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. (Teoria, 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 Espana, 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 Espana, 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 e 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 Espana, 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 fue el ultimo armamento que salio 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 Chronica del Gran Capitan, lib. 2, cap. 112-127.—Sismondi, Republiques 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.—Zuniga, Annales de Sevilla, ano 1506.

[20] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 313, 316.—Bernaldez, Reyes Catolicos, MS., cap. 206.—Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 66.—Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 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 Espana, tom. ii. lib. 29, cap. 2.—Bernaldez, Reyes Catolicos, MS., cap. 206.—Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 7, cap. 22.

[24] Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 7, cap. 15.—Mariana, Hist. de Espana, tom. ii. lib. 29, cap. 1.—Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 317.—Zuniga, Annales de Sevilla, ano 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 Espana, 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.—Zuniga, Annales de Sevilla, ano 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 Gaudia, 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 tranquillita 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 Catolicos, 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 Espana, 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 cortege 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 Urena, 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 Urena 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 Espana, 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 Espana, tom. ii. lib. 29, cap. 3.—Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1506.— Bernaldez, Reyes Catolicos, 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 Espana, 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.—Zuniga, Annales de Sevilla, ano 1507.—Bernaldez, Reyes Catolicos, 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 Catolicos, 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 Catolicos, MS., cap. 208.—Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. 71.— Mariana, Hist. de Espana, 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 Catolicos, 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.—Chronica 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 e stato piu liberale verso di lui, tanto piu, ne insospettisce la brigata, pensando che il Re abbi fatto per assicurarlo, e per poterne meglio disporre sotto questa sicurta." (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] Chronica 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 Napoles, nuestro muy charo y muy amado primo, y uno del nuestro secreto Consejo," etc. (See the document, apud Quintana, Espanoles Celebres, 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 a la plupart 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.—Chronica 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 Francois, mesmement de son frere, le gentil duc de Nemours." (Memoires de Bayard, chap. 27, apud Petitot, Collection des Memoires, tom. xv.) See also Fleurange, (Memoires, chap. 19, apud Petitot, Collection des Memoires, 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 Catolicos, 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.—Chronica 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 maesta eccellente della presenza sua, la magnificenza delle parole, i gesti, e la maniera piena di gravita condita di grazia: ma sopra tutti il Re di Francia," etc. Guicciardini, ubi supra.

[20] Brantome, Vies des Hommes Illustres, disc. 6.—Chronica del Gran Capitan, lib. 3, cap. 4.—Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. iv. pp. 77, 78.— D'Auton, Hist. de Louys XII., ubi supra.—Quintana, Espanoles Celebres, tom. i. p. 319.—Memoires de Bayard, chap. 27, apud Petitot, Collection des Memoires, tom. xv.—Bernaldez, Reyes Catolicos, 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 Catolicos, 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, Delices 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 e senorios justa e razonable cosa fuera, e seria que fueramos llamados e certificados de ello, porque yo e los otros caballeros grandes e las ciudades e alcaldes mayores vieramos lo que debiamos hacer e consentir como vasallos e leales servidores de la reina nuestra senora, porque la administration e gobernacion destos reinos se diera e concediera a quien las leyes destos reynos mandan que se den e encomienden en caso," etc. (MS. de la Biblioteca de la Real Acad. de Hist., apud Marina, Teoria, 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. (Teoria, 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.—Chronica 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 reputoit a grande chose, et triomphale ordonnance." Ubi supra.

[28] Bernaldez, Reyes Catolicos, 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 Catolicos, 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., ano 1507.—Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. lib. 20, cap. 10.—Chronica 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 Catolicos, MS., cap. 210.—Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, ubi supra.—Chronica del Gran Capitan, lib. 3, cap. 5.

[33] Quintana errs in stating that Dona Elvira married the constable. (Espanoles Celebres, tom. i. p. 321.) He had two wives, Dona Blanca de Herrera, and Dona 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.—Chronica 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, Espanoles Celebres, tom. i. pp. 322-334.—Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, p. 286.—Chronica 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 ALCALA.—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 Alcala.—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.