epistle shows him too much in earnest in his dissuasives, to be +open to the charge of insincerity. "Ut mitibus verbis ipsum, Reginam ejus +uxorem, ut consiliarios omnes Cabanillas alloquatur, ut agant apud regem +suum de pace, dat in frequentibus mandatis." Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., +ubi supra.--See further, epist. 454. + +[15] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., no. 441.--Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. +ii. lib. 29, cap. 24.--Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, p. 164.--Sandoval, +Hist. del Emp. Carlos V., tom. i. p. 18. + +The act of investiture was dated July 3d, 1510. In the following August, +the pontiff remitted the feudal services for the annual tribute of a white +palfrey, and the aid of 300 lances when the estates of the church should +be invaded. (Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 9, cap. 11.) The pope had +hitherto refused the investiture, except on the most exorbitant terms; +which so much disgusted Ferdinand, that he passed by Ostia on his return +from Naples, without condescending to meet his Holiness, who was waiting +there for a personal interview with him. Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. +353.--Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. iv. p. 73. + +[16] Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. v. lib. 10, p. 207.--Mariana, Hist. de +España, tom. ii. lib. 30, cap. 5.--Rymer, Foedera, tom. xiii. pp. 305-308. + +[17] Guicciardini, Istoria, tom., v. lib. 10, p. 208.--Bembo, Istoria +Viniziana, tom. ii. lib. 12.--Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. lib. 30, +cap. 5, 14.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 483. + +Vettori, it seems, gave credence to the same suggestion. "Spagna ha sempre +amato assai questo suo Vicerè, e per errore che abbia fatto non l'ha +gustigato, ma più presto fatto più grande, e si può pensare, come molti +dicono, che _sia suo figlio, e che abbia in pensiero lasciarlo Re di +Napoli_." Machiavelli, Opere, let. di 16 Maggio, 1514. + +According to Aleson, the king would have appointed Navarro to the post of +commander-in-chief, had not his low birth disqualified him for it in the +eyes of the allies. Annales de Navarra, tom. v. lib. 35, cap. 12. + +[18] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 230, 231.--Guicciardini, +Istoria, tom. v. lib. 10, pp. 260-272.--Giovio, Vita Leonis X., apud Vitae +Illust. Virorum, lib. 2, pp. 37, 38.--Mémoires de Bayard, chap. 48.-- +Fleurange, Mémoires, chap. 26-28. + +[19] Ariosto introduces the bloody rout of Ravenna among the visions of +Melissa; in which the courtly prophetess (or rather poet) predicts the +glories of the house of Este. + + "Nuoteranno i destrier fino alla pancia + Nel sangue uman per tutta la campagna; + Ch' a seppellire il popol verrâ inanco + Tedesco, Ispano, Greco, Italo, e Franco." + Orlando Furioso, canto 3, st. 55. + +[20] Brantôme, Vies des Hommes Illustres, disc. 6.--Guicciardini, Istoria, +tom. v. lib. 10, pp. 290-305.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 231, +233.--Mémoires de Bayard, chap. 54.--Du Bellay, Mémoires, apud Petitot, +Collection des Mémoires, tom. xvii. p. 234.--Fleurange, Mémoires, chap. +29, 30.--Bembo, Istoria Viniziana, tom. ii. lib. 12. + +Machiavelli does justice to the gallantry of this valiant corps, whose +conduct on this occasion furnishes him with a pertinent illustration, in +estimating the comparative value of the Spanish, or rather Roman arms, and +the German. Opere, tom. iv., Arte della Guerra, lib. 2, p. 67. + +[21] Mémoires de Bayard, chap. 54.--Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. v. lib. +10, pp. 306-309.--Peter Martyr, epist. 483.--Brantôme, Vies des Hommes +Illustres, disc. 24. + +The best, that is, the most perspicuous and animated description of the +fight of Ravenna, among contemporary writers, will be found in +Guicciardini (ubi supra); among the modern, in Sismondi, (Républiques +Italiennes, tom. xiv. chap. 109,) an author, who has the rare merit of +combining profound philosophical analysis with the superficial and +picturesque graces of narrative. + +[22] "Le foudre de l'Italie." (Gaillard, Rivalité, tom. iv. p. 391.)-- +light authority, I acknowledge, even for a _sobriquet_. + +[23] One example may suffice, occurring in the war of the League, in 1510. +When Vicenza was taken by the Imperialists, a number of the inhabitants, +amounting to one, or, according to some accounts, six thousand, took +refuge in a neighboring grotto, with their wives and children, +comprehending many of the principal families of the place. A French +officer, detecting their retreat, caused a heap of faggots to be piled up +at the mouth of the cavern and set on fire. Out of the whole number of +fugitives only one escaped with life; and the blackened and convulsed +appearance of the bodies showed too plainly the cruel agonies of +suffocation. (Mémoires de Bayard, chap. 40.--Bembo, Istoria Viniziana, +tom. ii. lib. 10.) Bayard executed two of the authors of this diabolical +act on the spot. But the "chevalier sans reproche" was an exception to, +rather than an example of, the prevalent spirit of the age. + +[24] Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. v. lib. 10, pp. 310-312, 322, 323.-- +Chrónica del Gran Capitan, lib. 3, cap. 7.--Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. +ii. lib. 30, cap. 9.--Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, lib. 3, p. 288.-- +Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1512.--See also Lettera di Vettori, Maggio 16, +1514, apud Machiavelli, Opere. + +[25] Dumont, Corps Diplomatique, tom. iv. p. 137. + +He had become a party to it as early as November 17, of the preceding +year; he deferred its publication, however, until he had received the last +instalment of a subsidy, that Louis XII. was to pay him for the +maintenance of peace. (Rymer, Foedera, tom. xiii. pp. 311-323.--Sismondi, +Hist. des Français, tom. xv. p. 385.) Even the chivalrous Harry the Eighth +could not escape the trickish spirit of the age. + +[26] Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. v. lib. 10, p. 320. + +[27] Mémoires de Bayard, chap. 55.--Fleurange, Mémoires, chap. 31.-- +Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, tom. viii. pp. 380, 381.--Guicciardini, +Istoria, tom. v. lib. 10, pp. 335, 336.--Zurita, Anales, tom. vi; lib. 10, +cap, 20. + +[28] Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 10, cap. 44-48.--Guicciardini, Istoria, +tom. vi. lib. 11, p. 52. + +Martyr reports a conversation that he had with the Venetian minister in +Spain, touching this business. Opus Epist., epist. 520. + +[29] Dumont, Corps Diplomatique, tom. iv. part. 1, no. 86. + +[30] Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. vi. lib. 11, pp. 101-138.--Peter Martyr, +Opus Epist., epist. 523.--Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. lib. 30, cap. +21.--Fleurange, Mémoires, chap. 36, 37.--Also an original letter of King +Ferdinand to Archbishop Deza, apud Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. +242. + +Alviano died a little more than a year after this defeat, at sixty years +of age. He was so much beloved by the soldiery, that they refused to be +separated from his remains, which were borne at the head of the army for +some weeks after his death. They were finally laid in the church of St. +Stephen in Venice; and the senate, with more gratitude than is usually +conceded to republics, settled an honorable pension on his family. + +[31] Daru, Hist. de Venise, tom. iii. pp. 615, 616. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +CONQUEST OF NAVARRE. + +1512-1513. + +Sovereigns of Navarre.--Ferdinand Demands a Passage.--Invasion and +Conquest of Navarre.--Treaty of Orthès.--Ferdinand Settles his Conquests. +--His Conduct Examined.--Gross Abuse of the Victory. + + +While the Spaniards were thus winning barren laurels on the fields of +Italy, King Ferdinand was making a most important acquisition of territory +nearer home. The reader has already been made acquainted with the manner +in which the bloody sceptre of Navarre passed from the hands of Eleanor, +Ferdinand's sister, after a reign of a few brief days, into those of her +grandson Phoebus. A fatal destiny hung over the house of Foix; and the +latter prince lived to enjoy his crown only four years, when he was +succeeded by his sister Catharine. + +It was not to be supposed, that Ferdinand and Isabella, so attentive to +enlarge their empire to the full extent of the geographical limits which +nature seemed to have assigned it, would lose the opportunity now +presented of incorporating into it the hitherto independent kingdom of +Navarre, by the marriage of their own heir with its sovereign. All their +efforts, however, were frustrated by the queen mother Magdaleine, sister +of Louis the Eleventh, who, sacrificing the interests of the nation to her +prejudices, evaded the proposed match, under various pretexts, and in the +end effected a union between her daughter and a French noble, Jean +d'Albret, heir to considerable estates in the neighborhood of Navarre. +This was a most fatal error. The independence of Navarre had hitherto been +maintained less through its own strength, than the weakness of its +neighbors. But, now that the petty states around her had been absorbed +into two great and powerful monarchies, it was not to be expected, that so +feeble a barrier would be longer respected, or that it would not be swept +away in the first collision of those formidable forces. But, although the +independence of the kingdom must be lost, the princes of Navarre might yet +maintain their station by a union with, the reigning family of France or +Spain. By the present connection with a mere private individual they lost +both the one and the other. [1] + +Still the most friendly relations subsisted between the Catholic king and +his niece during the lifetime of Isabella. The sovereigns assisted her in +taking possession of her turbulent dominions, as well as in allaying the +deadly feuds of the Beaumonts and Agramonts, with which they were rent +asunder. They supported her with their arms in resisting her uncle Jean, +viscount of Narbonne, who claimed the crown on the groundless pretext of +its being limited to male heirs. [2] The alliance with Spain was drawn +still closer by the avowed purpose of Louis the Twelfth to support his +nephew, Gaston de Foix, in the claims of his deceased father. [3] The +death of the young hero, however, at Ravenna, wholly changed the relations +and feelings of the two countries. Navarre had nothing immediately to fear +from France. She felt distrust of Spain on more than one account, +especially for the protection afforded the Beaumontese exiles, at the head +of whom was the young count of Lerin, Ferdinand's nephew. [4] + +France, too, standing alone, and at bay against the rest of Europe, found +the alliance of the little state of Navarre of importance to her, +especially at the present juncture, when the project of an expedition +against Guienne, by the combined armies of Spain and England, naturally +made Louis the Twelfth desirous to secure the good-will of a prince, who +might be said to wear the keys of the Pyrenees as the king of Sardinia did +those of the Alps, at his girdle. With these amicable dispositions, the +king and queen of Navarre despatched their plenipotentiaries to Blois, +early in May, soon after the battle of Ravenna, with full powers to +conclude a treaty of alliance and confederation with the French +government. [5] + +In the mean time, June 8th, an English squadron arrived at Passage, in +Guipuscoa, having ten thousand men on board under Thomas Grey, marquis of +Dorset, [6] in order to cooperate with King Ferdinand's army in the +descent on Guienne. This latter force, consisting of two thousand five +hundred horse, light and heavy, six thousand foot, and twenty pieces of +artillery, was placed under Don Fadrique de Toledo, the old duke of Alva, +grandfather of the general, who wrote his name in indelible characters of +blood in the Netherlands, under Philip the Second. [7] Before making any +movement, however, Ferdinand, who knew the equivocal dispositions of the +Navarrese sovereigns, determined to secure himself from the annoyance +which their strong position enabled them to give him on whatever route he +adopted. He accordingly sent to request a free passage through their +dominions, with the demand, moreover, that they should intrust six of +their principal fortresses to such Navarrese as he should name, as a +guarantee for their neutrality during the expedition. He accompanied this +modest proposal with the alternative, that the sovereigns should become +parties to the Holy League, engaging in that case to restore certain +places in his possession, which they claimed, and pledging the whole +strength of the confederacy to protect them against any hostile attempts +of France. [8] + +The situation of these unfortunate princes was in the highest degree +embarrassing. The neutrality they had so long and sedulously maintained +was now to be abandoned; and their choice, whichever party they espoused, +must compromise their possessions on one or the other side of the +Pyrenees, in exchange for an ally, whose friendship had proved by repeated +experience quite as disastrous as his enmity. In this dilemma they sent +ambassadors into Castile, to obtain some modification of the terms, or at +least to protract negotiations till some definitive arrangement should be +made with Louis the Twelfth. [9] + +On the 17th of July, their plenipotentiaries signed a treaty with that +monarch at Blois, by which France and Navarre mutually agreed to defend +each other, in case of attack, against all enemies whatever. By another +provision, obviously directed against Spain, it was stipulated, that +neither nation should allow a passage to the enemies of the other through +its dominions. And, by a third, Navarre pledged herself to declare war on +the English now assembled in Guipuscoa, and all those co-operating with +them. [10] + +Through a singular accident, Ferdinand was made acquainted with the +principal articles of this treaty before its signature. [11] His army had +remained inactive in its quarters around Victoria, ever since the landing +of the English. He now saw the hopelessness of further negotiation, and, +determining to anticipate the stroke prepared for him, commanded his +general to invade without delay, and occupy Navarre. + +The duke of Alva crossed the borders on the 21st of July, proclaiming that +no harm should be offered to those who voluntarily submitted. On the 23d, +he arrived before Pampelona. King John, who all the while he had been thus +dallying with the lion, had made no provision for defence, had already +abandoned his capital, leaving it to make the best terms it could for +itself. On the following day, the city, having first obtained assurance of +respect for all its franchises and immunities, surrendered; "a +circumstance," devoutly exclaims King Ferdinand, "in which we truly +discern the hand of our blessed Lord, whose miraculous interposition has +been visible through all this enterprise, undertaken for the weal of the +church, and the extirpation of the accursed schism." [12] + +The royal exile, in the mean while, had retreated to Lumbier, where he +solicited the assistance of the duke of Longueville, then encamped on the +northern frontier for the defence of Bayonne. The French commander, +however, stood too much in awe of the English, still lying in Guipuscoa, +to weaken himself by a detachment into Navarre; and the unfortunate +monarch, unsupported, either by his own subjects or his new ally, was +compelled to cross the mountains, and take refuge with his family in +France. [13] + +The duke of Alva lost no time in pressing his advantage; opening the way +by a proclamation of the Catholic king, that it was intended only to hold +possession of the country as security for the pacific disposition of its +sovereigns, until the end of his present expedition against Guienne. From +whatever cause, the Spanish general experienced so little resistance, that +in less than a fortnight he overran and subdued nearly the whole of Upper +Navarre. So short a time sufficed for the subversion of a monarchy, which, +in defiance of storm and stratagem, had maintained its independence +unimpaired, with a few brief exceptions, for seven centuries. [14] + +On reviewing these extraordinary events, we are led to distrust the +capacity and courage of a prince, who could so readily abandon his +kingdom, without so much as firing a shot in its defence. John had shown, +however, on more than one occasion, that he was destitute of neither. He +was not, it must be confessed, of the temper best suited to the fierce and +stirring times on which he was cast. He was of an amiable disposition, +social and fond of pleasure, and so little jealous of his royal dignity, +that he mixed freely in the dances and other entertainments of the +humblest of his subjects. His greatest defect was the facility with which +he reposed the cares of state on favorites, not always the most deserving. +His greatest merit was his love of letters. [15] Unfortunately, neither +his merits nor defects were of a kind best adapted to extricate him from +his present perilous situation, or enable him to cope with his wily and +resolute adversary. For this, however, more commanding talents might well +have failed. The period had arrived, when, in the regular progress of +events, Navarre must yield up her independence to the two great nations on +her borders; who, attracted by the strength of her natural position, and +her political weakness, would be sure, now that their own domestic +discords were healed, to claim each the moiety, which seemed naturally to +fall within its own territorial limits. Particular events might accelerate +or retard this result, but it was not in the power of human genius to +avert its final consummation. + +King Ferdinand, who descried the storm now gathering on the side of +France, resolved to meet it promptly, and commanded his general to cross +the mountains, and occupy the districts of Lower Navarre. In this he +expected the co-operation of the English. But he was disappointed. The +marquis of Dorset alleged that the time consumed in the reduction of +Navarre made it too late for the expedition against Guienne, which was now +placed in a posture of defence. He loudly complained that his master had +been duped by the Catholic king, who had used his ally to make conquests +solely for himself; and, in spite of every remonstrance, he re-embarked +his whole force, without waiting for orders; "a proceeding," says +Ferdinand in one of his letters, "which touches me most deeply, from the +stain it leaves on the honor of the most serene king my son-in-law, and +the glory of the English nation, so distinguished in times past for high +and chivalrous emprize." [16] + +The duke of Alva, thus unsupported, was no match for the French under +Longueville, strengthened, moreover, by the veteran corps returned from +Italy, with the brave La Palice. Indeed, he narrowly escaped being hemmed +in between the two armies, and only succeeded in anticipating by a few +hours the movements of La Palice, so as to make good his retreat through +the pass of Roncesvalles, and throw himself into Pampelona. [17] Hither he +was speedily followed by the French general, accompanied by Jean d'Albret. +On the 27th of November, the besiegers made a desperate though ineffectual +assault on the city, which was repeated with equal ill fortune on the two +following days. The beleaguering forces, in the mean time, were straitened +for provisions; and at length, after a siege of some weeks, on learning +the arrival of fresh reinforcements under the duke of Najara, [18] they +broke up their encampment, and withdrew across the mountains; and with +them faded the last ray of hope for the restoration of the unfortunate +monarch of Navarre. [19] + +On the 1st of April, in the following year, 1513, Ferdinand effected a +truce with Louis the Twelfth, embracing their respective territories west +of the Alps. It continued a year, and at its expiration was renewed for a +similar time. [20] This arrangement, by which Louis sacrificed the +interests of his ally the king of Navarre, gave Ferdinand ample time for +settling and fortifying his new conquests; while it left the war open in a +quarter, where he well knew, others were more interested than himself to +prosecute it with vigor. The treaty must be allowed to be more defensible +on the score of policy, than of good faith. [21] The allies loudly +inveighed against the treachery of their confederate, who had so +unscrupulously sacrificed the common interest, by relieving France from +the powerful diversion he was engaged to make on her western borders. It +is no justification of wrong, that similar wrongs have been committed by +others; but those who commit them (and there was not one of the allies, +who could escape the imputation, amid the political profligacy of the +times,) certainly forfeit the privilege to complain. [22] + +Ferdinand availed himself of the interval of repose, now secured, to +settle his new conquests. He had transferred his residence first to Burgos +and afterwards to Logroño, that he might be near the theatre of +operations. He was indefatigable in raising reinforcements and supplies, +and expressed his intention at one time, notwithstanding the declining +state of his health, to take the command in person. He showed his usual +sagacity in various regulations for improving the police, healing the +domestic feuds,--as fatal to Navarre as the arms of its enemies,--and +confirming and extending its municipal privileges and immunities, so as to +conciliate the affections of his new subjects. [23] + +On the 23d of March, 1513, the estates of Navarre took the usual oaths of +allegiance to King Ferdinand. [24] On the 15th of June, 1515, the Catholic +monarch by a solemn act in cortes, held at Burgos, incorporated his new +conquests into the kingdom of Castile. [25] The event excited some +surprise, considering his more intimate relations with Aragon. But it was +to the arms of Castile that he was chiefly indebted for the conquest; and +it was on her superior wealth and resources that he relied for maintaining +it. With this was combined the politic consideration, that the Navarrese, +naturally turbulent and factious, would be held more easily in +subordination when associated with Castile, than with Aragon, where the +spirit of independence was higher, and often manifested itself in such +bold assertion of popular rights, as falls most unwelcome on a royal ear. +To all this must be added the despair of issue by his present marriage, +which had much abated his personal interest in enlarging the extent of his +patrimonial domains. + +Foreign writers characterize the conquest of Navarre as a bold, unblushing +usurpation, rendered more odious by the mask of religious hypocrisy. The +national writers, on the other hand, have employed their pens +industriously to vindicate it; some endeavoring to rake a good claim for +Castile out of its ancient union with Navarre, almost as ancient, indeed, +as the Moorish conquest. Others resort to considerations of expediency, +relying on the mutual benefits of the connection to both kingdoms; +arguments which prove little else than the weakness of the cause. [26] All +lay more or less stress on the celebrated bull of Julius the Second, of +February 18th, 1512, by which he excommunicated the sovereigns of Navarre, +as heretics, schismatics, and enemies of the church, releasing their +subjects from their allegiance, laying their dominions under an interdict, +and delivering them over to any who should take, or had already taken, +possession of them. [27] Most, indeed, are content to rest on this, as the +true basis and original ground of the conquest. The total silence of the +Catholic king respecting this document, before the invasion, and the +omission of the national historians since to produce it, have caused much +skepticism as to its existence. And, although its recent publication puts +this beyond doubt, the instrument contains, in my judgment, strong +internal evidence for distrusting the accuracy of the date affixed to it, +which should have been posterior to the invasion; a circumstance +materially affecting the argument; and which makes the papal sentence, not +the original basis of the war, but only a sanction subsequently obtained +to cover its injustice, and authorize retaining the fruits of it. [28] + +But, whatever authority such a sanction may have had in the sixteenth +century, it will find little respect in the present, at least beyond the +limits of the Pyrenees. The only way, in which the question can be fairly +tried, must be by those maxims of public law universally recognized as +settling the intercourse of civilized nations; a science, indeed, +imperfectly developed at that time, but in its general principles the same +as now, founded, as these are, on the immutable basis of morality and +justice. + +We must go back a step beyond the war, to the proximate cause of it. This +was Ferdinand's demand of a free passage for his troops through Navarre. +The demand was perfectly fair, and in ordinary cases would doubtless have +been granted by a neutral nation. But that nation must, after all, be the +only judge of its propriety, and Navarre may find a justification for her +refusal on these grounds. First, that, in her weak and defenceless state, +it was attended with danger to herself. Secondly, that, as by a previous +and existing treaty with Spain, the validity of which was recognized in +her new one of July 17th with France, she had agreed to refuse the right +of passage to the latter nation, she consequently could not grant it to +Spain without a violation of her neutrality. [29] Thirdly, that the demand +of a passage, however just in itself, was coupled with another, the +surrender of the fortresses, which must compromise the independence of the +kingdom. [30] + +But although, for these reasons, the sovereigns of Navarre were warranted +in refusing Ferdinand's request, they were not therefore authorized to +declare war against him, which they virtually did by entering into a +defensive alliance with his enemy Louis the Twelfth, and by pledging +themselves to make war on the English and their confederates; an article +pointedly directed at the Catholic king. + +True, indeed, the treaty of Blois had not received the ratification of the +Navarrese sovereigns; but it was executed by their plenipotentiaries duly +authorized; and, considering the intimate intercourse between the two +nations, was undoubtedly made with their full knowledge and concurrence. +Under these circumstances, it was scarcely to be expected, that King +Ferdinand, when an accident had put him in possession of the result of +these negotiations, should wait for a formal declaration of hostilities, +and thus deprive himself of the advantage of anticipating the blow of his +enemy. + +The right of making war would seem to include that of disposing of its +fruits; subject, however, to those principles of natural equity, which +should regulate every action, whether of a public or private nature. No +principle can be clearer, for example, than that the penalty should be +proportioned to the offence. Now that inflicted on the sovereigns of +Navarre, which went so far as to dispossess them of their crown, and +annihilate the political existence of their kingdom, was such as nothing +but extraordinary aggressions on the part of the conquered nation, or the +self-preservation of the victors, could justify. As neither of these +contingencies existed in the present case, Ferdinand's conduct must be +regarded as a flagrant example of the abuse of the rights of conquest. We +have been but too familiar, indeed, with similar acts of political +injustice, and on a much larger scale, in the present civilized age. But, +although the number and splendor of the precedents may blunt our +sensibility to the atrocity of the act, they can never constitute a +legitimate warrant for its perpetration. + +While thus freely condemning Ferdinand's conduct in this transaction, I +cannot go along with those, who, having inspected the subject less +minutely, are disposed to regard it as the result of a cool, premeditated +policy from the outset. The propositions originally made by him to Navarre +appear to have been conceived in perfect good faith. The requisition of +the fortresses, impudent as it may seem, was nothing more than had been +before made in Isabella's time, when it had been granted, and the security +subsequently restored, as soon as the emergency had passed away. [31] The +alternative proposed, of entering into the Holy League, presented many +points of view so favorable to Navarre, that Ferdinand, ignorant, as he +then was, of the precise footing on which she stood with France, might +have seen no improbability in her closing with it. Had either alternative +been embraced, there would have been no pretext for the invasion. Even +when hostilities had been precipitated by the impolitic conduct of +Navarre, Ferdinand (to judge, not from his public manifestoes only, but +from his private correspondence) would seem to have at first contemplated +holding the country only till the close of his French expedition. [32] But +the facility of retaining these conquests, when once acquired, was too +strong a temptation. It was easy to find some plausible pretext to justify +it, and obtain such a sanction from the highest authority, as should veil +the injustice of the transaction from the world,--and from his own eyes. +And that these were blinded is but too true, if, as an Aragonese historian +declares, he could remark on his death-bed, "that, independently of the +conquest having been undertaken at the instance of the sovereign pontiff, +for the extirpation of the schism, he felt his conscience as easy in +keeping it, as in keeping his crown of Aragon." [33] + + * * * * * + +I have made use of three authorities exclusively devoted to Navarre, in +the present History. 1. "L'Histoire du Royaume de Navarre, par un des +Secrétaires Interprettes de sa Maiesté" Paris, 1596, 8vo. This anonymous +work, from the pen of one of Henry IV.'s secretaries, is little else than +a meagre compilation of facts, and these deeply colored by the national +prejudices of the writer. It derives some value from this circumstance, +however, in the contrast it affords to the Spanish version of the same +transactions. 2. A tract entitled "Aelii Antonii Nebrissensis de Bello +Navariensi Libri Duo." It covers less than thirty pages folio, and is +chiefly occupied, as the title imports, with the military events of the +conquest by the duke of Alva. It was originally incorporated in the volume +containing its learned author's version, or rather paraphrase, of Pulgar's +Chronicle, with some other matters; and first appeared from the press of +the younger Lebrija, "apud inclytam Granatam, 1545." 3. But the great work +illustrating the history of Navarre is the "Annales del Reyno;" of which +the best edition is that in seven volumes, folio, from the press of +Ibañez, Pamplona, 1766. Its typographical execution would be creditable to +any country. The three first volumes were written by Moret, whose profound +acquaintance with the antiquities of his nation has made his book +indispensable to the student of this portion of its history. The fourth +and fifth are the continuation of his work by Francisco de Aleson, a +Jesuit who succeeded Moret as historiographer of Navarre. The two last +volumes are devoted to investigations illustrating the antiquities of +Navarre, from the pen of Moret, and are usually published separately from +his great historic work. Aleson's continuation, extending from 1350 to +1527, is a production of considerable merit. It shows extensive research +on the part of its author, who, however, has not always confined himself +to the most authentic and accredited sources of information. His +references exhibit a singular medley of original contemporary documents, +and apocryphal authorities of a very recent date. Though a Navarrese, he +has written with the impartiality of one in whom local prejudices were +extinguished in the more comprehensive national feelings of a Spaniard. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] See Part I. Chapters 10, 12. + +[2] Histoire du Royaume de Navarre, pp. 567, 570.--Aleson, Annales de +Navarra, tom. v. lib. 34, cap. 1, fol.--Diccionario Geográfico-Histórico +de España, por la Real Academia de la Historia, (Madrid, 1802,) tom. ii. +p. 117. + +[3] Aleson, Annales de Navarra, tom. v. lib. 35, cap. 13.--Zurita, Anales, +tom. vi. lib. 9, cap. 54.--Sismondi, Hist. des Français, tom. xv. p. 500. + +[4] Aleson, Annales de Navarra, ubi supra. + +[5] Dumont, Corps Diplomatique, tom. iv. part. 1, p. 147.--See also the +king's letter to Deza, dated at Burgos, July 20th, 1512, apud Bernaldez, +Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 235. + +[6] Aleson, Annales de Navarra, tom. v. p. 245.--Herbert, Life and Raigne +of Henry VIII., (London, 1649,) p. 20.--Holinshed, Chronicles, p.568, +(London, 1810.)--Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ix. p. 315. + +His Valencian editors correct his text, by substituting marquis of +Dorchester! + +[7] The young poet, Garcilasso de la Vega, gives a brilliant sketch of +this stern old nobleman in his younger days, such as our imagination would +scarcely have formed of him at any period. + + "Otro Marte 'n guerra, en corte Febo. + Mostravase mancebo en las señales + del rostro, qu' eran tales, qu' esperança + i cierta confiança claro davan + a cuantos le miravan; qu' el seria, + en quien s' informaria un ser divino." + Obras, ed. de Herrera, p. 505. + +[8] Lebrija, De Bello Navariensi, lib. 1, cap. 3.--Zurita, Anales, tom. vi +lib. 10, cap. 4, 5.--Aleson, Annales de Navarra, tom. v. lib. 35, cap. +15.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 488.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, +MS., ubi supra.--Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. lib. 29, cap. 25.--Sandoval, +Hist. del Emp. Carlos V., tom. i. p. 25. + +[9] Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 10, cap. 7, 8.--Peter Martyr, Opus +Epist., epist. 487.--Garibay, Compendio, tom. iii. lib. 29, cap. 25. + +[10] Dumont, Corps Diplomatique, tom. iv. part. 1, no. 69.--Carta del Rey +a D. Diego Deza, apud Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 235. + +[11] A confidential secretary of King Jean of Navarre was murdered in his +sleep by his mistress. His papers, containing the heads of the proposed +treaty with France, fell into the hands of a priest of Pampelona, who was +induced by the hopes of a reward to betray them to Ferdinand. The story is +told by Martyr, in a letter dated July 18th, 1512. (Opus Epist., epist. +490.) Its truth is attested by the conformity of the proposed terms with +those of the actual treaty. + +[12] Carta del Rey a D. Diego Deza, Burgos, July 26th, apud Bernaldez, +Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 236.--Histoire du Royaume de Navarre, pp. 620- +627.--Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 21.--Peter Martyr, +Opus Epist., epist. 495.--Aleson, Annales de Navarra, tom. v. lib. 35, +cap. 15. + +Bernaldez has incorporated into his chronicle several letters of King +Ferdinand, written during the progress of the war. It is singular, that, +coming from so high a source, they should not have been more freely +resorted to by the Spanish writers. They are addressed to his confessor, +Deza, archbishop of Seville, with whom Bernaldez, curate of a parish in +his diocese, was, as appears from other parts of his work, on terms of +intimacy. + +[13] Aleson, Annales de Navarra, tom. v. lib. 35, cap. 15.--Histoire du +Royaume de Navarre, p. 622.--Lebrija, De Bello Navariensi, lib. 1, cap. +4.--"Jean d'Albret you were born," said Catharine to her unfortunate +husband, as they were flying from their kingdom, "and Jean d'Albret you +will die. Had I been king, and you queen, we had been reigning in Navarre +at this moment." (Garibay, Compendio, tom. iii. lib. 29, cap. 26.) Father +Abarca treats the story as an old wife's tale, and Garibay as an old woman +for repeating it. Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 21. + +[14] Manifiesto del Rey D. Fernando, July 30th, apud Bernaldez, Reyes +Católicos, MS., cap. 236.--Lebrija, De Bello Navariensi, lib. 1, cap. 5.-- +Garibay, Compendio, tom. iii. lib. 29, cap. 26. + +[15] Aleson, Annales de Navarra, tom. v. lib. 35, cap. 2.--Histoire du +Royaume de Navarre, pp. 603, 604. + +[16] 16 See the king's third letter to Deza, Logroño, November 12th, apud +Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 236.--Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. +ii. lib. 30, cap. 12.--Lebrija, De Bello Navariensi, lib. 1, cap. 7.-- +Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 499.--Herbert, Life of Henry VIII., p. +24.--Holinshed, Chronicles, p. 571. + +[17] Garcilasso de la Vega alludes to these military exploits of the duke, +in his second eclogue. + + "Con mas ilustre nombre los arneses + de los fieros Franceses abollava." + Obras, ed. de Herrera, p. 505. + +[18] Such was the power of the old duke of Najara, that he brought into +the field on this occasion 1100 horse and 3000 foot, raised and equipped +on his own estates. Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 507. + +[19] Mémoires de Bayard, chap. 55, 56.--Fleurange, Mémoires, chap. 33.-- +Lebrija, De Bello Navariensi, lib. 1, cap. 8, 9.--Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, +tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 21.--Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1512. + +Jean and Catharine d'Albret passed the remainder of their days in their +territories on the French side of the Pyrenees. They made one more faint +and fruitless attempt to recover their dominions during the regency of +Cardinal Ximenes. (Carbajal, Anales, MS., cap. 12.) Broken in spirits, +their health gradually declined, and neither of them long survived the +loss of their crown. Jean died June 23d, 1517, and Catharine followed on +the 12th of February of the next year;--happy, at least, that, as +misfortune had no power to divide them in life, so they were not long +separated by death. (Histoire du Royaume de Navarre, p. 643.--Aleson, +Annales de Navarra, tom. v. lib. 35, cap. 20, 21.) Their bodies sleep side +by side in the cathedral church of Lescar, in their own dominions of +Bearne; and their fate is justly noticed by the Spanish historians as one +of the most striking examples of that stern decree, by which the sins of +the fathers are visited on the children to the third and fourth +generation. + +[20] Flassan, Diplomatie Française, tom. i. p 296.--Rymer, Foedera, tom. +xiii. pp. 350-352.--Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. vi. lib. 11, p82, lib. 12, +p. 168.--Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. lib. 30, cap 22.--"Fu cosa +ridicola," says Guicciardini in relation to this truce, "che nei medesimi +giorni, che la si bandiva solennemente per tutta. Ja Spagna, venne en +araldo a significargli in nome del Re d'Ingbilterra gli apparati +potentissimi, che ei faceva per assaltare la Francia, e a sollecitare che +egli medesimamente movesse, secondo che aveva promesso, la guerra dalla +parte di Spagna." Istoria, tom. vi. lib. 12, p. 84. + +[21] Francesco Vettori, the Florentine ambassador at the papal court, +writes to Machiavelli, that he lay awake two hours that night speculating +on the real motives of the Catholic king in making this truce, which, +regarded simply as a matter of policy, he condemns _in toto_. He +accompanies this with various predictions respecting the consequences +likely to result from it. These consequences never occurred, however; and +the failure of his predictions may be received as the best refutation of +his arguments. Machiavelli, Opere, Lett. Famigl. Aprile 21 1513. + +[22] Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. vi. lib. II, pp. 81, 82.--Machiavelli, +Opere, ubi supra.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 538. + +On the 5th of April a treaty was concluded at Mechlin, in the names of +Ferdinand, the king of England, the emperor, and the pope. (Rymer, +Foedera, tom. xiii. pp. 354-358.) The Castilian envoy, Don Luis Carroz, +was not present at Mechlin, but it was ratified and solemnly sworn to by +him, on behalf of his sovereign, in London, April 18th. (Ibid., tom. xiii. +p. 363.) By this treaty, Spain agreed to attack France in Guienne, while +the other powers were to cooperate by a descent on other quarters. (See +also Dumont, Corps Diplomatique, tom. iv. part. 1, no 79.) This was in +direct contradiction of the treaty signed only five days before at Orthès, +and if made with the privity of King Ferdinand, must be allowed to be a +gratuitous display of perfidy, not easily matched in that age. As such, of +course, it is stigmatized by the French historians, that is the later +ones, for I find no comment on it in contemporary writers. (See Rapin, +History of England, translated by Tindal, (London, 1785-9,) vol. ii. pp. +93, 94. Sismondi, Hist. des Français, tom. xv. p. 626.) Ferdinand, when +applied to by Henry VIII. to ratify the acts of his minister, in the +following summer, refused, on the ground that the latter had transcended +his powers. (Herbert, Life of Henry VIII., p. 29.) The Spanish writers are +silent. His assertion derives some probability from the tenor of one of +the articles, which provides, that in case he refuses to confirm the +treaty, it shall still be binding between England and the emperor; +language which, as it anticipates, may seem to authorize, such a +contingency. + +Public treaties have, for obvious reasons, been generally received as the +surest basis for history. One might well doubt this, who attempts to +reconcile the multifarious discrepancies and contradictions in those of +the period under review. The science of diplomacy, as then practised, was +a mere game of finesse and falsehood, in which the more solemn the +protestations of the parties, the more ground for distrusting their +sincerity. + +[23] Carta del Rey a Don Diego Deza, Nov. 12th, 1512, apud Bernaldez, +Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 236.--Aleson, Annales de Navarra, tom. v. lib. +35, cap. 16.--Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 10, cap. 13, 36, 43.-- +Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1512. + +[24] Hist. du Royaume de Navarre, pp. 629, 630.--Aleson, Annales de +Navarra, tom. v. lib. 35, cap. 16.--Garibay, Compendio, tom. iii. lib. 30, +cap. 1. + +[25] Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 10, cap. 92.--Carbajal, Anales, MS., +año 1515.--Garibay, Compendio, tom. iii. lib. 30, cap. 1.--Aleson, Annales +de Navarra, tom, v. lib. 35, cap. 7.--Sandoval, Hist. del Emp. Carlos V., +tom. i. p. 26. + +[26] The honest canon Salazar de Mendoza, (taking the hint from Lebrija, +indeed,) finds abundant warrant for Ferdinand's treatment of Navarre in +the hard measure dealt by the Israelites of old to the people of Ephron, +and to Sihon, king of the Amorites. (Monarquía, tom. i. lib. 3, cap. 6.) +It might seem strange, that a Christian should look for authority in the +practices of the race he so much abominates, instead of the inspired +precepts of the Founder of his religion! But in truth your thoroughbred +casuist is apt to be very little of a Christian. + +[27] See the original bull of Julius II., apud Mariana, Hist. de España, +tom. ix. Apend. no. 2, ed. Valencia, 1796.--"Joannem et Catharinam," says +the bull, in the usual conciliatory style of the Vatican, "perditionis +filios,--excommunicatos, anathemizatos, maledictos, aeterni supplicii +reos," etc., etc. "Our armies swore terribly in Flanders, cried my uncle +Toby,--but nothing to this. For my own part I could not have a heart to +curse my dog so." + +[28] The ninth volume of the splendid Valencian edition of Mariana +contains in the Appendix the famous bull of Julius II. of Feb. 18th, 1512, +the original of which is to be found in the royal archives of Barcelona. +The editor, Don Francisco Ortiz y Sanz, has accompanied it with an +elaborate disquisition, in which he makes the apostolic sentence the great +authority for the conquest. It was a great triumph undoubtedly, to be able +to produce the document, to which the Spanish historians had been so long +challenged in vain by foreign writers, and the existence of which might +well be doubted, since no record of it appears on the papal register. +(Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 21.) Paris de Grassis, +_maître des cérémonies_ of the chapel of Julius II. and Leo X., makes +no mention of bull or excommunication, although very exact and particular +in reporting such facts. (Bréquigny, Manuscrits de la Bibliothèque du Roy, +tom. ii. p. 570.) There is no reason that I know for doubting the +genuineness of the present instrument. There are conclusive reasons to my +mind, however, for rejecting its date, and assigning it to some time +posterior to the conquest. + +1st. The bull denounces John and Catharine as having openly joined +themselves to Louis XII., and borne arms with him against England, Spain, +and the church; a charge for which there was no pretence till five months +later.--2d. With this bull the editor has given another, dated Rome, July +21st, 1512, noticed by Peter Martyr. (Opus Epist., epist. 497.) This +latter is general in its import, being directed against all nations +whatever, engaged in alliance with France against the church. The +sovereigns of Navarre are not even mentioned, nor the nation itself, any +further than to warn it of the imminent danger in which it stood of +falling into the schism. Now it is obvious that this second bull, so +general in its import, would have been entirely superfluous in reference +to Navarre, after the publication of the first; while, on the other hand, +nothing could be more natural than that these general menaces and +warnings, having proved ineffectual, should be followed by the particular +sentence of excommunication contained in the bull of February.--3d. In +fact, the bull of February makes repeated allusion to a former one, in +such a manner as to leave no doubt that the bull of July 21st is intended; +since not only the sentiments, but the very form of expression, are +perfectly coincident in both for whole sentences together.--4th. Ferdinand +makes no mention of the papal excommunication, either in his private +correspondence, where he discusses the grounds of the war, or in his +manifesto to the Navarrese, where it would have served his purpose quite +as effectually as his arms. I say nothing of the negative evidence +afforded by the silence of contemporary writers, as Lebrija, Carbajal, +Bernaldez, and Martyr, who, while they allude to a sentence of +excommunication passed in the consistory, or to the publication of the +bull of July, give no intimation of the existence of that of February; a +silence altogether inexplicable. The inference from all this is, that the +date of the bull of February 18th, 1512, is erroneous; that it should be +placed at some period posterior to the conquest, and consequently could +not have served as the ground of it; but was probably obtained at the +instance of the Catholic king, in order, by the odium which it threw on +the sovereigns of Navarre, as excommunicate, to remove that under which he +lay himself, and at the same time secure what might be deemed a sufficient +warrant for retaining his acquisitions. + +Readers in general may think more time has been spent on the discussion +than it is worth. But the important light, in which it is viewed by those +who entertain more deference for a papal decree, is sufficiently attested +by the length and number of disquisitions on it, down to the present +century. + +[29] Dumont, Corps Diplomatique, tom. iv. part. 1, no. 69. + +[30] According to Galindez de Carbajal, only three fortresses were +originally demanded by Ferdinand. (Anales, MS., año 1512.) He may have +confounded the number with that said to have been finally conceded by the +king of Navarre; a concession, however, which amounted to little, since it +excluded by name two of the most important places required, and the +sincerity of which may well be doubted, if, as it would seem, it was not +made till after the negotiations with France had been adjusted. See +Zurita, Anales, lib. 10, cap. 7. + +[31] Aleson, Annales de Navarra, tom. v. lib. 35, cap. 1, 3.--Garibay, +Compendio, tom. iii. lib. 29, cap. 13. + +[32] See King Ferdinand's letter, July 20th, and his manifesto, July 30th, +1512, apud Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 235.--Lebrija, De Bello +Navariensi, lib. 1, cap. 7. + +[33] Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 21. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +DEATH OF GONSALVO DE CORDOVA.--ILLNESS AND DEATH OF FERDINAND.--HIS +CHARACTER. + +1513-1516. + +Gonsalvo Ordered to Italy.--General Enthusiasm.--The King's Distrust.-- +Gonsalvo in Retirement.--Decline of his Health.--His Death and Noble +Character.--Ferdinand's Illness.--It Increases.--He Dies.--His Character. +--A Contrast to Isabella.--The Judgment of his Contemporaries. + + +Notwithstanding the good order which King Ferdinand maintained in Castile +by his energetic conduct, as well as by his policy of diverting the +effervescing spirits of the nation to foreign enterprise, he still +experienced annoyance from various causes. Among these were Maximilian's +pretensions to the regency, as paternal grandfather of the heir apparent. +The emperor, indeed, had more than once threatened to assert his +preposterous claims to Castile in person; and, although this Quixotic +monarch, who had been tilting against windmills all his life, failed to +excite any powerful sensation, either by his threats or his promises, it +furnished a plausible pretext for keeping alive a faction hostile to the +interests of the Catholic king. + +In the winter of 1509, an arrangement was made with the emperor, through +the mediation of Louis the Twelfth, by which he finally relinquished his +pretensions to the regency of Castile, in consideration of the aid of +three hundred lances, and the transfer to him of the fifty thousand +ducats, which Ferdinand was to receive from Pisa. [1] No bribe was too +paltry for a prince, whose means were as narrow, as his projects were vast +and chimerical. Even after this pacification, the Austrian party contrived +to disquiet the king, by maintaining the archduke Charles's pretensions to +the government in the name of his unfortunate mother; until at length, the +Spanish monarch came to entertain not merely distrust, but positive +aversion, for his grandson; while the latter, as he advanced in years, was +taught to regard Ferdinand as one, who excluded him from his rightful +inheritance by a most flagrant act of usurpation. [2] + +Ferdinand's suspicious temper found other grounds for uneasiness, where +there was less warrant for it, in his jealousy of his illustrious subject +Gonsalvo de Cordova. This was particularly the case, when circumstances +had disclosed the full extent of that general's popularity. After the +defeat of Ravenna, the pope and the other allies of Ferdinand urged him in +the most earnest manner to send the Great Captain into Italy, as the only +man capable of checking the French arms, and restoring the fortunes of the +league. The king, trembling for the immediate safety of his own dominions, +gave a reluctant assent, and ordered Gonsalvo to hold himself in readiness +to take command of an army to be instantly raised for Italy. [3] + +These tidings were received with enthusiasm by the Castilians. Men of +every rank pressed forward to serve under a chief, whose service was +itself sufficient passport to fame. "It actually seemed," says Martyr, "as +if Spain were to be drained of all her noble and generous blood. Nothing +appeared impossible, or even difficult, under such a leader. Hardly a +cavalier in the land, but would have thought it a reproach to remain +behind. Truly marvellous," he adds, "is the authority which he has +acquired over all orders of men!" [4] + +Such was the zeal with which men enlisted under his banner, that great +difficulty was found in completing the necessary levies for Navarre, then +menaced by the French. The king, alarmed at this, and relieved from +apprehensions of immediate danger to Naples, by subsequent advices from +that country, sent orders greatly reducing the number of forces to be +raised. But this had little effect, since every man, who had the means, +preferred acting as a volunteer under the Great Captain to any other +service, however gainful; and many a poor cavalier was there, who expended +his little all, or incurred a heavy debt, in order to appear in the field +in a style becoming the chivalry of Spain. + +Ferdinand's former distrust of his general was now augmented tenfold by +this evidence of his unbounded popularity. He saw in imagination much more +danger to Naples from such a subject, than from any enemy, however +formidable. He had received intelligence, moreover, that the French were +in full retreat towards the north. He hesitated no longer, but sent +instructions to the Great Captain at Cordova, to disband his levies, as +the expedition would be postponed till after the present winter; at the +same time inviting such as chose to enlist in the service of Navarre. [5] + +These tidings were received with indignant feelings by the whole army. The +officers refused, nearly to a man, to engage in the proposed service. +Gonsalvo, who understood the motives of this change in the royal purpose, +was deeply sensible to what he regarded as a personal affront. He, +however, enjoined on his troops implicit obedience to the king's commands. +Before dismissing them, as he knew that many had been drawn into expensive +preparations far beyond their means, he distributed largesses among them, +amounting to the immense sum, if we may credit his biographers, of one +hundred thousand ducats. "Never stint your hand," said he to his steward, +who remonstrated on the magnitude of the donative; "there is no mode of +enjoying one's property, like giving it away." He then wrote a letter to +the king, in which he gave free vent to his indignation, bitterly +complaining of the ungenerous requital of his services, and asking leave +to retire to his duchy of Terranova in Naples, since he could be no longer +useful in Spain. This request was not calculated to lull Ferdinand's +suspicions. He answered, however, "in the soft and pleasant style, which +he knew so well how to assume," says Zurita; and, after specifying his +motives for relinquishing, however reluctantly, the expedition, he +recommended Gonsalvo's return to Loja, at least until some more definite +arrangement could be made respecting the affairs of Italy. + +Thus condemned to his former seclusion, the Great Captain resumed his late +habits of life, freely opening his mansion to persons of merit, +interesting himself in plans for ameliorating the condition of his +tenantry and neighbors, and in this quiet way winning a more +unquestionable title to human gratitude than when piling up the blood- +stained trophies of victory. Alas for humanity, that it should have deemed +otherwise! [6] + +Another circumstance, which disquieted the Catholic king, was the failure +of issue by his present wife. The natural desire of offspring was further +stimulated by hatred of the house of Austria, which made him eager to +abridge the ample inheritance about to descend on his grandson Charles. It +must be confessed, that it reflects little credit on his heart or his +understanding, that he should have been so ready to sacrifice to personal +resentment those noble plans for the consolidation of the monarchy, which +had so worthily occupied the attention both of himself and of Isabella, in +his early life. His wishes had nearly been realized. Queen Germaine was +delivered of a son, March 3d, 1509. Providence, however, as if unwilling +to defeat the glorious consummation of the union of the Spanish kingdoms, +so long desired and nearly achieved, permitted the infant to live only a +few hours. [7] + +Ferdinand repined at the blessing denied him, now more than ever. In order +to invigorate his constitution, he resorted to artificial means. [8] The +medicines which he took had the opposite effect. At least from this time, +the spring of 1513, he was afflicted with infirmities before unknown to +him. Instead of his habitual equanimity and cheerfulness, he became +impatient, irritable, and frequently a prey to morbid melancholy. He lost +all relish for business, and even for amusements, except field sports, to +which he devoted the greater part of his time. The fever which consumed +him made him impatient of long residence in any one place, and during +these last years of his life the court was in perpetual migration. The +unhappy monarch, alas! could not fly from disease, or from himself. [9] + +In the summer of 1515, he was found one night by his attendants in a state +of insensibility, from which it was difficult to rouse him. He exhibited +flashes of his former energy after this, however. On one occasion he made +a journey to Aragon, in order to preside at the deliberations of the +cortes, and enforce the grant of supplies, to which the nobles, from +selfish considerations, made resistance. The king failed, indeed, to bend +their intractable tempers, but he displayed on the occasion all his wonted +address and resolution. [10] + +On his return to Castile, which, perhaps from the greater refinement and +deference of the people, seems to have been always a more agreeable +residence to him than his own kingdom of Aragon, he received intelligence +very vexatious, in the irritable state of his mind. He learned that the +Great Captain was preparing to embark for Flanders, with his friend the +count of Ureña, the marquis of Priego his nephew, and his future son-in- +law, the count of Cabra. Some surmised that Gonsalvo designed to take +command of the papal army in Italy; others, to join himself with the +archduke Charles, and introduce him, if possible, into Castile. Ferdinand, +clinging to power more tenaciously as it was ready to slip of itself from +his grasp, had little doubt that the latter was his purpose. He sent +orders therefore to the south, to prevent the meditated embarkation, and, +if necessary, to seize Gonsalvo's person. But the latter was soon to +embark on a voyage, where no earthly arm could arrest him. [11] + +In the autumn of 1515 he was attacked by a quartan fever. Its approaches +at first were mild. His constitution, naturally good, had been invigorated +by the severe training of a military life; and he had been so fortunate, +that, notwithstanding the free exposure of his person to danger, he had +never received a wound. But, although little alarm was occasioned at first +by his illness, he found it impossible to throw it off; and he removed to +his residence in Granada, in hopes of deriving benefit from its salubrious +climate. Every effort to rally the declining powers of nature proved +unavailing; and on the 2d of December, 1515, he expired in his own palace +at Granada, in the arms of his wife, and his beloved daughter Elvira. [12] + +The death of this illustrious man diffused universal sorrow throughout the +nation. All envy and unworthy suspicion died with him. The king and the +whole court went into mourning. Funeral services were performed in his +honor, in the royal chapel and all the principal churches of the kingdom. +Ferdinand addressed a letter of consolation to his duchess, in which he +lamented the death of one, "who had rendered him inestimable services, and +to whom he had ever borne such sincere affection!" [13] His obsequies were +celebrated with great magnificence in the ancient Moorish capital, under +the superintendence of the count of Tendilla, the son and successor of +Gonsalvo's old friend, the late governor of Granada. [14] His remains, +first deposited in the Franciscan monastery, were afterwards removed and +laid beneath a sumptuous mausoleum in the church of San Geronimo; [15] and +more than a hundred banners and royal pennons, waving in melancholy pomp +around the walls of the chapel, proclaimed the glorious achievements of +the warrior who slept beneath. [16] His noble wife, Doña Maria Manrique, +survived him but a few days. His daughter Elvira inherited the princely +titles and estates of her father, which, by her marriage with her kinsman, +the count of Cabra, were perpetuated in the house of Cordova. [17] + +Gonsalvo, or, as he is called in Castilian, Gonzalo Hernandez de Cordova, +was sixty-two years old at the time of his death. His countenance and +person are represented to have been extremely handsome; his manners, +elegant and attractive, were stamped with that lofty dignity, which so +often distinguishes his countrymen. "He still bears," says Martyr, +speaking of him in the last years of his life, "the same majestic port as +when in the height of his former authority; so that every one who visits +him acknowledges the influence of his noble presence, as fully as when, at +the head of armies, he gave laws to Italy." [18] + +His splendid military successes, so gratifying to Castilian pride, have +made the name of Gonsalvo as familiar to his countrymen as that of the +Cid, which, floating down the stream of popular melody, has been treasured +up as a part of the national history. His shining qualities, even more +than his exploits, have been often made the theme of fiction; and fiction, +as usual, has dealt with them in a fashion to leave only confused and +erroneous conceptions of both. More is known of the Spanish hero, for +instance, to foreign readers from Florian's agreeable novel, than from any +authentic record of his actions. Yet Florian, by dwelling only on the +dazzling and popular traits of his hero, has depicted him as the very +personification of romantic chivalry. This certainly was not his +character, which might be said to have been formed after a riper period of +civilization than the age of chivalry. At least, it had none of the +nonsense of that age,--its fanciful vagaries, reckless adventure, and wild +romantic gallantry. [19] His characteristics were prudence, coolness, +steadiness of purpose, and intimate knowledge of man. He understood, above +all, the temper of his own countrymen. He may be said in some degree to +have formed their military character; their patience of severe training +and hardship, their unflinching obedience, their inflexible spirit under +reverses, and their decisive energy in the hour of action. It is certain +that the Spanish soldier under his hands assumed an entirely new aspect +from that which he had displayed in the romantic wars of the Peninsula. + +Gonsalvo was untainted with the coarser vices characteristic of the time. +He discovered none of that griping avarice, too often the reproach of his +countrymen in these wars. His hand and heart were liberal as the day. He +betrayed none of the cruelty and licentiousness, which disgrace the age of +chivalry. On all occasions he was prompt to protect women from injury or +insult. Although his distinguished manners and rank gave him obvious +advantages with the sex, he never abused them; [20] and he has left a +character, unimpeached by any historian, of unblemished morality in his +domestic relations. This was a rare virtue in the sixteenth century. + +Gonsalvo's fame rests on his military prowess; yet his character would +seem in many respects better suited to the calm and cultivated walks of +civil life. His government of Naples exhibited much discretion and sound +policy; [21] and there, as afterwards in his retirement, his polite and +liberal manners secured not merely the good-will, but the strong +attachment, of those around him. His early education, like that of most of +the noble cavaliers who came forward before the improvements introduced +under Isabella, was taken up with knightly exercises, more than +intellectual accomplishments. He was never taught Latin, and had no +pretensions to scholarship; but he honored and nobly recompensed it in +others. His solid sense and liberal taste supplied all deficiencies in +himself, and led him to select friends and companions from among the most +enlightened and virtuous of the community. [22] + +On this fair character there remains one foul reproach. This is his breach +of faith in two memorable instances; first, to the young duke of Calabria, +and afterwards to Caesar Borgia, both of whom he betrayed into the hands +of King Ferdinand, their personal enemy; and in violation of his most +solemn pledges. [23] True, it was in obedience to his master's commands, +and not to serve his own purposes; and true also, this want of faith was +the besetting sin of the age. But history has no warrant to tamper with +right and wrong, or to brighten the character of its favorites by +diminishing one shade of the abhorrence which attaches to their vices. +They should rather be held up in their true deformity, as the more +conspicuous from the very greatness with which they are associated. It may +be remarked, however, that the reiterated and unsparing opprobrium with +which foreign writers, who have been little sensible to Gonsalvo's merits, +have visited these offences, affords tolerable evidence that they are the +only ones of any magnitude that can be charged on him. [24] + +As to the imputation of disloyalty, we have elsewhere had occasion to +notice its apparent groundlessness. It would be strange, indeed, if the +ungenerous treatment which he had experienced ever since his return from +Naples had not provoked feelings of indignation in his bosom. Nor would it +be surprising, under these circumstances, if he had been led to regard the +archduke Charles's pretensions to the regency, as he came of age, with a +favorable eye. There is no evidence, however, of this, or of any act +unfriendly to Ferdinand's interests. His whole public life, on the +contrary, exhibited the truest loyalty; and the only stains that darken +his fame were incurred by too unhesitating devotion to the wishes of his +master. He is not the first nor the last statesman, who has reaped the +royal recompense of ingratitude, for serving his king with greater zeal +than he had served his Maker. + +Ferdinand's health, in the mean time, had declined so sensibly, that it +was evident he could not long survive the object of his jealousy. [25] His +disease had now settled into a dropsy, accompanied with a distressing +affection of the heart. He found difficulty in breathing, complained that +he was stifled in the crowded cities, and passed most of his time, even +after the weather became cold, in the fields and forests, occupied, as far +as his strength permitted, with the fatiguing pleasures of the chase. As +the winter advanced, he bent his steps towards the south. He passed some +time, in December, at a country-seat of the duke of Alva, near Placentia, +where he hunted the stag. He then resumed his journey to Andalusia, but +fell so ill on the way, at the little village of Madrigalejo, near +Truxillo, that it was found impossible to advance further. [26] + +The king seemed desirous of closing his eyes to the danger of his +situation as long as possible. He would not confess, nor even admit his +confessor into his chamber. [27] He showed similar jealousy of his +grandson's envoy, Adrian of Utrecht. This person, the preceptor of +Charles, and afterwards raised through his means to the papacy, had come +into Castile some weeks before, with the ostensible view of making some +permanent arrangement with Ferdinand in regard to the regency. The real +motive, as the powers which he brought with him subsequently proved, was, +that he might be on the spot when the king died, and assume the reins of +government. Ferdinand received the minister with cold civility, and an +agreement was entered into, by which the regency was guaranteed to the +monarch, not only during Joanna's life, but his own. Concessions to a +dying man cost nothing. Adrian, who was at Guadalupe at this time, no +sooner heard of Ferdinand's illness, than he hastened to Madrigalejo. The +king, however, suspected the motives of his visit. "He has come to see me +die," said he; and, refusing to admit him into his presence, ordered the +mortified envoy back again to Guadalupe. [28] + +At length the medical attendants ventured to inform the king of his real +situation, conjuring him if he had any affairs of moment to settle, to do +it without delay. He listened to them with composure, and from that moment +seemed to recover all his customary fortitude and equanimity. After +receiving the sacrament, and attending to his spiritual concerns, he +called his attendants around his bed, to advise with them respecting the +disposition of the government. Among those present, at this time, were his +faithful followers, the duke of Alva, and the marquis of Denia, his +majordomo, with several bishops and members of his council. [29] + +The king, it seems, had made several wills. By one, executed at Burgos, in +1512, he had committed the government of Castile and Aragon to the infante +Ferdinand during his brother Charles's absence. This young prince had been +educated in Spain under the eye of his grand-father, who entertained a +strong affection for him. The counsellors remonstrated in the plainest +terms against this disposition of the regency. Ferdinand, they said, was +too young to take the helm into his own hands. His appointment would be +sure to create new factions in Castile; it would raise him up to be in a +manner a rival of his brother, and kindle ambitious desires in his bosom, +which could not fail to end in his disappointment, and perhaps +destruction. [30] + +The king, who would never have made such a devise in his better days, was +more easily turned from his purpose now, than he would once have been. "To +whom then," he asked, "shall I leave the regency?" "To Ximenes, archbishop +of Toledo," they replied. Ferdinand turned away his face, apparently in +displeasure; but after a few moments' silence rejoined, "It is well; he is +certainly a good man, with honest intentions. He has no importunate +friends or family to provide for. He owes everything to Queen Isabella and +myself; and, as he has always been true to the interests of our family, I +believe he will always remain so." [31] + +He, however, could not so readily abandon the idea of some splendid +establishment for his favorite grandson; and he proposed to settle on him +the grand-masterships of the military orders. But to this his attendants +again objected, on the same grounds as before; adding, that this powerful +patronage was too great for any subject, and imploring him not to defeat +the object which the late queen had so much at heart, of incorporating it +with the crown. "Ferdinand will be left very poor then," exclaimed the +king, with tears in his eyes. "He will have the good-will of his brother," +replied one of his honest counsellors, "the best legacy your Highness can +leave him." [32] + +The testament, as finally arranged, settled the succession of Aragon and +Naples on his daughter Joanna and her heirs. The administration of Castile +during Charles's absence was intrusted to Ximenes, and that of Aragon to +the king's natural son, the archbishop of Saragossa, whose good sense and +popular manners made him acceptable to the people. He granted several +places in the kingdom of Naples to the infante Ferdinand, with an annual +stipend of fifty thousand ducats, chargeable on the public revenues. To +his queen Germaine he left the yearly income of thirty thousand gold +florins, stipulated by the marriage settlement, with five thousand a year +more during widowhood. [33] The will contained, besides, several +appropriations for pious and charitable purposes, but nothing worthy of +particular note. [34] Notwithstanding the simplicity of the various +provisions of the testament, it was so long, from the formalities and +periphrases with which it was encumbered, that there was scarce time to +transcribe it in season for the royal signature. On the evening of the 22d +of January, 1516, he executed the instrument; and a few hours later, +between one and two of the morning of the 23d, Ferdinand breathed his +last. [35] The scene of this event was a small house belonging to the +friars of Guadalupe. "In so wretched a tenement," exclaims Martyr, in his +usual moralizing vein, "did this lord of so many lands close his eyes upon +the world." [36] + +Ferdinand was nearly sixty-four years old, of which forty-one had elapsed +since he first swayed the sceptre of Castile, and thirty-seven since he +held that of Aragon. A long reign; long enough, indeed, to see most of +those whom he had honored and trusted of his subjects gathered to the +dust, and a succession of contemporary monarchs come and disappear like +shadows. [37] He died deeply lamented by his native subjects, who +entertained a partiality natural towards their own hereditary sovereign. +The event was regarded with very different feelings by the Castilian +nobles, who calculated their gains on the transfer of the reins from such +old and steady hands into those of a young and inexperienced master. The +commons, however, who had felt the good effect of this curb on the +nobility, in their own personal security, held his memory in reverence as +that of a national benefactor. [38] + +Ferdinand's remains were interred, agreeably to his orders, in Granada. A +few of his most faithful adherents accompanied them; the greater part +being deterred by a prudent caution of giving umbrage to Charles. [39] The +funeral train, however, was swelled by contributions from the various +towns through which it passed. At Cordova, especially, it is worthy of +note, that the marquis of Priego, who had slender obligations to +Ferdinand, came out with all his household to pay the last melancholy +honors to his remains. They were received with similar respect in Granada, +where the people, while they gazed on the sad spectacle, says Zurita, were +naturally affected as they called to mind the pomp and splendor of his +triumphal entry on the first occupation of the Moorish capital. [40] + +By his dying injunctions, all unnecessary ostentation was interdicted at +his funeral. His body was laid by the side of Isabella's in the monastery +of the Alhambra; and the year following, [41] when the royal chapel of the +metropolitan church was completed, they were both transported thither. A +magnificent mausoleum of white marble was erected over them, by their +grandson, Charles the Fifth. It was executed in a style worthy of the age. +The sides were adorned with figures of angels and saints, richly +sculptured in bas-relief. On the top reposed the effigies of the +illustrious pair, whose titles and merits were commemorated in the +following brief, and not very felicitous inscription. + +"MAHOMETICAE SECTAE PROSTRATORES, ET HAERETICAE PERVICACIAE EXTINCTORES, +FERNANDUS ARAGONUM, ET HELISABETA CASTELLAE, VIR ET UXOR UNANIMES, +CATHOLICI APPELLATI, MARMOREO CLAUDUNTUR HOC TUMULO." [42] + +King Ferdinand's personal appearance has been elsewhere noticed. "He was +of the middle size," says a contemporary, who knew him well. "His +complexion was fresh; his eyes bright and animated; his nose and mouth +small and finely formed, and his teeth white; his forehead lofty and +serene; with flowing hair of a bright chestnut color. His manners were +courteous, and his countenance seldom clouded by anything like spleen or +melancholy. He was grave in speech and action, and had a marvellous +dignity of presence. His whole demeanor, in fine, was truly that of a +great king." For this flattering portrait Ferdinand must have sat at an +earlier and happier period of his life. [43] + +His education, owing to the troubled state of the times, had been +neglected in his boyhood, though he was early instructed in all the +generous pastimes and exercises of chivalry. [44] He was esteemed one of +the most perfect horsemen of his court. He led an active life, and the +only kind of reading he appeared to relish was history. It was natural +that so busy an actor on the great political theatre should have found +peculiar interest and instruction in this study. [45] + +He was naturally of an equable temper, and inclined to moderation in all +things. The only amusement for which he cared much was hunting, especially +falconry, and that he never carried to excess till his last years. [46] He +was indefatigable in application to business. He had no relish for the +pleasures of the table, and, like Isabella, was temperate even to +abstemiousness in his diet. [47] He was frugal in his domestic and +personal expenditure; partly, no doubt, from a willingness to rebuke the +opposite spirit of wastefulness and ostentation in his nobles. He lost no +good opportunity of doing this. On one occasion, it is said, he turned to +a gallant of the court noted for his extravagance in dress, and laying his +hand on his own doublet, exclaimed, "Excellent stuff this; it has lasted +me three pair of sleeves!" [48] This spirit of economy was carried so far +as to bring on him the reproach of parsimony. [49] And parsimony, though +not so pernicious on the whole as the opposite vice of prodigality, has +always found far less favor with the multitude, from the appearance of +disinterestedness, which the latter carries with it. Prodigality in a +king, however, who draws not on his own resources, but on the public, +forfeits even this equivocal claim to applause. But, in truth, Ferdinand +was rather frugal, than parsimonious. His income was moderate; his +enterprises numerous and vast. It was impossible that he could meet them +without husbanding his resources with the most careful economy. [50] No +one has accused him of attempting to enrich his exchequer by the venal +sale of office, like Louis the Twelfth, or by griping extortion, like +another royal contemporary, Henry the Seventh. He amassed no treasure, +[51] and indeed died so poor, that he left scarcely enough in his coffers +to defray the charges of his funeral. [52] + +Ferdinand was devout; at least he was scrupulous in regard to the exterior +of religion. He was punctual in attendance on mass; careful to observe all +the ordinances and ceremonies of his church; and left many tokens of his +piety, after the fashion of the time, in sumptuous edifices and endowments +for religious purposes. Although not a superstitious man for the age, he +is certainly obnoxious to the reproach of bigotry; for he co-operated with +Isabella in all her exceptionable measures in Castile, and spared no +effort to fasten the odious yoke of the Inquisition on Aragon, and +subsequently, though happily with less success, on Naples. [53] + +Ferdinand has incurred the more serious charge of hypocrisy. His Catholic +zeal was observed to be marvellously efficacious in furthering his +temporal interests. [54] His most objectionable enterprises, even, were +covered with a veil of religion. In this, however, he did not materially +differ from the practice of the age. Some of the most scandalous wars of +that period were ostensibly at the bidding of the church, or in defence of +Christendom against the infidel. This ostentation of a religious motive +was indeed very usual with the Spanish and Portuguese. The crusading +spirit, nourished by their struggle with the Moors, and subsequently by +their African and American expeditions, gave such a religious tone +habitually to their feelings, as shed an illusion over their actions and +enterprises, frequently disguising their true character, even from +themselves. + +It will not be so easy to acquit Ferdinand of the reproach of perfidy +which foreign writers have so deeply branded on his name, [55] and which +those of his own nation have sought rather to palliate than to deny. [56] +It is but fair to him, however, even here, to take a glance at the age. He +came forward when government was in a state of transition from the feudal +forms to those which it has assumed in modern times; when the superior +strength of the great vassals was circumvented by the superior policy of +the reigning princes. It was the dawn of the triumph of intellect over the +brute force, which had hitherto controlled the movements of nations, as of +individuals. The same policy which these monarchs had pursued in their own +domestic relations, they introduced into those with foreign states, when, +at the close of the fifteenth century, the barriers that had so long kept +them asunder were broken down. Italy was the first field, on which the +great powers were brought into anything like a general collision. It was +the country, too, in which this crafty policy had been first studied, and +reduced to a regular system. A single extract from the political manual of +that age [57] may serve as a key to the whole science, as then understood. +"A prudent prince," says Machiavelli, "will not, and ought not to observe +his engagements, when it would operate to his disadvantage, and the causes +no longer exist which induced him to make them." [58] Sufficient evidence +of the practical application of the maxim may be found in the manifold +treaties of the period, so contradictory, or, what is to the same purpose +for our present argument, so confirmatory of one another in their tenor, +as clearly to show the impotence of all engagements. There were no less +than four several treaties in the course of three years, solemnly +stipulating the marriage of the archduke Charles and Claude of France. +Louis the Twelfth violated his engagements, and the marriage after all +never took place. [59] + +Such was the school in which Ferdinand was to make trial of his skill with +his brother monarchs. He had an able instructor in his father, John the +Second, of Aragon, and the result showed that the lessons were not lost on +him. "He was vigilant, wary, and subtile," writes a French contemporary, +"and few histories make mention of his being outwitted in the whole course +of his life." [60] He played the game with more adroitness than his +opponents, and he won it. Success, as usual, brought on him the reproaches +of the losers. This is particularly true of the French, whose master, +Louis the Twelfth, was more directly pitted against him. [61] Yet +Ferdinand does not appear to be a whit more obnoxious to the charge of +unfairness than his opponent. [62] If he deserted his allies when it +suited his convenience, he, at least, did not deliberately plot their +destruction, and betray them into the hands of their deadly enemy, as his +rival did with Venice, in the league of Cambray. [63] The partition of +Naples, the most scandalous transaction of the period, he shared equally +with Louis; and if the latter has escaped the reproach of the usurpation +of Navarre, it was because the premature death of his general deprived him +of the pretext and means for achieving it. Yet Louis the Twelfth, the +"father of his people," has gone down to posterity with a high and +honorable reputation. [64] + +Ferdinand, unfortunately for his popularity, had nothing of the frank and +cordial temper, the genial expansion of the soul, which begets love. He +carried the same cautious and impenetrable frigidity into private life, +that he showed in public. "No one," says a writer of the time, "could read +his thoughts by any change of his countenance." [65] Calm and calculating, +even in trifles, it was too obvious that everything had exclusive +reference to self. He seemed to estimate his friends only by the amount of +services they could render him. He was not always mindful of these +services. Witness his ungenerous treatment of Columbus, the Great Captain, +Navarro, Ximenes,--the men who shed the brightest lustre, and the most +substantial benefits, on his reign. Witness also his insensibility to the +virtues and long attachment of Isabella, whose memory he could so soon +dishonor by a union with one every way unworthy to be her successor. + +Ferdinand's connection with Isabella, while it reflected infinite glory on +his reign, suggests a contrast most unfavorable to his character. Hers was +all magnanimity, disinterestedness, and deep devotion to the interests of +her people. His was the spirit of egotism. The circle of his views might +be more or less expanded, but self was the steady, unchangeable centre. +Her heart beat with the generous sympathies of friendship, and the purest +constancy to the first, the only object of her love. We have seen the +measure of his sensibilities in other relations. They were not more +refined in this; and he proved himself unworthy of the admirable woman +with whom his destinies were united, by indulging in those vicious +gallantries, too generally sanctioned by the age. [66] Ferdinand, in fine, +a shrewd and politic prince, "surpassing," as a French writer, not his +friend, has remarked, "all the statesmen of his time in the science of the +cabinet," [67] may be taken as the representative of the peculiar genius +of the age. While Isabella, discarding all the petty artifices of state +policy, and pursuing the noblest ends by the noblest means, stands far +above her age. + +In his illustrious consort Ferdinand may be said to have lost his good +genius. [68] From that time his fortunes were under a cloud. Not that +victory sat less constantly on his banner; but at home he had lost + + "All that should accompany old age, + As honor, love, obedience, troops of friends." + +His ill-advised marriage disgusted his Castilian subjects. He ruled over +them, indeed, but more in severity than in love. The beauty of his young +queen opened new sources of jealousy; [69] while the disparity of their +ages, and her fondness for frivolous pleasure, as little qualified her to +be his partner in prosperity, as his solace in declining years. [70] His +tenacity of power drew him into vulgar squabbles with those most nearly +allied to him by blood, which settled into a mortal aversion. Finally, +bodily infirmity broke the energies of his mind, sour suspicions corroded +his heart, and he had the misfortune to live, long after he had lost all +that could make life desirable. + +Let us turn from this gloomy picture to the brighter season of the morning +and meridian of his life; when he sat with Isabella on the united thrones +of Castile and Aragon, strong in the love of his own subjects, and in the +fear and respect of his enemies. We shall then find much in his character +to admire; his impartial justice in the administration of the laws; his +watchful solicitude to shield the weak from the oppression of the strong; +his wise economy, which achieved great results without burdening his +people with oppressive taxes; his sobriety and moderation; the decorum, +and respect for religion, which he maintained among his subjects; the +industry he promoted by wholesome laws and his own example; his consummate +sagacity, which crowned all his enterprises with brilliant success, and +made him the oracle of the princes of the age. + +Machiavelli, indeed, the most deeply read of his time in human character, +imputes Ferdinand's successes, in one of his letters, to "cunning and good +luck, rather than superior wisdom." [71] He was indeed fortunate; and the +"star of Austria," which rose as his declined, shone not with a brighter +or steadier lustre. But success through a long series of years +sufficiently, of itself, attests good conduct. "The winds and waves," says +Gibbon, truly enough, "are always on the side of the most skilful +mariner." The Florentine statesman has recorded a riper and more +deliberate judgment in the treatise, which he intended as a mirror for the +rulers of the time. "Nothing," says he, "gains estimation for a prince +like great enterprises. Our own age has furnished a splendid example of +this in Ferdinand of Aragon. We may call him a new king, since from a +feeble one he has made himself the most renowned and glorious monarch of +Christendom; and, if we ponder well his manifold achievements, we must +acknowledge all of them very great, and some truly extraordinary." [72] + +Other eminent foreigners of the time join in this lofty strain of +panegyric. [73] The Castilians, mindful of the general security and +prosperity they had enjoyed under his reign, seem willing to bury his +frailties in his grave. [74] While his own hereditary subjects, exulting +with patriotic pride in the glory to which he had raised their petty +state, and touched with grateful recollections of his mild, paternal +government, deplore his loss in strains of national sorrow, as the last of +the revered line, who was to preside over the destinies of Aragon, as a +separate and independent kingdom. [75] + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. lib. 29, cap. 21.--Zurita, Anales, +tom. vi. lib. 8, cap. 45, 47. 834. + +[2] Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 10, cap. 55, 69.--Peter Martyr, Opus +Epist., epist. 531. + +[3] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 486.--Chrónica del Gran Capitan, +lib. 3, cap. 7.--Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 10, cap. 2.--Giovio, Vita +Magni Gonsalvi, lib. 3, p. 288. + +[4] Opus Epist., epist. 487.--Pulgar, Sumario, p. 201. + +[5] Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, lib. 3, p. 289.--Chrónica del Gran +Capitan, lib. 3, cap. 7, 8.--Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 38.--Peter +Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 498.--Pulgar, Sumario, p. 201. + +[6] Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. lib. 30, cap. 14.--Giovio, Vitae +Illust. Virorum, pp. 290, 291.--Chrónica del Gran Capitan, lib. 3, cap. 7, +8, 9.--Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 10, cap. 28.--Quintana, Españoles +Célebres, tom. i. pp. 328-332.--Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. rey 30, +cap. 20.--Pulgar, Sumario, pp. 201-208. + +[7] Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1509.--Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 10, +cap. 55. + +[8] They are detailed with such curious precision by Martyr,--who is much +too precise, indeed, for our pages,--as to leave little doubt of the fact. +Opus Epist., epist. 531. + +[9] Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1513, et seq.--L. Marineo, Cosas +Memorables, fol. 188.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 146.--Sandoval, Hist. +del Emp. Carlos V., tom. i. p. 27. + +"Non idem est vultus," says Peter Martyr of the king in a letter dated in +October, 1513, "non eadem facultas in audiendo, non eadem lenitas. Tria +sunt illi, ne priores resumat vires, opposita: senilis aetas; secundum +namque agit et sexagesimum annum: uxor, quam a latere nunquam abigit: et +venatus coeloque vivendi cupiditas, quae illum in sylvis detinet, ultra +quam in juvenili aetate, citra salutem, fas esset." Opus Epist., epist. +529. + +[10] Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 10, cap. 93, 94.--Carbajal, Anales MS., +año 1515.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 550. + +[11] Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 10, cap. 96.--Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, +tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 23.--Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, p. 292. + +[12] Giovio Vitae Illust. Virorum, pp. 271, 292.--Chrónica del Gran +Capitan, lib. 3, cap. 9.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 560.-- +Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1515.--Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. lib. 20, +cap. 23.--Pulgar, Sumario, p. 209. + +[13] See a copy of the original letter in the Chrónica del Gran Capitan, +(fol. 164.) It is dated Jan. 3d, 1516, only three weeks before Ferdinand's +death. + +[14] Peter Martyr notices the death of this estimable nobleman, full of +years and of honors, in a letter dated July 18th, 1515. It is addressed to +Tendilla's son, and breathes the consolation flowing from the mild and +philosophical spirit of its amiable author. The count was made marquis of +Mondejar by Ferdinand, a short time before his death. His various titles +and dignities, including the government of Granada, descended to his +eldest son, Don Luis, Martyr's early pupil; his genius was inherited in +full measure by a younger, the famous Diego Hurtado de Mendoza. + +[15] The following inscription is placed over them. + +"_GONZALI FERNANDEZ DE CORDOVA_, + + Qui propria virtute + Magni Ducis nomen + Proprium sibi fecit, + Ossa, + Perpetuae tandem + Luci restituenda, + Huic interea tumulo + Credita sunt; + Gloria minime consepulta." + +[16] Navagiero, Viaggio, fol. 24. + +On the top of the monument was seen the marble effigy of the Great +Captain, armed and kneeling. The banners and other military trophies, +which continued to garnish the walls of the chapel, according to Pedraza, +as late as 1600, had disappeared before the eighteenth century; at least +we may infer so from Colmenar's silence respecting them in his account of +the sepulchre. Pedraza, Antiguedad de Granada, fol. 114.--Colmenar, +Délices de l'Espagne, tom. iii p. 505. + +[±7] Chrónica del Gran Capitan, lib. 3, cap. 9.--Giovio, Vitae Illust. +Virorum, fol. 292. + +Gonsalvo was created duke of Terra Nuova and Sessa, and marquis of +Bitonto, all in Italy, with estates of the value of 40,000 ducats rent. He +was also grand constable of Naples, and a nobleman of Venice. His princely +honors were transmitted by Doña Elvira to her son, Gonzalo Hernandez de +Cordova, who filled the posts, under Charles V., of governor of Milan, and +captain general of Italy. Under Philip II., his descendants were raised to +a Spanish dukedom, with the title of Dukes of Baena. L. Marineo, Cosas +Memorables, fol. 24.--Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 41.--Salazar de +Mendoza, Dignidades, p. 307. + +[18] Opus Epist., epist. 498.--Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, p. 292.-- +Pulgar, Sumario, p. 212. + +[19] Gonsalvo assumed for his device a cross-bow moved by a pulley, with +the motto, "Ingenium superat vires." It was characteristic of a mind +trusting more to policy than force and daring exploit. Brantôme, Oeuvres, +tom. i. p. 75. + +[20] Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, p. 271. + +[21] Ibid., p. 281.--Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, lib. 30, cap. 1, 5. + +[22] Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, p. 271. + + "Amigo de sus amigos, + ¡Qué Señor para criados + Y parientes! + ¡Qué enemigo de enemigos! + ¡Qué maestro de esforzados + Y valientes! + ¡Qué seso para discretos! + ¡Qué gracia para donosos! + ¡Qué razon! + Muy benigno á los sugetos, + Y á los bravos y dañosos + Un leon." + Coplas de Don Jorge Manrique. + +[23] Borgia, after his father Alexander VI.'s death, escaped to Naples +under favor of a safe conduct signed by Gonsalvo. Here, however, his +intriguing spirit soon engaged him in schemes for troubling the peace of +Italy, and, indeed, for subverting the authority of the Spaniards there; +in consequence of which the Great Captain seized his person, and sent him +prisoner to Castile. Such, at least, is the Spanish version of the story, +and of course the one most favorable to Gonsalvo. Mariana dismisses it +with coolly remarking, that "the Great Captain seems to have consulted the +public good, in the affair, more than his own fame; a conduct well worthy +to be pondered and emulated by all princes and rulers!" Hist. de España, +lib. 28, cap. 8.--Zurita, Anales, tom. v. lib. 5, cap. 72.--Quintana, +Españoles Célebres, pp. 302, 303. + +[24] That but one other troubled him, appears from the fact (if it be a +fact) of Gonsalvo's declaring, on his death-bed, that "there were three +acts of his life which he deeply repented." Two of these were his +treatment of Borgia and the duke of Calabria. He was silent respecting the +third. "Some historians suppose," says Quintana, "that by this last he +meant his omission to possess himself of the crown of Naples when it was +in his power!" These historians, no doubt, like Fouché, considered a +blunder in politics as worse than a crime. + +[25] The miraculous bell of Velilla, a little village in Aragon, nine +leagues from Saragossa, about this time gave one of those prophetic +tintinnabulations, which always boded some great calamity to the country. +The side on which the blows fell denoted the quarter where the disaster +was to happen. Its sound, says Dr. Dormer, caused dismay and contrition, +with dismal "fear of change," in the hearts of all who heard it. No arm +was strong enough to stop it on these occasions, as those found to their +cost who profanely attempted it. Its ill-omened voice was heard for the +twentieth and last time, in March, 1679. As no event of importance +followed, it probably tolled for its own funeral.--See the edifying +history, in Dr. Diego Dormer, of the miraculous powers and performances of +this celebrated bell, as duly authenticated by a host of witnesses. +Discursos Varios, pp. 198-244. + +[26] Carbajal, Anales, MS., años 1513-1516.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. +146.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 542, 558, 561, 564. Zurita, +Anales, tom. vi. lib. 10, cap. 99. + +Carbajal states, that the king had been warned, by some soothsayer, to +beware of Madrigal, and that he had ever since avoided entering into the +town of that name in Old Castile. The name of the place he was now in was +not precisely that indicated, but corresponded near enough for a +prediction. The event proved, that the witches of Spain, like those of +Scotland, + + "Could keep the word of promise to the ear, + And break it to the hope." + +The story derives little confirmation from the character of Ferdinand. He +was not superstitious, at least while his faculties were in vigor. + +[27] "A la verdad," says Carbajal, "le tentó mucho el enemigo en aquel +paso con incredulidad que le ponia de no morir tan presto, para que ni +confesase ni recibiese los Sacramentos." According to the same writer, +Ferdinand was buoyed up by the prediction of an old sybil, "la beata del +Barco," that "he should not die till he had conquered Jerusalem." (Anales, +MS., cap. 2.) We are again reminded of Shakespeare, + + "It hath been prophesied to me many years + I should not die but in Jerusalem." + King Henry IV. + +[28] Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1516, cap. 1.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, ubi +supra.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 565.--Sandoval, Hist. del Emp. +Carlos V., tom. i. p. 35. + +[29] Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1516, cap. 2. + +Dr. Carbajal, who was a member of the royal council, was present with him +during the whole of his last illness; and his circumstantial and spirited +narrative of it forms an exception to the general character of his +_itinerary_. + +[30] Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1516, cap. 2. + +[31] Ibid., ubi supra. + +[32] Ibid., ubi supra. + +[33] Ferdinand's gay widow did not long enjoy this latter pension. Soon +after his death, she gave her hand to the marquis of Brandenburg, and, he +dying, she again married the prince of Calabria, who had been detained in +a sort of honorable captivity in Spain, ever since the dethronement of his +father, King Frederic. (Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 4, dial. +44.) It was the second sterile match, says Guicciardini, which Charles V., +for obvious politic reasons, provided for the rightful heir of Naples. +Istoria, tom. viii. lib. 15, p. 10. + +[34] Ferdinand's testament is to be found in Carbajal, Anales, MS.-- +Dormer, Discursos Varies, p. 393 et seq.--Mariana, Hist. de España, ed. +Valencia, tom. ix. Apend. no. 2. + +[35] Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 3, dial. 9.--The queen was +at Alcalá de Henares, when she received tidings of her husband's illness. +She posted with all possible despatch to Madrigalejo, but, although she +reached it on the 20th, she was not admitted, says Gomez, notwithstanding +her tears, to a private interview with the king, till the testament was +executed, a few hours only before his death. De Rebus Gestis, fol. 147. + +[36] Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1516.--L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. +188.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 148. + +"Tot regnorum dominus, totque palmarum cumulis ornatus, Christianae +religionis amplificator et prostrator hostium, Rex in rusticanâ obiit +casâ, et pauper contra hominum opinionem obiit." Peter Martyr, Opus +Epist., epist. 588.--Brantôme, (Vies des Hommes Illustres, Footnote: p. +72,) who speaks of Madrigalejo as a "meschant village," which he had seen. + +[37] Since Ferdinand ascended the throne he had seen no less than four +kings of England, as many of France, and also of Naples, three of +Portugal, two German emperors, and half a dozen popes. As to his own +subjects, scarcely one of all those familiar to the reader in the course +of our history now survived, except, indeed, the Nestor of his time, the +octogenarian Ximenes. + +[38] Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 10, cap. 100.--Blancas, Commentarii, p. +275.--Lanuza, Historias, tom. i. lib. 1, cap. 25. + +[39] Zurita, Anales, ubi supra. + +The honest Martyr was one of the few who paid this last tribute of respect +to their ancient master. "Ego ut mortuo debitum praestem," says he, in a +letter to Prince Charles's physician, "corpus ejus exanime, Granatam, +sepulchro sedem destinatam, comitabor." Opus Epist., epist. 566. + +[40] Anales, tom. vi. lib. 10, cap. 100.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., +epist. 572.--Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 24.--Carbajal, +Anales, MS., año 1516, cap. 5. + +[41] Mem de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. Illust. 21. According to Pedraza, +this event did not take place till 1525. Antiguedad de Granada, lib. 3, +cap. 7. + +[42] Pedraza, Antiguedad de Granada, lib. 3, cap. 7.--"Assai bello per +Spagna;" says Navagiero, who, as an Italian, had a right to be fastidious. +(Viaggio, fol. 23.) The artist, however, was not a Spaniard; at least +common tradition assigns the work to Philip of Burgundy, an eminent +sculptor of the period, who has left many specimens of his excellence in +Toledo and other parts of Spain. (Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. p. +577.) Laborde's magnificent work contains an engraving of the monuments of +the Catholic sovereigns and Philip and Joanna; "qui rappellent la +renaissance des arts en Italie, et sont, à la fois d'une belle exécution +et d'une conception noble." Laborde, Voyage Pittoresque, tom. ii. p. 25. + +[43] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 182. + +Pulgar's portrait of the king, taken also in the morning of his life, the +close of which the writer did not live to see, is equally bright and +pleasing. "Habia," says he," una gracia singular, que qualquier con él +fablese, luego le amaba é le deseaba servir, porque tenia la communicacion +amigable." Reyes Católicos, p. 36. + +[44] "He tilted lightly," says Pulgar, "and with a dexterity not surpassed +by any man in the kingdom." Reyes Católicos, ubi supra. + +[45] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 153.--Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, +tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 24.--Sandoval, Hist. del Emp. Carlos V., tom. i. p. +37. + +[46] Pulgar, indeed, notices his fondness for chess, tennis, and other +games of skill, in early life. Reyes Católicos, part. 2, cap. 3. + +[47] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 182.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, +part. 2, cap. 3. + +"Stop and dine with us," he was known to say to his uncle, the grand +admiral Henriquez; "we are to have a chicken for dinner today." (Sempere, +Hist, del Luxo, tom. ii. p. 2, nota.) The royal _cuisine_ would have +afforded small scope for the talents of a Vatel or an Ude. + +[48] Sempere, Hist. del Luxo, ubi supra. + +[49] Machiavelli, by a single _coup de pinceau_, thus characterizes, +or caricatures, the princes of his time. "Un imperatore instabile e vario; +un re di Francia sdegnoso e pauroso; un re d'Inghilterra ricco, feroce, e +cupido di gloria; _un re di Spagna taccagno e avaro_; per gli altri +re, io no li conosco." + +[50] The revenues of his own kingdom of Aragon were very limited. His +principal foreign expeditions were undertaken solely on account of that +crown; and this, notwithstanding the aid from Castile, may explain, and in +some degree excuse, his very scanty remittances to his troops. + +[51] On one occasion, having obtained a liberal supply from the states of +Aragon, (a rare occurrence,) his counsellors advised him to lock it up +against a day of need. "Mas el Rey," says Zurita, "que siempre supo gastar +su dinero provechosamente, _y nunca fue escosso en despendello en las +cosas del estado_, tuvo mas aparejo para emplearlo, que para encerrarlo." +(Anales, tom. vi. fol. 225.) The historian, it must be allowed, lays quite +as much emphasis on his liberality as it will bear. + +[52] Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 24.--Zurita, Anales, +tom. vi. lib. 10, cap. 100.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 566. + +"Vix ad funeris pompam et paucis familiaribus praebendas vestes pullatas, +pecuniae apud eum, neqne alibi congestae repertae sunt; quod nemo unquam +de vivente judicavit." (Peter Martyr, ubi supra.) Guicciardini alludes to +the same fact, as evidence of the injustice of the imputations on +Ferdinand; "Ma accade," adds the historian, truly enough, "quasi sempre +per il giudizio corrotto degli uomini, che nei Re è più lodata la +prodigalità, benche a quella sia annessa la rapacità, che la parsimonia +congiunta con l'astinenza dalla roba di altri." (Istoria, tom. vi. lib. +12, p. 273.) + +The state of Ferdinand's coffers formed, indeed, a strong contrast to that +of his brother monarch's, Henry VII., "whose treasure of store," to borrow +the words of Bacon, "left at his death, under his own key and keeping, +amounted unto the sum of eighteen hundred thousand pounds sterling; a huge +mass of money, even for these times." (Hist. of Henry VII., Works, vol. v. +p. 183.) Sir Edward Coke swells this huge mass to "fifty and three hundred +thousand pounds"! Institutes, part 4, chap. 35. + +[53] Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 24.--L. Marineo, Cosas +Memorables, fol. 182.--Zurita, Anales, lib. 9, cap. 26. + +Ferdinand's conduct in regard to the Inquisition in Aragon displayed +singular duplicity. In consequence of the remonstrance of cortes, in 1512, +in which that high-spirited body set forth the various usurpations of the +Holy Office, Ferdinand signed a compact, abridging its jurisdiction. He +repented of these concessions, however, and in the following year obtained +a dispensation from Rome from his engagements. This proceeding produced +such an alarming excitement in the kingdom, that the monarch found it +expedient to renounce the papal brief, and apply for another, confirming +his former compact. (Llorente, Hist. de l'Inquisition, tom. i. pp. 371 et +seq.) One may well doubt whether bigotry entered as largely, as less +pardonable motives of state policy, into this miserable juggling. + +[54] "Disoit-on," says Brantôme, "que la reyne Isabella de Castille estoit +une fort devote et religieuse princesse, et que luy, quel grand zele +qu'il y eust, n'estoit devotieux que par ypocrisie, couvrant ses actes et +ambitions par ce sainct zele de religion." (Oeuvres, tom. i. p. 70.) +"Copri," says Guicciardini, "quasi tutte le sue eupidità sotto colore di +onesto zelo della religione e di santa intenzione al bene comune." +(Istoria, tom. vi. lib. 12, p. 274.) The penetrating eye of Machiavelli +glances at the same trait. II Principe, cap. 21. + +[55] Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 12, p. 273.--Du Bellay, Mémoires, apud +Petitot, Collection des Mémoires, tom. xvii. p. 272.--Giovio, Hist. sui +Temporis, lib. 11, p. 160; lib. 16, p. 336.--Machiavelli, Opere, tom. ix. +Lett. Diverse, no. 6, ed. Milano, 1805.--Herbert, Life of Henry VIII., p. +63.--Sismondi, Républiques Italiennes, tom. xvi. cap. 112.--Voltaire sums +up Ferdinand's character in the following pithy sentence. "On l'appellait +en Espagne _le sage, le prudent_; en Italie _le pieux_; en France et à +Londres _le perfide_." Essai sur les Moeurs, chap. 114. + +[56] "Home era de verdad," says Pulgar, "como quiera que _las necesidades +grandes_ en que le pusieron las guerras, le facian algunas veces variar." +(Reyes Católicos, part. 2, cap. 3.) Zurita exposes and condemns this +blemish in his hero's character, with a candor which does him credit. "Fue +muy notado, no solo de los estrangeros, pero de sus naturales, que no +guardava la verdad, y fe que prometia; y que se anteponia siempre, y +sobrepujava el respeto de su propria utilidad, a lo que era justo y +honesto." Anales, tom. vi. fol. 406. + +[57] Charles V., in particular, testified his respect for Machiavelli, by +having the "Principe" translated for his own use. + +[58] Machiavelli, Opera, tom. vi.--Il Principe, cap. 18, ed. Genova, 1798. + +[59] Dumont, Corps Diplomatique, tom. iv. part. 1, nos. 7, 11, 28, 29.-- +Seyssel, Hist. de Louys XII., pp. 228-230.--St. Gelais, Hist. de Louys +XII., p. 184. + +[60] Mémoires de Bayard, chap. 61.--"This prince," says Lord Herbert, who +was not disposed to overrate the talents, any more than the virtues, of +Ferdinand, "was thought the most active and politique of his time. No man +knew better how to serve his turn on everybody, or to make their ends +conduce to his." Life of Henry VIII., p. 63. + +[61] According to them, the Catholic king took no great pains to conceal +his treachery. "Quelqu'un disant un jour à Ferdinand, que Louis XII. +l'accusoit de l'avoir trompé trois fois, Ferdinand parut mécontent qn'il +lui ravît une partie de sa gloire; _Il en a bien menti, l'ivrogne_, +dit-il, avec toute la grossièreté du temps, _je l'ai trompé plus de +dix_." (Gaillard, Rivalité, tom. iv. p. 240.) The anecdote has been +repeated by other modern writers, I know not on what authority. Ferdinand +was too shrewd a politician, to hazard his game by playing the braggart. + +[62] Paolo Giovio strikes the balance of their respective merits in this +particular, in the following terms. "Ex horum enim longè maximorum nostrae +tempestatis regum ingeniis, et turn liquidò et multùm anteà praclarè +compertum est, nihil omnino sanctum et inviolabile, vel in ritè conceptis +sancitisque foederibus reperiri, quòd, in proferendis imperiis augendisque +opibus, apud eos nihil ad illustris famae decus interesset, dolone et +nusquam sine fallaciis, an fide integrâ verâque virtute niterentur." Hist. +sui Temporis, lib. 11, p. 160. + +[63] An equally pertinent example occurs in the efficient support he gave +Caesar Borgia in his flagitious enterprises against some of the most +faithful allies of France. See Sismondi, Républiques Italiennes, tom. +xiii. cap. 101. + +[64] Read the honeyed panegyrics of Seyssel, St. Gelais, Voltaire even, to +say nothing of Gaillard, Varillas, _e lulti quanti_, undiluted by +scarce a drop of censure. Rare indeed is it to find one so imbued with the +spirit of philosophy, as to raise himself above the local or national +prejudices which pass for patriotism with the vulgar. Sismondi is the only +writer in the French language, that has come under my notice, who has +weighed the deserts of Louis XII. in the historic balance with +impartiality and candor. And Sismondi is not a Frenchman. + +[65] Giovio, Hist. sui Temporis, lib. 16, p. 335. + +[66] Ferdinand left four natural children, one son and three daughters. +The former, Don Alonso de Aragon, was born of the viscountess of Eboli, a +Catalan lady. He was made archbishop of Saragossa when only six years old. +There was little of the religious profession, however, in his life. He +took an active part in the political and military movements of the period, +and seems to have been even less scrupulous in his gallantries than his +father. His manners in private life were attractive, and his public +conduct discreet. His father always regarded him with peculiar affection, +and intrusted him with the regency of Aragon, as we have seen, at his +death. + +Ferdinand had three daughters, also, by three different ladies, one of +them a noble Portuguese. The eldest child was named Doña Juana, and +married the grand constable of Castile. The others, each named Maria, +embraced the religious profession in a convent in Madrigal. L. Marineo, +Cosas Memorables, fol. 188.--Salazar de Mendoza, Monarquía, tom. i. p. +410. + +[67] "Enfin il surpassa tous les Princes de son siècle en la science du +Cabinet, et c'est à lui qu'on doit attribuer le premier et le souverain +usage de la politique moderne." Varillas, Politique de Ferdinand, liv. 3, +disc. 10. + +[68] Brantôme notices a _sobriquet_ which his countrymen had given to +Ferdinand. "Nos François appelloient ce roy Ferdinand Jehan Gipon, je ne +sçay pour quelle dérision; mais il nous cousta bon, et nous fist bien du +mal, et fust un grand roy et sage." Which his ancient editor thus +explains: "_Gipon_ de i'italien _giubone_, c'est que nous appellons +_jupon_ et _jupe_; voulant par là taxer ce prince de s'être laissé +gouverner par Isabelle, reine de Castille, sa femme, dont il endossoit la +_jupe_, pour ainsi dire, pendant qu'elle portoit les _chausses_." (Vies +des Hommes Illustres, disc. 5.) There is more humor than truth in the +etymology. The _gipon_ was part of a man's attire, being, as Mr. Tyrwhitt +defines it, "a short cassock," and was worn under the armor. Thus Chaucer, +in the Prologue to his "Canterbury Tales," says of his knight's dress, + + "Of fustian he wered a gipon + Alle besmotred with his habergeon." + +Again, in his "Knighte's Tale," + + "Som wol ben armed in an habergeon, + And in a brest-plate, and in a gipon." + +[69] When Ferdinand visited Aragon, in 1515, during his troubles with the +cortes, he imprisoned the vice-chancellor, Antonio Augustin; being moved +to this, according to Carbajal, by his jealousy of that minister's +attentions to his young queen. (Anales, MS., año 1515.) It is possible. +Zurita, however, treats it as mere scandal, referring the imprisonment to +political offences exclusively. Anales, tom. vi. fol. 393.--See also +Dormer, Anales de la Corona de Aragon, (Zaragoza, 1697,) lib. 1, cap. 9. + +[70] "Era poco hermosa," says Sandoval, who grudges her even this quality, +"algo coja, amiga mucho de holgarse, y andar en banquetes, huertos y +jardines, y en fiestas. Introduxo esta Señora en Castilla comidas +soberbias, siendo los Castellanos, y sun sus Reyes muy moderados en esto. +Pasabansele pocos dias que no convidase, 6 fuese convidada. La que mas +gastaba en fiestas y banquetes con ella, era mas su amiga." Hist. del Emp. +Carlos V., tom. i. p. 12. + +[71] Opere, tom. ix. Lettere Diverse, no. 6, ed. Milano, 1805. His +correspondent, Vettori, is still more severe in his analysis of +Ferdinand's public conduct. (Let. di 16 Maggio, 1514.) These statesmen +were the friends of France, with whom Ferdinand was at war; and personal +enemies of the Medici, whom that prince re-established in the government. +As political antagonists therefore, every way, of the Catholic king, they +were not likely to be altogether unbiassed in their judgments of his +policy.--These views, however, find favor with Lord Herbert, who had +evidently read, though he does not refer to, this correspondence. Life of +Henry VIII., p. 63. + +[72] Opere, tom. vi. II Principe, cap. 21, ed. Genova, 1798. + +[73] Martyr, who had better opportunities than any other foreigner for +estimating the character of Ferdinand, affords the most honorable +testimony to his kingly qualities, in a letter written when the writer had +no motive for flattery, after that monarch's death, to Charles V.'s +physician. (Opus Epist., epist. 567.) Guicciardini, whose national +prejudices did not lie in this scale, comprehends nearly as much in one +brief sentence. "Re di eccellentissimo consiglio, e virtù, e nel quale, se +fosse stato constante nelle promesse, no potresti facilmente riprendere +cosa alcuna." (Istoria, tom. vi. lib. 12, p. 273.) + +See also Brantôme, (Oeuvres, tom. iv. disc. 5.)--Giovio, with scarcely +more qualification, Hist. sui Temporis, lib. 16, p. 336.--Navagiero, +Viaggio, fol. 27,--et alios. + +[74] "Principe el mas señalado," says the prince of the Castilian +historians, in his pithy manner, "en valor y justicia y prudencia que en +muchos siglos España tuvo. Tachas á nadie pueden faltar sea por la +fragilidad propia, ò por la malicia y envidia agena que combate +principalmente los altos lugares. Espejo sin duda por sus grandes virtudes +en que todos los Principes de España se deben mirar." (Mariana, Hist. de +España, tom. ix. p. 375, cap. ult.) See also a similar tribute to his +deserts, with greater amplification, in Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. lib. +20, cap. 24.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 148.--Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., +fol. 42.--Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, tom. ix. p. 426 et seq.--et plurimis +auct. antiq. et recentibus. + +[75] See the closing chapter of the great Aragonese annalist, who +terminates his historic labors with the death of Ferdinand the Catholic. +(Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 10, cap. 100.) I will cite only one extract +from the profuse panegyrics of the national writers; which attests the +veneration in which Ferdinand's memory was held in Aragon. It is from one, +whose penis never prostituted to parasitical or party purposes, and whose +judgment is usually as correct as the expression of it is candid. "Quo +plangore ac lamentatione universa civitas complebatur. Neque solùm +homines, sed ipsa tecta, et parietes urbis videbantur acerbum illius, qui +omnibus charissimus erat, interitum lugere. Et meritò. Erat enim, ut +scitis, exemplum prudentiae ac fortitudinis: summae in re domesticâ +continentiae: eximiae in publicâ dignitatis: humanitatis praetereà, ac +leporis admirabilis. ***** Neque eos solùm, sed omnes certè tantâ +amplectebatur benevolentiâ, ut interdum non nobis Rex, sed uniuscujusque +nostrûm genitor ac parens videretur. Post ejus interitum omnis nostra +juventus languet, deliciis plus dedita quàm deceret: nec perinde, ac +debuerat, in laudis et gloriae cupiditate versatur. ***** Quid plura? +nulla res fuit in usu bene regnandi posita, quae illius Regis scientiam +effugeret. ***** Fuit enim aeximiâ corporis venustate praeditus. Sed +pluris facere deberent consiliorum ac virtutum suarum, quam posteris +reliquit, effigiem: quibus denique factum videmus, ut ab eo usque ad hoc +tempus, non solùm nobis, sed Hispaniae cunctae, diuturnitas pacis otium +confirmarit. Haec aliaque ejusmodi quotidie à nostris senibus de Catholici +Regis memoriâ enarrantur: quae à rei veritate nequaquam abhorrent." +Blancas, Commentarii, p. 276. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +ADMINISTRATION, DEATH, AND CHARACTER OF CARDINAL XIMENES. + +1516, 1517. + +Ximenes Governor of Castile.--Charles Proclaimed King.--Ximenes's Domestic +Policy.--He Intimidates the Nobles.--Public Discontents.--Charles Lands in +Spain.--His Ingratitude to Ximenes.--The Cardinal's Illness and Death.-- +His Extraordinary Character. + + +The personal history of Ferdinand the Catholic terminates, of course, with +the preceding chapter. In order to bring the history of his reign, +however, to a suitable close, it is necessary to continue the narrative +through the brief regency of Ximenes, to the period when the government +was delivered into the hands of Ferdinand's grandson and successor, +Charles the Fifth. + +By the testament of the deceased monarch, as we have seen, Cardinal +Ximenez de Cisneros was appointed sole regent of Castile. He met with +opposition, however, from Adrian, the dean of Louvain, who produced powers +of similar purport from Prince Charles. Neither party could boast a +sufficient warrant for exercising this important trust; the one claiming +it by the appointment of an individual, who, acting merely as regent +himself, had certainly no right to name his successor; while the other had +only the sanction of a prince, who, at the time of giving it, had no +jurisdiction whatever in Castile. The misunderstanding which ensued, was +finally settled by an agreement of the parties to share the authority in +common, till further instructions should be received from Charles. [1] + +It was not long before they arrived. They confirmed the cardinal's +authority in the fullest manner; while they spoke of Adrian only as an +ambassador, They intimated, however, the most entire confidence in the +latter; and the two prelates continued as before to administer the +government jointly. Ximenes sacrificed nothing by this arrangement; for +the tame and quiet temper of Adrian was too much overawed by the bold +genius of his partner, to raise any opposition to his measures. [2] + +The first requisition of prince Charles, was one that taxed severely the +power and popularity of the new regent. This was to have himself +proclaimed king; a measure extremely distasteful to the Castilians, who +regarded it not only as contrary to established usage, during the lifetime +of his mother, but as ah indignity to her. It was in vain that Ximenes and +the council remonstrated on the impropriety and impolicy of the measure. +[3] Charles, fortified by his Flemish advisers, sturdily persisted in his +purpose. The cardinal, consequently, called a meeting of the prelates and +principal nobles in Madrid, to which he had transferred the seat of +government, and whose central position and other local advantages made it, +from this time forward, with little variation, the regular capital of the +kingdom. [4] The doctor Carbajal prepared a studied and plausible argument +in support of the measure. [5] As it failed, however, to produce +conviction in his audience, Ximenes, chafed by the opposition, and +probably distrusting its real motives, peremptorily declared, that those +who refused to acknowledge Charles as king, in the present state of +things, would refuse to obey him when he was so. "I will have him +proclaimed in Madrid to-morrow," said he, "and I doubt not every other +city in the kingdom will follow the example." He was as good as his word; +and the conduct of the capital was imitated, with little opposition, by +all the other cities in Castile. Not so in Aragon, whose people were too +much attached to their institutions to consent to it, till Charles first +made oath in person to respect the laws and liberties of the realm. [6] + +The Castilian aristocracy, it may be believed, did not much relish the new +yoke imposed on them by their priestly regent. On one occasion, it is +said, they went in a body and demanded of Ximenes by what powers he held +the government so absolutely. He referred them for answer to Ferdinand's +testament and Charles's letter. As they objected to these, he led them to +a window of the apartment, and showed them a park of artillery below, +exclaiming, at the same time. "There are my credentials, then!" The story +is characteristic; but, though often repeated, must be admitted to stand +on slender authority. [7] + +One of the regent's first acts was the famous ordinance, encouraging the +burgesses, by liberal rewards, to enroll themselves into companies, and +submit to regular military training, at stated seasons. The nobles saw the +operation of this measure too well, not to use all their efforts to +counteract it. In this they succeeded for a time, as the cardinal, with +his usual boldness, had ventured on it without waiting for Charles's +sanction, and in opposition to most of the council. The resolute spirit of +the minister, however, eventually triumphed over all resistance, and a +national corps was organized, competent, under proper guidance, to protect +the liberties of the people, but which, unfortunately, was ultimately +destined to be turned against them. [8] + +Armed with this strong physical force, the cardinal now projected the +boldest schemes of reform, especially in the finances, which had fallen +into some disorder in the latter days of Ferdinand. He made a strict +inquisition into the funds of the military orders, in which there had been +much waste and misappropriation; he suppressed all superfluous offices in +the state, retrenched excessive salaries, and cut short the pensions +granted by Ferdinand and Isabella, which he contended should determine +with their lives. Unfortunately, the state was not materially benefited by +these economical arrangements, since the greater part of what was thus +saved was drawn off to supply the waste and cupidity of the Flemish court, +who dealt with Spain with all the merciless rapacity that could be shown +to a conquered province. [9] + +The foreign administration of the regent displayed the same courage and +vigor. Arsenals were established in the southern maritime towns, and a +numerous fleet was equipped in the Mediterranean, against the Barbary +corsairs. A large force was sent into Navarre, which defeated an invading +army of French; and the cardinal followed up the blow by demolishing the +principal fortresses of the kingdom; a precautionary measure, to which, in +all probability, Spain owes the permanent preservation of her conquest. +[10] + +The regent's eye penetrated to the farthest limits of the monarchy. He +sent a commission to Hispaniola, to inquire into, and ameliorate, the +condition of the natives. At the same time he earnestly opposed (though +without success, being overruled in this by the Flemish counsellors,) the +introduction of negro slaves into the colonies, which, he predicted, from +the character of the race, must ultimately result in a servile war. It is +needless to remark, how well the event has verified the prediction. [11] + +It is with less satisfaction that we must contemplate his policy in regard +to the Inquisition. As head of that tribunal, he enforced its authority +and pretensions to the utmost. He extended a branch of it to Oran, and +also to the Canaries, and the New World. [12] In 1512, the _new +Christians_ had offered Ferdinand a large sum of money to carry on the +Navarrese war, if he would cause the trials before that tribunal to be +conducted in the same manner as in other courts, where the accuser and the +evidence were confronted openly with the defendant. To this reasonable +petition Ximenes objected, on the wretched plea, that, in that event, none +would be found willing to undertake the odious business of informer. He +backed his remonstrance with such a liberal donative from his own funds, +as supplied the king's immediate exigency, and effectually closed his +heart against the petitioners. The application was renewed in 1516, by the +unfortunate Israelites, who offered a liberal supply in like manner to +Charles, on similar terms. But the proposal, to which his Flemish +counsellors, who may be excused, at least, from the reproach of bigotry, +would have inclined the young monarch, was firmly rejected through the +interposition of Ximenes. [13] + +The high-handed measures of the minister, while they disgusted the +aristocracy, gave great umbrage to the dean of Louvain, who saw himself +reduced to a mere cipher in the administration. In consequence of his +representations a second, and afterwards a third minister was sent to +Castile, with authority to divide the government with the cardinal. But +all this was of little avail. On one occasion, the co-regents ventured to +rebuke their haughty partner, and assert their own dignity, by subscribing +their names first to the despatches, and then sending them to him for his +signature. But Ximenes coolly ordered his secretary to tear the paper in +pieces, and make out a new one, which he signed, and sent out without the +participation of his brethren. And this course he continued during the +remainder of his administration. [14] + +The cardinal not only assumed the sole responsibility of the most +important public acts, but, in the execution of them, seldom condescended +to calculate the obstacles or the odds arrayed against him. He was thus +brought into collision, at the same time, with three of the most powerful +grandees of Castile; the dukes of Alva and Infantado, and the count of +Ureña. Don Pedro Giron, the son of the latter, with several other young +noblemen, had maltreated and resisted the royal officers, while in the +discharge of their duty. They then took refuge in the little town of +Villafrata, which they fortified and prepared for a defence. The cardinal +without hesitation mustered several thousand of the national militia, and, +investing the place, set it on fire, and deliberately razed it to the +ground. The refractory nobles, struck with consternation, submitted. Their +friends interceded for them in the most humble manner; and the cardinal, +whose lofty spirit disdained to trample on a fallen foe, showed his usual +clemency by soliciting their pardon from the king. [15] + +But neither the talents nor authority of Ximenes, it was evident, could +much longer maintain subordination among the people, exasperated by the +shameless extortions of the Flemings, and the little interest shown for +them by their new sovereign. The most considerable offices in church and +state were put up to sale; and the kingdom was drained of its funds by the +large remittances continually made, on one pretext or another, to +Flanders. All this brought odium, undeserved indeed, on the cardinal's +government; [16] for there is abundant evidence, that both he and the +council remonstrated in the boldest manner on these enormities; while they +endeavored to inspire nobler sentiments in Charles's bosom, by recalling +the wise and patriotic administration of his grandparents. [17] The +people, in the mean while, outraged by these excesses, and despairing of +redress from a higher quarter, loudly clamored for a convocation of +cortes, that they might take the matter into their own hands. The cardinal +evaded this as long as possible. He was never a friend to popular +assemblies, much less in the present inflamed state of public feeling, and +in the absence of the sovereign. He was more anxious for his return than +any other individual, probably, in the kingdom. Braved by the aristocracy +at home, thwarted in every favorite measure by the Flemings abroad, with +an injured, indignant people to control, and oppressed, moreover, by +infirmities and years, even his stern, inflexible spirit could scarcely +sustain him under a burden too grievous, in these circumstances, for any +subject. [18] + +At length, the young monarch, having made all preliminary arrangements, +prepared, though still in opposition to the wishes of his courtiers, to +embark for his Spanish dominions. Previously to this, on the 13th of +August, 1516, the French and Spanish plenipotentiaries signed a treaty of +peace at Noyon. The principal article stipulated the marriage of Charles +to the daughter of Francis the First, who was to cede, as her dowry, the +French claims on Naples. The marriage, indeed, never took place. But the +treaty itself may be considered as finally adjusting the hostile relations +which had subsisted, during so many years of Ferdinand's reign, with the +rival monarchy of France, and as closing the long series of wars, which +had grown out of the league of Cambray. [19] + +On the 17th of September, 1517, Charles landed at Villaviciosa, in the +Asturias. Ximenes at this time lay ill at the Franciscan monastery of +Aguilera, near Aranda on the Douro. The good tidings of the royal landing +operated like a cordial on his spirits, and he instantly despatched +letters to the young monarch, filled with wholesome counsel as to the +conduct he should pursue, in order to conciliate the affections of the +people. He received at the same time messages from the king, couched in +the most gracious terms, and expressing the liveliest interest in his +restoration to health. + +The Flemings in Charles's suite, however, looked with great apprehension +to his meeting with the cardinal. They had been content that the latter +should rule the state, when his arm was needed to curb the Castilian +aristocracy; but they dreaded the ascendency of his powerful mind over +their young sovereign, when brought into personal contact with him. They +retarded this event, by keeping Charles in the north as long as possible. +In the mean time, they endeavored to alienate his regards from the +minister by exaggerated reports of his arbitrary conduct and temper, +rendered more morose by the peevishness of age. Charles showed a facility +to be directed by those around him in early years, which gave little +augury of the greatness to which he afterwards rose. [20] + +By the persuasions of his evil counsellors, he addressed that memorable +letter to Ximenes, which is unmatched, even in court annals, for cool and +base ingratitude. He thanked the regent for all his past services, named a +place for a personal interview with him, where he might obtain the benefit +of his counsels for his own conduct, and the government of the kingdom; +after which he would be allowed to retire to his diocese, and seek from +Heaven that reward, which Heaven alone could adequately bestow! [21] + +Such was the tenor of this cold-blooded epistle, which, in the language of +more than one writer, killed the cardinal. This, however, is stating the +matter too strongly. The spirit of Ximenes was of too stern a stuff to be +so easily extinguished by the breath of royal displeasure. [22] He was, +indeed, deeply moved by the desertion of the sovereign whom he had served +so faithfully, and the excitement which it occasioned brought on a return +of his fever, according to Carbajal, in full force. But anxiety and +disease had already done its work upon his once hardy constitution; and +this ungrateful act could only serve to wean him more effectually from a +world that he was soon to part with. [23] + +In order to be near the king, he had previously transferred his residence +to Roa. He now turned his thoughts to his approaching end. Death may be +supposed to have but little terrors for the statesman, who in his last +moments could aver, "that he had never intentionally wronged any man; but +had rendered to every one his due, without being swayed, as far as he was +conscious, by fear or affection." Yet Cardinal Richelieu on his death-bed +declared the same! [24] + +As a last attempt, he began a letter to the king. His fingers refused, +however, to perform their office, and after tracing a few lines he gave it +up. The purport of these seems to have been, to recommend his university +at Alcalá to the royal protection. He now became wholly occupied with his +devotions, and manifested such contrition for his errors, and such humble +confidence in the divine mercy, as deeply affected all present. In this +tranquil frame of mind, and in the perfect possession of his powers, he +breathed his last, November 8th, 1517, in the eighty-first year of his +age, and the twenty-second since his elevation to the primacy. The last +words that he uttered were those of the Psalmist, which he used frequently +to repeat in health, "In te, Domine, speravi,"--"In thee, Lord, have I +trusted." + +His body, arrayed in his pontifical robes, was seated in a chair of state, +and multitudes of all degrees thronged into the apartment to kiss the +hands and feet. It was afterwards transported to Alcalá, and laid in the +chapel of the noble college of San Ildefonso, erected by himself. His +obsequies were celebrated with great pomp, contrary to his own orders, by, +all the religious and literary fraternities of the city; and his virtues +commemorated in a funeral discourse by a doctor of the university, who, +considering the death of the good a fitting occasion to lash the vices of +the living, made the most caustic allusion to the Flemish favorites of +Charles, and their pestilent influence on the country. [25] + +Such was the end of this remarkable man; the most remarkable, in many +respects, of his time. His character was of that stern and lofty cast, +which seems to rise above the ordinary wants and weaknesses of humanity; +his genius of the severest order, like Dante's and Michael Angelo's in the +regions of fancy, impresses us with ideas of power, that excite admiration +akin to terror. His enterprises, as we have seen, were of the boldest +character. His execution of them equally bold. He disdained to woo fortune +by any of those soft and pliant arts, which are often the most effectual. +He pursued his ends by the most direct means. In this way he frequently +multiplied difficulties; but difficulties seemed to have a charm for him, +by the opportunity they afforded of displaying the energies of his soul. + +With these qualities he combined a versatility of talent, usually found +only in softer and more flexible characters. Though bred in the cloister, +he distinguished himself both in the cabinet and the camp. For the latter, +indeed, so repugnant to his regular profession, he had a natural genius, +according to the testimony of his biographer; and he evinced his relish +for it, by declaring, that "the smell of gunpowder was more grateful to +him than the sweetest perfume of Arabia!" [26] In every situation, +however, he exhibited the stamp of his peculiar calling; and the stern +lineaments of the monk were never wholly concealed under the mask of the +statesman, or the visor of the warrior. He had a full measure of the +religious bigotry which belonged to the age; and he had melancholy scope +for displaying it, as chief of that dread tribunal, over which he presided +during the last ten years of his life. [27] + +He carried the arbitrary ideas of his profession into political life. His +regency was conducted on the principles of a military despotism. It was +his maxim, that "a prince must rely mainly on his army for securing the +respect and obedience of his subjects." [28] It is true he had to deal +with a martial and factious nobility, and the end which he proposed was to +curb their licentiousness, and enforce the equitable administration of +justice; but, in accomplishing this, he showed little regard to the +constitution, or to private rights. His first act, the proclaiming of +Charles king, was in open contempt of the usages and rights of the nation. +He evaded the urgent demands of the Castilians for a convocation of +cortes; for it was his opinion, "that freedom of speech, especially in +regard to their own grievances, made the people insolent and irreverent to +their rulers." [29] The people, of course, had no voice in the measures +which involved their most important interests. His whole policy, indeed, +was to exalt the royal prerogative, at the expense of the inferior orders +of the state. [30] And his regency, short as it was, and highly beneficial +to the country in many respects, must be considered as opening the way to +that career of despotism, which the Austrian family followed up with such +hard-hearted constancy. + +But, while we condemn the politics, we cannot but respect the principles +of the man. However erroneous his conduct in our eyes, he was guided by +his sense of duty. It was this, and the conviction of it in the minds of +others, which constituted the secret of his great power. It made him +reckless of difficulties, and fearless of all personal consequences. The +consciousness of the integrity of his purposes rendered him, indeed, too +unscrupulous as to the means of attaining them. He held his own life +cheap, in comparison with the great reforms that he had at heart. Was it +surprising, that he should hold as lightly the convenience and interests +of others, when they thwarted their execution? + +His views were raised far above considerations of self. As a statesman, he +identified himself with the state; as a churchman, with the interests of +his religion. He severely punished every offence against these. He as +freely forgave every personal injury. He had many remarkable opportunities +of showing this. His administration provoked numerous lampoons and libels. +He despised them, as the miserable solace of spleen and discontent, and +never persecuted their authors. [31] In this he formed an honorable +contrast to Cardinal Richelieu, whose character and condition suggest many +points of resemblance with his own. + +His disinterestedness was further shown by his mode of dispensing his +large revenues. It was among the poor, and on great public objects. He +built up no family. He had brothers and nephews; but he contented himself +with making their condition comfortable, without diverting to their +benefit the great trusts confided to him for the public. [32] The greater +part of the funds which he left at his death was settled on the university +of Alcala. [33] + +He had, however, none of that pride, which would make him ashamed of his +poor and humble relatives. He had, indeed, a confidence in his own powers, +approaching to arrogance, which led him to undervalue the abilities of +others, and to look on them as his instruments rather than his equals. But +he had none of the vulgar pride founded on wealth or station. He +frequently alluded to his lowly condition in early life, with great +humility, thanking Heaven, with tears in his eyes, for its extraordinary +goodness to him. He not only remembered, but did many acts of kindness to +his early friends, of which more than one touching anecdote is related. +Such traits of sensibility, gleaming through the natural austerity and +sternness of a disposition like his, like light breaking through a dark +cloud, affect us the more sensibly by contrast. + +He was irreproachable in his morals, and conformed literally to all the +rigid exactions of his severe order, in the court as faithfully as in the +cloister. He was sober, abstemious, chaste. In the latter particular, he +was careful that no suspicion of the license which so often soiled the +clergy of the period, should attach--to him. [34] On one occasion, while +on a journey, he was invited to pass the night at the house of the duchess +of Maqueda, being informed that she was absent. The duchess was at home, +however, and entered the apartment before he retired to rest. "You have +deceived me, lady," said Ximenes, rising in anger; "if you have any +business with me, you will find me tomorrow at the confessional." So +saying, he abruptly left the palace. [35] + +He carried his austerities and mortifications so far, as to endanger his +health. There is a curious brief extant of Pope Leo the Tenth, dated the +last year of the cardinal's life, enjoining him to abate his severe +penance, to eat meat and eggs on the ordinary fasts, to take off his +Franciscan frock, and sleep in linen and on a bed. He would never consent, +however, to divest himself of his monastic weeds. "Even laymen," said he, +alluding to the custom of the Roman Catholics, "put these on when they are +dying; and shall I, who have worn them all my life, take them off at that +time!" [36] + +Another anecdote is told in relation to his dress. Over his coarse woollen +frock, he wore the costly apparel suited to his rank. An impertinent +Franciscan preacher took occasion one day before him to launch out against +the luxuries of the time, especially in dress, obviously alluding to the +cardinal, who was attired in a superb suit of ermine, which had been +presented to him. He heard the sermon, patiently to the end, and after the +services were concluded, took the preacher into the sacristy, and, having +commended the general tenor of his discourse, showed under his furs and +fine linen the coarse frock of his order, next his skin. Some accounts +add, that the friar, on the other hand, wore fine linen under his monkish +frock. After the cardinal's death, a little box was found in his +apartment, containing the implements with which he used to mend the rents +of his threadbare garment, with his own hands. [37] + +With so much to do, it may well be believed, that Ximenes was avaricious +of time. He seldom slept more than four, or at most four hours and a half. +He was shaved in the night, hearing at the same time some edifying +reading. He followed the same practice at his meals, or varied it with +listening to the arguments of some of his theological brethren, generally +on some subtile question of school divinity. This was his only recreation. +He had as little taste as time for lighter and more elegant amusements. He +spoke briefly, and always to the point. He was no friend of idle +ceremonies, and useless visits; though his situation exposed him more or +less to both. He frequently had a volume lying open on the table before +him, and when his visitor stayed too long, or took up his time with light +and frivolous conversation, he intimated his dissatisfaction by resuming +his reading. The cardinal's book must have been as fatal to a reputation +as Fontenelle's ear trumpet. [38] + +I will close this sketch of Ximenes de Cisneros with a brief outline of +his person. His complexion was sallow; his countenance sharp and +emaciated; his nose aquiline; his upper lip projected far over the lower. +His eyes were small, deep-set in his head, dark, vivid, and penetrating. +His forehead ample, and, what was remarkable, without a wrinkle, though +the expression of his features was somewhat severe. [39] His voice was +clear, but not agreeable; his enunciation measured and precise. His +demeanor was grave, his carriage firm and erect; he was tall in stature, +and his whole presence commanding. His constitution, naturally robust, was +impaired by his severe austerities and severer cares; and, in the latter +years of his life, was so delicate as to be extremely sensible to the +vicissitudes and inclemency of the weather. [40] + +I have noticed the resemblance which Ximenes bore to the great French +minister, Cardinal Richelieu. It was, after all, however, more in the +circumstances of situation, than in their characters; though the most +prominent traits of these were not dissimilar. [41] Both, though bred +ecclesiastics, reached the highest honors of the state, and indeed, may be +said to have directed the destinies of their countries. [42] Richelieu's +authority, however, was more absolute than that of Ximenes, for he was +screened by the shadow of royalty; while the latter was exposed, by his +insulated and unsheltered position, to the full blaze of envy, and, of +course, opposition. Both were ambitious of military glory, and showed +capacity for attaining it. Both achieved their great results by that rare +union of high mental endowments and great efficiency in action, which is +always irresistible. + +The moral basis of their characters was entirely different. The French +cardinal's was selfishness, pure and unmitigated. His religion, politics, +his principles in short, in every sense, were subservient to this. +Offences against the state he could forgive; those against himself he +pursued with implacable rancor. His authority was literally cemented with +blood. His immense powers and patronage were perverted to the +aggrandizement of his family. Though bold to temerity in his plans, he +betrayed more than once a want of true courage in their execution. Though +violent and impetuous, he could stoop to be a dissembler. Though arrogant +in the extreme, he courted the soft incense of flattery. In his manners he +had the advantage over the Spanish prelate. He could be a courtier in +courts, and had a more refined and cultivated taste. In one respect, he +had the advantage over Ximenes in morals. He was not, like him, a bigot. +He had not the religious basis in his composition, which is the foundation +of bigotry.--Their deaths were typical of their characters. Richelieu +died, as he had lived, so deeply execrated, that the enraged populace +would scarcely allow his remains to be laid quietly in the grave. Ximenes, +on the contrary, was buried amid the tears and lamentations of the people; +his memory was honored even by his enemies, and his name is reverenced by +his countrymen, to this day, as that of a Saint. + + * * * * * + +Dr. Lorenzo Galindez de Carbajal, one of the best authorities for +transactions in the latter part of our History, was born of a respectable +family, at Placencia, in 1472. Little is gathered of his early life, but +that he was studious in his habits, devoting himself assiduously to the +acquisition of the civil and canon law. He filled the chair of professor +in this department, at Salamanca, for several years. His great attainments +and respectable character recommended him to the notice of the Catholic +queen, who gave him a place in the royal council. In this capacity, he was +constantly at the court, where he seems to have maintained himself in the +esteem of his royal mistress, and of Ferdinand after her death. The queen +testified her respect for Carbajal, by appointing him one of the +commissioners for preparing a digest of the Castilian law. He made +considerable progress in this arduous work; but how great is uncertain, +since, from whatever cause, (there appears to be a mystery about it,) the +fruits of his labor were made public; a circumstance deeply regretted by +the Castilian jurists. (Asso y Manuel, Instituciones, Introd. p. 99.) + +Carbajal left behind him several historical works, according to Nic. +Antonio, whose catalogue, however, rests on very slender grounds. +(Bibliotheca Nova, tom. ii. p. 3.) The work by which he is best known to +Spanish scholars, is his "Anales del Rey Don Fernando el Católico," which +still remains in manuscript. There is certainly no Christian country, for +which the invention of printing, so liberally patronized there at its +birth, has done so little as for Spain. Her libraries teem at this day +with manuscripts of the greatest interest for the illustration of every +stage of her history; but which, alas! in the present gloomy condition of +affairs, have less chance of coming to the light, than at the close of the +fifteenth century, when the art of printing was in its infancy. + +Carbajal's Annals cover the whole ground of our narrative, from the +marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella, to the coming of Charles V. into +Spain. They are plainly written, without ambition of rhetorical show or +refinement. The early part is little better than memoranda of the +principal events of the period, with particular notice of all the +migrations of the court. In the concluding portion of the work, however, +comprehending Ferdinand's death, and the regency of Ximenes, the author is +very full and circumstantial. As he had a conspicuous place in the +government, and was always with the court, his testimony in regard to this +important period is of the highest value as that of an eye-witness and an +actor, and, it may be added, a man of sagacity and sound principles. No +better commentary on the merit of his work need be required, than the +brief tribute of Alvaro Gomez, the accomplished biographer of Cardinal +Ximenes. "Porro Annales Laurentii Galendi Caravajali, quibus vir +gravissimus rerumque illarum cum primis particeps quinquaginta fermè +annorum memoriam complexus est, haud vulgariter meam operam juverunt." De +Rebus Gestis, Praefatio. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1516, cap. 8.--Robles, Vida de Ximenez, +cap. 18.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 150.--Quintanilla, Archetypo, lib. +4, cap. 5.--Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., dial. de Ximeni. + +[2] Carbajal has given us Charles's epistle, which is subscribed "El +Principe." He did not venture on the title of king in his correspondence +with the Castilians, though he affected it abroad. Anales, MS., año 1516, +cap. 10. + +[3] The letter of the council is dated March 14th, 1516. It is recorded by +Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1516, cap. 10. + +[4] It became permanently so in the following reign of Philip II. +Semanario Erudito, tom. iii. p. 79. + +[5] Carbajal penetrates into the remotest depths of Spanish history for an +authority for Charles's claim. He can find none better, however, than the +examples of Alfonso VIII. and Ferdinand III.; the former of whom used +force, and the latter obtained the crown by the voluntary cession of his +mother. His argument, it is clear, rests much stronger on expediency, than +precedent. Anales, MS., año 1516, cap. 11. + +[6] Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 151 et seq.--Carbajal, Anales, MS., año +1516, cap. 9-11.--Lanuza, Historias, tom. i. lib. 2, cap. 2.--Dormer, +Anales de Aragon, lib. 1, cap. 1, 13.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. +572, 590, 603.--Sandoval, Hist, del Emp. Carlos V., tom. i. p. 53. + +[7] Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 18.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 158.-- +Lanuza, Historias, tom. i. lib. 2, cap. 4. + +Alvaro Gomez finds no better authority than vulgar rumor for this story. +According to Robles, the cardinal, after this bravado, twirled his +cordelier's belt about his fingers, saying, "he wanted nothing better than +that to tame the pride of the Castilian nobles with!" But Ximenes was +neither a fool nor a madman; although his over-zealous biographers make +him sometimes one, and sometimes the other. Voltaire, who never lets the +opportunity slip of seizing a paradox in character or conduct, speaks of +Ximenes as one "qui, toujours vêtu en cordelier, met son faste à fouler +sous ses sandales le faste Espagnol." Essai sur les Moeurs, chap. 121. + +[8] Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1516, cap. 13.--Quintanilla, Archetypo, +lib. 4, cap. 5.--Sempere, Hist. des Cortès, chap. 25.--Gomez, De Rebus +Gestis, fol. 159.--Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. + +[9] Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 174 et seq.--Robles, Vida de Ximenez, +cap. 18.-Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1516, cap. 13. + +[10] Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1516, cap. 11.--Aleson, Annales de +Navarra, tom. v. p. 327.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 570.-- +Quintanilla, Archetypo, lib. 4, cap. 5. + +[11] Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 164, 165.--Herrera, Indias Occidentales, +tom. i. p. 278.--Las Casas, Oeuvres, ed. de Llorente, tom. i. p. 239. + +Robertson states the ground of Ximenes's objection to have been, the +iniquity of reducing one set of men to slavery, in order to liberate +another. (History of America, vol. i. p. 285.) A very enlightened reason, +for which, however, I find not the least warrant in Herrera, (the +authority cited by the historian,) nor in Gomez, nor in any other writer. + +[12] Llorente, Hist. de l'Inquisition, tom. i, chap. 10, art. 5. + +[13] Paramo, De Origine Inquisitionis, lib. 2, tit. 2, cap. 5.--Llorente, +Hist. de l'Inquisition, tom. i. chap. 11, art. l.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, +fol. 184, 185. + +[14] Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1517, cap. 2.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, +fol. 189, 190.--Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 18.--Peter Martyr, Opus +Epist., epist. 581.--Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS. + +"Ni properaveritis," says Martyr in a letter to Marliano, Prince Charles's +physician, "ruent omnia. Nescit Hispania parere non regibus, aut non +legitime regnaturis. _Nauseam inducit magnanimis viris hujus fratris_, +licet potentis et reipublicae amatoris, gubernatio. Est quippe grandis +animo, et ipse, ad aedificandum literatosqne viros fovendum natus magis +qnam ad imperandum, bellicis colloquiis et apparatibus gaudet." Opus +Epist., epist. 573. + +[15] Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 198-201.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., +epist. 567, 584, 590.--Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1517, cap. 3, 6.-- +Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS.--Sandoval, Hist. del Emp. Carlos V., tom. i. p. +73. + +[16] In a letter to Marliano, Martyr speaks of the large sums, "ab hoc +gubernatore ad vos missae, sub parandae classis praetextu." (Opus Epist., +epist. 576.) In a subsequent epistle to his Castilian correspondents, he +speaks in a more sarcastic tone. "_Bonus ille frater_ Ximenez Cardinalis +gubernator thesauros ad Belgas transmittendos coacervavit. ***** Glacialis +Oceani accolae ditabuntur, vestra expilabitur Castilla." (Epist. 606.) +From some cause or other, it is evident the cardinal's government was not +at all to honest Martyr's taste. Gomez suggests, as the reason, that his +salary was clipped off in the general retrenchment, which he admits was a +very hard case. (De Rebus Gestis, fol. 177.) Martyr, however, was never an +extravagant encomiast of the cardinal, and one may imagine much more +creditable reasons, than that assigned, for his disgust with him now. + +[17] See a letter in Carbajal, containing this honest tribute to the +illustrious dead. (Anales, MS., año 1517, cap. 4.) Charles might have +found an antidote to the poison of his Flemish sycophants in the faithful +counsels of his Castilian ministers. + +[18] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 602.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. +194.-Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 18. + +Martyr, in a letter written just before the king's landing, notices the +cardinal's low state of health and spirits. "Cardinalis gubernator Matriti +febribus aegrotaverat; convaluerat; nunc recidivavit. ***** Breves fore +dies illius, medici automant. Est octogenario major; ipse regis adventum +affectu avidissimo desiderare videtur. Sentit sine rege non rite posse +corda Hispanorum moderari ac regi." Epist. 598. + +[19] Flassan, Diplomatic Français, tom. i. p. 313.--Dumont, Corps +Diplomatique, tom. iv. part. 1, no. 106. + +[20] Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1517, cap. 9.--Dormer, Anales de Aragon, +lib. 1. cap. 1.--Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 43.--Dolce, Vita di. Carlo +V., p. 12.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 212.--Sandoval, Hist, del Emp. +Carlos V., tom. i. p. 83. + +[21] Carbajal, Anales, MS., ubi supra.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 215. +--Sandoval, Hist. del Emp. Carlos V., tom. i. p. 84. + +[22] "Cette terrible lettre qui fut la cause de sa mort," says Marsollier, +plumply; a writer who is sure either to misstate or overstate. (Ministère +du Card. Ximenez, p. 447.) Byron, alluding to the fate of a modern poet, +ridicules the idea of + + "The mind, that fiery particle, + Being extinguished by an Article!" + +The frown of a critic, however, might as well prove fatal as that of a +king. In both cases, I imagine, it would be hard to prove any closer +connection between the two events, than that of time. + +[23] "Con aquel despedimiento," says Galindez de Carbajal, "con esto acabó +de tantos servicios luego que Ilegó esta carta el Cardenal rescibió +alteracion y tomole recia calentnra que en pocos dias le des-pacho." +(Anales, MS., año 1517, cap. 9.) Gomez tells a long story of poison +administered to the cardinal in a trout, (De Rebus Gestis, fol. 206.) +Others say, in a letter from Flanders, (see Moreri, Dictionnaire +Historique, _voce_ Ximenes.) Oviedo notices a rumor of his having been +poisoned by one of his secretaries; but vouches for the innocence of +the individual accused, whom he personally knew. (Quincuagenas, MS., dial, +de Xim.) Reports of this kind were too rife in these days, to deserve +credit, unless supported by very clear evidence. Martyr and Carbajal, both +with the court at the time, intimate no suspicion of foul play. + +[24] Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1517, cap. 9.--Gomez, de Rebus Gestis, +fol. 213, 214.--Quintanilla, Archetypo, lib. 4, cap. 8.--Oviedo, +Quincuagenas, MS. + +"'Voilà mon juge, qui prononcera bientôt ma sentence. Je le prie de tout +mon coeur de me condamner, si, dans mon ministère, je me suis proposé +autre chose que le bien de la religion et celui de l'état.' Le lendemain, +au point du jour, il voulut recevoir l'extrême onction." Jay, Histoire du +Ministère du Cardinal Richelieu, (Paris, 1816,) tom. ii. p. 217. + +[25] Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 18.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 215- +217.--Quintanilla, Archetypo, lib. 4, cap. 12-15; who quotes Maraño, an +eye-witness.--Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1517, cap. 9, who dates the +cardinal's death December 8th, in which he is followed by Lanuza. + +The following epitaph, of no great merit, was inscribed on his sepulchre, +composed by the learned John Vergara in his younger days. + + "Condideram musis Franciscus grande lyceum, + Condor in exiguo nune ego sarcophago. + Praelextam junxi saccho, galeamque galero, + Frater, dux, praesul, cardineusque pater. + Quin virtute reel junctum est diadema cucullo, + Cum mibi regnanti paruit Hesperia." + +[26] Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 160.--Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 17. +--"And who can doubt," exclaimed Gonzalo de Oviedo, "that powder, against +the infidel, is incense to the Lord?" Quincuagenas, MS. + +[27] During this period, Ximenes "_permit_ la condamnation," to use +the mild language of Llorente, of more than 2500 individuals to the stake, +and nearly 50,000 to other punishments! (Hist. de l'Inquisition, tom. i. +chap. 10, art. 5; tom. iv. chap. 46.) In order to do justice to what is +really good in the characters of this age, one must absolutely close his +eyes against that odious fanaticism, which enters more or less into all, +and into the best, unfortunately, most largely. + +[28] "Persuasum haberet, non alia ratione animos humanos imperia aliorum +laturos, nisi vi facta aut adhibita. Quare pro certo affirmare solebat, +nullum unquam principem exteris populis formidini, aut suis reverentiae +fuisse, nisi comparato militum exercitu, atque omnibus belli instrumentis +ad manum paratis." (Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 95.) We may well apply to +the cardinal what Cato, or rather Lucan, applied to Pompey; + + "Praetulit arma togae; sed pacem armatus amavit." + Pharsalia, lib. 9. + +[29] "Nulla enim re magis populos insolescere, et irreverentiam omnem +exhibere, quam cum libertatem loquendi nacti sunt, et pro libidine suas +vulgo jactant querimonias." Gomez quotes the language of Ximenes in his +correspondence with Charles. De Rebus Gestis, fol. 194. + +[30] Oviedo makes a reflection, showing that he conceived the cardinal's +policy better than most of his biographers. He states, that the various +immunities, and the military organization, which he gave to the towns +enabled them to raise the insurrection, known as the war of the +"comunidades," at the beginning of Charles's reign. But he rightly +considers this as only an indirect consequence of his policy, which made +use of the popular arm only to break down the power of the nobles, and +establish the supremacy of the crown. Quincuagenas, MS., dial, de Xim. + +[31] Quincuagenas, MS., ubi supra. Mr. Burke notices this noble trait, in +a splendid panegyric which he poured forth on the character of Ximenes, at +Sir Joshua Reynolds's table, as related by Madame d'Arblay, in the last, +and not least remarkable of her productions. (Memoirs of Dr. Burney, vol. +ii. pp. 231 et seq.) The orator, _if_ the lady reports him right, notices, +as two of the cardinal's characteristics, his freedom from bigotry and +despotism! + +[32] Their connection with so distinguished a person, however enabled most +of them to form high alliances; of which Oviedo gives some account. +Quincuagenas, MS. + +[33] "Die, and endow a college or a cat!" + +The verse is somewhat stale, but expresses, better than a page of prose +can, the credit due to such posthumous benefactions, when they set aside +the dearest natural ties for the mere indulgence of a selfish vanity, +which motives cannot be imputed to Ximenes. He had always conscientiously +abstained from appropriating his archi-episcopal revenues, as we have +seen, to himself or his family. His dying bequest, therefore, was only in +keeping with his whole life. + +[34] The good father Quintanilla vindicates his hero's chastity, somewhat +at the expense of his breeding. "His purity was unexampled," says he. "He +shunned the sex, like so many evil spirits; _looking on every woman as a +devil_, let her be never so holy. Had it not been in the way of his +professional calling, it is not too much to say he would never have +suffered his eyes to light on one of them!" Archetypo, p. 80. + +[35] Fléchier, Histoire de Ximenés, liv. 6, p. 634. + +[36] Quintanilla has given the brief of his Holiness _in extenso_, with +commentaries thereon, twice as long. See Archeotypo, lib. 4, cap. 10. + +[37] Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 219.--Quintanilla, Archetype, lib. 2, +cap. 4. The reader may find a pendant to this anecdote in a similar one +recorded of Ximenes's predecessor, the grand cardinal Mendoza, in Part II. +Chapter 5, of this History. The conduct of the two primates on the +occasion, was sufficiently characteristic. + +[38] Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, ubi supra.-- +Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 13.--Quintanilla, Archetypo, lib. 2, cap. 5, +7, 8; who cites Dr. Vergara, the cardinal's friend. It is Baron Grimm, I +think, who tells us of Fontenelle's habit of dropping his trumpet when the +conversation did not pay him for the trouble of holding it up. The good- +natured Reynolds, according to Goldsmith, could "shift his trumpet" on +such an emergency also. + +[39] Ximenes's head was examined some forty years after his interment, and +the skull was found to be without sutures. (Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. +218.) Richelieu's was found to be perforated with little holes. The abbé +Richard deduces a theory from this, which may startle the physiologist +even more than the facts. "On ouvrit son Test, on y trouva 12 petits trous +par ou s'exhaloient les vapeurs de son cerveau, ce qui fit qu' il n'eut +jamais aucun mal de tête; au lieu que le Test de Ximenés étoit sans +suture, a quoi l'on attribua les effroyables douleurs de tête qu'il avoit +presque toujours." Parallèle, p. 177. + +[40] Robles, Vida de Ximenez, cap. 18.--Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 218. + +[41] A little treatise has been devoted to this very subject, entitled +"Parallèle du Card. Ximenés et du Card. Richelieu, par Mons. l'Abbé +Richard; à Trevoux, 1705." 222 pp. 12mo. The author, with a candor rare +indeed, where national vanity is interested, strikes the balance without +hesitation in favor of the foreigner Ximenes. + +[42] The catalogue of the various offices of Ximenes occupies near half a +page of Quintanilla. At the time of his death, the chief ones that he +filled were, those of archbishop of Toledo, and consequently primate of +Spain, grand chancellor of Castile, cardinal of the Roman church, +inquisitor-general of Castile, and regent. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. + +Policy of the Crown.--Towards the Nobles.--The Clergy.--Consideration of +the Commons.--Advancement of Prerogative.--Legal Complications.--The Legal +Profession.--Trade.--Manufactures.--Agriculture.--Restrictive Policy.-- +Revenues.--Progress of Discovery.--Colonial Administration.--General +Prosperity.--Increase of Population.--Chivalrous Spirit.--The Period of +National Glory. + + +We have now traversed that important period of history, comprehending the +latter part of the fifteenth and the beginning of the sixteenth century; a +period when the convulsions, which shook to the ground, the ancient +political fabrics of Europe, roused the minds of its inhabitants from the +lethargy in which they had been buried for ages. Spain, as we have seen, +felt the general impulse. Under the glorious rule of Ferdinand and +Isabella, we have beheld her, emerging from chaos into a new existence; +unfolding, under the influence of institutions adapted to her genius, +energies of which she was before unconscious; enlarging her resources from +all the springs of domestic industry and commercial enterprise; and +insensibly losing the ferocious habits of a feudal age, in the refinements +of an intellectual and moral culture. + +In the fulness of time, when her divided powers had been concentrated +under one head, and the system of internal economy completed, we have seen +her descend into the arena with the other nations of Europe, and in a very +few years achieve the most important acquisitions of territory, both in +that quarter and in Africa; and finally crowning the whole by the +discovery and occupation of a boundless empire beyond the waters. In the +progress of the action, we may have been too much occupied with its +details, to attend sufficiently to the principles which regulated them. +But now that we have reached the close, we may be permitted to cast a +parting glance over the field that we have traversed, and briefly survey +the principal steps by which the Spanish sovereigns, under Divine +Providence, led their nation up to such a height of prosperity and glory. + +Ferdinand and Isabella, on their accession, saw at once that the chief +source of the distractions of the country lay in the overgrown powers, and +factious spirit, of the nobility. Their first efforts, therefore, were +directed to abate these as far as possible. A similar movement was going +forward, in the other European monarchies; but in none was it crowned with +so speedy and complete success as in Castile, by means of those bold and +decisive measures, which have been detailed in an early chapter of this +work. [1] The same policy was steadily pursued during the remainder of +their reign; less indeed by open assault than by indirect means. [2] + +Among these, one of the most effectual was the omission, to summon the +privileged orders to cortes, in several of the most important sessions of +that body. This so far from being a new stretch of prerogative, was only +an exercise of the anomalous powers already familiar to the crown, as +elsewhere noticed. [3] Nor does it seem to have been viewed as a grievance +by the other party, who regarded these meetings with the more +indifference, since their aristocratic immunities exempted them from the +taxation, which was generally the prominent object of them. But, from +whatever cause proceeding, by this impolitic acquiescence they +surrendered, undoubtedly, the most valuable of their rights,--one which +has enabled the British aristocracy to maintain its political +consideration unimpaired, while that of the Castilian has faded away into +an empty pageant. [4] + +Another practice steadily pursued by the sovereigns, was to raise men of +humble station to offices of the highest trust; not, however, like their +contemporary, Louis the Eleventh, because their station was humble, in +order to mortify the higher orders, but because they courted merit, +wherever it was to be found; [5]--a policy much and deservedly commended +by the sagacious observers of the time. [6] The history of Spain does not +probably afford another example of a person of the lowly condition of +Ximenes, attaining, not merely the highest offices in the kingdom, but +eventually its uncontrolled supremacy. [7] The multiplication of legal +tribunals, and other civil offices, afforded the sovereigns ample scope +for pursuing this policy, in the demand created for professional science. +The nobles, intrusted hitherto with the chief direction of affairs, now +saw it pass into the hands of persons, who had other qualifications than +martial prowess or hereditary rank. Such as courted distinction, were +compelled to seek it by the regular avenues of academic discipline. How +extensively the spirit operated, and with what brilliant success, we have +already seen. [8] But, whatever the aristocracy may have gained in +refinement of character, it resigned much of its prescriptive power, when +it condescended to enter the arena on terms of equal competition with its +inferiors for the prizes of talent and scholarship. + +Ferdinand pursued a similar course in his own dominions of Aragon, where +he uniformly supported the commons, or may more properly be said to have +been supported by them, in the attempt to circumscribe the authority of +the great feudatories. Although he accomplished this, to a considerable +extent, their power was too firmly intrenched behind positive institutions +to be affected like that of the Castilian aristocracy, whose rights had +been swelled beyond their legitimate limits by every species of +usurpation. [9] + +With all the privileges retrieved from this order, is still possessed a +disproportionate weight in the political balance. The great lords still +claimed some of the most considerable posts, both civil and military. [10] +Their revenues were immense, and their broad lands covered unbroken +leagues of extent in every quarter of the kingdom. [11] The queen, who +reared many of their children in the royal palace, under her own eye, +endeavored to draw her potent vassals to the court; [12] but many, still +cherishing the ancient spirit of independence, preferred to live in feudal +grandeur, surrounded by their retainers in their strong castles, and wait +there, in grim repose, the hour when they might sally forth and reassert +by arms their despoiled authority. Such a season occurred on Isabella's +death. The warlike nobles eagerly seized it; but the wily and resolute +Ferdinand, and afterwards the iron hand of Ximenes, kept them in check, +and prepared the way for the despotism of Charles the Fifth, round whom +the haughty aristocracy of Castile, shorn of substantial power, were +content to revolve as the satellites of a court, reflecting only the +borrowed splendors of royalty. + +The Queen's government was equally vigilant in resisting ecclesiastical +encroachment. It may appear otherwise to one who casts a superficial +glance at her reign, and beholds her surrounded always by a troop of +ghostly advisers, and avowing religion as the great end of her principal +operations at home and abroad. [13] + +It is certain, however, that, while in all her acts she confessed the +influence of religion, she took more effectual means than any of her +predecessors, to circumscribe the temporal powers of the clergy. [14] The +volume of her pragmáticas is filled with laws designed to limit their +jurisdiction, and restrain their encroachments on the secular authorities. +[15] Towards the Roman See, she maintained, as we have often had occasion +to notice, the same independent attitude. By the celebrated concordat made +with Sixtus the Fourth, in 1482, the pope conceded to the sovereigns the +right of nominating to the higher dignities of the church. [16] The Holy +See, however, still assumed the collation to inferior benefices, which +were too often lavished on non-residents, and otherwise unsuitable +persons. The queen sometimes extorted a papal indulgence granting the +right of presentation, for a limited time; on which occasions she showed +such alacrity, that she is known to have disposed, in a single day, of +more than twenty prebends and inferior dignities. At other times, when the +nomination made by his Holiness, as not unfrequently happened, was +distasteful to her, she would take care to defeat it, by forbidding the +bull to be published until laid before the privy council; at the same time +sequestrating the revenues of the vacant benefice, till her own +requisitions were complied with. [17] + +She was equally solicitous in watching over the morals of the clergy, +inculcating on the higher prelates to hold frequent pastoral communication +with their suffragans, and to report to her such as were delinquent. [18] +By these vigilant measures, she succeeded in restoring the ancient +discipline of the church, and weeding out the sensuality and indolence, +which had so long defiled it; while she had the inexpressible satisfaction +to see the principal places, long before her death, occupied by prelates, +whose learning and religious principle gave the best assurance of the +stability of the reformation. [19] Few of the Castilian monarchs have been +brought more frequently into collision, or pursued a bolder policy, with +the court of Rome. Still fewer have extorted from it such important graces +and concessions; a circumstance, which can only be imputed, says a +Castilian writer, "to singular good fortune and consummate prudence;" [20] +to that deep conviction of the queen's integrity, we may also add, which +disarmed resistance, even in her enemies. + +The condition of the commons under this reign was probably, on the whole, +more prosperous than in any other period of the Spanish history. New +avenues to wealth and honors were opened to them; and persons and property +were alike protected under the fearless and impartial administration of +the law. "Such was the justice dispensed to every one under this +auspicious reign," exclaims Marineo, "that nobles and cavaliers, citizens +and laborers, rich and poor, masters and servants, all equally partook of +it." [21] We find no complaints of arbitrary imprisonment, and no +attempts, so frequent both in earlier and later times, at illegal +taxation. In this particular, indeed, Isabella manifested the greatest +tenderness for her people. By her commutation of the capricious tax of the +_alcavala_ for a determinate one, and still more by transferring its +collection from the revenue officers to the citizens themselves, she +greatly relieved her subjects. [22] + +Finally, notwithstanding the perpetual call for troops for the military +operations in which the government was constantly engaged, and +notwithstanding the example of neighboring countries, there was no attempt +to establish that iron bulwark of despotism, a standing army; at least, +none nearer than that of the voluntary levies of the hermandad, raised and +paid by the people. The queen never admitted the arbitrary maxims of +Ximenes in regard to the foundation of government. Hers was essentially +one of opinion, not force. [23] Had it rested on any other than the broad +basis of public opinion, it could not have withstood a day the violent +shocks, to which it was early exposed, nor have achieved the important +revolution that it finally did, both in the domestic and foreign concerns +of the country. + +The condition of the kingdom, on Isabella's accession, necessarily gave +the commons unwonted consideration. In the tottering state of her affairs, +she was obliged to rest on their strong arm for support. It did not fail +her. Three sessions of the legislature, or rather the popular branch of +it, were held during the two first years of her reign. It was in these +early assemblies, that the commons bore an active part in concocting the +wholesome system of laws, which restored vitality and vigor to the +exhausted republic. [24] + +After this good work was achieved, the sessions of that body became more +rare. There was less occasion for them, indeed, during the existence of +the hermandad, which was, of itself, an ample representation of the +Castilian commons, and which, by enforcing obedience to the law at home, +and by liberal supplies for foreign war, superseded, in a great degree, +the call for more regular meetings of cortes. [25] The habitual economy, +too, not to say frugality, which regulated the public, as well as private +expenditure of the sovereigns, enabled them, after this period, with +occasional exceptions, to dispense with other aid than that drawn from the +regular revenues of the crown. + +There is every ground for believing that the political franchises of the +people, as then understood, were uniformly respected. The number of cities +summoned to cortes, which had so often varied according to the caprices of +princes, never fell short of that prescribed by long usage. On the +contrary, an addition was made by the conquest of Granada, and, in a +cortes held soon after the queen's death, we find a most narrow and +impolitic remonstrance of the legislature itself, against the alleged +unauthorized extension of the privilege of representation. [26] + +In one remarkable particular, which may be thought to form a material +exception to the last observations, the conduct of the crown deserves to +be noticed. This was, the promulgation of _pragmáticas_, or royal +ordinances, and that to a greater extent, probably, than under any other +reign, before or since. This important prerogative was claimed and +exercised, more or less freely, by most European sovereigns in ancient +times. Nothing could be more natural, than that the prince should assume +such authority, or that the people, blind to the ultimate consequences, +and impatient of long or frequent sessions of the legislature, should +acquiesce in the temperate use of it. As far as these ordinances were of +an executive character, or designed as supplementary to parliamentary +enactments, or in obedience to previous suggestions of cortes, they appear +to lie open to no constitutional objections in Castile. [27] But it was +not likely that limits, somewhat loosely defined, would be very nicely +observed; and under preceding reigns this branch of prerogative had been +most intolerably abused. [28] + +A large proportion of these laws are of an economical character, designed +to foster trade and manufactures, and to secure fairness in commercial +dealings. [29] Many are directed against the growing spirit of luxury, and +many more occupied with the organization of the public tribunals. Whatever +be thought of their wisdom in some cases, it will not be easy to detect +any attempt to innovate on the settled principles of criminal +jurisprudence, or on those regulating the transfer of property. When these +were to be discussed, the sovereigns were careful to call in the aid of +the legislature; an example which found little favor with their +successors. [30] It is good evidence of the public confidence in the +government, and the generally beneficial scope of these laws, that, +although of such unprecedented frequency, they should have escaped +parliamentary animadversion. [31] But, however patriotic the intentions of +the Catholic sovereigns, and however safe, or even salutary, the power +intrusted to such hands, it was a fatal precedent, and under the Austrian +dynasty became the most effectual lever for overturning the liberties of +the nation. + +The preceding remarks on the policy observed towards the commons in this +reign must be further understood as applying with far less qualification +to the queen, than to her husband. The latter, owing perhaps to the +lessons which he had derived from his own subjects of Aragon, "who never +abated one jot of their constitutional rights," says Martyr, "at the +command of a king," [32] and whose meetings generally brought fewer +supplies to the royal coffers, than grievances to redress, seems to have +had little relish for popular assemblies. He convened them as rarely as +possible in Aragon, [33] and when he did, omitted no effort to influence +their deliberations. [34] He anticipated, perhaps, similar difficulties in +Castile, after his second marriage had lost him the affections of the +people. At any rate, he evaded calling them together on more than one +occasion imperiously demanded by the constitution; [35] and, when he did +so, he invaded their privileges, [36] and announced principles of +government, [37] which formed a discreditable, and, it must be admitted, +rare exception to the usual tenor of his administration. Indeed, the most +honorable testimony is borne to its general equity and patriotism, by a +cortes convened soon after the queen's death, when the tribute, as far as +she was concerned, still more unequivocally, must have been sincere. [38] +A similar testimony is afforded by the panegyrics and the practice of the +more liberal Castilian writers, who freely resort to this reign, as the +great fountain of constitutional precedent. [39] + +The commons gained political consideration, no doubt, by the depression of +the nobles; but their chief gain lay in the inestimable blessings of +domestic tranquillity, and the security of private rights. The crown +absorbed the power, in whatever form, retrieved from the privileged +orders; the pensions and large domains, the numerous fortified places, the +rights of seigniorial jurisdiction, the command of the military orders, +and the like. Other circumstances conspired to raise the regal authority +still higher; as, for example, the international relations then opened +with the rest of Europe, which, whether friendly or hostile, were +conducted by the monarch alone, who, unless to obtain supplies, rarely +condescended to seek the intervention of the other estates; the +concentration of the dismembered provinces of the Peninsula under one +government; the immense acquisitions abroad, whether from discovery or +conquest, regarded in that day as the property of the crown, rather than +of the nation; and, finally, the consideration flowing from the personal +character, and long successful rule, of the Catholic sovereigns. Such were +the manifold causes, which, without the imputation of a criminal ambition, +or indifference to the rights of their subjects, in Ferdinand and +Isabella, all combined to swell the prerogative to an unprecedented height +under their reign. + +This, indeed, was the direction in which all the governments of Europe, at +this period, were tending. The people, wisely preferring a single master +to a multitude, sustained the crown in its efforts to recover from the +aristocracy the enormous powers it so grossly abused. This was the +revolution of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The power thus +deposited in a single hand, was found in time equally incompatible with +the great ends of civil government; while it gradually accumulated to an +extent, which threatened to crush the monarchy by its own weight. But the +institutions derived from a Teutonic origin have been found to possess a +conservative principle, unknown to the fragile despotisms of the east. The +seeds of liberty, though dormant, lay deep in the heart of the nation, +waiting only the good time to germinate. That time has at length arrived. +Larger experience, and a wider moral culture, have taught men not only the +extent of their political rights, but the best way to secure them. And it +is the reassertion of these by the great body of the people, which now +constitutes the revolution going forward in most of the old communities of +Europe. The progress of liberal principles must be controlled, of course, +by the peculiar circumstances and character of the nation; but their +ultimate triumph, in every quarter, none can reasonably distrust. May it +not be abused. + +The prosperity of the country, under Ferdinand and Isabella, its growing +trade and new internal relations, demanded new regulations, which, as +before noticed, were attempted to be supplied by the _pragmáticas_. +This was adding, however, to the embarrassments of a jurisprudence already +far too cumbrous. The Castilian lawyer might despair of a critical +acquaintance with the voluminous mass of legislation, which, in the form +of municipal charters, Roman codes, parliamentary statutes, and royal +ordinances, were received as authority in the courts. [40] The manifold +evils resulting from this unsettled and conflicting jurisprudence, had led +the legislature repeatedly to urge its digest into a more simple and +uniform system. Some approach was made towards this in the code of the +"Ordenanças Reales," compiled in the early part of the queen's reign. [41] +The great body of _Pragmáticas_, subsequently, issued, were also +collected into a separate volume by her command, [42] and printed the year +before her death. These two codes may therefore be regarded as embracing +the ordinary legislation of her reign. [43] + +In 1505, the celebrated little code, called "Leyes de Tore," from the +place where the cortes was held, received the sanction of that body. [44] +Its laws, eighty-four in number, and designed as supplementary to those +already existing, are chiefly occupied with the rights of inheritance and +marriage. It is here that the ominous term "mayorazgo" may be said to have +been naturalized in Castilian jurisprudence. [45] The peculiar feature of +these laws, aggravated in no slight degree by the glosses of the +civilians, [46] is the facility which they give to entails; a fatal +facility, which, chiming in with the pride and indolence natural to the +Spanish character, ranks them among the most efficient agents of the decay +of husbandry and the general impoverishment of the country. + +Besides these codes, there were the "Leyes de la Hermandad," [47] the +"Quaderno de Alcavalas," with others of less note for the regulation of +trade, made in this reign. [48] But still the great scheme of a uniform +digest of the municipal law of Castile, although it occupied the most +distinguished jurisconsults of the time, was unattained at the queen's +death. [49] How deeply it engaged her mind in that hour, is evinced by the +clause in her codicil, in which she bequeaths the consummation of the +work, as an imperative duty, to her successors. [50] It was not completed +till the reign of Philip the Second; and the large proportion of Ferdinand +and Isabella's laws, admitted into that famous compilation, shows the +prospective character of their legislation, and the uncommon discernment +with which it was accommodated to the peculiar genius and wants of the +nation. [51] + +The immense increase of empire, and the corresponding development of the +national resources, not only demanded new laws, but a thorough +reorganization of every department of the administration. Laws may be +received as indicating the dispositions of the ruler, whether for good or +for evil; but it is in the conduct of the tribunals that we are to read +the true character of his government. It was the upright and vigilant +administration of these, which constituted the best claim of Ferdinand and +Isabella to the gratitude of their country. To facilitate the despatch of +business, it was distributed among a number of bureaus or councils, at the +head of which stood the "royal council," whose authority and functions I +have already noticed. [52] In order to leave this body more leisure for +its executive duties, a new audience, or chancery, as it was called, was +established at Valladolid, in 1480, whose judges were drawn from the +members of the king's council. A similar tribunal was instituted, after +the Moorish conquests, in the southern division of the monarchy; and both +had supreme jurisdiction over all civil causes, which were carried up to +them from the inferior audiences throughout the kingdom. [53] + +The "council of the supreme" was placed over the Inquisition with a +special view to the interests of the crown; an end, however, which it very +imperfectly answered, as appears from its frequent collision with the +royal and secular jurisdictions. [54] The "council of the orders" had +charge, as the name imports, of the great military fraternities. [55] The +"council of Aragon" was intrusted with the general administration of that +kingdom and its dependencies, including Naples; and had besides extensive +jurisdiction as a court of appeal. [56] Lastly, the "council of the +Indies" was instituted by Ferdinand, in 1511, for the control of the +American department. Its powers, comprehensive as they were in its origin, +were so much enlarged under Charles the Fifth and his successors, that it +became the depository of all law, the fountain of all nominations, both +ecclesiastical and temporal, and the supreme tribunal, where all +questions, whether of government or trade in the colonies, were finally +adjudicated. [57] + +Such were the forms, which the government assumed under the hands of +Ferdinand and Isabella. The great concerns of the empire were brought +under the control of a few departments, which looked to the crown as their +common head. The chief stations were occupied by lawyers, who were alone +competent to the duties; and the precincts of the court swarmed with a +loyal militia, who, as they owed their elevation to its patronage, were +not likely to interpret the law to the disparagement of prerogative. [58] + +The greater portion of the laws of this reign are directed, in some form +or other, as might be expected, to commerce and domestic industry. Their +very large number, however, implies an extraordinary expansion of the +national energy and resources, as well as a most earnest disposition in +the government to foster them. The wisdom of these efforts, at all times, +is not equally certain. I will briefly enumerate a few of the most +characteristic and important provisions. + +By a pragmatic of 1500, all persons, whether natives or foreigners, were +prohibited from shipping goods in foreign bottoms, from a port where a +Spanish ship could be obtained. [59] Another prohibited the sale of +vessels to foreigners. [60] Another offered a large premium on all vessels +of a certain tonnage and upwards; [61] and others held out protection and +various immunities to seamen. [62] The drift of the first of these laws, +like that of the famous English navigation act, so many years later, was, +as the preamble sets forth, to exclude foreigners from the carrying trade; +and the others were equally designed to build up a marine, for the +defence, as well as commerce of the country. In this, the sovereigns were +favored by their important colonial acquisitions, the distance of which, +moreover, made it expedient to employ vessels of greater burden than those +hitherto used. The language of subsequent laws, as well as various +circumstances within our knowledge, attest the success of these +provisions. The number of vessels in the merchant service of Spain, at the +beginning of the sixteenth century, amounted to a thousand, according to +Campomanes. [63] We may infer the flourishing condition of their +commercial marine from their military, as shown in the armaments sent at +different times against the Turks, or the Barbary corsairs. [64] The +convoy which accompanied the infanta Joanna to Flanders, in 1496, +consisted of one hundred and thirty vessels, great and small, having a +force of more than twenty thousand men on board; a formidable equipment, +inferior only to that of the far-famed "Invincible Armada." [65] + +A pragmatic was passed, in 1491, at the petition of the inhabitants of the +northern provinces, requiring English and other foreign traders to take +their returns in the fruits or merchandise of the country, and not in gold +or silver. This law seems to have been designed less to benefit the +manufacturer, than to preserve the precious metals in the country. [66] It +was the same in purport with other laws prohibiting the exportation of +these metals, whether in coin or bullion. They were not new in Spain, nor +indeed peculiar to her. [67] They proceeded on the principle that gold and +silver, independently of their value as a commercial medium, constituted, +in a peculiar sense, the wealth of a country. This error, common, as I +have said, to other European nations, was eminently fatal to Spain, since +the produce of its native mines before the discovery of America, [68] and +of those in that quarter afterwards, formed its great staple. As such, +these metals should have enjoyed every facility for transportation to +other countries, where their higher value would afford a corresponding +profit to the exporter. + +The sumptuary laws of Ferdinand and Isabella are open, for the most part, +to the same objections with those just noticed. Such laws, prompted in a +great degree, no doubt, by the declamations of the clergy against the pomp +and vanities of the world, were familiar, in early times, to most European +states. There was ample scope for them in Spain, where the example of +their Moslem neighbors had done much to infect all classes with a fondness +for sumptuous apparel, and a showy magnificence of living. Ferdinand and +Isabella fell nothing short of the most zealous of their predecessors, in +their efforts to restrain this improvident luxury. They did, however, what +few princes on the like occasions have done--enforced the precept by their +own example. Some idea of their habitual economy, or rather frugality, may +be formed from a remonstrance presented by the commons to Charles the +Fifth, soon after his accession, which represents his daily household +expenses as amounting to one hundred and fifty thousand maravedies; while +those of the Catholic sovereigns were rarely fifteen thousand, or one- +tenth of that sum. [69] + +They passed several salutary laws for restraining the ambitious +expenditure at weddings and funerals, as usual, most affected by those who +could least afford it. [70] In 1494, they issued a pragmatic, prohibiting +the importation or manufacture of brocades, or of gold or silver +embroidery, and also plating with these metals. The avowed object was to +check the growth of luxury and the waste of the precious metals. [71] + +These provisions had the usual fate of laws of this kind. They gave an +artificial and still higher value to the prohibited article. Some evaded +them. Others indemnified themselves for the privation, by some other, and +scarcely less expensive variety of luxury. Such, for example, were the +costly silks, which came into more general use after the conquest of +Granada. But here the government, on remonstrance of the cortes, again +interposed its prohibition, restricting the privilege of wearing them to +certain specified classes. [72] Nothing, obviously, could be more +impolitic than these various provisions directed against manufactures, +which, under proper encouragement, or indeed without any, from the +peculiar advantages afforded by the country, might have formed an +important branch of industry, whether for the supply of foreign markets, +or for home consumption. + +Notwithstanding these ordinances, we find one, in 1500, at the petition of +the silk-growers in Granada, against the introduction of silk thread from +the kingdom of Naples; [73] thus encouraging the production of the raw +material, while they interdicted the uses to which it could be applied. +Such are the inconsistencies into which a government is betrayed by an +over-zealous and impertinent spirit of legislation! + +The chief exports of the country in this reign were the fruits and natural +products of the soil, the minerals, of which a great variety was deposited +in its bosom, and the simpler manufactures, as sugar, dressed skins, oil, +wine, steel, etc. [74] The breed of Spanish horses, celebrated in ancient +times, had been greatly improved by the cross with the Arabian. It had, +however, of late years fallen into neglect; until the government, by a +number of judicious laws, succeeded in restoring it to such repute, that +this noble animal became an extensive article of foreign trade. [75] But +the chief staple of the country was wool; which, since the introduction of +English sheep at the close of the fourteenth century, had reached a degree +of fineness and beauty that enabled it, under the present reign, to +compete with any other in Europe. [76] + +To what extent the finer manufactures were carried, or made an article of +export, is uncertain. The vagueness of. statistical information in these +early times has given rise to much crude speculation and to extravagant +estimates of their resources, which have been met by a corresponding +skepticism in later and more scrutinizing critics. Capmany, the most acute +of these, has advanced the opinion, that these coarser cloths only were +manufactured in Castile, and those exclusively for home consumption. [77] +The royal ordinances, however, imply, in the character and minuteness of +their regulations, a very considerable proficiency in many of the mechanic +arts. [78] Similar testimony is borne by intelligent foreigners, visiting +or residing in the country at the beginning of the sixteenth century; who +notice the fine cloths and manufacture of arms in Segovia, [79] the silks +and velvets of Granada and Valencia, [80] the woollen and silk fabrics of +Toledo, which gave employment to ten thousand artisans, [81] and curiously +wrought plate of Valladolid, [82] and the fine cutlery and glass +manufactures of Barcelona, rivalling those of Venice. [83] + +The recurrence of seasons of scarcity, and the fluctuation of prices, +might suggest a reasonable distrust of the excellence of the husbandry +under this reign. [84] The turbulent condition of the country may account +for this pretty fairly during the early part of it. Indeed, a neglect of +agriculture, to the extent implied by these circumstances, is wholly +irreconcilable with the general tenor of Ferdinand and Isabella's +legislation, which evidently relies on this as the main spring of national +prosperity. It is equally repugnant, moreover, to the reports of +foreigners, who could best compare the state of the country with that of +others at the same period. They extol the fruitfulness of a soil, which +yielded the products of the most opposite climes; the hills clothed with +vineyards and plantations of fruit trees, much more abundant, it would +seem, in the northern regions, than at the present day; the valleys and +delicious vegas, glowing with the ripe exuberance of southern vegetation; +extensive districts, now smitten with the curse of barrenness, where the +traveller scarce discerns the vestige of a road or of a human habitation, +but which then teemed with all that was requisite to the sustenance of the +populous cities in their neighborhood. [85] + +The inhabitant of modern Spain or Italy, who wanders amid the ruins of +their stately cities, their grass-grown streets, their palaces and temples +crumbling into dust, their massive bridges choking up the streams they +once proudly traversed, the very streams themselves, which bore navies on +their bosoms, shrunk into too shallow a channel for the meanest craft to +navigate,--the modern Spaniard who surveys these vestiges of a giant race, +the tokens of his nation's present degeneracy, must turn for relief to the +prouder and earlier period of her history, when only such great works +could have been achieved; and it is no wonder that he should be led, in +his enthusiasm, to invest it with a romantic and exaggerated coloring. +[86] Such a period in Spain cannot be looked for in the last, still less +in the seventeenth century, for the nation had then reached the lowest ebb +of its fortunes; [87] nor in the close of the sixteenth, for the +desponding language of cortes shows that the work of decay and +depopulation had then already begun. [88] It can only be found in the +first half of that century, in the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, and +that of their successor, Charles the Fifth; in which last, the state, +under the strong impulse it had received, was carried onward in the career +of prosperity, in spite of the ignorance and mismanagement of those who +guided it. + +There is no country which has been guilty of such wild experiments, or has +showed, on the whole, such profound ignorance of the true principles of +economical science, as Spain under the sceptre of the family of Austria. +And, as it is not always easy to discriminate between their acts and those +of Ferdinand and Isabella, under whom the germs of much of the subsequent +legislation may be said to have been planted, this circumstance has +brought undeserved discredit on the government of the latter. Undeserved, +because laws, mischievous in their eventual operation, were not always so +at the time for which they were originally devised; not to add, that what +was intrinsically bad, has been aggravated ten fold under the blind +legislation of their successors. [89] It is also true, that many of the +most exceptionable laws sanctioned by their names, are to be charged on +their predecessors, who had ingrafted their principles into the system +long before; [90] and many others are to be vindicated by the general +practice of other nations, which authorized retaliation on the score of +self-defence. [91] + +Nothing is easier than to parade abstract theorems,--true in the +abstract,--in political economy; nothing harder than to reduce them to +practice. That an individual will understand his own interests better than +the government can, or, what is the same thing, that trade, if let alone, +will find its way into the channels on the whole most advantageous to the +community, few will deny. But what is true of all together is not true of +any one singly; and no one nation can safely act on these principles, if +others do not. In point of fact, no nation has acted on them since the +formation of the present political communities of Europe. + +All that a new state, or a new government in an old one, can now propose +to itself is, not to sacrifice its interests to a speculative abstraction, +but to accommodate its institutions to the great political system, of +which it is a member. On these principles, and on the higher obligation of +providing the means of national independence in its most extended sense, +much that was bad in the economical policy of Spain, at the period under +review, may be vindicated. + +It would be unfair to direct our view to the restrictive measures of +Ferdinand and Isabella, without noticing also the liberal tenor of their +legislation in regard to a great variety of objects. Such, for example, +are the laws encouraging foreigners to settle in the country; [92] those +for facilitating communication by internal improvements, roads, bridges, +canals, on a scale of unprecedented magnitude; [93] for a similar +attention to the wants of navigation, by constructing moles, quays, +lighthouses along the coast, and deepening and extending the harbors, "to +accommodate," as the acts set forth, "the great increase of trade;" for +embellishing and adding in various ways to the accommodations of the +cities; [94] for relieving the subject from onerous tolls and oppressive +monopolies; [95] for establishing a uniform currency and standard of +weights and measures throughout the kingdom, [96] objects of unwearied +solicitude through this whole reign; for maintaining a police, which, from +the most disorderly and dangerous, raised Spain, in the language of +Martyr, to be the safest country in Christendom [97] for such equal +justice, as secured to every man the fruits of his own industry, inducing +him to embark his capital in useful enterprises; and, finally, for +enforcing fidelity to contracts, [98] of which the sovereigns gave such a +glorious example in their own administration, as effectually restored that +public credit, which is the true basis of public prosperity. + +While these important reforms were going on in the interior of the +monarchy, it experienced a greater change in its external condition by the +immense augmentation of its territory. The most important of its foreign +acquisitions were those nearest home, Granada and Navarre; at least, they +were the ones most capable, from their position, of being brought under +control, and thoroughly and permanently identified with the Spanish +monarchy. Granada, as we have seen, was placed under the sceptre of +Castile, governed by the same laws, and represented in its cortes, being, +in the strictest sense, part and parcel of the kingdom. Navarre was also +united to the same crown. But its constitution, which bore considerable +analogy to that of Aragon, remained substantially the same as before. The +government, indeed, was administered by a viceroy; but Ferdinand made as +few changes as possible, permitting it to retain its own legislature, its +ancient courts of law, and its laws themselves. So the forms, if not the +spirit of independence, continued to survive its union with the victorious +state. [99] + +The other possessions of Spain were scattered over the various quarters of +Europe, Africa, and America. Naples was the conquest of Aragon; or, at +least, made on behalf of that crown. The queen appears to have taken no +part in the conduct of that war, whether distrusting its equity, or its +expediency, in the belief that a distant possession in the heart of Europe +would probably cost more to maintain than it was worth. In fact, Spain is +the only nation, in modern times, which has been able to keep its hold on +such possessions for any very considerable period; a circumstance implying +more wisdom in her policy than is commonly conceded to her. The fate of +the acquisitions alluded to forms no exception to the remark; and Naples, +like Sicily, continued permanently ingrafted on the kingdom of Aragon. + +A fundamental change in the institutions of Naples became requisite to +accommodate them to its new relations. Its great offices of state and its +legal tribunals were reorganized. Its jurisprudence, which, under the +Angevin race, and even the first Aragonese, had been adapted to French +usages, was now modelled on the Spanish. The various innovations were +conducted by the Catholic king with his usual prudence; and the reform in +the legislation is commended by a learned and impartial Italian civilian, +as breathing a spirit of moderation and wisdom. [100] He conceded many +privileges to the people, and to the capital especially, whose venerable +university he resuscitated from the decayed state into which it had +fallen, making liberal appropriations from the treasury for its endowment. +The support of a mercenary army, and the burdens incident to the war, +pressed heavily on the people during the first years of his reign. But the +Neapolitans, who, as already noticed, had been transferred too often from +one victor to another to be keenly sensible to the loss of political +independence, were gradually reconciled to his administration, and +testified their sense of its beneficent character by celebrating the +anniversary of his death, for more than two centuries, with public +solemnities, as a day of mourning throughout the kingdom. [101] + +But far the most important of the distant acquisitions of Spain were those +secured to her by the genius of Columbus and the enlightened patronage of +Isabella. Imagination had ample range in the boundless perspective of +these unknown regions; but the results actually realized from the +discoveries, during the queen's life, were comparatively insignificant. In +a mere financial view, they had been a considerable charge on the crown. +This was, indeed, partly owing to the humanity of Isabella, who +interfered, as we have seen, to prevent the compulsory exaction of Indian +labor. This was subsequently, and immediately after her death indeed, +carried to such an extent, that nearly half a million of ounces of gold +were yearly drawn from the mines of Hispaniola alone. [102] The pearl +fisheries, [103] and the culture of the sugar-cane, introduced from the +Canaries, [104] yielded large returns under the same inhuman system. + +Ferdinand, who enjoyed, by the queen's testament, half the amount of the +Indian revenues, was now fully awakened to their importance. It would be +unjust, however, to suppose his views limited to immediate pecuniary +profits; for the measures he pursued were, in many respects, well +contrived to promote the nobler ends of discovery and colonization. He +invited the persons most eminent for nautical science and enterprise, as +Pinzon, Solis, Vespucci, to his court, where they constituted a sort of +board of navigation, constructing charts, and tracing out new routes for +projected voyages. [105] The conduct of this department was intrusted to +the last-mentioned navigator, who had the glory, the greatest which +accident and caprice ever granted to man, of giving his name to the new +hemisphere. + +Fleets were now fitted out on a more extended scale, which might vie, +indeed, with the splendid equipments of the Portuguese, whose brilliant +successes in the east excited the envy of their Castilian rivals. The king +occasionally took a share in the voyage, independently of the interest +which of right belonged to the crown. [106.] + +The government, however, realized less from these expensive enterprises +than individuals, many of whom, enriched by their official stations, or by +accidentally falling in with some hoard of treasure among the savages, +returned home to excite the envy and cupidity of their countrymen. [107] +But the spirit of adventure was too high among the Castilians to require +such incentive, especially when excluded from its usual field in Africa +and Europe. A striking proof of the facility, with which the romantic +cavaliers of that day could be directed to this new career of danger on +the ocean, was given at the time of the last-meditated expedition into +Italy under the Great Captain. A squadron of fifteen vessels, bound for +the New World, was then riding in the Guadalquivir. Its complement was +limited to one thousand two hundred men; but, on Ferdinand's +countermanding Gonsalvo's enterprise, more than three thousand volunteers, +many of them of noble family, equipped with unusual magnificence for the +Italian service, hastened to Seville, and pressed to be admitted into the +Indian armada. [108] Seville itself was in a manner depopulated by the +general fever of emigration, so that it actually seemed, says a +contemporary, to be tenanted only by women. [109] + +In this universal excitement, the progress of discovery was pushed forward +with a success, inferior, indeed, to what might have been effected in the +present state of nautical skill and science, but extraordinary for the +times. The winding depths of the Gulf of Mexico were penetrated, as well +as the borders of the rich but rugged isthmus, which connects the American +continents. In 1512, Florida was discovered by a romantic old knight, +Ponce de Leon, who, instead of the magical fountain of health, found his +grave there. [110] Solis, another navigator, who had charge of an +expedition, projected by Ferdinand, [111] to reach the South Sea by the +circumnavigation of the continent, ran down the coast as far as the great +Rio de la Plata, where he also was cut off by the savages. In 1513, Vasco +Nunez de Balboa penetrated, with a handful of men, across the narrow part +of the Isthmus of Darien, and from the summit of the Cordilleras, the +first of Europeans, was greeted with the long-promised vision of the +southern ocean. [112] The intelligence of this event excited a sensation +in Spain, inferior only to that caused by the discovery of America. The +great object which had so long occupied the imagination of the nautical +men of Europe, and formed the purpose of Columbus's last voyage, the +discovery of a communication with these far western waters, was +accomplished. The famous spice islands, from which the Portuguese had +drawn such countless sums of wealth, were scattered over this sea; and the +Castilians, after a journey of a few leagues, might launch their barks on +its quiet bosom, and reach, and perhaps claim, the coveted possessions of +their rivals, as falling west of the papal line of demarkation. Such were +the dreams, and such the actual progress of discovery, at the close of +Ferdinand's reign. + +Our admiration of the dauntless heroism displayed by the early Spanish +navigators, in their extraordinary career, is much qualified by a +consideration of the cruelties with which it was tarnished; too great to +be either palliated or passed over in silence by the historian. As long as +Isabella lived, the Indians found an efficient friend and protector; but +"her death," says the venerable Las Casas, "was the signal for their +destruction." [113] Immediately on that event, the system of +_repartimientos_, originally authorized, as we have seen, by Columbus, who +seems to have had no doubt, from the first, of the crown's absolute right +of property over the natives, [114] was carried to its full extent in the +colonies. [115] Every Spaniard, however humble, had his proportion of +slaves; and men, many of them not only incapable of estimating the awful +responsibility of the situation, but without the least touch of humanity +in their natures, were individually intrusted with the unlimited disposal +of the lives and destinies of their fellow-creatures. They abused this +trust in the grossest manner; tasking the unfortunate Indian far beyond +his strength, inflicting the most refined punishments on the indolent, and +hunting down those who resisted or escaped, like so many beasts of chase, +with ferocious bloodhounds. Every step of the white man's progress in the +New World, may be said to have been on the corpse of a native. Faith is +staggered by the recital of the number of victims immolated in these fair +regions within a very few years after the discovery; and the heart sickens +at the loathsome details of barbarities, recorded by one, who, if his +sympathies have led him sometimes to over-color, can never be suspected of +wilfully misstating facts, of which he was an eye-witness. [116] A selfish +indifference to the rights of the original occupants of the soil, is a sin +which lies at the door of most of the primitive European settlers, whether +papist or puritan, of the New World. But it is light, in comparison with +the fearful amount of crimes to be charged on the early Spanish colonists; +crimes that have, perhaps, in this world, brought down the retribution of +Heaven, which has seen fit to turn this fountain of inexhaustible wealth +and prosperity to the nation into the waters of bitterness. + +It may seem strange, that no relief was afforded by the government to +these oppressed subjects. But Ferdinand, if we may credit Las Casas, was +never permitted to know the extent of the injuries done to them. [117] He +was surrounded by men in the management of the Indian department, whose +interest it was to keep him in ignorance. [118] The remonstrances of some +zealous missionaries led him, [119] in 1501, to refer the subject of the +repartimientos to a council of jurists and theologians. This body yielded +to the representations of the advocates of the system, that it was +indispensable for maintaining the colonies, since the European was +altogether unequal to labor in this tropical climate; and that it, +moreover, afforded the only chance for the conversion of the Indian, who, +unless compelled, could never be brought in contact with the white man. +[120] + +On these grounds, Ferdinand openly assumed for himself and his ministers +the responsibility of maintaining this vicious institution; and +subsequently issued an ordinance to that effect, accompanied, however, by +a variety of humane and equitable regulations for restraining its abuse. +[121] The license was embraced in its full extent; the regulations were +openly disregarded. [122] Several years after, in 1515, Las Casas, moved +by the spectacle of human suffering, returned to Spain, and pleaded the +cause of the injured native, in tones which made the dying monarch tremble +on his throne. It was too late, however, for the king to execute the +remedial measures he contemplated. [123] The efficient interference of +Ximenes, who sent a commission for the purpose to Hispaniola, was attended +with no permanent results. And the indefatigable "protector of the +Indians" was left to sue for redress at the court of Charles, and to +furnish a splendid, if not a solitary example there, of a bosom penetrated +with the true spirit of Christian philanthropy. [124] + +I have elsewhere examined the policy pursued by the Catholic sovereigns in +the government of their colonies. The supply of precious metals yielded by +them eventually proved far greater than had ever entered into the +conception of the most sanguine of the early discoverers. Their prolific +soil and genial climate, moreover, afforded an infinite variety of +vegetable products, which might have furnished an unlimited commerce with +the mother country. Under a judicious protection, their population and +productions, steadily increasing, would have enlarged to an incalculable +extent the general resources of the empire. Such, indeed, might have been +the result of a wise system of legislation. + +But the true principles of colonial policy were sadly misunderstood in the +sixteenth century. The discovery of a world was estimated, like that of a +rich mine, by the value of its returns in gold and silver. Much of +Isabella's legislation, it is true, is of that comprehensive character, +which shows that she looked to higher and far nobler objects. But with +much that is good, there was mingled, as in most of her institutions, one +germ of evil, of little moment at the time, indeed, but which, under the +vicious culture of her successors, shot up to a height that overshadowed +and blighted all the rest. This was the spirit of restriction and +monopoly, aggravated by the subsequent laws of Ferdinand, and carried to +an extent under the Austrian dynasty, that paralyzed colonial trade. + +Under their most ingeniously perverse system of laws, the interests of +both the parent country and the colonies were sacrificed. The latter, +condemned to look for supplies to an incompetent source, were miserably +dwarfed in their growth; while the former contrived to convert the +nutriment which she extorted from the colonies into a fatal poison. The +streams of wealth which flowed in from the silver quarries of Zacatecas +and Potosí, were jealously locked up within the limits of the Peninsula. +The great problem, proposed by the Spanish legislation of the sixteenth +century, was the reduction of prices in the kingdom to the same level as +in other European nations. Every law that was passed, however, tended, by +its restrictive character, to augment the evil. The golden tide, which, +permitted a free vent, would have fertilized the region through which it +poured, now buried the land under a deluge which blighted every green and +living thing. Agriculture, commerce, manufactures, every branch of +national industry and improvement, languished and fell to decay; and the +nation, like the Phrygian monarch, who turned all that he touched to gold, +cursed by the very consummation of its wishes, was poor in the midst of +its treasures. + +From this sad picture, let us turn to that presented by the period of our +History, when, the clouds and darkness having passed away, a new morn +seemed to break upon the nation. Under the firm but temperate sway of +Ferdinand and Isabella, the great changes we have noticed were effected +without convulsion in the state. On the contrary, the elements of the +social system, which before jarred so discordantly, were brought into +harmonious action. The restless spirit of the nobles was turned from civil +faction to the honorable career of public service, whether in arms or +letters. The people at large, assured of the security of private rights, +were occupied with the different branches of productive labor. Trade, as +is abundantly shown by the legislation of the period, had not yet fallen +into the discredit which attached to it in later times. [125] The precious +metals, instead of flowing in so abundantly as to palsy the arm of +industry, served only to stimulate it. [126] + +The foreign intercourse of the country was every day more widely extended. +Her agents and consuls were to be found in all the principal ports of the +Mediterranean and the Baltic. [127] The Spanish mariner, instead of +creeping along the beaten track of inland navigation, now struck boldly +across the great western ocean. The new discoveries had converted the land +trade with India into a sea trade; and the nations of the Peninsula, who +had hitherto lain remote from the great highways of commerce, now became +the factors and carriers of Europe. + +The flourishing condition of the nation was seen in the wealth and +population of its cities, the revenues of which, augmented in all to a +surprising extent, had increased, in some, forty and even fifty fold +beyond what they were at the commencement of the reign; [128] the ancient +and lordly Toledo; Burgos, with its bustling, industrious traders; [129] +Valladolid, sending forth its thirty thousand warriors from its gates, +where the whole population now scarcely reaches two-thirds of that number; +[130] Cordova, in the south, and the magnificent Granada, naturalizing in +Europe the arts and luxuries of the east; Saragossa, "the abundant," as +she was called from her fruitful territory; Valencia, "the beautiful;" +Barcelona, rivalling in independence and maritime enterprise the proudest +of the Italian republics; [131] Medina del Campo, whose fairs were already +the great mart for the commercial exchanges of the Peninsula; [132] and +Seville, [133] the golden gate of the Indies, whose quays began to be +thronged with merchants from the most distant countries of Europe. + +The resources of the inhabitants were displayed in the palaces and public +edifices, fountains, aqueducts, gardens, and other works of utility and +ornament. This lavish expenditure was directed by an improved taste. +Architecture was studied on purer principles than before, and, with the +sister arts of design, showed the influence of the new connection with +Italy in the first gleams of that excellence, which shed such lustre over +the Spanish school at the close of the century. [134] A still more decided +impulse was given to letters. More printing presses were probably at work +in Spain in the infancy of the art, than at the present day. [135] Ancient +seminaries were remodelled; new ones were created. Barcelona, Salamanca, +and Alcalá, whose cloistered solitudes are now the grave, rather than the +nursery of science, then swarmed with thousands of disciples, who, under +the generous patronage of the government, found letters the surest path to +preferment. [136] Even the lighter branches of literature felt the +revolutionary spirit of the times, and, after yielding the last fruits of +the ancient system, displayed new and more beautiful varieties, under the +influence of Italian culture. [137] + +With this moral development of the nation, the public revenues, the sure +index, when unforced, of public prosperity, went on augmenting with +astonishing rapidity. In 1474, the year of Isabella's accession, the +ordinary rents of the Castilian crown amounted to 885,000 reals; [138] in +1477, to 2,390,078; in 1482, after the resumption of the royal grants, to +12,711,591; and finally in 1504, when the acquisition of Granada [139] and +the domestic tranquillity of the kingdom had encouraged the free expansion +of all its resources, to 26,283,334; or thirty times the amount received +at her accession. [140] All this, it will be remembered, was derived from +the customary established taxes, without the imposition of a single new +one. Indeed, the improvements in the mode of collection tended materially +to lighten the burdens on the people. + +The accounts of the population at this early period are, for the most +part, vague and unsatisfactory. Spain, in particular, has been the subject +of the most absurd, though, as it seems, not incredible estimates, +sufficiently evincing the paucity of authentic data. [141] Fortunately, +however, we labor under no such embarrassment as regards Castile in +Isabella's reign. By an official report to the crown on the organization +of the militia, in 1492, it appears that the population of the kingdom +amounted to 1,500,000 _vecinos_ or householders; or, allowing four +and a half to a family (a moderate estimate), to 6,750,000 souls. [142] +This census, it will be observed, was limited to the provinces immediately +composing the crown of Castile, to the exclusion of Granada, Navarre, and +the Aragonese dominions. [143] It was taken, moreover, before the nation +had time to recruit from the long and exhausting struggle of the Moorish +war, and twenty-five years before the close of the reign, when the +population, under circumstances peculiarly favorable, must have swelled to +a much larger amount. Thus circumscribed, however, it was probably +considerably in advance of that of England at the same period. [144] How +have the destinies of the two countries since been reversed? + +The territorial limits of the monarchy, in the mean time, went on +expanding beyond example;--Castile and Leon, brought under the same +sceptre with Aragon and its foreign dependencies, Sicily and Sardinia; +with the kingdoms of Granada, Navarre, and Naples; with the Canaries, +Oran, and the other settlements in Africa; and with the islands and vast +continents of America. To these broad domains, the comprehensive schemes +of the sovereigns would have added Portugal; and their arrangements for +this, although defeated for the present, opened the way to its eventual +completion under Philip the Second. [145] + +The petty states, which had before swarmed over the Peninsula, +neutralizing each other's operations, and preventing any effective +movement abroad, were now amalgamated into one whole. Sectional jealousies +and antipathies, indeed, were too sturdily rooted to be wholly +extinguished; but they gradually subsided, under the influence of a common +government, and community of interests. A more enlarged sentiment was +infused into the people, who, in their foreign relations, at least, +assumed the attitude of one great nation. The names of Castilian and +Aragonese were merged in the comprehensive one of Spaniard; and Spain, +with an empire which stretched over three-quarters of the globe, and which +almost realized the proud boast that the sun never set within her borders, +now rose, not to the first class only, but to the first place, in the +scale of European powers. + +The extraordinary circumstances of the country tended naturally to nourish +the lofty, romantic qualities, and the somewhat exaggerated tone of +sentiment, which always pervaded the national character. The age of +chivalry had not faded away in Spain, as in most other lands. [146] It was +fostered, in time of peace, by the tourneys, jousts, and other warlike +pageants, which graced the court of Isabella. [147] It gleamed out, as we +have seen, in the Italian campaigns under Gonsalvo de Cordova, and shone +forth in all its splendors in the war of Granada. "This was a right gentle +war," says Navagiero, in a passage too pertinent to be omitted, "in which, +as firearms were comparatively little used, each knight had the +opportunity of showing his personal prowess; and rare was it, that a day +passed without some feat of arms and valorous exploit. The nobility and +chivalry of the land all thronged there to gather renown. Queen Isabel, +who attended with her whole court, breathed courage into every heart. +There was scarce a cavalier, who was not enamoured of some one or other of +her ladies, the witness of his achievements, and who, as she presented him +his weapons, or some token of her favor, admonished him to bear himself +like a true knight, and show the strength of his passion by his valiant +deeds. [148] What knight so craven then," exclaims the chivalrous +Venetian, "that he would not have been more than a match for the stoutest +adversary; or who would not sooner have lost his life a thousand times, +than return dishonored to the lady of his love. In truth," he concludes, +"this conquest may be said to have been achieved by love, rather than by +arms." [149] + +The Spaniard was a knight-errant, in its literal sense, [150] roving over +seas on which no bark had ever ventured, among islands and continents +where no civilized man had ever trodden, and which fancy peopled with all +the marvels and drear enchantments of romance; courting danger in every +form, combating everywhere, and everywhere victorious. The very odds +presented by the defenceless natives among whom he was cast, "a thousand +of whom," to quote the words of Columbus, "were not equal to three +Spaniards," was in itself typical of his profession; [151] and the +brilliant destinies to which the meanest adventurer was often called, now +carving out with his good sword some "El Dorado" more splendid than fancy +had dreamed of, and now overturning some old barbaric dynasty, were full +as extraordinary as the wildest chimeras which Ariosto ever sang, or +Cervantes satirized. + +His countrymen who remained at home, feeding greedily on the reports of +his adventures, lived almost equally in an atmosphere of romance. A spirit +of chivalrous enthusiasm penetrated the very depths of the nation, +swelling the humblest individual with lofty aspirations, and a proud +consciousness of the dignity of his nature. "The princely disposition of +the Spaniards," says a foreigner of the time, "delighteth me much, as well +as the gentle nurture and noble conversation, not merely of those of high +degree, but of the citizen, peasant, and common laborer." [152] What +wonder that such sentiments should be found incompatible with sober, +methodical habits of business, or that the nation indulging them should be +seduced from the humble paths of domestic industry to a brilliant and +bolder career of adventure. Such consequences became too apparent in the +following reign. [153] + +In noticing the circumstances that conspired to form the national +character, it would be unpardonable to omit the establishment of the +Inquisition, which contributed so largely to counterbalance the benefits +resulting from Isabella's government; an institution which has done more +than any other to stay the proud march of human reason; which, by imposing +uniformity of creed, has proved the fruitful parent of hypocrisy and +superstition; which has soured the sweet charities of human life, [154] +and, settling like a foul mist on the goodly promise of the land, closed +up the fair buds of science and civilization ere they were fully opened. +Alas, that such a blight should have fallen on so gallant and generous a +people! That it should have been brought on it too by one of such +unblemished patriotism and purity of motive, as Isabella! How must her +virtuous spirit, if it be permitted the departed good to look down on the +scene of their earthly labors, mourn over the misery and moral +degradation, entailed on her country by this one act! So true is it, that +the measures of this great queen have had a permanent influence, whether +for good or evil, on the destinies of her country. + +The immediate injury inflicted on the nation by the spirit of bigotry in +the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, although greatly exaggerated, [155] +was doubtless serious enough. Under the otherwise beneficent operation of +their government, however, the healthful and expansive energies of the +state were sufficient to heal up these and deeper wounds, and still carry +it onward in the career of prosperity. With this impulse, indeed, the +nation continued to advance higher and higher, in spite of the system of +almost unmingled evil pursued in the following reigns. The glories of this +later period, of the age of Charles the Fifth, as it is called, must find +their true source in the measures of his illustrious predecessors. It was +in their court that Boscan, Garcilasso, Mendoza, and the other master- +spirits were trained, who moulded Castilian literature into the new and +more classical forms of later times. [156] It was under Gonsalvo de +Cordova, that Leyva, Pescara, and those great captains with their +invincible legions were formed, who enabled Charles the Fifth to dictate +laws to Europe for half a century. And it was Columbus, who not only led +the way, but animated the Spanish navigator with the spirit of discovery. +Scarcely was Ferdinand's reign brought to a close, before Magellan +completed, what that monarch had projected, the circumnavigation of the +southern continent; the victorious banners of Cortes had already +penetrated into the golden realms of Montezuma; and Pizarro, a very few +years later, following up the lead of Balboa, embarked on the enterprise +which ended in the downfall of the splendid dynasty of the Incas. + +Thus it is, that the seed sown under a good system continues to yield +fruit in a bad one. The season of the most brilliant results, however, is +not always that of the greatest national prosperity. The splendors of +foreign conquest in the boasted reign of Charles the Fifth were dearly +purchased by the decline of industry at home, and the loss of liberty. The +patriot will see little to cheer him in this "golden age" of the national +history, whose outward show of glory will seem to his penetrating eye only +the hectic brilliancy of decay. He will turn to an earlier period, when +the nation, emerging from the sloth and license of a barbarous age, seemed +to renew its ancient energies, and to prepare like a giant to run its +course; and glancing over the long interval since elapsed, during the +first half of which the nation wasted itself on schemes of mad ambition, +and in the latter has sunk into a state of paralytic torpor, he will fix +his eye on the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, as the most glorious epoch +in the annals of his country. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] Ante, Part I., Chapter 6. + +[2] Among the minor means for diminishing the consequence of the nobility, +may be mentioned the regulation respecting the "privilegios rodados"; +instruments formerly requiring to be countersigned by the great lords and +prelates, but which, from the time of Ferdinand and Isabella, were +submitted for signature only, to officers especially appointed for the +purpose. Salazar de Mendoza, Dignidades, lib. 2, cap. 12. + +[3] Ante, Introd. Sect. 1. + +[4]A pertinent example of this policy of the sovereigns occurred in the +cortes of Madrigal, 1476; where, notwithstanding the important subjects of +legislation, none but the third estate were present. (Pulgar Reyes +Católicos, p. 94.) An equally apposite illustration is afforded by the +care to summon the great vassals to the cortes of Toledo, in 1480, when +matters nearly touching them, as the revocation of their honors and +estates, were under discussion, but not till then. Ibid., p. 165. + +[5] The same principle made them equally vigilant in maintaining the +purity of those in office. Oviedo mentions, that in 1497 they removed a +number of jurists, on the charge of bribery and other malversation, from +their seats in the royal council. Quincuagenas, MS., dial. de Grizio. + +[6] See a letter of the council to Charles V., commending the course +adopted by his grandparents in their promotions to office, apud Carbajal, +Anales, MS., año 1517, cap. 4. + +[7] Yet strange instances of promotion are not wanting in Spanish history; +witness the adventurer Ripperda, in Philip V.'s time, and the Prince of +the Peace, in our own; men, who, owing their success less to their own +powers, than the imbecility of others, could lay no claim to the bold and +independent sway exercised by Ximenes. + +[8] Ante, Part I., Chapter 19.--"No os parece á vos," says Oviedo, in one +of his Dialogues, "que es mejor ganado eso, que les dá su principe por sus +servicios, é lo que llevan justamente de sus oficios, que lo que se +adquiere robando capas agenas, é matando é vertiendo sangre de +Cristianos?" (Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 3, dial. 9.) The sentiment +would have been too enlightened for a Spanish cavalier of the fifteenth +century. + +[9] In the cortes of Calatayud, in 1515, the Aragonese nobles withheld the +supplies, with the design of compelling the crown to relinquish certain +rights of jurisdiction, which it assumed over their vassals. "Les +parecio," said the archbishop of Saragossa, in a speech on the occasion, +"que auian perdido mucho, en que el ceptro real cobrasse lo suyo, por su +industria. ***** Esto los otros estados del reyno lo atribuyeron a gran +virtud: y lo estimauan por beneficio inmortal." (Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. +lib. 10, cap. 93.) The other estates, in fact, saw their interests too +clearly, not to concur with the crown in this assertion of its ancient +prerogative. Blancas, Modo de Proceder, fol. 100. + +[10] Such, for example, were those of great chancellor, of admiral, and of +constable of Castile. The first of these ancient offices was permanently +united by Isabella with that of archbishop of Toledo. The office of +admiral became hereditary, after Henry III., in the noble family of +Enriquez, and that of constable in the house of Velasco. Although of great +authority and importance in their origin, and, indeed, in the time of the +Catholic sovereigns, these posts gradually, after becoming hereditary, +declined into mere titular dignities. Salazar de Mendoza, Dignidades, lib. +2, cap. 8, 10; lib. 3, cap. 21.--L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 24. + +[11] The duke of Infantado, head of the ancient house of Mendoza, whose +estates lay in Castile, and, indeed, in most of the provinces of the +kingdom, is described by Navagiero as living in great magnificence. He +maintained a body guard of 200 foot, besides men-at-arms; and could muster +more than 30,000 vassals. (Viaggio, fol. 6, 33.) Oviedo makes the same +statement. (Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 8.) Lucio Marineo, +among other things in his curious _farrago_, has given an estimate of +the rents, "poco mas 6 menos," of the great nobility of Castile and +Aragon, whose whole amount he computes at one-third of those of the whole +kingdom. I will select a few of the names familiar to us in the present +narrative. + +Enriquez, admiral of Castile, 50,000 ducats income, equal to $440,000. +Velasco, constable of Castile, 60,000 ducats income, estates in Old +Castile. +Toledo, duke of Alva, 50,000 ducats income, estates in Castile and +Navarre. +Mendoza, duke of Infantado, 50,000 ducats income, estates in Castile and +other provinces. +Guzman, duke of Medina Sidonia, 55,000 ducats income, estates in +Andalusia. +Cerda, duke of Medina Celi, 30,000 ducats income, estates in Castile and +Andalusia. +Ponce de Leon, duke of Arcos, 25,000 ducats income, estates in Andalusia. +Pacheco, duke of Escalona (marquis of Villena), 60,000 ducats income, +estates in Castile. +Cordova, duke of Sessa, 60,000 ducats income, estates in Naples and +Andalusia. +Aguilar, marquis of Priego, 40,000 ducats income, estates in Andalusia and +Estremadura. +Mendoza, count of Tendilla, 15,000 ducats income, estates in Castile. +Pimentel, count of Benavente, 60,000 ducats income, estates in Castile. +Giron, count of Ureña, 20,000 ducats income, estates in Andalusia. +Silva, count of Cifuentes, 10,000 ducats income, estates in Andalusia. + +(Cosas Memorables, fol. 24, 25.) The estimate is confirmed, with some +slight discrepancies, by Navagiero, Viaggio, fol. 18, 33, et alibi. See +also Salazar de Mendoza, Dignidades, discurso 2. + +[12] "En casa de aquellos Principes estaban las hijas de los principales +señores 6 cavalleros por damas de la Reyna 6 de las Infantas sus hijas, y +en la corte andaban todos los mayorazgos y hijos de grandes 4 los mas +heredados de sus reynos." Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 4, +dial 44. + +[13] "Como quier que oia el parecer de _personal religiosas_ é de los +otros letrados que cerca della eran, pero la mayor parte seguia las cosas +por su arbitrio." Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, part 1, cap. 4. + +[14] Lucio Marineo has collected many particulars respecting the great +wealth of the Spanish clergy in his time. There were four metropolitan +sees in Castile. + + Toledo, income 80,000 ducats. + St. James, " 24,000 " + Seville, " 20,000 " + Granada, " 10,000 " + +There were twenty-nine bishoprics, whose aggregate revenues, very +unequally apportioned, amounted to 251,000 ducats. The church livings in +Aragon were much fewer and leaner than in Castile. (Cosas Memorables, fol. +23.) The Venetian Navagiero, speaks of the metropolitan church of Toledo, +as "the wealthiest in Christendom;" its canons lived in stately palaces, +and its revenues, with those of the archbishopric, equalled those of the +whole city of Toledo. (Viaggio, fol. 9.) He notices also the great +opulence of the churches of Seville, Guadalupe, etc., fol. 11, 13. + +[15] See Pragmáticas del Reyno, fol. 11, 140, 141, 171, et loc. al.--From +one of these ordinances, it appears the clergy were not backward in +remonstrating against what they deemed an infringement of their rights. +(Fol. 172.) The queen, however, while she guarded against their +usurpations, interfered more than once, with her usual sense of justice, +on their application, to shield them from the encroachments of the civil +tribunals. Riol, Informe, apud Semanario Erudito, tom. iii. pp. 98, 99. + +[16] See Part I., Chapter 6, of this History. + +[17] See examples of this in Riol, Informe, apud Semanario Erudito, tom. +iii. pp. 95-102.--Pragmáticas del Reyno, fol. 14. + +[18] Riol, Informe, apud Semanario Erudite, tom. iii. p. 94.--L. Marineo, +Cosas Memorables, fol. 182. + +[19] Oviedo bears emphatic testimony to this. "En nuestros tiempos há +habido en España de nuestra Nacion grandes varones Letrados, excelentes +Perlados y Religiosos y personas que por suos habilidades y sciencias hán +subido á las mas altas dignidades de Capelos é de Arzobispados y todo lo +que mas se puede alcanzar, en la Iglesia de Dios." Quincuagenas, MS., +dial. de Talavera.--Col. de Cédulas, tom. i. p. 400. + +[20] "Lo qne debe admirar es, que en el tiempo mismo que se contendia con +tanto ardor, obtuvieron los Reyes de la Santa Sede mas gracias y +privilegios que ninguno de sus sucesores; prueba de su felicidad y de su +prudentísima conducta." Riol, Informe, apud Semanario Erudito, tom. in. p. +95. + +[21] "Porque la igualidad de la justicia que los bienauenturados Principes +hazian era tal, que todos los hombres de qualquier condicion que fuessen: +aora nobles, y caualleros: aora plebeyos, y labradores, y riejos, o +pobres, flacos, o fuertes, señores, o sieruos en lo que a la justicia +tocaua todos fuessen iguales." Cosas Memorables, fol. 180. + +[22] These beneficial changes were made with the advice, and through the +agency of Ximenes. (Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 24.--Quintanilla, +Archetypo, p. 181.) The _alcavala_, a tax of one-tenth on all transfers of +property, produced more than any other branch of the revenue. As it was +originally designed, more than a century before, to furnish funds for the +Moorish war, Isabella, as we have seen in her testament, entertained great +scruples as to the right to continue it, without the confirmation of the +people, after that was terminated. Ximenes recommended its abolition, +without any qualification, to Charles V., but in vain. (Idem auct., ubi +supra.) Whatever be thought of its legality, there can be no doubt it was +one of the most successful means ever devised by a government for +shackling the industry and enterprise of its subjects. + +[23] A pragmatic was issued, September 18th, 1495, prescribing the weapons +and the seasons for a regular training of the militia. The preamble +declares, that it was made at the instance of the representatives of the +cities and the nobles, who complained, that, in consequence of the +tranquillity, which the kingdom, through the divine mercy had for some +years enjoyed, the people were very generally unprovided with arms, +offensive or defensive, having sold or suffered them to fall into decay, +insomuch that, in their present condition, they would be found wholly +unprepared to meet either domestic disturbance, or foreign invasion. +(Pragmáticas del Reyno, fol. 83.) What a tribute does this afford, in this +age of violence, to the mild, paternal character of the administration? + +[24] The most important were those of Madrigal, in 1476, and of Toledo, in +1480, to which I have often had occasion to refer. "Las mas notables," say +Asso and Mannel, in reference to the latter, "y famosas de este Reynado, +en el qual podemos asegurar, que tuvo principio el mayor aumento, y +arreglo de nuestra Jurisprudencia." (Instituciones, Introd., p. 91.) +Marina notices this cortes with equal panegyric. (Teoría, tom. i. p. 75.) +See also Sempere, Hist. des Cortés, p. 197. + +[25] See Part I. Chapters 10, 11, et alibi. + +[26] At Valladolid, in 1506. The number of cities having right of +representation, "que acostumbran continuamente embiar procuradores á +cortes," according to Pulgar, was seventeen. (Reyes Católicos, cap. 95.) +This was before Granada was added. Martyr, writing some years after that +event, enumerates only sixteen, as enjoying the privilege. (Opus Epist., +epist. 460.) Pulgar's estimate, however, is corroborated by the petition +of the cortes of Valladolid, which, with more than usual effrontery, would +limit the representation to eighteen cities, as prescribed "por algunas +leyes é inmemorial uso." Marina, Teoría, tom. i. p. 161. + +[27] Many of these _pragmáticas_ purport, in their preambles, to be +made at the demand of cortes; many more at the petition of corporations or +individuals; and many from the good pleasure of the sovereigns, bound to +"remedy all grievances, and provide for the exigencies of the state." +These ordinances very frequently are stated to have been made with the +advice of the royal council. They were proclaimed in the public squares of +the city, in which they were executed, and afterwards in those of the +principal towns in the kingdom. The doctors Asso and Manuel divide +_pragmáticas_ into two classes; those made at the instance of cortes, +and those emanating from the "sovereign, as _supreme legislator_ of +the kingdom, moved by his anxiety for the common weal." "Muchos de este +género," they add, "contiene el libro raro intitulado _Pragmáticas del +Reyno_, que se imprimió la primera vez en Alcalá en 1528." (Instituciones, +Introd., p. 110.) This is an error;--see note 43, infra. + +[28] "Por la presente premáticasencion," said John II., in one of his +ordinances, "lo cual todo é cada cosa dello é parte dello quiero é mando é +ordeno que se guarde é compla daqui adelante para siempre jámas en todas +las cibdades é villas é logares non embargante cualesquier leyes é fueros +é derechos é ordenamientos, constituciones é posesiones é premáticas- +senciones, é usos é costumbres, ca en cuanto á est oatañe yo los abrogo é +derogo." (Marina, Teoría, tom. ii. p. 216.) This was the very essence of +despotism, and John found it expedient to retract these expressions, on +the subsequent remonstrance of cortes. + +[29] Indeed, it is worthy of remark, as evincing the progress of +civilization under this reign, that most of the criminal legislation is to +be referred to its commencement, while the laws of the subsequent period +chiefly concern the new relations which grow out of an increased domestic +industry. It is in the "Ordenanças Reales," and "Leyes de la Hermandad," +both published by 1485, that we must look for the measures against +violence and rapine. + +[30] Thus, for example, the important criminal laws of the Hermandad, and +the civil code called the "Laws of Toro," were made under the express +sanction of the commons. (Leyes de la Hermandad, fol. l.--Quaderno de las +Leyes y Nuevas Decisiones hechas y ordenadas en la Ciudad de Toro, (Medina +del Campo, 1555,) fol. 49.) Nearly all, if not all, the acts of the +Catholic sovereigns introduced into the famous code of the "Ordenanças +Reales," were passed in the cortes of Madrigal, in 1476, or Toledo, in +1480. + +[31] It should be stated, however, that the cortes of Valladolid, in 1506, +two years after the queen's death, enjoined Philip and Joanna to make no +laws without the consent of cortes; remonstrating, at the same time, +against the existence of many royal _pragmáticas_, as an evil to be +redressed. "Y por esto se estableció lei que no hiciesen ni renovasen +leyes sino en cortes. ***** Y porque fuera de esta órden se han hecho +muchas premáticas de que estos vuestros reynos se tienen por agraviados, +manden que aquellas se revean y provean y remedien los agravios que las +tales premáticas tienen." (Marina, Teoría, tom. ii. p. 218.) Whether this +is to be understood of the ordinances of the reigning sovereigns, or their +predecessors, may be doubted. It is certain, that the nation, however it +may have acquiesced in the exercise of this power by the late queen, would +not have been content to resign it to such incompetent hands, as those of +Philip and his crazy wife. + +[32] "Liberi patriis legibus, nil imperio Regis gubernantur." Opus Epist., +epist. 438. + +[33] Capmany, however, understates the number, when he limits it to four +sessions only during this whole reign. Práctica y Estilo, p. 62. + +[34] See Part II., Chapter 12, note 7, of this History.--"Si quis +aliquid," says Martyr, speaking of a cortes general held at Monzon, by +Queen Germaine, "sibi contra jus illatum putat, aut a regiâ coronâ +quaequam deberi existimat, nunquam dissolvuntur conventus, donec +conquerenti satisfiat, neque Regibus parere in exigendis pecuniis, solent +aliter. Regina quotidie scribit, se vexari eorum petitionibus, nec +exsolvere se quire, quod se maxime optare ostendit. Rex imminentis +necessitatis bellicae vim proponit, ut in aliud tempus querelas differant, +per literas, per nuntios, per ministros, conventum praesidentesque +hortatur monetque, et summissis fere verbis rogare videtur." 1512. (Opus +Epist., epist. 493.) Blancas notices Ferdinand's astuteness, who, instead +of money granted by the Aragonese with difficulty and reservations, +usually applied for troops at once, which were furnished and paid by the +state. (Modo de Proceder, fol. 100, 101.) Zurita tells us, that both the +king and queen were averse to meetings of cortes in Castile oftener than +absolutely necessary, and both took care, on such occasions, to have their +own agents near the deputies, to influence their proceedings. "Todas las +vezes que en lo passado el Rey, y la Reyna doña Isabel llamauan à cortes +en Castilla, temian de las llamar: y despues de llamodos, y ayuntados los +procuradores, ponian tales personas de su parte, que continuamente se +juntassen con ellos; por escusar lo que podria resultar de aquellos +ayuntamientos: y tambien por darles à entender, que no tenian tanto poder, +quanto ellos se imaginauan." (Anales, tom. vi. fol. 96.) This course is as +repugnant to Isabella's character as it is in keeping with her husband's. +Under their joint administration, it is not always easy to discriminate +the part which belongs to each. Their respective characters, and political +conduct in affairs where they were separately concerned, furnish us a +pretty safe clue to our judgment in others. + +[35] As, for example, both when he resigned, and resumed the regency. See +Part II., Chapters 17, 20. + +[36] In the first cortes after Isabella's death, at Toro, in 1505, +Ferdinand introduced the practice, which has since obtained, of +administering an oath of secrecy to the deputies, as to the proceedings of +the session; a serious wound to popular representation. (Marina, Teoría, +tom. i. p. 273.) Capmany (Práctica y Estilo, p. 232.) errs in describing +this as "un arteficio Maquiavélico inventado por _la política Alemana_." +The German Machiavelism has quite sins enough in this way to answer for. + +[37] The introductory law to the "Leyes de Toro" holds this strange +language; "Y porque al rey pertenesce y ha poder de hazer fueros y leyes, +y de las interpretar y emendar donde vieren que cumple," etc. (Leyes de +Toro, fol. 2.) What could John II., or any despot of the Austrian line, +claim more? + +[38] See the address of the cortes, in Marina, Teoría, tom. p. 282. + +[39] Among the writers repeatedly cited by me, it is enough to point out +the citizen Marina, who has derived more illustrations of his liberal +theory of the constitution from the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella than +from any other; and who loses no opportunity of panegyric on their +"paternal government," and of contrasting it with the tyrannical policy of +later times. + +[40] Marina enumerates no less than nine separate codes of civil and +municipal law in Castile, by which the legal decisions were to be +regulated, in Ferdinand and Isabella's time. Ensayo Historico-Critico, +sobre la Antigua Legislacion de Castilla, (Madrid, 1808,) pp. 383-386.-- +Asso y Manuel, Instituciones, Introd. + +[41] See Part I., Chapter 6, of this History. + +[42] "A collection," says senor Clemencin, "of the last importance, and +indispensable to a right understanding of the spirit of Isabella's +government, but, nevertheless, little known to Castilian writers, not +excepting the most learned of them." (Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. +Ilust. 9.) No edition of the _Pragmáticas_ has appeared since the +publication of Philip II.'s "Nueva Recopilacion," in 1567, in which a +large portion of them are embodied. The remainder having no further +authority, the work has gradually fallen into oblivion. But, whatever be +the cause, the fact is not very creditable to professional science in +Spain. + +[43] The earliest edition was at Alcalá de Henares, printed by Lanzalao +Polono, in 1503. It was revised and prepared for the press by Johan +Ramirez, secretary of the royal council, from whom the work is often +called "Pragmáticas de Ramirez." It passed through several editions by +1550. Clemencin (ubi supra) enumerates five, but his list is incomplete, +as the one in my possession, probably the second, has escaped his notice. +It is a fine old folio, in black letter, containing in addition some +ordinances of Joanna, and the "Laws of Toro," in 192 folios. On the last +is this notice by the printer. "Fue ympressa la presente obra en la muy +noble y muy leal cibdad de Senilla, por Juan Varela ympressor de libros. +Acabose a dos dias del mes de otubre de mill y quinientos y veynte años." +The first leaf after the table of contents exhibits the motives of its +publication. "E porqué como algunas de ellas (pragmáticas sanciones é +cartas) ha mucho tiempo que se dieron, é otras se hicieron en diversos +tiempos, estan derramadas por muchas partes, no se saben por todos, é aun +muchas de las dichas justicias no tienen comlida noticia de todas ellas, +paresciendo ser necesario é provechoso; mandamos fi los del nuestro +consejo que las hiciesen juntar é corregir é impremir," etc. + +[44] "Leyes de Toro," say Asso and Manuel, "veneradas tanto desde +entonces, que se les dió el primer lugar de valimiento sobre todas las del +Reyno." Instituciones, Introd. p. 95. + +[45] See the sensible memorial of Jovellanos, "Informe al Real y Supremo +Consejo en el Expediente de Ley Agraria." Madrid, 1795. + +There have been several editions of this code, since the first of 1505. +(Marina, Ensayo, No. 450.) I have copies of two editions, in black letter, +neither of them known to Marina; one, above noticed, printed at Seville, +in 1520; and the other at Medina del Campo, in 1555, probably the latest. +The laws were subsequently incorporated in the "Nueva Recopilacion." + +[46] "Esta ley," says Jovellanos, "que los jurisconsultos llaman a boca +llena injusta y barbara, lo es mucho mas por la extension quelos +pragmaticas le dieron en sus comentarios." (Informe, p. 76, nota.) The +edition of Medina del Campo, in 1555, is swelled by the commentaries of +Miguel de Cifuentes, till the text, in the language of bibliographers, +looks like "cymba in oceano." + +[47] Ante, Part I., Chapter 6. + +[48] Leyes del Quaderno Nuevo de las Rentas de las Alcavalas y Franquezas, +hecho en la Vega de Granada, (Salamanca, 1550); a little code of 37 +folios, containing 147 laws for the regulation of the crown rents. It was +made in the Vega of Granada, December 10th, 1491. The greater part of +these laws, like so many others of this reign, have been admitted into the +"Nueva Recopilacion." + +[49] the head of these, undoubtedly, must be placed Dr. Alfonso Diaz de +Montalvo, noticed more than once in the course of this History. He +illustrated three successive reigns by his labors, which he continued to +the close of a long life, and after he had become blind. The Catholic +sovereigns highly appreciated his services, and settled a pension on him +of 30,000 maravedies. Besides his celebrated compilation of the +"Ordenancas Reales," he wrote commentaries on the ancient code of the +"Fuero Real," and on the "Siete Partidas," printed for the first time +under his own eye, in 1491. (Mendez, Typographia Espanola, p. 183.) Marina +(Ensayo, p. 405) has bestowed a beautiful eulogium on this venerable +lawyer, who first gave to light the principal Spanish codes, and +introduced a spirit of criticism into the national jurisprudence. + +[50] This gigantic work was committed, wholly or in part, to Dr. Lorenzo +Galindez de Carbajal. He labored many years on it, but the results of his +labors, as elsewhere noticed, have never been communicated to the public. +See Asso y Manuel, Instituciones, pp. 50, 99.--Marina, Ensayo, pp. 392, +406, and Clemencin, whose Ilust. 9 exhibits a most clear and satisfactory +view of the legal compilations under this reign. + +[51] Lord Bacon's comment on Henry VII.'s laws, might apply with equal +force to these of Ferdinand and Isabella. "Certainly his times for good +commonwealth's laws did excel. ***** For his laws, whoso marks them well, +are deep, and not vulgar; not made upon the spur of a particular occasion +for the present, but out of providence of the future, to make the estate +of his people still more and more happy; after the manner of the +legislators in ancient and heroical times." Hist. of Henry VII., Works, +(ed. 1819,) vol. v. p. 60. + +[52] Ante, Part I., Chapter 6. + +[53] Pragmáticas del Reyno, fol. 24, 30, 39.--Recop. de las Leyes, (ed. +1640,) tom. i. lib. 2, tit. 5, leyes 1, 2, 3, 11, 12, 20; tit. 7, ley 1.-- +Ordenanças Reales, lib. 2. tit. 4. The southern chancery, first opened at +Ciudad Real, in 1494, was subsequently transferred by the sovereigns to +Granada. + +[54] Ante, Part I., Chapter 7, note 39. + +[55] Ante, Part I., Chapter 6, note 34. + +[56] Riol, Informe, apud Seminario Erudito, tom. iii. p. 149.--It +consisted of a vice chancellor, as president, and six ministers, two from +each of the three provinces of the crown. It was consulted by the king on +all appointments and matters of government. The Italian department was +committed to a separate tribunal, called the council of Italy, in 1556. +Capmany (Mem. de Barcelona, tom. iv. Apend. 17) has explained at length +the functions and authority of this institution. + +[57] See the nature and broad extent of these powers, in Recop. de Leyes +de las Indias, tom. i. lib. 2, tit. 2, leyes 1, 2.--Also Solorzano, +Politica Indiana, tom. ii. lib. 5, cap. 15; who goes no further back than +the remodelling of this tribunal under Charles V.--Riol, Informe, apud +Semanario Erudito, tom. iii. pp. 159, 160. + +The third volume of the Semanario Erudito, pp. 73-233, contains a report, +drawn up, by command of Philip V., in 1726, by Don Santiago Augustin Riol, +on the organization and state of the various tribunals, civil and +ecclesiastical, under Ferdinand and Isabella; together with an account of +the papers contained in their archives. It is an able memorial, replete +with curious information. It is singular that this interesting and +authentic document should have been so little consulted, considering the +popular character of the collection in which it is preserved. I do not +recollect ever to have met with a reference to it in any author. It was by +mere accident, in the absence of a general index, that I stumbled on it in +the _mare magnum_ in which it is engulfed. + +[58] "Pusieron los Reyes Católicos," says the penetrating Mendoza, "el +govierno de la justicia, i cosas públicas en manos de Letrados, gente +media entre los grandes i pequeños, sin ofensa de los linos ni de los +otros. Cuya profesion eran letras legales, comedimiento, secreto, verdad, +vida liana, i sin corrupcion de costumbres." Guerre de Granada, p. 15. + +[59] Granada, September 3d, Pragmáticas del Reyno, fol. 135.--A pragmatic +of similar import was issued by Henry III. Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, +tom, i., Introd. p. 46. + +[60] Granada, August 11th, 1501. Pragmáticas del Reyno, fol. 137. + +[61] Alfaro, November 10th, 1495. Ibid., fol. 136. + +[62] See a number of these, collected by Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, +Introd. pp. 43, 44. + +[63] Cited by Robertson, History of America, vol. iii. p. 305. + +[64] The fleet fitted out against the Turks, in 1482, consisted of seventy +sail, and that under Gonsalvo, in 1500, of sixty, large and small. (Ante, +Part I., Chapter 6: Part II., Chapter 10.) See other expeditions, +enumerated by Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. i. p. 50. + +[65] Cura de los Palacios, MS., cap. 153; who, indeed, estimates the +complement of this fleet at 25,000 men; a round number, which must +certainly include persons of every description. The Invincible Armada +consisted, according to Dunham, of about 130 vessels, large and small, +20,000 soldiers, and 8,000 seamen. (History of Spain and Portugal, vol. v. +p. 59.) The estimate falls below that of most writers. + +[66] En el real de la vega de Granada, December 20th. (Pragmáticas del +Reyno, fol. 133.) "Y les apercibays," enjoins the ordinance, "que los +marauedis porque los vendieren los ban de sacar de nuestros reynos en +mercadurias: y ni en oro ni en plata ni en moneda amonedada de manera que +no pueden pretender ygnorancia: y den fianças lianas y abonadas de lo +fazer y cumplir assi: y si fallaredes que sacan o lieuan oro o plata o +moneda contra el tenor y forma de las dichas leyes y desta nuestra carta +mandamos vos que gelo torneys: y sea perdido como las dichas leyes mandan, +y demas cayan y incurran en las penas en las leyes de nuestros reynos +contenidas contra los que sacan oro o plata o moneda fuera dellos sin +nuestra licencia y mandado: las quales executad en ellosy en sus +fiadores." + +[67] Pragmáticas del Reyno, fol. 92, 134.--These laws were as old as the +fourteenth century in Castile, and had been renewed by every succeeding +monarch, from the time of John I. (Ordenanças Reales, lib. 6, tit. 9, +leyes 17-22.) Similar ones were passed under the contemporary princes, +Henry VII. and Henry VIII. of England, James IV. of Scotland, etc. + +[68]--"Balucis malleator Hispanae," says Martial, noticing the noise made +by the gold-beaters, hammering out the Spanish ore, as one of the chief +annoyances which drove him from the capital, (lib. 12, ep. 57.) See also +the precise statement of Pliny, cited Part I., Chapter 8, of this History. + +[69] "Porque haciéndose ansí al modo é costumbre de los dichos senores +Reyes pasados, cesarán los inmensos gastos y sin provecho que la mesa é +casa de S. M. se hacen; pues el daño desto notoriamente paresce porque se +halla en el plato real y en los platos que se hacen á los privados é +criados de su casa gastarse cada mio dia ciento y cincuenta mil maravedís; +y los Católicos Reyes D. Hernando é Dona Isabel, seyendo tan excelentes y +tan poderosos, en su plato y en el plato del principe D. Joan que haya +glória, é de las señoras infantas con gran número y multitud de damas no +se gastar cada un dia, seyetido mui abastados como de tales Reyes, mas de +doce á quince mil maravedís." Peticion de la Junta de Tordesillas, October +20, 1520, apud Sandoval, Hist. del Emp. Carlos V., tom. i. p. 230. + +[70] In 1493; repeated in 1501. Recop. de las Leyes, tom. ii. fol. 3.--In +1502. Pragmáticas del Reyno, fol. 139. + +[71] At Segovia, September 2d; also in 1496 and 1498. Pragmáticas del +Reyno, fol. 123, 125, 126. + +[72] At Granada, in 1499.--This on petition of cortes, in the year +preceding. Sempere, in his sensible "Historia del Luxo," has exhibited the +series of the manifold sumptuary laws in Castile. It is a history of the +impotent struggle of authority, against the indulgence of the innocent +propensities implanted in our nature, and naturally increasing with +increasing wealth and civilization. + +[73] En la nombrada y gran ciudad de Granada, Agosto 20. Pragmáticas del +Reyno, fol. 135. + +[74] Pragmáticas del Reyno, passim.--Diccionario Geográfico-Hist. de +España, tom. i. p. 333--Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, tom. iii. part 3, cap. +2.--Mines of lead, copper, and silver were wrought extensively in +Guipuzcoa and Biscay.--Col. de Céd., tom. i. no. 25. + +[75] Pragmáticas del Reyno, fol. 127, 128.--Ante, Part II., Chapter 3, +note 12.--The cortes of Toledo, in 1525, complained, "que habia tantos +caballos Españoles en Francia como en Castilla." (Mem. de la Acad. de +Hist., tom. vi. p. 285.) The trade, however, was contraband; the laws +against the exportation of horses being as ancient as the time of Alfonso +XI. (See also Ordenanças Reales, fol. 85, 86.) + +Laws can never permanently avail against national prejudices. Those in +favor of mules have been so strong in the Peninsula, and such the +consequent decay of the fine breed of horses, that the Spaniards have been +compelled to supply themselves with the latter from abroad. Bourgoanne +reckons that 20,000 were annually imported into the country from France, +at the close of the last century. Travels in Spain, tom. i. chap. 4. + +[76] Hist. del Luxo, tom. i. p. 170.--"Tiene muchas ouejas," says Marineo, +"cuya lana estan singular, que no solamente se aprouechan della en España, +mas tambien se lleua en abundancia a otras partes." (Cosas Memorables, +fol. 3.) He notices especially the fine wool of Molina, in whose territory +400,000 sheep pastured, fol. 19. + +[77] Mem. de Barcelona, tom. iii. pp. 338, 339.--"Or if ever exported," he +adds, "it was at some period long posterior to the discovery of America." + +[78] Pragmáticas del Reyno, passim.--Many of them were designed to check +impositions, too often practised in the manufacture and sale of goods, and +to keep them up to a fair standard. + +[79] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 11. + +[80] Ibid., fol. 19.--Navagiero, Viaggio, fol. 26.--The Venetian minister, +however, pronounces them inferior to the silks of his own country. + +[81] "Proueyda," says Marineo, "de todos officios, y artes mecánicas que +en ella se exercitan mucho: y principalmente en lanor, y exercicio de +lanas, y sedas. Por las quales dos cosas biuen en esta ciudad mas de diez +mil personas. Es de mas desto la ciudad muy rica, por los grandes tratos +de mercadurias." Cosas Memorables, fol. 12. + +[82] Ibid., fol. 15.--Navagiero, a more parsimonious eulogist, remarks, +nevertheless, "Sono in Valladolid assai artefici di ogni sorte, e se vi +lavora benessimo de tutte le arti, e sopra tutto d'Argenti, e vi son tanti +argenteri quanti non sono in due altre terre." Viaggio, fol. 35. + +[83] Geron. Paulo, a writer at the close of the fifteenth century, cited +by Capmany, Mem. de Barcelona, tom. i. part. 3, p. 23. + +[84] The twentieth Ilustracion of Señor Clemencin's invaluable compilation +contains a table of prices of grain, in different parts of the kingdom, +under Ferdinand and Isabella. Take, for example, those of Andalusia. In +1488, a. year of great abundance, the _fanega_ of wheat sold in Andalusia +for 50 maravedies; in 1489 it rose to 100; in 1505, a season of great +scarcity, to 375, and even 600; in 1508, it was at 306; and in 1509, it +had fallen to 85 maravedies. Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. pp. 551, +552. + +[85] Compare, for example, the accounts of the environs of Toledo and +Madrid, the two most considerable cities in Castile, by ancient and modern +travellers. One of the most intelligent and recent of the latter, in his +journey between these two capitals, remarks, "There is sometimes a visible +track, and sometimes none; most commonly we passed over wide sands. The +country between Madrid and Toledo, I need scarcely say, is ill peopled and +ill cultivated; for it is all a part of the same arid plain, that +stretches on every side around the capital; and which is bounded on this +side by the Tagus. The whole of the way to Toledo, I passed through only +four inconsiderable villages; and saw two others at a distance. A great +part of the land is uncultivated, covered with furze and aromatic plants; +but here and there some corn land is to be seen." (Inglis, Spain in 1830, +vol. i. p. 366.) What a contrast does all this present to the language of +the Italians, Navagiero and Marineo, in whose time the country around +Toledo "surpassed all other districts of Spain, in the excellence and +fruitfulness of the soil;" which, "skilfully irrigated by the waters of +the Tagus, and minutely cultivated, furnished every variety of fruit and +vegetable produce to the neighboring city." While, instead of the sunburnt +plains around Madrid, it is described as situated "in the bosom of a fair +country, with an ample territory, yielding rich harvests of corn and wine, +and all the other aliments of life." Cosas Memorables, fol. 12, 13.-- +Viaggio, fol. 7, 8. + +[86] Capmany has well exposed some of these extravagances. (Mem. de +Barcelona, tom. in. part. 3, cap. 2.) The boldest of them, however, may +find a warrant in the declarations of the legislature itself. "En los +lugares de obrages de lanas," asserts the cortes of 1594, "donde se solian +labrar veinte y treinta mil arrobas, no se labran hoi seis, y donde habia +señores de ganado de grandísima cantidad, han disminuido en la misma y +mayor proporcion, acaeciendo lo mismo en todas las otras cosas del +comercio universal y particular. Lo cual hace que no haya ciudad de las +principales destos réinos ni lugar ninguno, de donde no falte notable +vecindad, como se echa bien de ver en la muchedumbre de casas que estan +cerradas y despobladas, y en la baja que han dado los arrendamientos de +las pocas que se arriendan y habitan." Apud Mem. de la Acad. de Hist, tom. +vi. p. 304. + +[87] A point which most writers would probably agree in fixing at 1700, +the year of Charles II.'s death, the last and most imbecile of the +Austrian dynasty. The population of the kingdom at this time, had dwindled +to 6,000,000. See Laborde, (Itinéraire, tom. vi. pp. 125, 143, ed. 1830), +who seems to have better foundation for this census than for most of those +in his table. + +[88] See the unequivocal language of cortes, under Philip II. (supra.) +With every allowance, it infers an alarming decline in the prosperity of +the nation. + +[89] One has only to read, for an evidence of this, the lib. 6, tit. 18, +of the "Nueva Recopilacion," on "cosas prohibidas;" the laws on gilding +and plating, lib. 5, tit. 24; on apparel and luxury, lib. 7, tit. 12; on +woollen manufactures, lib. 7, tit. 14-17, et legas al. Perhaps no stronger +proof of the degeneracy of the subsequent legislation can be given, than +by contrasting it with that of Ferdinand and Isabella in two important +laws. 1. The sovereigns, in 1492, required foreign traders to take their +returns in the products and manufactures of the country. By a law of +Charles V., 1552, the exportation of numerous domestic manufactures was +prohibited, and the foreign trader, in exchange for domestic wool, was +required to import into the country a certain amount of linen and woollen +fabrics. 2. By an ordinance, in 1500, Ferdinand and Isabella prohibited +the importation of silk thread from Naples, to encourage its production at +home. This appears from the tenor of subsequent laws to have perfectly +succeeded. In 1552, however, a law was passed, interdicting the export of +manufactured silk, and admitting the importation of the raw material. By +this sagacious provision, both the culture of silk, and the manufacture +were speedily crushed in Castile. + +[90] See examples of these, in the reigns of Henry III., and John II, +(Recop. de las Leyes, tom. ii. fol. 180, 181.) Such also were the numerous +tariffs fixing the prices of grain, the vexatious class of sumptuary laws, +those for the regulation of the various crafts, and, above, all, on the +exportation of the precious metals. + +[91] The English Statute Book alone will furnish abundant proof of this, +in the exclusive regulations of trade and navigation existing at the close +of the fifteenth century. Mr. Sharon Turner has enumerated many, under +Henry VIII., of similar import with, and, indeed, more partial in their +operation than, those of Ferdinand and Isabella. History of England, vol. +iv. pp. 170 et seq. + +[92] Ordenanças Reales, lib. 6, tit. 4, ley 6. + +[93] Archivo de Simancas; in which most of these ordinances appear to be +registered. Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. Ilust. 11. + +[94] "Ennoblescense los cibdades é villas en tener casas grandes é bien +fechas en que fragan sus ayuntamientos é concejos," etc. (Ordenanças +Reales, lib. 7, tit. 1, ley 1.) Señor Clemencin has specified the nature +and great variety of these improvements, as collected from the archives of +the different cities of the kingdom. Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. +Ilustracion ll.--Col. de Cédulas, tom. iv. no. 9. + +[95] Pragmáticas del Reyno, fol. 63. 91, 93.--Recop. de las Leyes, lib. 5, +tit. 11, ley 12.--Among the acts for restricting monopolies may be +mentioned one, which prohibited the nobility and great landholders from +preventing their tenants' opening inns and houses of entertainment without +their especial license. (Pragmáticas del Reyno, 1492, fol. 96.) The same +abuse, however, is noticed by Mad. d'Aulnoy, in her "Voyage d'Espagne," as +still existing, to the great prejudice of travellers, in the seventeenth +century. Dunlop, Memoirs of Philip IV. and Charles II., vol. ii. chap. 11. + +[96] Pragmáticas del Reyno, fol. 93-112.--Recop. de las Leyes, lib. 5, +tit. 21, 22. + +[97] "Ut nulla unquam per se tuta regio, tutiorem se fuisse jactare +possit." Opus Epist., epist. 31. + +[98] For various laws tending to secure this, and prevent frauds in trade, +see Ordenanças Reales, lib. 3, tit. 8, ley 5.--Pragmáticas del Reyno, fol. +45, 66, 67, et alibi.--Col. de Cédulas, tom. i. no. 63. + +[99] The fullest, though a sufficiently meagre, account of the Navarrese +constitution, is to be found in Capmany's collection, "Práctica y Estilo," +(pp. 250-258,) and in the "Diccionario Geográfico Hist, de España," (tom. +ii. pp. 140-143.) The historical and economical details in the latter are +more copious. + +[100] "Queste furono," says Giannone, "le prime leggi che ci diedero gli +Spagnuoli: leggi tutte provvide e savie, nello stabilir delle quali furono +veramente gli Spagnuoli più d' ogni altra nazione avveduti, e più esatti +imitatori de' Romani." Istoria di Napoli, lib. 30, cap. 5. + +[101] Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, lib. 29, cap. 4; lib. 30, cap. 1, 2, +5.--Signorelli, Coltura nelle Sicilie, tom. iv. p. 84.--Every one knows +the persecutions, the exile, and long imprisonment, which Giannone +suffered for the freedom with which he treated the clergy, in his +philosophical history. The generous conduct of Charles of Bourbon to his +heirs is not so well known. Soon after his accession to the throne of +Naples, that prince settled a liberal pension on the son of the historian, +declaring, that "it did not comport with the honor and dignity of the +government, to permit an individual to languish in indigence, whose parent +had been the greatest man, the most useful to the state, and the most +unjustly persecuted, that the age had produced." Noble sentiments, giving +additional grace to the act which they accompanied. See the decree, cited +by Corniani, Secoli della Letteratura Italiana, (Brescia, 1804-1813,) tom. +ix. art. 15. + +[102] Herrera, Indias Occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 6, cap. 18.--According to +Martyr, the two mints of Hispaniola yielded 300,000 lbs. of gold annually. +De Rebus Oceanicis, dec. 1, lib. 10. + +[103] The pearl fisheries of Cuhagua were worth 75,000 ducats a year. +Herrera, Indian Occidentales, dec 1, lib 7, cap. 9. + +[104] Oviedo, Historia Natural de las Indias, lib. 4, cap. 8.--Gomez, De +Rebus Gestis, fol. 165. + +[105] Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. iii. documentos 1-13.--Herrera, +Indias Occidentales, dec. 1. lib. 7, cap. 1. + +[106] Navarrete, Coleccion de Viages, tom. iii. pp. 48, 134. + +[107] Bernardin de Santa Clara, treasurer of Hispaniola, amassed, during a +few years' residence there, 96,000 ounces of gold. This same _nouveau +riche_ used to serve gold dust, says Herrera, instead of salt, at his +entertainments. (Indias Occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 7, cap. 3.) Many +believed, according to the same author, that gold was so abundant, as to +be dragged up in nets from the beds of the rivers! Lib. 10, cap. 14. + +[108] Ante, Part II., Chapter 24.--Herrera, Indias Occidentales, dec. 1, +lib. 10, cap. 6, 7. + +[109] "Per esser Sevilla nel loco che è, vi vanno tanti di loro alle +Indie, che la città resta mal popolata, e quasi in man di donne." +(Navagiero, Viaggio, fol. 15.) Horace said, fifteen centuries before, + + "_Impiger extremes curris mercator ad Indos, + Per mare pauperiem fugieus, per saxa, per ignes._" + _Epist. i. 1._ + +[110] Herrera, Indias Occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 9, cap. 10.--Almost all +the Spanish expeditions in the New World, whether on the northern or +southern continent, have a tinge of romance, beyond what is found in those +of other European nations. One of the most striking and least familiar of +them is that of Ferdinand de Soto, the ill-fated discoverer of the +Mississippi, whose bones bleach beneath its waters. His adventures are +told with uncommon spirit by Mr. Bancroft, vol. i. chap. 2, of his History +of the United States. + +[111] Herrera, Indias Occidentales, dec. 2, lib. 1, cap. 7. + +[112] The life of this daring cavalier forms one in the elegant series of +national biographies by Quintana, "Vidas de Espanoles Celebres," (tom. ii. +pp. 1-82), and is familiar to the English reader in Irving's "Companions +of Columbus." The third volume of Navarrete's laborious compilation is +devoted to the illustration of the minor Spanish voyagers, who followed up +the bold track of discovery, between Columbus and Cortes. Coleccion de +Viages. + +[113] Las Casas, Mémoires, Oeuvres, ed. de Llorente, tom. i. p. 189. + +[114] "Y crean (Vuestras Altezas) questa isla y todas las otras son asi +suyas corao Castilla, que aqui no falta salvo asiento y mandarles hacer lo +que quisieren." Primera Carta de Colon, apud Navarrete, Coleccion de +Viages, tom. i. p. 93. + +[115] Herrera, Indias Occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 8, cap. 9.--Las Casas, +Oeuvres, ed. de Llorente, tom. i. pp. 228, 229. + +[116] See the various Memorials of Las Casas, some of them expressly +prepared for the council of the Indies. He affirms, that more than +12,000,000 lives were wantonly destroyed in the New World, within thirty- +eight years after the discovery, and this in addition to those +exterminated in the conquest of the country. (Oeuvres, ed. de Llorente, +tom. i. p. 187.) Herrera admits that Hispaniola was reduced, in less than +twenty-five years, from 1,000,000 to 14,000 souls. (Indias Occidentales, +dec. 1. lib. 10, cap. 12.) The numerical estimates of a large savage +population, must, of course, be in a great degree hypothetical. That it +was large, however, in these fair regions, may readily be inferred from +the facilities of subsistence, and the temperate habits of the natives. +The minimum sum in the calculation, when the number had dwindled to a few +thousand, might be more easily ascertained. + +[117] Oeuvres, ed. de Llorente, tom. i. p. 228. + +[118] One resident at the court, says the bishop of Chiapa, was proprietor +of 800, and another of 1100 Indians. (Oeuvres, ed. de Llorente, tom. i. p. +238.) We learn their names from Herrera. The first was Bishop Fonseca, the +latter the comendador Conchillos, both prominent men in the Indian +department. (Indias Occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 9, cap. 14.) The last-named +person was the same individual sent by Ferdinand to his daughter in +Flanders, and imprisoned there by the archduke Philip. After that prince's +death, he experienced signal favors from the Catholic king, and amassed +great wealth as secretary of the Indian board. Oviedo has devoted one of +his dialogues to him. Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 3, dial. 9. + +[119]The Dominican and other missionaries, to their credit be it told, +labored with unwearied zeal and courage for the conversion of the natives, +and the vindication of their natural rights. Yet these were the men, who +lighted the fires of the Inquisition in their own land. To such opposite +results may the same principle lead, under different circumstances! + +[120] Las Casas concludes an elaborate memorial, prepared for the +government, in 1542, on the best means of arresting the destruction of the +aborigines, with two propositions. 1. That the Spaniards would still +continue to settle in America, though slavery were abolished, from the +superior advantages for acquiring riches it offered over the Old World. 2. +That if they would not, this would not justify slavery, since "_God +forbids us to do evil that good may come of it_." Rare maxim, from a +Spanish churchman of the sixteenth century! The whole argument, which +comprehends the sum of what has been since said more diffusely in defence +of abolition, is singularly acute and cogent. In its abstract principles +it is unanswerable, while it exposes and denounces the misconduct of his +countrymen, with a freedom which shows the good bishop knew no other fear +than that of his Maker. + +[121] Recop. de Leyes de las Indias, August 14th, 1509, lib. 6, tit. 8, +ley l.--Herrera, Indias Occidentales, dec. 1, lib. 9, cap. 14. + +[122] The text expresses nearly enough the subsequent condition of things +in Spanish America. "No government," says Heeren, "has done so much for +the aborigines as the Spanish." (Modern History, Bancroft's trans., vol. +i. p. 77.) Whoever peruses its colonial codes, may find much ground for +the eulogium. But are not the very number and repetition of these humane +provisions sufficient proof of their inefficacy? + +[123] Herrera, Indias Occidentales, dec. 2, lib. 2, cap. 3.--Las Casas, +Mémoire, apud Oeuvres, ed. de Llorente, tom. i. p. 239. + +[124] In the remarkable discussion between the doctor Sepulveda and Las +Casas, before a commission named by Charles V., in 1550, the former +vindicated the persecution of the aborigines by the conduct of the +Israelites towards their idolatrous neighbors. But the Spanish Fenelon +replied, that "the behavior of the Jews was no precedent for Christians; +that the law of Moses was a law of rigor; but that of Jesus Christ, one of +grace, mercy, peace, good-will, and charity." (Oeuvres, ed. de Llorente, +tom. i. p. 374.) The Spaniard first persecuted the Jews, and then quoted +them as an authority for persecuting all other infidels. + +[125] It is only necessary to notice the contemptuous language of Philip +II.'s laws, which designate the most useful mechanic arts, as those of +blacksmiths, shoemakers, leather-dressers, and the like, as "_oficios +viles y baxos_." + +A whimsical distinction prevails in Castile, in reference to the more +humble occupations. A man of gentle blood may be a coachman, lacquey, +scullion, or any other menial, without disparaging his nobility, which is +said to _sleep_ in the mean while. But he fixes on it an indelible +stain, if he exercises any mechanical vocation. "Hence," says Capmany, "I +have often seen a village in this province, in which the vagabonds, +smugglers, and hangmen even, were natives, while the farrier, shoemaker, +etc., was a foreigner." (Mem. de Barcelona, tom. i. part. 3, p. 40; tom. +iii. part. 2, pp. 317, 318.) See also some sensible remarks on the +subject, by Blanco White, the ingenious author of Doblado's Letters from +Spain, p. 44. + +[126] "The interval between the acquisition of money, and the rise of +prices," Hume observes," is the only time when increasing gold and silver +are favorable to industry." (Essays, part 2, essay 3.) An ordinance of +June 13th, 1497, complains of the scarcity of the precious metals, and +their insufficiency to the demands of trade. (Pragmáticas del Reyno, fol. +93.) It appears, however, from Zuñiga, that the importation of gold from +the New World began to have a sensible effect on the prices of +commodities, from that very year. Annales de Sevilla, p. 415. + +[127] Mr. Turner has made several extracts from the Harleian MSS., showing +that the trade of Castile with England was very considerable in Isabella's +time. (History of England, vol. iv. p. 90.) A pragmatic of July 21st, +1494, for the erection of a consulate at Burgos, notices the commercial +establishments in England, France, Italy, and the Low Countries. This +tribunal, with other extensive privileges, was empowered to hear and +determine suits between merchants; "which," says the plain spoken +ordinance, "in the hands of lawyers are never brought to a close; porque +se presentauan escritos y libelos de letrados de manera que por mal pleyto +que fuesse le sostenian los letrados de manera que _los hazian +immortales_." (Pragmáticas del Reyno, fol. 146-148.) This institution +rose soon to be of the greatest importance in Castile. + +[128] The sixth volume of the Memoirs of the Academy of History contains a +schedule of the respective revenues afforded by the cities of Castile, in +the years 1477, 1482, and 1504; embracing, of course, the commencement and +close of Isabella's reign. The original document exists in the archives of +Simancas. We may notice the large amount and great increase of taxes in +Toledo, particularly, and in Seville; the former thriving from its +manufactories, and the latter from the Indian trade. Seville, in 1504, +furnished near a tenth of the whole revenue. Ilustracion 5. + +[129] "No ay en ella," says Marineo of the latter city, "gente ociosa, ni +baldia, sino que todos trabajan, ansi mugeres como hombres, y los chicos +como los grandes, buscando la vida con sus manos, y con sudores de sus +carnes. Unos exercitan las artes mecánicas: y otros las liberales. Los que +tratan las mercaderias, y hazen rica la ciudad, son muy fieles, y +liberales." (Cosas Memorables, fol. 16.) It will not be easy to meet, in +prose or verse, with a finer colored picture of departed glory, than Mr. +Slidell has given of the former city, the venerable Gothic capital, in his +"Year in Spain," chap. 12. + +[130] Sandoval, Hist. del Emp. Carlos V., tom. i. p. 60. + +[131] It was a common saying in Navagiero's time, "Barcelona la ricca, +Saragossa la barta, Valentia la hermosa." (Viaggio, fol. 5.) The grandeur +and commercial splendor of the first-named city, which forms the subject +of Capmany's elaborate work, have been sufficiently displayed in Part I., +Chapter 2, of this History. + +[132] "_Algunos suponen_," says Capmany, "que estas ferias eran ya +famosas en tiempo de los Reyes Católicos," etc. (Mem. de Barcelona, tom. +iii. p. 356.) A very cursory glance at the laws of this time, will show +the reasonableness of the supposition. See the Pragmáticas, fol. 146, and +the ordinances from the archives of Simancas, apud Mem. de Acad., tom. vi. +pp. 249, 252, providing for the erection of buildings and other +accommodations for the "great resort of traders." In 1520, four years +after Ferdinand's death, the city, in a petition to the regent, +represented the losses sustained by its merchants in the recent fire, as +more than the revenues of the crown would probably be able to meet for +several years. (Ibid., p. 264.) Navagiero, who visited Medina some six +years later, when it was rebuilt, bears unequivocal testimony to its +commercial importance. "Medina è buona terra, e piena di buone case, +abondante assai se non che le tante ferie che se vi fanno ogn' anno, e il +concorso grande che vi è di tutta Spagna, fanno pur che il tutto si paga +più di quel che si faria.... La feria è abondante certo di molte cose, ma +sopra tutto di speciarie assai, che vengono di Portogallo; ma le maggior +faccende che se vi facciano sono cambij." Viaggio, fol. 36. + +[133] + + "Quien no vió á Sevilla No vió maravilla." + +The proverb, according to Zuñiga, is as old as the time of Alonso XI. +Annales de Sevilla, p. 183. + +[134] The most eminent sculptors were, for the most part, foreigners;--as +Miguel Florentin, Pedro Torregiano, Felipe de Borgoña,--chiefly from +Italy, where the art was advancing rapidly to perfection in the school of +Michael Angelo. The most successful architectural achievement was the +cathedral of Granada, by Diego de Siloe. Pedraza, Antiguedad de Granada, +fol. 82.--Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. Ilust. 16. + +[135] At least so says Clemencin, a competent judge. "Desde los mismos +principios de su establecimiento fue mas comun la imprenta en España que +lo es al cabo de trescientos años dentro ya del siglo décimonono." Elogio +de Doña Isabel, Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. + +[136] Ante, Introduction, Sect. 2; Part 1., Chapter 19; Part II., Chapter +21.--The "Pragmáticas del Reyno" comprises various ordinances, defining +the privileges of Salamanca and Valladolid, the manner of conferring +degrees, and of election to the chairs of the universities, so as to +obviate any undue influence or corruption. (Fol. 14-21.) "Porque," says +the liberal language of the last law, "los estudios generales donde las +ciencias se leen y aprenden effuerçan las leyes y fazen a los nuestros +subditos y naturales sabidores y honrrados y acrecientan virtudes: y +porque en el dar y assignar de las cátedras salariadas deue auer toda +libertad porque sean dadas á personas sabidores y cientes." (Taraçona, +October 5th, 1495.) If one would see the totally different principles on +which such elections have been conducted in modern times, let him read +Doblado's Letters from Spain, pp. 103-107. The university of Barcelona was +suppressed in the beginning of the last century. Laborde has taken a brief +survey of the present dilapidated condition of the others, at least as it +was in 1830, since which it can scarcely have mended. Itinéraire, tom. vi. +p. 144, et seq. + +[137] See the concluding note to this chapter. + +Erasmus, in a lively and elegant epistle to his friend, Francis Vergara, +Greek professor at Alcalá, in 1527, lavishes unbounded panegyric on the +science and literature of Spain, whose palmy state he attributes to +Isabella's patronage, and the co-operation of some of her enlightened +subjects. "----Hispaniae vestrae, tanto successu, priscam eruditionis +gloriam sibi postliminiò vindicanti. Quae quum semper et regionis +amoenitate fertilitaléque, semper ingeniorum eminentium ubere proventu, +semper bellicâ laude floruerit, quid desiderari poterat ad summam +felicitatem, nisi ut studiorum et religionis adjungeret ornamenta, quibus +aspirante Deo sic paucis annis effloruit ut caeteris regionibus quamlibet +hoc decorum genere praecellentibus vel invidiae queat esse vel exemplo.... +Vos istam felicitatem secundum Deum debetis laudatissimae Reginarum +Elisabetae, Francisco Cardinali quondam, Alonso Fonsecae nunc +Archiepiscopo Toletano, et si qui sunt horum similes, quorum autoritas +tuetur, benignitas alit fovetque bonas artes." Epistolae, p. 978. + +[138] The sums in the text express the _real de vellon_; to which +they have been reduced by Señor Clemencin, from the original amount in +_maravedis_, which varied very materially in value in different years. +Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. Ilust. 5. + +[139] The kingdom of Granada appears to have contributed rather less than +one-eighth of the whole tax. + +[140] In addition to the last-mentioned sum, the extraordinary service +voted by cortes, for the dowry of the infantas, and other matters, in +1504, amounted to 16,113,014 reals de vellon; making a sum total for that +year, of 42,396,348 reals. The bulk of the crown revenues was derived from +the _alcavalas_, and the _tercias_, or two-ninths of the ecclesiastical +tithes. These important statements were transcribed from the books of the +_escribanía mayor de rentas_, in the archives of Simancas. Ibid., ubi +supra. + +[141] The pretended amount of population has been generally in the ratio +of the distance of the period taken, and, of course, of the difficulty of +refutation. A few random remarks of ancient writers have proved the basis +for the wildest hypotheses, raising the estimates to the total of what the +soil, under the highest possible cultivation, would be capable of +supporting. Even for so recent a period as Isabella's time, the estimate +commonly received does not fall below eighteen or twenty millions. The +official returns, cited in the text, of the most populous portion, of the +kingdom, fully expose the extravagance of preceding estimates. + +[142] These interesting particulars are obtained from a memorial, prepared +by order of Ferdinand and Isabella, by their _contador_, Alonso de +Quintanilla, on the mode of enrolling and arming the militia, in 1492; as +a preliminary step to which, he procured a census of the actual population +of the kingdom. It is preserved in a volume entitled _Relaciones tocantes +a la junta de la Hernandad_, in that rich national repository, the +archives of Simancas. See a copious extract apud Mem. de la Acad. de +Hist., tom. vi. Apend. 12. + +[143] I am acquainted with no sufficient and authentic data for computing +the population, at this time, of the crown of Aragon, always greatly below +that of the sister kingdom. I find as little to be relied on, +notwithstanding the numerous estimates, in one form or another, vouchsafed +by historians and travelers, of the population of Granada. Marineo +enumerates fourteen cities and ninety-seven towns (omitting, as he says, +many places of less note,) at the time of the conquest; a statement +obviously too vague for statistical purposes. (Cosas Memorables, fol. +179.) The capital, swelled by the influx from the country, contained, +according to him, 200,000 souls at the same period. (Fol. 177.) In 1506, +at the time of the forced conversions, we find the numbers in the city +dwindled to fifty, or at most, seventy thousand. (Comp. Bleda, Corónica, +lib. 5, cap. 23, and Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 159.) Loose as +these estimates necessarily are, we have no better to guide us in +calculating the total amount of the population of the Moorish kingdom, or +of the losses sustained by the copious emigrations, during the first +fifteen years after the conquest; although there has been no lack of +confident assertion, as to both, in later writers. The desideratum, in +regard to Granada, will now probably not be supplied; the public offices +in the kingdom of Aragon, if searched with the same industry as those in +Castile, would doubtless afford the means for correcting the crude +estimates, so current respecting that country. + +[144] Hallam, in his "Constitutional History of England," estimates the +population of the realm, in 1485, at 3,000,000, (vol. i. p. 10.) The +discrepancies, however, of the best historians on this subject, prove the +difficulty of arriving at even a probable result. Hume, on the authority +of Sir Edward Coke, puts the population of England (including people of +all sorts) a century later, in 1588, at only 900,000. The historian cites +Lodovico Guicciardini, however, for another estimate, as high as +2,000,000, for the same reign of Queen Elizabeth. History of England, vol. +vi. Append. 3. + +[145] Philip II. claimed the Portuguese crown in right of his mother and +his wife, both descended from Maria, third daughter of Ferdinand and +Isabella, who, as the reader may remember, married King Emanuel. + +[146] Old Caxton mourns over the little honor paid to the usages of +chivalry in his time; and it is sufficient evidence of its decay in +England, that Richard III. thought it necessary to issue an ordinance +requiring those possessed of the requisite £40 a year, to receive +knighthood. (Turner, History of England, vol. iii. pp. 391, 392.) The use +of artillery was fatal to chivalry; a consequence well understood, even at +the early period of our History. At least, so we may infer from the verses +of Ariosto, where Orlando throws Cimosco's gun into the sea. + + "Lo tolse e disse: Acciò più non istea + Mai cavalier per te d'essere ardito; + Nè quanto il buono val, mai più si vanti + Il rio per te valer, qui giu rimanti." + Orlando Furioso, canto 9, st. 90. + +[147] "Quien podrá, contar," exclaims the old Curate of Los Palacios, "la +grandeza, el concierto de su corte, la cavallería de los Nobles de toda +España, Duques, Maestres, Marqueses é Ricos homes; los Galanes, las Damas, +las Fiestas, los Torneos, la Moltitud de Poetas é trovadores," etc. Reyes +Católicos, MS., cap. 201. + +[148] Oviedo notices the existence of a lady-love, even with cavaliers who +had passed their prime, as a thing of quite as imperative necessity in his +day, as it was afterwards regarded by the gallant knight of La Mancha. +"Costumbre es en España entre log señores de estado que venidos á la +corte, aunque nó estén enamorados ó que pasen de la mitad de la edad +fingir que aman por servir y favorescer á alguna dama, y gastar como quien +son en fiestas y otras cosas que se ofrescen de tales pasatiempos y +amores, sin que les dé pena Cupido." Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, +dial. 28. + +[149] Viaggio, fol. 27. + +Andrea Navagiero, whose itinerary has been of such frequent reference in +these pages, was a noble Venetian, born in 1483. He became very early +distinguished, in his cultivated capital, for his scholarship, poetical +talents, and eloquence, of which he has left specimens, especially in +Latin verse, in the highest repute to this day with his countrymen. He was +not, however, exclusively devoted to letters, but was employed in several +foreign missions by the republic. It was on his visit to Spain, as +minister to Charles V., soon after that monarch's accession, that he wrote +his Travels; and he filled the same office at the court of Francis I., +when he died, at the premature age of forty-six, in 1529. (Tiraboschi, +Letteratura Italiana, tom. vii. part. 3, p. 228, ed. 1785.) His death was +universally lamented by the good and the learned of his time, and is +commemorated by his friend, Cardinal Bembo, in two sonnets, breathing all +the sensibility of that tender and elegant poet. (Rime, Son. 109, 110.) +Navagiero becomes connected with Castilian literature by the circumstance +of Boscan's referring to his suggestion the innovation he so successfully +made in the forms of the national verse. Obras, fol. 20, ed. 1543. + +[150] Fernando de Pulgar, after enumerating various cavaliers of his +acquaintance, who had journeyed to distant climes in quest of adventures +and honorable feats of arms, continues, "E oí decir de otros Castellanos +que con ánimo de Caballeros fueron por los Reynos estrafios á facer armas +con qualquier Caballero que quisiere facerlas con ellos, é por ellas +ganaron honra para sí, é fama de valientes y esforzados Caballeros para +los Fijosdalgos de Castilla." Claros Varones, tit. 17. + +[151] "Son todos," says the Admiral, "de ningun ingenio en las armas, y +muy cobardes, que mil no aguadarian tres!" (Primer Viage de Colon.) What +could the bard of chivalry say more? + + "Ma quel ch'al timor non diede albergo, + Estima la vil turba e l'arme tante + Quel che dentro alla mandra all' aer cupo, + Il numer dell' agnelle estimi il lupo." + Orlando Furioso, canto 12. + +[152] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 30. + +[153] "I Spagnoli," says the Venetian minister, "non solo in questo paese +di Granata, ma in tutto 'l resto della Spagna medesimamente, non sono +molto industriosi, ne piantano, ne lavorano volontieri la terra; ma se +danno ad altro, e più volontieri vanno alia guerra, o alle Indie ad +acquistarsi facultà, che per tal vie." (Viaggio, fol. 25.) Testimonies to +the same purport thicken, as the stream of history descends. See several +collected by Capmany (Mem. de Barcelona, tom. iii. pp. 358, et seq.), who +certainly cannot be charged with ministering to the vanity of his +countrymen. + +[154] One may trace its immediate influence in the writings of a man like +the Curate of Los Palacios, naturally, as it would seem, of an amiable, +humane disposition; but who complacently remarks, "They (Ferdinand and +Isabella) lighted up the fires for the heretics, in which, with good +reason, they have burnt, and shall continue to burn, so long as a soul of +them remains"! (Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 7.) It becomes more perceptible +in the literature of later times, and, what is singular, most of all in +the lighter departments of poetry and fiction, which seem naturally +devoted to purposes of pleasure. No one can estimate the full influence of +the Inquisition in perverting moral sense, and infusing the deadly venom +of misanthropy into the heart, who has not perused the works of the great +Castilian poets, of Lope de Vega, Ercilla, above all Calderon, whose lips +seem to have been touched with fire from the very altars of this accursed +tribunal. + +[155] The late secretary of the Inquisition has made an elaborate +computation of the number of its victims. According to him, 13,000 were +publicly burned by the several tribunals of Castile and Aragon, and +191,413 suffered other punishments, between 1481, the date of the +commencement of the modern institution, and 1518. (Hist. de l'Inquisition, +tom. iv. chap. 46.) Llorente appears to have come to these appalling +results by a very plausible process of calculation, and without any design +to exaggerate. Nevertheless, his data are exceedingly imperfect, and he +has himself, on a revision, considerably reduced, in his fourth volume, +the original estimates in the first. I find good grounds for reducing them +still further. 1. He quotes Mariana, for the fact, that 2000 suffered +martyrdom at Seville, in 1481, and makes this the basis of his +calculations for the other tribunals of the kingdom. Marineo, a +contemporary, on the other hand, states, that "in the course of a few +years they burned nearly 2000 heretics;" thus not only diffusing this +amount over a greater period of time, but embracing all the tribunals then +existing in the country. (Cosas Memorables, fol. 164.) 2. Bernaldez +states, that five-sixths of the Jews resided in the kingdom of Castile. +(Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 110.) Llorente, however, has assigned an equal +amount of victims to each of the five tribunals of Aragon, with those of +the sister kingdom, excepting only Seville. + +One might reasonably distrust Llorente's tables, from the facility with +which he receives the most improbable estimates in other matters, as, for +example, the number of banished Jews, which he puts at 800,000. (Hist. de +l'Inquisition, tom. i. p. 261.) I have shown, from contemporary sources, +that this number did not probably exceed 160,000, or, at most, 170,000. +(Part I., Chapter 17.) Indeed, the cautious Zurita, borrowing, probably, +from the same authorities, cites the latter number. (Anales, tom. v. fol. +9.) Mariana, who owes so much of his narrative to the Aragonese historian, +converting, as it would appear, these 170,000 individuals into families, +states the whole in round numbers, at 800,000 souls. (Hist. de España, +tom. ii. lib. 26, cap. 1.) Llorente, not content with this, swells the +amount still further, by that of the Moorish exiles, and by emigrants to +the New World, (on what authority?) to 2,000,000; and, going on with the +process, computes that this loss may fairly infer one of 8,000,000 +inhabitants to Spain, at the present day! (Ibid., ubi supra.) Thus the +mischief imputed to the Catholic sovereigns goes on increasing in a sort +of arithmetical progression, with the duration of the monarchy. + +Nothing is so striking to the imagination as numerical estimates; they +speak a volume in themselves, saving a world of periphrasis and argument; +nothing is so difficult to form with exactness, or even probability, when +they relate to an early period; and nothing more carelessly received, and +confidently circulated. The enormous statements of the Jewish exiles, and +the baseless ones of the Moorish, are not peculiar to Llorente, but have +been repeated, without the slightest qualification or distrust, by most +modern historians and travellers. + +[156] In the two closing Chapters of Part I. of this History, I have +noticed the progress of letters in this reign; the last which displayed +the antique coloring and truly national characteristics of Castilian +poetry. There were many circumstances, which operated, at this period, to +work an important revolution, and subject the poetry of the Peninsula to a +foreign influence. The Italian Muse, after her long silence, since the age +of the _tricentisti_, had again revived, and poured forth such ravishing +strains, as made themselves heard and felt in every corner of Europe. +Spain, in particular, was open to their influence. Her language had an +intimate affinity with the Italian. The improved taste and culture of the +period led to a diligent study of foreign models. Many Spaniards, as we +have seen, went abroad to perfect themselves in the schools of Italy; +while Italian teachers filled some of the principal chairs in the Spanish +universities. Lastly, the acquisition of Naples, the land of Sannazaro and +of a host of kindred spirits, opened an obvious communication with the +literature of that country. With the nation thus prepared, it was not +difficult for a genius like that of Boscan, supported by the tender and +polished Garcilasso, and by Mendoza, whose stern spirit found relief in +images of pastoral tranquillity and ease, to recommend the more finished +forms of Italian versification to their countrymen. These poets were all +born in Isabella's reign. The first of them, the principal means of +effecting this literary revolution, singularly enough, was a Catalan, +whose compositions in the Castilian proved the ascendency which this +dialect had already obtained. The second, Garcilasso de la Vega, was son +of the distinguished statesman and diplomatist of that name, so often +noticed in our History; and Mendoza was a younger son of the amiable count +of Tendilla, the governor of Granada, whom he resembled in nothing but his +genius. Both the elder Garcilasso and Tendilla had represented their +sovereigns at the papal court, where they doubtless became tinctured with +that relish for the Italian, which produced such results in the education +of their children. + +The new revolution penetrated far below the superficial forms of +versification; and the Castilian poet relinquished, with his _redondillas_ +and artless _asonantes_, the homely, but heartful themes of the olden +time; or, if he dwelt on them, it was with an air of studied elegance and +precision, very remote from the Doric simplicity and freshness of the +romantic minstrelsy. If he aspired to some bolder theme, it was rarely +suggested by the stirring and patriotic recollections of his nation's +history. Thus, nature and the rude graces of a primitive age gave way to +superior refinement and lettered elegance; many popular blemishes were +softened down, a purer and nobler standard was attained, but the national +characteristics were effaced; beauty was everywhere, but it was the beauty +of art, not of nature. The change itself was perfectly natural. It +corresponded with the external circumstances of the nation, and its +transition from an insulated position to a component part of the great +European commonwealth, which subjected it to other influences and +principles of taste, and obliterated, to a certain extent, the peculiar +features of the national physiognomy. + +How far the poetic literature of Castile was benefited by the change, has +been matter of long and hot debate between the critics of the country, in +which I shall not involve the reader. The revolution, however, was the +growth of circumstances, and was immediately effected by individuals, +belonging to the age of Ferdinand and Isabella. As such, I had originally +proposed to devote a separate chapter to its illustration. But I have been +deterred from it by the unexpected length, to which the work has already +extended, as well as by the consideration, on a nearer view, that these +results, though prepared under a preceding reign, properly fall under the +_domestic_ history of Charles V.; a history which still remains to be +written. But who will attempt a _pendant_ to the delineations of +Robertson? + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The History of the Reign of Ferdinand +and Isabella The Catholic, Vol. 3, by William H. 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