Chapter III (2)

While these affairs were in progress, Isabella's situation was becoming extremely critical. She had availed herself of the absence of her brother and the marquis of Villena in the south, whither they had gone for the purpose of suppressing the still lingering spark of insurrection, to transfer her residence from Ocaña to Madrigal, where, under the protection of her mother, she intended to abide the issue of the pending negotiations with Aragon. Far, however, from escaping the vigilant eye of the marquis of Villena by this movement, she laid herself more open to it. She found the bishop of Burgos, the nephew of the marquis, stationed at Madrigal, who now served as an effectual spy upon her actions. Her most confidential servants were corrupted, and conveyed intelligence of her proceedings to her enemy. Alarmed at the actual progress made in the negotiations for her marriage, the marquis was now convinced that he could only hope to defeat them by resorting to the coercive system, which he had before abandoned. He accordingly instructed the archbishop of Seville to march at once to Madrigal with a sufficient force to secure Isabella's person; and letters were at the same time addressed by Henry to the citizens of that place, menacing them with his resentment, if they should presume to interpose in her behalf. The timid inhabitants disclosed the purport of the mandate to Isabella, and besought her to provide for her own safety. This was perhaps the most critical period in her life. Betrayed by her own domestics, deserted even by those friends of her own sex who might have afforded her sympathy and counsel, but who fled affrighted from the scene of danger, and on the eve of falling into the snares of her enemies, she beheld the sudden extinction of those hopes, which she had so long and so fondly cherished. [54]

In this exigency, she contrived to convey a knowledge of her situation to Admiral Henriquez, and the archbishop of Toledo. The active prelate, on receiving the summons, collected a body of horse, and, reinforced by the admiral's troops, advanced with such expedition to Madrigal, that he succeeded in anticipating the arrival of the enemy. Isabella received her friends with unfeigned satisfaction; and, bidding adieu to her dismayed guardian, the bishop of Burgos, and his attendants, she was borne off by her little army in a sort of military triumph to the friendly city of Valladolid, where she was welcomed by the citizens with a general burst of enthusiasm. [55]

In the mean time Gutierre de Cardenas, one of the household of the princess, [56] and Alfonso de Palencia, the faithful chronicler of these events, were despatched into Aragon in order to quicken Ferdinand's operations, during the auspicious interval afforded by the absence of Henry in Andalusia. On arriving at the frontier town of Osma, they were dismayed to find that the bishop of that place, together with the duke of Medina Celi, on whose active co-operation they had relied for the safe introduction of Ferdinand into Castile, had been gained over to the interests of the marquis of Villena. [57] The envoys, however, adroitly concealing the real object of their mission, were permitted to pass unmolested to Saragossa, where Ferdinand was then residing. They could not have arrived at a more inopportune season. The old king of Aragon was in the very heat of the war against the insurgent Catalans, headed by the victorious John of Anjou. Although so sorely pressed, his forces were on the eve of disbanding for want of the requisite funds to maintain them. His exhausted treasury did not contain more than three hundred enriques. [58] In this exigency he was agitated by the most distressing doubts. As he could spare neither the funds nor the force necessary for covering his son's entrance into Castile, he must either send him unprotected into a hostile country, already aware of his intended enterprise and in arms to defeat it, or abandon the long-cherished object of his policy, at the moment when his plans were ripe for execution. Unable to extricate himself from this dilemma, he referred the whole matter to Ferdinand and his council. [59]

It was at length determined, that the prince should undertake the journey, accompanied by half a dozen attendants only, in the disguise of merchants, by the direct route from Saragossa; while another party, in order to divert the attention of the Castilians, should proceed in a different direction, with all the ostentation of a public embassy from the king of Aragon to Henry the Fourth. The distance was not great, which Ferdinand and his suite were to travel before reaching a place of safety; but this intervening country was patrolled by squadrons of cavalry for the purpose of intercepting their progress; and the whole extent of the frontier, from Almazan to Guadalajara, was defended by a line of fortified castles in the hands of the family of Mendoza. [60] The greatest circumspection therefore was necessary. The party journeyed chiefly in the night; Ferdinand assumed the disguise of a servant, and, when they halted on the road, took care of the mules, and served his companions at table. In this guise, with no other disaster except that of leaving at an inn the purse which contained the funds for the expedition, they arrived, late on the second night, at a little place called the Burgo or Borough, of Osma, which the count of Treviño, one of the partisans of Isabella, had occupied with a considerable body of men-at-arms. On knocking at the gate, cold and faint with travelling, during which the prince had allowed himself to take no repose, they were saluted by a large stone discharged by a sentinel from the battlements, which, glancing near Ferdinand's head, had wellnigh brought his romantic enterprise to a tragical conclusion; when his voice was recognized by his friends within, and, the trumpets proclaiming his arrival, he was received with great joy and festivity by the count and his followers. The remainder of his journey, which he commenced before dawn, was performed under the convoy of a numerous and well-armed escort; and on the 9th of October he reached Dueñas in the kingdom of Leon, where the Castilian nobles and cavaliers of his party eagerly thronged to render him the homage due to his rank. [61]

The intelligence of Ferdinand's arrival diffused universal joy in the little court of Isabella at Valladolid. Her first step was to transmit a letter to her brother Henry, in which she informed him of the presence of the prince in his dominions, and of their intended marriage. She excused the course she had taken by the embarrassments, in which she had been involved by the malice of her enemies. She represented the political advantages of the connection, and the sanction it had received from the Castilian nobles; and she concluded with soliciting his approbation of it, giving him at the same time affectionate assurances of the most dutiful submission both on the part of Ferdinand and of herself. [62] Arrangements were then made for an interview between the royal pair, in which some courtly parasites would fain have persuaded their mistress to require some act of homage from Ferdinand; in token of the inferiority of the crown of Aragon to that of Castile; a proposition which she rejected with her usual discretion. [63]

Agreeably to these arrangements, Ferdinand, on the evening of the 15th of October, passed privately from Dueñas, accompanied only by four attendants, to the neighboring city of Valladolid, where he was received by the archbishop of Toledo, and conducted to the apartment of his mistress. [64] Ferdinand was at this time in the eighteenth year of his age. His complexion was fair, though somewhat bronzed by constant exposure to the sun; his eye quick and cheerful; his forehead ample, and approaching to baldness. His muscular and well-proportioned frame was invigorated by the toils of war, and by the chivalrous exercises in which he delighted. He was one of the best horsemen in his court, and excelled in field sports of every kind. His voice was somewhat sharp, but he possessed a fluent eloquence; and, when he had a point to carry, his address was courteous and even insinuating. He secured his health by extreme temperance in his diet, and by such habits of activity, that it was said he seemed to find repose in business. [65] Isabella was a year older than her lover. In stature she was somewhat above the middle size. Her complexion was fair; her hair of a bright chestnut color, inclining to red; and her mild blue eye beamed with intelligence and sensibility. She was exceedingly beautiful; "the handsomest lady," says one of her household, "whom I ever beheld, and the most gracious in her manners." [66] The portrait still existing of her in the royal palace, is conspicuous for an open symmetry of features, indicative of the natural serenity of temper, and that beautiful harmony of intellectual and moral qualities, which most distinguished her. She was dignified in her demeanor, and modest even to a degree of reserve. She spoke the Castilian language with more than usual elegance; and early imbibed a relish for letters, in which she was superior to Ferdinand, whose education in this particular seems to have been neglected. [67] It is not easy to obtain a dispassionate portrait of Isabella. The Spaniards, who revert to her glorious reign, are so smitten with her moral perfections, that even in depicting her personal, they borrow somewhat of the exaggerated coloring of romance.

The interview lasted more than two hours, when Ferdinand retired to his quarters at Dueñas, as privately as he came. The preliminaries of the marriage, however, were first adjusted; but so great was the poverty of the parties, that it was found necessary to borrow money to defray the expenses of the ceremony. [68] Such were the humiliating circumstances attending the commencement of a union destined to open the way to the highest prosperity and grandeur of the Spanish monarchy!

The marriage between Ferdinand and Isabella was publicly celebrated, on the morning of the 19th of October, in the palace of John de Vivero, the temporary residence of the princess, and subsequently appropriated to the chancery of Valladolid. The nuptials were solemnized in the presence of Ferdinand's grandfather, the admiral of Castile, of the archbishop of Toledo, and a multitude of persons of rank, as well as of inferior condition, amounting in all to no less than two thousand. [69] A papal bull of dispensation was produced by the archbishop, relieving the parties from the impediment incurred by their falling within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity. This spurious document was afterwards discovered to have been devised by the old king of Aragon, Ferdinand, and the archbishop, who were deterred from applying to the court of Rome by the zeal with which it openly espoused the interests of Henry, and who knew that Isabella would never consent to a union repugnant to the canons of the established church, and one which involved such heavy ecclesiastical censures. A genuine bull of dispensation was obtained, some years later, from Sixtus the Fourth; but Isabella, whose honest mind abhorred everything like artifice, was filled with no little uneasiness and mortification at the discovery of the imposition. [70] The ensuing week was consumed in the usual festivities of this joyous season; at the expiration of which, the new-married pair attended publicly the celebration of mass, agreeably to the usage of the time, in the collegiate church of Sante Maria. [71]

An embassy was despatched by Ferdinand and Isabella to Henry, to acquaint him with their proceedings, and again request his approbation of them. They repeated their assurances of loyal submission, and accompanied the message with a copious extract from such of the articles of marriage, as, by their import, would be most likely to conciliate his favorable disposition. Henry coldly replied, that "he must advise with his ministers." [72]

* * * * *

Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdés, author of the "Quincuagenas" frequently cited in this History, was born at Madrid, in 1478. He was of noble Asturian descent. Indeed, every peasant in the Asturias claims nobility as his birthright. At the age of twelve he was introduced into the royal palace, as one of the pages of Prince John. He continued with the court several years, and was present, though a boy, in the closing campaigns of the Moorish war. In 1514, according to his own statement, he embarked for the Indies, where, although he revisited his native country several times, he continued during the remainder of his long life. The time of his death is uncertain.

Oviedo occupied several important posts under the government, and he was appointed to one of a literary nature, for which he was well qualified by his long residence abroad; that of historiographer of the Indies. It was in this capacity that he produced his principal work, "Historia General de las Indias," in fifty books. Las Casas denounces the book as a wholesale fabrication, "as full of lies, almost, as pages." (Oeuvres, trad. de Llorente, tom. i. p. 382.) But Las Casas entertained too hearty an aversion for the man, whom he publicly accused of rapacity and cruelty, and was too decidedly opposed to his ideas on the government of the Indies, to be a fair critic. Oviedo, though somewhat loose and rambling, possessed extensive stores of information, by which those who have had occasion to follow in his track have liberally profited.

The work with which we are concerned is his Quincuagenas. It is entitled "Las Quincuagenas de los generosos é ilustres é no menos famosos Reyes, Príncipes, Duques, Marqueses y Condes et Caballeros, et Personas notables de España, que escribió el Capitan Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdez, Alcáide de sus Magestades de la Fortaleza de la Cibdad é Puerto de Sancto Domingo de la Isla Españiola, Coronista de las Indias," etc. At the close of the third volume is this record of the octogenarian author; "Acabé de escribir de mi mano este famoso tractado de la nobleza de España, domingo 1730; dia de Páscua de Pentecostes XXIII. de mayo de 1556 años. Laus Deo. Y de mi edad 79 años." This very curious work is in the form of dialogues, in which the author is the chief interlocutor. It contains a very full, and, indeed, prolix notice of the principal persons in Spain, their lineage, revenues, and arms, with an inexhaustible fund of private anecdote. The author, who was well acquainted with most of the individuals of note in his time, amused himself, during his absence in the New World, with keeping alive the images of home by this minute record of early reminiscences. In this mass of gossip, there is a good deal, indeed, of very little value. It contains, however, much for the illustration of domestic manners, and copious particulars, as I have intimated, respecting the characters and habits of eminent personages, which could have been known only to one familiar with them. On all topics of descent and heraldry, he is uncommonly full; and one would think his services in this department alone might have secured him, in a land where these are so much respected, the honors of the press. His book, however, still remains in manuscript, apparently little known, and less used, by Castilian scholars. Besides the three folio volumes in the Royal Library at Madrid, from which the transcript in my possession was obtained, Clemencin, whose commendations of this work, as illustrative of Isabella's reign, are unqualified. (Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. Ilust. 10,) enumerates three others, two in the king's private library, and one in that of the Academy.

FOOTNOTES

[1]
"Nil pudet assuetos sceptris: mitissima sors est
Regnorum sub rege novo." Lucan, Pharsalia, lib. 8.

[2] Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 8.--Rodericus Sanctius, Historia Hispanica, cap. 38, 39.--Pulgar, Claros Varones, tit. 1.--Castillo, Crónica, i. 20.--Guzman, Generaciones, cap. 33.--Although Henry's lavish expenditure, particularly on works of architecture, gained him in early life the appellation of "the Liberal," he is better known on the roll of Castilian sovereigns by the less flattering title of "the Impotent."

[3] Zuñiga, Anales Eclesiasticos y Seculares de Sevilla, (Madrid, 1667,) p. 344.--Castillo, Crónica, cap. 20.--Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. pp. 415, 419.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 1, cap. 14 et seq.--The surprise of Gibraltar, the unhappy source of feud between the families of Guzman and Ponce de Leon, did not occur till a later period, 1462.

[4] Such was his apathy, says Mariana, that he would subscribe his name to public ordinances, without taking the trouble to acquaint himself with their contents. Hist. de España, tom. ii. p. 423.

[5] Pulgar, Crónica de los Reyes Católicos, (Valencia, 1780,) cap. 2.-- Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 1, cap. 4.--Aleson, Anales de Navarra, tom. iv. pp. 519, 520.--The marriage between Blanche and Henry was publicly declared void by the bishop of Segovia, confirmed by the archbishop of Toledo, "por impotencia respectiva, owing to some malign influence"!

[6] La Clède, Hist. de. Portugal, tom. iii. pp. 325, 345.--Florez, Reynas Cathólicas, tom. ii. pp. 763, 766.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 1, cap. 20, 21.--It does not appear, however, whom Beltran de la Cueva indicated as the lady of his love on this occasion. (See Castillo, Crónica, cap. 23, 24.) Two anecdotes may he mentioned as characteristic of the gallantry of the times. The archbishop of Seville concluded a superb _fête_, given in honor of the royal nuptials, by introducing on the table two vases filled with rings garnished with precious stones, to be distributed among his female guests. At a ball given on another occasion, the young queen having condescended to dance with the French ambassador, the latter made a solemn vow, in commemoration of so distinguished an honor, never to dance with any other woman.

[7] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., cap. 42, 47.--Castillo, Crónica, cap. 23.

[8] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., cap. 35.--Sempere, Hist. del. Luxo, tom. i. p. 183.--Idem, Hist. des Cortès, ch. 19.--Marina, Teoría, part. 1, cap. 20.--part. 2, pp. 390, 391.--Zuñiga, Anales de Sevilla, pp. 346, 349.--The papal bulls of crusade issued on these occasions, says Palencia, contained among other indulgences an exemption from the pains and penalties of purgatory, assuring to the soul of the purchaser, after death, an immediate translation into a state of glory. Some of the more orthodox casuists doubted the validity of such a bull. But it was decided, after due examination, that, as the holy father possessed plenary power of absolution of all offenses committed upon earth, and as purgatory is situated upon earth, it properly fell within his jurisdiction, (cap. 32.) Bulls of crusade were sold at the rate of 200 maravedies each; and it is computed by the same historian, that no less than 4,000,000 maravedies were amassed by this traffic in Castile, in the space of four years!

[9] Saez, Monedas de Enrique IV., (Madrid, 1805,) pp. 2-5.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., cap. 36, 39.--Castillo, Crónica, cap. 19.

[10] Pulgar, Claros Varones, tit. 6.--Castillo, Crónica, cap. 15.-- Mendoza, Monarquía de España, tom. i. p. 328.--The ancient marquisate of Villena, having been incorporated into the crown of Castile, devolved to Prince Henry of Aragon, on his marriage with the daughter of John II. It was subsequently confiscated by that monarch, in consequence of the repeated rebellions of Prince Henry; and the title, together with a large proportion of the domains originally attached to it, was conferred on Don Juan Pacheco, by whom it was transmitted to his son, afterwards raised to the rank of duke of Escalona, in the reign of Isabella. Salazar de Mendoza, Dignidades de Castilla y Leon, (Madrid, 1794,) lib. 3, cap. 12, 17.

[11] Pulgar, Claros Varones, tit. 20.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 10, 11.

[12] At least these are the important consequences imputed to this interview by the French writers. See Gaillard, Rivalité, tom. iii. pp. 241-243.--Comines, Mémoires, liv. 3, chap. 8.--Also Castillo, Crónica, cap. 48, 49.--Zurita, Anales, lib. 17, cap. 50.

[13] Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, tom. ii. p. 122.--Zurita, Anales, lib. 17, cap. 56.--Castillo, Crónica, cap. 51, 52, 58.--The queen of Aragon, who was as skilful a diplomatist as her husband, John I., assailed the vanity of Villena, quite as much as his interest. On one of his missions to her court, she invited him to dine with her _tête-à-tête_ at her own table, while during the repast they were served by the ladies of the palace. Ibid., cap. 40.

[14] See the memorial presented to the king, cited at length in Marina, Teoría, tom. iii. Apend. no. 7.--Castillo, Crónica, cap. 58, 64.--Zurita, Anales, lib. 17, cap. 56.--Lebrija, Hispanarum Rerum Ferdinando Rege et Elisabe Reginâ Gestarum Decades, (apud Granatam, 1545,) lib. 1, cap. 1, 2.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 1, cap. 6.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 9.

[15] Castillo, Crónica, cap. 65.

[16] See copies from the original instruments, which are still preserved in the archives of the house of Villena, in Marina, Teoría, tom. iii. part. 2, Ap. 6, 8.--Castillo, Crónica, cap. 66, 67.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 1, cap. 57.

[17] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 1, cap. 62.--Castillo, Crónica, cap. 68, 69, 74.

[18] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 1, cap. 63, 70.--Castillo, Crónica, cap. 75, 76.

[19] The celebrated marquis of Santillana died in 1458, at the age of sixty. (Sanchez, Poesías Castellanas, tom. i. p. 23.) The title descended to his eldest son, Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, who is represented by his contemporaries to have been worthy of his sire. Like him, he was imbued with a love of letters; he was conspicuous for his magnanimity and chivalrous honor, his moderation, constancy, and uniform loyalty to his sovereign, virtues of rare worth in those rapacious and turbulent times. (Pulgar, Claros Varones, tit. 9.) Ferdinand and Isabella created him duke del Infantado. This domain derives its name from its having been once the patrimony of the _infantes_ of Castile. See Salazar de Mendoza, Monarquía, tom. i. p. 219,--and Dignidades de Castilla, lib. 3, cap. 17.--Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 8.

[20] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 1, cap. 64.--Castillo, Crónica, cap. 78.

[21] Castillo, Crónica, cap. 80, 82.

[22] Rades y Andrada, Chrónica de Las Tres Ordenes y Cavallerías, (Toledo, 1572,) fol. 76.--Castillo, Crónica, cap. 85.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 1, cap. 73.

[24] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 154.-Florez, Reynas Cathólicas, tom. ii. p. 789.-Castillo, Crónica, cap. 37.

[25] Aleson, Anales de Navarra, tom. iv. pp. 561, 562.--Zurita, Anales, lib. 16, cap. 46, lib. 17, cap. 3.--Castillo, Crónica, cap. 31, 57.-- Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., cap. 55.

[26] Decad. de Palencia, apud Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. p. 65, nota.

[27] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., cap. 73.--Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. p. 450.--Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. p. 532.

This lady, Doña Beatriz Fernandez de Bobadilla, the most intimate personal friend of Isabella, will appear often in the course of our narrative. Gonzalo de Oviedo, who knew her well, describes her as "illustrating her generous lineage by her conduct, which was wise, virtuous, and valiant." (Quincuagenas, MS., dial. de Cabrera.) The last epithet, rather singular for a female character, was not unmerited.

[28] Palencia imputes his death to an attack of the quinsy. Corónica, MS., cap. 73.

[29] Rades y Andrada, Las Tres Ordenes, fol. 77.--Caro de Torres, Historia de las Ordenes Militares de Santiago, Calatrava, y Alcantara, (Madrid, 1629,) lib. 2, cap. 59.--Castillo, Crónica, cap. 85.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., cap. 73.--Gaillard remarks on this event, "Chacun crut sur cette mort ce qu'il voulut." And again in a few pages after, speaking of Isabella, he says, "On remarqua que tons ceux qui pouvoient faire obstacle à la satisfaction ou à la fortune d'Isabelle, mouroient toujours à propos pour elle." (Rivalité, tom. iii. pp. 280, 286.) This ingenious writer is fond of seasoning his style with those piquant sarcasms, in which oftentimes more is meant than meets the ear, and which Voltaire rendered fashionable in history. I doubt, however, if, amid all the heats of controversy and faction, there is a single Spanish writer of that age, or indeed of any subsequent one, who has ventured to impute to the contrivance of Isabella any one of the fortunate coincidences, to which the author alludes.

[30] Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decades, lib. 1, cap. 2--Zurita, Anales, lib. 18, cap. 10--Castillo, Cronies, cap. 93, 97.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 1, cap 80.

[31] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica MS., cap. 82.

[32] Zuñiga, Anales de Sevilla, pp. 851, 352.--Carta del Levantamiento de Toledo, apud Castillo, Crónica, p. 109.--The historian of Seville has quoted an animated apostrophe addressed to the citizens by one of their number in this season of discord:

"Mezquina Sevilla en la sangre bañada
de los tus fijos, i tus cavalleros,
que fado enemigo te tiene minguada," etc.

The poem concludes with a summons to throw off the yoke of their oppressors:

"Despierta Sevilla e sacude el imperio,
que faze a tus nobles tanto vituperio."

See Anales, p. 359.

[33] "Quod in pace fore, sen natura, tune fatum et ira dei vocabatur;" says Tacitus, (Historiae, lib. 4, cap. 26,) adverting to a similar state of excitement.

[34] Saez quotes a MS. letter of a contemporary, exhibiting a frightful picture of these disorders. (Monedas de Enrique IV., p. 1, not.--Castillo, Crónica, cap. 83, 87, et passim.--Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. p. 451.--Marina, Teoría, tom. ii. p. 487.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 1, cap. 69.) The active force kept on duty by the Hermandad amounted to 3000 horse. Ibid., cap. 89, 90.

[35] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., cap. 87, 92.--Castillo, Crónica, cap. 94.--Garibay, Compendio, lib. 17, cap. 20.

[36] Marina, Teoría, part. 2, cap. 88.

[37] Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decad., lib. 1, cap. 3.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 1, cap. 92.--Florez, Reynas Cathólicas, tom. ii. p. 790.

[38] Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decad., lib. 1, cap. 3.--Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, tom. vii. p. 218.-Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, part. 1, cap. 92.--part. 2, cap. 5.

[39] See a copy of the original compact cited at length by Marina, Teoría, Apend. no. 11.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, part. 1, cap. 2.

[40] So called from four bulls, sculptured in stone, discovered there, with Latin inscriptions thereon, indicating it to have been the site of one of Julius Caesar's victories during the civil war. (Estrada, Poblacion General de España, (Madrid, 1748,) tom. i. p. 306.)--Galindez de Carbaja, a contemporary, fixes the date of this convention in August. Apales del Rey Fernando el Católico, MS., año 1468.

[41] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 4.--Castillo, Crónica, cap. 18.--Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. pp. 461, 462.-- Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, part. 1, cap. 2.--Castillo affirms that Henry, incensed by his sister's refusal of the king of Portugal, dissolved the cortes at Ocaña, before it had taken the oath of allegiance to her. (Crónica, cap. 127.) This assertion, however, is counterbalanced by the opposite one of Pulgar, a contemporary writer, like himself. (Reyes Católicos, cap. 5.) And as Ferdinand and Isabella, in a letter addressed, after their marriage, to Henry IV., transcribed also by Castillo, allude incidentally to such a recognition as to a well-known fact, the balance of testimony must be admitted to be in favor of it. See Castillo, Crónica, cap. 114.

[42] Isabella, who in a letter to Henry IV., dated Oct. 12th, 1469, adverts to these proposals of the English prince, as being under consideration at the time of the convention of Toros de Guisando, does not specify which of the brothers of Edward IV. was intended. (Castillo, Crónica, cap. 136.)

Mr. Turner, in his History of England during the Middle Ages, (London, 1825,) quotes part of the address delivered by the Spanish envoy to Richard III., in 1483, in which the orator speaks of "the unkindness, which his queen Isabella had conceived for Edward IV., for his refusal of her, and his taking instead to wife a widow of England." (Vol. iii. p. 274.) The old chronicler Hall, on the other hand, mentions, that it was currently reported, although he does not appear to credit it, that the earl of Warwick had been despatched into Spain in order to request the hand of the princess Isabella for his master Edward IV., in 1463. (See his Chronicle of England, (London, 1809,) pp. 263, 264.)--I find nothing in the Spanish accounts of that period, which throws any light on these obvious contradictions.

[43] The territories of France and Castile touched, indeed, on one point (Guipuscoa), but were separated along the whole remaining line of frontier by the kingdoms of Aragon and Navarre.

[44] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 8.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 10.

[45] Isabella, in order to acquaint herself more intimately with the personal qualities of her respective suitors, had privately despatched her confidential chaplain, Alonso de Coca, to the courts of France and of Aragon, and his report on his return was altogether favorable to Ferdinand. The duke of Guienne he represented as "a feeble, effeminate prince, with limbs so emaciated as to be almost deformed, and with eyes so weak and watery as to incapacitate him for the ordinary exercises of chivalry. While Ferdinand, on the other hand, was possessed of a comely, symmetrical figure, a graceful demeanor, and a spirit that was up to anything;" _mui dispuesto para toda coga que hacer ginsiese_. It is not improbable that the queen of Aragon condescended to practise some of those agreeable arts on the worthy chaplain, which made so sensible an impression on the marquis of Villena.

[46] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 5.

[47] See ante, note 10.

[48] Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, tom. ii. p. 391.--Castillo, Crónica, cap. 121, 127.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 7.--Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decad., lib. 1, cap. 7.

[49] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 7.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 7.

[50] Pulgar, Claros Varones, tit. 2.

[51] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 154.--Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 162.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 7.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 9.

[52] Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 157, 163.

[53] See the copy of the original marriage contract, as it exists in the archives of Simancas, extracted in tom. vi. of Memorias de la Acad. de Hist., Apend. no. 1.--Zurita, Anales, lib. 18, cap. 21.--Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, tom. vii. p. 236.

[54] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 12.--Castillo, Crónica, cap. 128, 131, 136.--Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 162.--Beatrice de Bobadilla and Mencia de la Torre, the two ladies most in her confidence, had escaped to the neighboring town of Coca.

[55] Castillo, Crónica, cap. 136.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 12.--Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 69.

[56] This cavalier, who was of an ancient and honorable family in Castile, was introduced to the princess's service by the archbishop of Toledo. He is represented by Gonzalo de Oviedo as a man of much sagacity and knowledge of the world, qualities with which he united a steady devotion to the interests of his mistress. Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 2, dial. 1.

[57] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., cap. 14.-The bishop told Palencia, that "if his own servants deserted him, he would oppose the entrance of Ferdinand into the kingdom."

[58] Zurita, Anales, lib. 18, cap. 26.--The enrique was a gold coin, so denominated from Henry II.

[59] Zurita, Anales, lib. 18, cap. 26.--Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. p. 273.

[60] Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. p. 78, Ilust. 2.

[61] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 14.--Zurita, Anales, loc. cit.

[62] This letter, dated October 12th, is cited at length by Castillo, Crónica, cap. 136.

[63] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 15.

[64] Gutierre de Cardenas was the first who pointed him out to the princess, exclaiming at the same time, "_Ese es, ese es_," "This is he;" in commemoration of which he was permitted to place on his escutcheon the letters SS, whose pronunciation in Spanish resembles that of the exclamation which he had uttered. Ibid., part. 2, cap. 15.--Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 2, dial. 1.

[65] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 182.--Garibay, Compendio, lib. 18, cap. 1.--"Tan amigo de los negocios," says Mariana, "que parecia con el trabajo descansaba." Hist. de España, lib. 25, cap. 18.

[66] "En hermosura, puestas delante S. A. todas las mugeres que yo he visto, ninguna vi tan graciosa, ni tanto de ver corao su persona, ni de tal manera e sanctidad honestísíma." Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS.

[67] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 201.--Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. p. 362.--Garibay, Compendío, lib. 18, cap. 1.

[68] Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. p. 465.

[69] Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1469.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 16.--Zurita, Anales, lib. 18, cap. 26.--See a copy of the official record of the marriage, Mem. de la Acad., tom. vi. Apend. 4. See also the Ilust. 2.

[70] The intricacies of this affair, at once the scandal and the stumbling-block of the Spanish historians, have been unravelled by Señor Clemencin, with his usual perspicuity. See Mem. de la Acad., tom. vi. pp. 105-116, Ilust. 2.

[71] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 16.--A lively narrative of the adventures of Prince Ferdinand, detailed in this chapter, may be found in Cushing's Reminiscences of Spain, (Boston, 1833,) vol. i. pp. 225-255.

[72] Castillo, Crónica, cap. 137.--Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 16.