LITMIR.BIZ

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at the close of the fifteenth century, and on which his own son Ferdinand furnished the most practical commentary.

      The crown of Navarre, which he had so shamelessly usurped, devolved, on his decease, on his guilty daughter Leonora, countess of Foix, who, as we have before noticed, survived to enjoy it only three short weeks. Aragon, with its extensive dependencies, descended to Ferdinand. Thus the two crowns of Aragon and Castile, after a separation of more than four centuries, became indissolubly united, and the foundations were laid of the magnificent empire which was destined to overshadow every other European monarchy.

      FOOTNOTES

      [1] The popular belief of Joanna's illegitimacy was founded on the following circumstances. 1. King Henry's first marriage with Blanche of Navarre was dissolved, after it had subsisted twelve years, on the publicly alleged ground of "impotence in the parties." 2. The princess Joanna, the only child of his second queen, Joanna of Portugal, was not born until the eighth year of her marriage, and long after she had become notorious for her gallantries. 3. Although Henry kept several mistresses, whom he maintained in so ostentatious a manner as to excite general scandal, he was never known to have had issue by any one of them.—To counterbalance the presumption afforded by these facts, it should be stated, that Henry appears, to the day of his death, to have cherished the princess Joanna as his own offspring, and that Beltran de la Cueva, duke of Albuquerque, her reputed father, instead of supporting her claims to the crown on the demise of Henry, as would have been natural had he been entitled to the honors of paternity, attached himself to the adverse faction of Isabella.

      Queen Joanna survived her husband about six months only. Father Florez (Reynas Cathólicas, tom. ii. pp. 760–786) has made a flimsy attempt to whitewash her character; but, to say nothing of almost every contemporary historian, as well as of the official documents of that day (see Marina, Teoría, tom. iii. part. 2, num. 11), the stain has been too deeply fixed by the repeated testimony of Castillo, the loyal adherent of her own party, to be thus easily effaced.

      It is said, however, that the queen died in the odor of sanctity; and Ferdinand and Isabella caused her to be deposited in a rich mausoleum, erected by the ambassador to the court of the Great Tamerlane for himself, but from which his remains were somewhat unceremoniously ejected, in order to make room for those of his royal mistress.

      [2] See this subject discussed in extenso, by Marina, Teoría, part. 2, cap. 1–10.—See, also, Introd. Sect. I. of this History.

      [3] See Part I. Chap. 3.

      [4] See Part I. Chap. 4, Note 2.

      [5] Fortunately, this strong place, in which the royal treasure was deposited, was in the keeping of Andres de Cabrera, the husband of Isabella's friend, Beatriz de Bobadilla. His co-operation at this juncture was so important, that Oviedo does not hesitate to declare, "It lay with him to make Isabella or her rival queen, as he listed." Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 23.

      [6] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 10.—Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 75.—Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 93.—L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 155.—Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 2, dial. 3.

      [7] Marina, whose peculiar researches and opportunities make him the best, is my only authority for this convention of the cortes. (Teoría, tom. ii. pp. 63, 89.) The extracts he makes from the writ of summons, however, seem to imply, that the object was not the recognition of Ferdinand and Isabella, but of their daughter, as successor to the crown. Among the nobles, who openly testified their adhesion to Isabella, were no less than four of the six individuals, to whom the late king had intrusted the guardianship of his daughter Joanna; viz. the grand cardinal of Spain, the constable of Castile, the duke of Infantado, and the count of Benavente.

      [8] A precedent for female inheritance, in the latter kingdom, was subsequently furnished by the undisputed succession and long reign of Joanna, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, and mother of Charles V. The introduction of the Salic law, under the Bourbon dynasty, opposed a new barrier, indeed; but this has been since swept away by the decree of the late monarch, Ferdinand VII., and the paramount authority of the cortes; and we may hope that the successful assertion of her lawful rights by Isabella II. will put this much vexed question at rest for ever.

      [9] See Part I. Chap. 3.—Ferdinand's powers are not so narrowly limited, at least not so carefully defined, in this settlement, as in the marriage articles. Indeed, the instrument is much more concise and general in its whole import.

      [10] Salazar de Mendoza, Crón. del Gran Cardenal, lib. 1, cap. 40.—L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 155, 156.—Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 222–224.—Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, pp. 35, 36.—See the original instrument signed by Ferdinand and Isabella, cited at length in Dormer's Discursos Varios de Historia, (Zaragoza, 1683,) pp. 295–313.—It does not appear that the settlement was ever confirmed by, or indeed presented to, the cortes. Marina speaks of it, however, as emanating from that body. (Teoría, tom. ii. pp. 63, 64.) From Pulgar's statement, as well as from the instrument itself, it seems to have been made under no other auspices or sanction, than that of the great nobility and cavaliers. Marina's eagerness to find a precedent for the interference of the popular branch in all the great concerns of government, has usually quickened, but sometimes clouded, his optics. In the present instance he has undoubtedly confounded the irregular proceedings of the aristocracy exclusively, with the deliberate acts of the legislature.

      [11] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 94.—Garibay, Compendio, lib. 18, cap. 3.—Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 10, 11.—Pulgar, Letras, (Madrid, 1775,) let. 3, al Arzobispo de Toledo.—The archbishop's jealousy of cardinal Mendoza is uniformly reported by the Spanish writers as the true cause of his defection from the queen.

      [12] Ruy de Pina, Chrónica d'el Rey Alfonso V., cap. 173, apud Collecçaö de Livros Inéditos de Historia Portugueza, (Lisboa, 1790–93,) tom. i.

      [13] The ancient rivalry between the two nations was exasperated into the most deadly rancor, by the fatal defeat at Aljubarrotta, in 1235, in which fell the flower of the Castilian nobility. King John I. wore mourning, it is said, to the day of his death, in commemoration of this disaster. (Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, tom. ii. pp. 394–396.—La Clède, Hist. de Portugal, tom. iii. pp. 357–359.) Pulgar, the secretary of Ferdinand and Isabella, addressed, by their order, a letter of remonstrance to the king of Portugal, in which he endeavors, by numerous arguments founded on expediency and justice, to dissuade him from his meditated enterprise. Pulgar, Letras, No. 7.

      [14] Ruy de Pina, Chrónica d'el Rey Alfonso V., cap. 174–178.—Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 16, 17, 18.—Bernaldez states, that Alfonso, previously to his invasion, caused largesses of plate and money to be distributed among the Castilian nobles, whom he imagined to be well affected towards him. Some of them, the duke of Alva in particular, received his presents and used them in the cause of Isabella.—Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, tom. ii. pp. 396–398.—Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 230–240.—La Clède, Hist. de Portugal, tom. iii. pp. 360–362.-Pulgar, Crónica, p. 51.—L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 156.—Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 2, dial. 3.

      [15] The queen, who was, at that time, in a state of pregnancy, brought on a miscarriage by her incessant personal exposure. Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 234.

      [16] Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 75.—Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, pp. 45–55.— Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, tom. vii. p. 411.—Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 23.

      [17] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 18.—Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, tom. ii. pp. 398–400.—Pulgar, Crónica, pp. 55–60.—Ruy de Pina, Chrón. d'el Rey Alfonso V., cap. 179.—La Clède, Hist. de Portugal, tom. iii. p. 366.—Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 240–243.

      [18] "Pues no os maravilleis de eso," says Oviedo, in relation to these troubles, "que nó solo entre hermanos suele haber esas diferencias, mas entre padre é hijo lo vimos ayer, como suelen decir." Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 2, dial. 3.

      [19] The royal coffers were found to contain about 10,000 marks of silver. (Pulgar,

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