The History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Volume I Part 14

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 s.e.x 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 antic.i.p.ating 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 pa.s.s 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 emba.s.sy 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 circ.u.mspection therefore was necessary. The party journeyed chiefly in the night; Ferdinand a.s.sumed 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 Trevino, 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 Duenas in the kingdom of Leon, where the Castilian n.o.bles 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 embarra.s.sments, 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 n.o.bles; and she concluded with soliciting his approbation of it, giving him at the same time affectionate a.s.surances 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, pa.s.sed privately from Duenas, 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 hors.e.m.e.n 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 dispa.s.sionate 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 Duenas, 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 circ.u.mstances 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 mult.i.tude 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 doc.u.ment 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 ma.s.s, agreeably to the usage of the time, in the collegiate church of Sante Maria. [71]

An emba.s.sy was despatched by Ferdinand and Isabella to Henry, to acquaint him with their proceedings, and again request his approbation of them.

They repeated their a.s.surances 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 Valdes, author of the "Quincuagenas"

frequently cited in this History, was born at Madrid, in 1478. He was of n.o.ble Asturian descent. Indeed, every peasant in the Asturias claims n.o.bility 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 princ.i.p.al 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 ent.i.tled "Las Quincuagenas de los generosos e il.u.s.tres e no menos famosos Reyes, Principes, Duques, Marqueses y Condes et Caballeros, et Personas notables de Espana, que escribio el Capitan Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdez, Alcaide de sus Magestades de la Fortaleza de la Cibdad e Puerto de Sancto Domingo de la Isla Espaniola, Coronista de las Indias," etc. At the close of the third volume is this record of the octogenarian author; "Acabe de escribir de mi mano este famoso tractado de la n.o.bleza de Espana, domingo 1730; dia de Pascua de Pentecostes XXIII. de mayo de 1556 anos. Laus Deo. Y de mi edad 79 anos." 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 princ.i.p.al 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 ma.s.s of gossip, there is a good deal, indeed, of very little value. It contains, however, much for the ill.u.s.tration 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 ma.n.u.script, 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 ill.u.s.trative of Isabella's reign, are unqualified. (Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. Il.u.s.t. 10,) enumerates three others, two in the king's private library, and one in that of the Academy.

FOOTNOTES

[1]

"Nil pudet a.s.suetos 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, t.i.t.

1.--Castillo, Cronica, 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 t.i.tle of "the Impotent."

[3] Zuniga, a.n.a.les Eclesiasticos y Seculares de Sevilla, (Madrid, 1667,) p. 344.--Castillo, Cronica, cap. 20.--Mariana, Hist. de Espana, tom. ii.

pp. 415, 419.--Alonso de Palencia, Coronica, 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 Espana, tom. ii. p. 423.

[5] Pulgar, Cronica de los Reyes Catolicos, (Valencia, 1780,) cap. 2.-- Alonso de Palencia, Coronica, MS., part. 1, cap. 4.--Aleson, a.n.a.les 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 Clede, Hist. de. Portugal, tom. iii. pp. 325, 345.--Florez, Reynas Catholicas, tom. ii. pp. 763, 766.--Alonso de Palencia, Coronica, 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, Cronica, cap. 23, 24.) Two anecdotes may he mentioned as characteristic of the gallantry of the times. The archbishop of Seville concluded a superb _fete_, 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 amba.s.sador, the latter made a solemn vow, in commemoration of so distinguished an honor, never to dance with any other woman.

[7] Alonso de Palencia, Coronica, MS., cap. 42, 47.--Castillo, Cronica, cap. 23.

[8] Alonso de Palencia, Coronica, MS., cap. 35.--Sempere, Hist. del. Luxo, tom. i. p. 183.--Idem, Hist. des Cortes, ch. 19.--Marina, Teoria, part. 1, cap. 20.--part. 2, pp. 390, 391.--Zuniga, a.n.a.les 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, a.s.suring 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 ama.s.sed by this traffic in Castile, in the s.p.a.ce of four years!

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

[10] Pulgar, Claros Varones, t.i.t. 6.--Castillo, Cronica, cap. 15.-- Mendoza, Monarquia de Espana, 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 t.i.tle, 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, t.i.t. 20.--Bernaldez, Reyes Catolicos, MS., cap. 10, 11.

[12] At least these are the important consequences imputed to this interview by the French writers. See Gaillard, Rivalite, tom. iii. pp.

241-243.--Comines, Memoires, liv. 3, chap. 8.--Also Castillo, Cronica, cap. 48, 49.--Zurita, a.n.a.les, lib. 17, cap. 50.

[13] Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, tom. ii. p. 122.--Zurita, a.n.a.les, lib. 17, cap. 56.--Castillo, Cronica, cap. 51, 52, 58.--The queen of Aragon, who was as skilful a diplomatist as her husband, John I., a.s.sailed 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 _tete-a-tete_ 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, Teoria, tom. iii. Apend. no. 7.--Castillo, Cronica, cap. 58, 64.--Zurita, a.n.a.les, lib. 17, cap. 56.--Lebrija, Hispanarum Rerum Ferdinando Rege et Elisabe Regina Gestarum Decades, (apud Granatam, 1545,) lib. 1, cap. 1, 2.--Alonso de Palencia, Coronica, MS., part. 1, cap. 6.--Bernaldez, Reyes Catolicos, MS., cap. 9.

[15] Castillo, Cronica, cap. 65.

[16] See copies from the original instruments, which are still preserved in the archives of the house of Villena, in Marina, Teoria, tom. iii.

part. 2, Ap. 6, 8.--Castillo, Cronica, cap. 66, 67.--Alonso de Palencia, Coronica, MS., part. 1, cap. 57.

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

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

[19] The celebrated marquis of Santillana died in 1458, at the age of sixty. (Sanchez, Poesias Castellanas, tom. i. p. 23.) The t.i.tle 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, t.i.t. 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, Monarquia, 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, Coronica, MS., part. 1, cap. 64.--Castillo, Cronica, cap. 78.

[21] Castillo, Cronica, cap. 80, 82.

[22] Rades y Andrada, Chronica de Las Tres Ordenes y Cavallerias, (Toledo, 1572,) fol. 76.--Castillo, Cronica, cap. 85.--Alonso de Palencia, Coronica, MS., part. 1, cap. 73.

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

[25] Aleson, a.n.a.les de Navarra, tom. iv. pp. 561, 562.--Zurita, a.n.a.les, lib. 16, cap. 46, lib. 17, cap. 3.--Castillo, Cronica, cap. 31, 57.-- Alonso de Palencia, Coronica, MS., cap. 55.

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

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

This lady, Dona 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 "ill.u.s.trating 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. Coronica, MS., cap. 73.