Chapter LXXXIX: Act 8: Parliament 1. repeated in Act 99. Parliament 7 (15)

Alfonso of Castile died two years after his great victory [of
'las navas de Tolosa']. He left his crown to his only son
Henry, a boy of eleven, and the regency to his daughter
Berenguela, queen of Leon, who was separated, upon the almost
always available plea of too near consanguinity, from her
husband Alfonso. Berenguela administered her delegated power
ably, but held it only three years: at the end of that time
the young king was accidentally killed by a tile falling upon
his head. Berenguela was her brother's natural heiress; but
idolizing her only son, Ferdinand, whom she had nursed and
educated herself, she immediately renounced her claim to the
throne in his favour, … and caused Ferdinand III. to be
acknowledged king: Alfonso IX., however, long continued to
disturb his wife and son's government. The king of Aragon
[Pedro II.] was recalled immediately after the great battle to
the concerns of his French dominions," where he joined his
kinsman, the count of Toulouse, as stated above, in resisting
the Albigensian crusade, and fell (1213) at Muret. "Whilst
Pedro's uncles and brothers were struggling for his
succession, the queen·dowager obtained from the Pope an order
to Simon de Montfort, the leader of the crusade, to deliver
her son [whom the father had given up as hostage before he
resolved to commit himself to war with the crusaders] into her
hands. Having thus got possession of the rightful heir, she
procured the assembling of the Cortes of Aragon, to whom she
presented the young king, when nobles, clergy, and town
deputies voluntarily swore allegiance to him.
{2978}
This was the first time such an oath was taken in Aragon, the
most limited of monarchies. It had been usual for the
Aragonese kings at their coronation to swear observance of the
laws, but not to receive in return an oath of fidelity from
the people. Henceforward this corresponding oath of fidelity
was regularly taken under the following form, celebrated for
its singularly bold liberty. 'We, who are as good as you, make
you our king to preserve our rights; if not, not.' The
Catalans followed the example of their Aragonese brethren in
proclaiming James king; but many years elapsed ere he could
sufficiently allay the disorders excited by his ambitious
uncles to prosecute the war against the Moors. At length the
several kings of Castile, Leon, Aragon, and Portugal, were
ready, unconnectedly, to invade Mussulman Spain, where
Almohade princes and Mohammed aben Hud, a descendant of the
kings of Saragossa, were contending for the sovereignty, and
many 'walis' were struggling for independent royalty; all far
more intent upon gratifying their mutual jealousies and
enmities than upon resisting the common foe, with whom, on the
contrary, all were willing to enter into alliance in
furtherance of their separate views. Under these
circumstances, James of Aragon made himself master of the
greater part of Valencia, and of the island of Majorca [and
subsequently of Minorca]; Ferdinand of Castile extended his
conquests in Andalusia; Alfonso of Leon his in Estremadura:
and Sancho II. of Portugal, who had lately succeeded to his
father Alfonso II., acquired the city of Elvas, … Sancho of
Navarre took no part in these wars. After … the battle of 'las
navas de Tolosa' he quitted the career of arms, devoting
himself wholly to the internal administration of his kingdom.
He had no children, neither had his eldest sister, the queen
of England [Berengaria, wife of Richard Cœur de Lion], any.
Thence his youngest sister's son, Thibalt, count of Champagne,
became his natural heir. But Sancho, judging that the distance
between Navarre and Champagne unfitted the two states for
being governed by one prince, adopted his kinsman, James of
Aragon, and to him, as heir, the Navarese clergy and nobility,
and the count of Champagne himself, prospectively swore
fealty. Upon Sancho's death, in 1234, however, the Navarrese,
preferring independence under the lineal heir to an union with
Aragon, entreated king James to release them from their oaths.
He was then engaged in the conquest of Valencia; and
unwilling, it may be hoped, to turn his arms from Mahometan
enemies against his fellow-Christians, he complied with the
request, and Thibalt was proclaimed king of Navarre. Thibalt
neglected the wars carried on by his Spanish brother kings
against the Mahometans, to accept the command of a crusade for
the recovery of Jerusalem. The expedition was unsuccessful,
but the reputation of the leader did not, suffer. Upon his
return, Thibalt followed the example of his uncle in studying
only to promote the internal welfare of the country. He
introduced the cultivation of the grape and the manufacture of
wine into Navarre, with other agricultural improvements.
Thibalt is more known as one of the most celebrated
troubadours or poets of his day. Prior to Thibalt's accession,
the conquering progress of Leon and Castile had been
temporarily interrupted. Alfonso of Leon died in 1230, and by
his will divided Leon and Galicia between two daughters of his
first marriage, wholly overlooking his son Ferdinand. … By
negociation, however, and the influence which the acknowledged
wisdom and virtues of queen Berenguela appear to have given
her over everyone but her husband, the superior claims of
Ferdinand were admitted. The two infantas were amply endowed,
and the crowns of Leon and Castile were thenceforward
permanently united, With power thus augmented, Ferdinand III.
renewed his invasion of the Mussulman states, about the time
that Yahie, the last of the Almohade candidates for
sovereignty, died, bequeathing his pretensions to Mohammed abu
Abdallah aben Alhamar, an enterprising leader, who, in the
general confusion, had established himself as king of Jaen,
and was the sworn enemy of Yahie's chief rival, Abdallah aben
Hud. Ferdinand invaded the dominions of Abdallah, and Mohammed
took that opportunity of materially enlarging his own. After a
few years of general war, Abdallah aben Hud was assassinated
by the partisans of the king of Jaen, and his brother Aly, who
succeeded to his pretensions, met a similar fate. Mohammed ben
Alhamar was immediately received into the city of Granada,
which he made his capital; and thus, in 1238, founded the
kingdom of Granada, the last bright relic of Moorish
domination in Spain, and the favourite scene of Spanish
romance. Had Mohammed succeeded to the Almohade sovereignty in
Spain, and his authority been acknowledged by all his
Mussulman countrymen, so able and active a monarch might
probably have offered effective resistance to Christian
conquest. But his dominions consisted only of what is still
called the kingdom of Granada, and a small part of Andalusia.
The remaining Mahometan portions of Andalusia, Valencia, and
Estremadura, as well as Murcia and Algarve, swarmed with
independent 'walis' or kings. James of Aragon completed the
subjugation of Valencia the following year. Cordova, so long
the Moorish capital, was taken by Ferdinand [1235], with other
places of inferior note. The Murcian princes avoided invasion
by freely offering to become Castilian vassals; and now the
conquering troops of Castile and Leon poured into the
territories of Mohammed. The king of Granada, unsupported by
his natural allies, found himself unequal to the contest, and
submitted to become, like his Murcian neighbours, the vassal
of Ferdinand. In that capacity he was compelled to assist his
Christian liege lord in conquering Mussulman Seville."

_M. M. Busk,
History of Spain and Portugal,
chapter 7._

ALSO IN:
_Chronicle of James I., King of Aragon,
Surnamed the Conqueror;
translated by J. Forster._

SPAIN: A. D. 1238-1273.
The Moorish kingdom of Granada.
The building of the Alhambra.

"A new era had begun in the fortunes of the Moors. Reft of
their two magnificent capitals at Cordova and Seville, they
had gathered into the extreme south, under the able and
beneficent rule of Aben-al-Hamar, who, though a tributary to
Castille, termed himself Sultan and Emir of the Faithful, and
is usually called King of Granada. Karnattah, as the Arabs had
named it, meant the Cream of the West. The Spaniards in later
times, deceived by the likeness of the word to Granada, a
pomegranate, fancied it to have been thence named, and took
the fruit as its emblem.
{2979}
The kingdom was a mere fragment, and did not even reach to the
Straits; for Algesira, the green island, and its great
fortresses, belonged to the Africans; and it had in it
elements of no small danger, containing as it did the remnants
of no less than thirty-two Arab and Moorish tribes, many of
them at deadly feud with one another, and divided by their
never-ending national enmities. The two great tribes of
Abencerrages, or sons of Zeragh, and the Zegris, or refugees
from Aragon, were destined to become the most famous of these.
The king himself, Mohammed-Abou-Said, was of the old Arabian
tribe of Al Hamar, by whose name he is usually called. He was
of the best old Arabic type-prudent, just, moderate,
temperate, and active, and so upright as to be worthy to
belong to this age of great kings, and his plans for his
little kingdom were favoured by the peace in which his
Christian neighbours left him; while Alfonso X. of Castille
was vainly endeavouring to become, not Emperor of Spain alone,
but Roman Emperor. The Almohides of Algarve obeyed neither
Alfonso nor Al Hamar, and they united to subdue them. Ten
cities were surrendered by the governor on condition that he
should enjoy the estates of the King's Garden at Seville, and
the tenth of the oil of an oliveyard. There was still a
mar·gin of petty walis who preferred a brief independence to a
secure tenure of existence as tributaries, and these one by
one fell a prey to the Castilians, the inhabitants of their
cities being expelled, and adding to the Granadine population.
AI Hamar received them kindly, but made them work vigorously
for their maintenance. Every nook of soil was in full
cultivation; the mountain-sides terraced with vineyards; new
modes of irrigation invented; the breeds of horses and cattle
carefully attended to; rewards instituted for the best
farmers, shepherds, and artisans. The manufacture of silk and
wool was actively carried on, also leather-work and
sword-cutlery. Hospitals and homes for the sick and infirm
were everywhere; and in the schools of Granada the remnants of
the scholarship of Cordova and Seville were collected. Granada
itself stood in the midst of the Vega, around two hills, each
crowned by a fortress: Albayzin, so called by the fugitives
from Baeza; and the Al Hâmra [or Alhambra], or Red Fortress.
The wall was extended so as to take in its constantly
increasing population, and the king began to render the Al
Hâmra one of the strongest and most beautiful places in
existence. Though begun by Al Hamar it was not completed for
several generations, each adding to the unrivalled beauty of
the interior, for, as usual in Arabian architecture, the
outside has no beauty, being a strong fortification of heavy
red walls. … Mohammed Aben-Al-Hamar died 1273, and his son
Mohammed II. followed in his steps."

_C. M. Yonge,
The Story of the Christians and Moors of Spain,
chapter 20._

ALSO IN:
_W. Irving,
The Alhambra._

_J. C. Murphy,
Arabian Antiquities of Spain._

SPAIN: A. D. 1248-1350.
The conquest of Seville.
The reigns of St. Ferdinand, Alfonso the Learned,
and their three successors in Castile.

Seville, which had become the second city of Moslem Spain, its
schools and universities rivalling those of Cordova, shared
the fate of the latter and surrendered to the Christians on
the 22d of December, 1248. "This was the achievement of King
Ferdinand III., under whom the crowns of Castile and Leon had
become united. His territory extended from the Bay of Biscay
to the Guadalquiver, and from the borders of Portugal as far
as Arragon and Valencia. His glory was great in the estimation
of his countrymen for his conquests over the Moors, and four
centuries afterwards he was canonized by the Pope, and is now
known as Saint Ferdinand. … Ferdinand lived at the same time
with another king who was also canonized—Louis IX. of France,
who became Saint Louis. … The two kings, in fact, were
cousins, and the grandmother of both of them was Eleanor,
daughter of Henry II. of England. … The son of Saint Ferdinand
was Alfonso X., called 'El Sabio,' the learned, and not, as it
is sometimes translated, 'the wise.' He certainly was not very
wise, for he did an immense number of foolish things; but he
was such a strange man that it would be interesting to know
more about him than it is easy to do. It was a period when not
only commerce and industry but literature and art were taking
a new start in Europe—the time of Roger Bacon and Dante.
Alfonso loved his books, and dabbled in science, and was
really one of the learned men of his time. … His mind was very
naturally disturbed by a glimpse he had of being emperor of
Germany [or, to speak accurately, of the Holy Roman Empire]. …
The dignity was elective," and Alfonso became the candidate of
one party among the German electors; but he did not obtain the
dignity.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1250-1272.

"Ferdinand de la Cerda, the son and heir of Alfonso, died
during the lifetime of his father, and a difficulty arose
about the succession which extended over a long time. A Cortes
was assembled to decide the question, and it was agreed that
Sancho, brother to Ferdinand de la Cerda, should be heir to
the crown, to the exclusion of the children of Ferdinand,
grandchildren of Alfonso. This decision displeased the king of
France," who was the uncle of the children set aside. Alfonso
"declared in favor of his son Sancho, and came near having a
war with France in consequence." Yet Sancho, soon afterwards,
was persuaded to rebel against his father, and the latter was
reduced to sore straits, having no allies among his neighbors
except the king of Morocco. "At last the goaded king assembled
his few remaining adherents in Seville, and, in a solemn act,
not only disinherited his rebel son Sancho, but called down
maledictions on his head. In the same act he instituted his
grandsons, the infantes de la Cerda, as his heirs, and after
them, in default of issue, the kings of France." But Sancho
fell ill after this, and the fondness of his old father
revived with such intensity that he sickened of anxiety and
grief. "Sancho recovered and was soon as well as ever; but the
king grew worse, and soon died [1284], full of grief and
affection for his son. He had not, however, revoked his will.
Nobody minded the will, and Sancho was proclaimed king. He
reigned, and his son and grandson reigned after him." The son
was Ferdinand IV., who came to the throne in 1295; the
grandson was Alfonso XI., who followed him in 1312. The latter
was succeeded in 1350 by his son Pedro, or Peter, surnamed the
Cruel, and quite eminent under that sinister designation,
especially through the unfortunate connection of the English
Black Prince with his later evil fortunes.

_E. E. and S. Hale,
The Story of Spain,
chapter 18._

{2980}

SPAIN: A. D. 1273-1460.
The slow crumbling of the Moorish kingdom of Granada.

The founder of the kingdom of Granada, Aben-Al-Hamar, or
Ibnu-l-ahmar, died in 1273. He was "succeeded by his son, Abú
Abdillah, known as Mohammed II. Obeying his father's
injunctions, he called upon Yahúb, the Sultan of the Beni
Merines at Fez, to come to his aid, and captured Algeçiras, to
serve as a receptacle and magazine for these African allies.
He also presented Tarifa to Yahúb. The two allied forces then
went out to meet Nuño de Lam with the Christian frontier
troops, and routed him. But Mohammed was soon prevailed upon
by his fears to renew the Christian alliance; and the
Christian troops, thus freed from one enemy, soon wrested
Algeçiras, Tarifa [1291], Ronda, and other towns, from the
Beni Merines, who were, all but a small remnant, driven back
into Africa. … Mohammed II. died in 1302, and was succeeded by
a greater king,—Mohammed III., another Abú Abdillah, …
dethroned by a revolt of his brother, Nasr; but when, in 1312,
Nasr in turn was forced to abdicate, he was succeeded by
Isma'il Abú-l-Waled, after whom came Mohammed IV., in 1315.
Meantime the Christian monarchs were always pressing the
Moorish frontier. In 1309, Ferdinand IV. of Castile succeeded
in taking Gibraltar, while the troops of Aragon besieged
Almeria, and thus the circle was ever narrowing, but not
without bloody dispute. When Don Pedro, Infante of Castile,
made his great effort against Granada in 1319, he was wofully
defeated in the battle of Elvira, and his rich camp despoiled
by the Moors. Mohammed IV. succeeded in retaking Gibraltar
from the Christians [or, rather, according to Condé, it was
taken in 1331 by Mohammed's ally, the king of Fez, to whom
Mohammed was forced to cede it]. … He was assassinated by his
African allies, and succeeded by his brother Yúsuf in 1333.
Prompted purely by self-interest, Abu-l-has, another leader,
with 60,000 men, beside the contingent from Granada,
encountered the Christians near Tarifa in the year 1340, and
was defeated with immense loss [in the battle of the
Guadacelito or the Salado]. Yúsuf was assassinated by a madman
in 1354, and was succeeded by Mohammed V. … Driven from his
throne by a revolt of his half-brother Isma'il, he first fled
for his life to Guadix, and then to Africa, in the year 1359.
And all these intestine quarrels were playing into the
Christians' hands. Isma'il, the usurper, held the nominal
power less than a year, when he was dethroned and put to
death. His successor, Mohammed VI., surrounded by
difficulties, came to the strange determination to place
himself and his kingdom under the protection of that King
Pedro of Castile whom history has named 'el cruel,' but whom
his adherents called 'el justiciero,' the doer of justice. The
Castilian king vindicated his claim to the historic title by
putting Mohammed to death, and seizing 'the countless
treasures which he and the chiefs who composed his suite
brought with them.' To the throne, thus once more vacant by
assassination, Mohammed V. returned, and ruled a second time,
from 1362 to 1391. … Then came the reigns of Yúsuf II. and
Mohammed VII., uneventful, except that, in the words of the
Arabian chronicler, 'the Mohammedan empire still went on
decaying, until it became an easy prey to the infidels, who
surrounded it on every side, like a pack of hungry wolves.'
Many portents of ruin were displayed, and the public mind was
already contemplating the entire success of the Christians." A
century of confused struggles ensued, in the course of which
Gibraltar was several times besieged by the Christians, and
was finally taken by the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1460. Other
strongholds of the Moors fell, one by one, and they "were
being more and more restricted to their little kingdom of
Granada, and the Christians were strengthening to dislodge and
expel them."

_H. Coppée,
History of the Conquest of Spain by the Arab-Moors,
book 8, chapter 5 (volume 2)._

ALSO IN:
_J. A. Condé,
History of the Dominion of the Arabs in Spain,
part 4, chapters 9-33._

SPAIN: (Aragon): A. D. 1282-1300.
Acquisition of Sicily by King Peter.
It passes as a separate kingdom to his younger son.

See ITALY (SOUTHERN): A. D. 1282-1300.

SPAIN: A. D. 1366-1369.
Pedro the Cruel of Castile and
the invasion of the English Black Prince.

"Pedro the Cruel, King of Castile at this time (1350-1369),
had earned his title by a series of murders, which dated from
the time he was sixteen years old, and comprised his wife, his
step-mother, two of his half-brothers, and a great number of
the chief nobles of his kingdom. He was on bad terms with the
pope, for he was the friend of Moors and Jews, and had
plundered bishops and monasteries; he was hated in the court
of France, for his murdered queen was the king's cousin,
Blanche de Bourbon; he was at war with the King of Arragon.
Instigated by this monarch and by the King of Navarre, the
eldest of Pedro's half-brothers, Don Henry of Trastamere, who
had been serving for some time with the Free Companions in
Languedoc, conceived the idea of uniting them in a grand
enterprise against the kingdom of Castile. Charles V. [of
France] approved the project, and lent money and his best
captain, Du Guesclin; Pope Urban V. contributed his blessing
and money; and the Free Lances eagerly embraced a scheme which
promised them the plunder of a new country." The expedition
"succeeded without bloodshed. The people rose to welcome it,
and Don Pedro was forced to escape through Portugal, and take
ship hastily at Corunna. Don Henry was crowned in his palace
at Burgos (April 1366). In his distress Don Pedro applied to
the Prince of Wales [the Black Prince, then holding the
government of Aquitaine] for support. There was no reason why
England or Aquitaine should be mixed up in Spanish politics.
Both countries required rest after an exhausting war. … But
Pedro was a skilful diplomatist. He bribed the Prince of Wales
by a promise to cede the province of Biscay." With the consent
of his father, King Edward III. of England, the Prince took up
the cause of the odious Don Pedro, and led an army of 24,000
horse, besides great numbers of archers, into Spain (A. D.
1367). At the decisive battle of Navarette the Spaniards and
their allies were overwhelmingly defeated, Du Guesclin was
taken prisoner, Don Henry fled, and Pedro was reinstated on
the Castilian throne. "Then came disappointment. The prince
demanded performance of the promises Don Pedro had made, and
proposed to stay in Spain till they were acquitted. … For some
months Edward vainly awaited the performance of his ally's
promises.
{2981}
Then, as his troops were wasting away with dysentery and other
diseases caused by the strange climate, till it was said
scarcely a fifth remained alive, Edward resolved to remove
into Aquitaine, which Don Henry was attacking, and was glad to
find that the passes of the Pyrenees were left open to him by
the Kings of Arragon and Navarre (August 1367). … The results
of Edward's mischievous policy soon became evident. All he had
achieved in Spain was almost instantly undone by Don Henry,
who crossed the Pyrenees a few weeks only after Edward had
left Spain (September 1367) recovered his kingdom in the
course of the next year, and captured and killed Don Pedro a
little later (March 1369). The whole power of Castile, which
was far from being contemptible at sea, was then thrown into
the scale against England."

_C. H. Pearson,
English History in the Fourteenth Century,
chapter 8._

ALSO IN:
_J. Froissart,
Chronicles
(translated by Johnes),
book 1, chapters 230-245._

_P. Merimée,
History of Peter the Cruel,
volume 2, chapters 7-11._

See, also, FRANCE: A. D. 1360-1380.

SPAIN: A. D. 1368-1479.
Castile under the House of Trastamere.
Discord and civil war.
Triumph of Queen Isabella.
The Castilian dynasty in Aragon.
Marriage of Isabella and Ferdinand.

"A more fortunate period began [in Castile] with the accession
of Henry [of Trastamare, or Henry II.]. His own reign was
hardly disturbed by any rebellion; and though his successors,
John I. [1379] and Henry III. [1390], were not altogether so
unmolested, especially the latter, who ascended the throne in
his minority, yet the troubles of their time were slight, in
comparison with those formerly excited by the houses of Lara
and Haro, both of which were now happily extinct. Though Henry
II. 's illegitimacy left him no title but popular choice, his
queen was sole representative of the Cerdas, the offspring …
of Sancho IV. 's elder brother. … No kingdom could be worse
prepared to meet the disorders of a minority than Castile, and
in none did the circumstances so frequently recur. John II.
was but fourteen months old at his accession [1406]; and but
for the disinterestedness of his uncle Ferdinand, the nobility
would have been inclined to avert the danger by placing that
prince upon the throne. In this instance, however, Castile
suffered less from faction during the infancy of her sovereign
than in his maturity. The queen dowager, at first jointly with
Ferdinand, and solely after his accession to the crown of
Aragon, administered the government with credit. … In external
affairs their reigns were not what is considered as glorious.
They were generally at peace with Aragon and Granada, but one
memorable defeat by the Portuguese at Aljubarrota [August 14,
1385] disgraces the annals of John I., whose cause [attempting
the conquest of Portugal] was as unjust as his arms were
unsuccessful. This comparatively golden period ceases at the
majority of John II. His reign was filled up by a series of
conspiracies and civil wars, headed by his cousins John and
Henry, the infants of Aragon, who enjoyed very extensive
territories in Castile, by the testament of their father
Ferdinand. Their brother the king of Aragon frequently lent
the assistance of his arms. … These conspiracies were all
ostensibly directed against the favourite of John II., Alvaro
de Luna, who retained for 35 years an absolute control over
his feeble master. … His fate is among the memorable lessons
of history. After a life of troubles endured for the sake of
this favourite, sometimes a fugitive, sometimes a prisoner,
his son heading rebellions against him, John II. suddenly
yielded to an intrigue of the palace, and adopted sentiments
of dislike towards the man he had so long loved. … Alvaro de
Luna was brought to a summary trial and beheaded; his estates
were confiscated. He met his death with the intrepidity of
Strafford, to whom he seems to have borne some resemblance in
character. John II. did not long survive his minister, dying
in 1454, after a reign that may be considered as inglorious,
compared with any except that of his successor. If the father
was not respected, the son fell completely into contempt. He
had been governed by Pacheco, marquis of Villena, as
implicitly as John by Alvaro de Luna. This influence lasted
for some time afterwards. But the king inclining to transfer
his confidence to the queen, Joanna of Portugal, and to one
Bertrand de Cueva, upon whom common fame had fixed as her
paramour, a powerful confederacy of disaffected nobles was
formed against the royal authority. … They deposed Henry in an
assembly of their faction at Avila with a sort of theatrical
pageantry which has often been described. … The confederates
set up Alfonso, the king's brother, and a civil war of some
duration ensued, in which they had the support of Aragon. The
queen of Castile had at this time borne a daughter, whom the
enemies of Henry IV., and indeed no small part of his
adherents, were determined to treat as spurious. Accordingly,
after the death of Alfonso, his sister Isabel was considered
as heiress of the kingdom. … Avoiding the odium of a contest
with her brother, Isabel agreed to a treaty by which the
succession was absolutely settled upon her [1469]. This
arrangement was not long afterwards followed by the union of
that princess with Ferdinand, son of the king of Aragon. This
marriage was by no means acceptable to a part of the Castilian
oligarchy, who had preferred a connexion with Portugal. And as
Henry had never lost sight of the interests of one whom he
considered, or pretended to consider, as his daughter, he took
the first opportunity of revoking his forced disposition of
the crown and restoring the direct line of succession in
favour of the princess Joanna. Upon his death, in 1474, the
right was to be decided by arms. Joanna had on her side the
common presumptions of law, the testamentary disposition of
the late king, the support of Alfonso king of Portugal, to
whom she was betrothed, and of several considerable leaders
among the nobility. … For Isabella were the general belief of
Joanna's illegitimacy, the assistance of Aragon, the adherence
of a majority both among the nobles and people, and, more than
all, the reputation of ability which both she and her husband
had deservedly acquired. The scale was, however, pretty
equally balanced, till the king of Portugal having been
defeated at Toro in 1476, Joanna's party discovered their
inability to prosecute the war by themselves, and successively
made their submission to Ferdinand and Isabella." Ferdinand of
Aragon, by whose marriage with Isabella of Castile the two
kingdoms became practically united, was himself of Castilian
descent, being the grandson of that magnanimous Ferdinand who
has been mentioned above, as the uncle and joint guardian of
John II. of Castile.
{2982}
In 1410, on the death of King Martin, the right of succession
to the throne of Aragon had been in dispute, and Ferdinand was
one of several claimants. Instead of resorting to arms, the
contending parties were wisely persuaded to submit the
question to a special tribunal, composed of three Aragonese,
three Catalans, and three Valencians. "A month was passed in
hearing arguments; a second was allotted to considering them;
and at the expiration of the prescribed time it was announced
to the people … that Ferdinand of Castile had ascended the
throne. In this decision it is impossible not to suspect that
the judges were swayed rather by politic considerations than a
strict sense of hereditary right. It was therefore by no
means universally popular, especially in Catalonia. …
Ferdinand however was well received in Aragon. … Ferdinand's
successor was his son Alfonso V., more distinguished in the
history of Italy than of Spain. For all the latter years of
his life he never quitted the kingdom that he had acquired by
his arms.

See ITALY: A. D. 1412-1447;

Enchanted by the delicious air of Naples, intrusted the
government of his patrimonial territories to the care of a
brother and an heir. John II., upon whom they devolved by the
death of Alfonso without legitimate progeny, had been engaged
during his youth in the turbulent revolutions of Castile, as
the head of a strong party that opposed the domination of
Alvaro de Luna. By marriage with the heiress of Navarre he was
entitled, according to the usage of those times, to assume the
title of king, and administration of government, during her
life. But his ambitious retention of power still longer
produced events which are the chief stain on his memory.
Charles, prince of Viana, was, by the constitution of Navarre,
entitled to succeed his mother [1442]. She had requested him
in her testament not to assume the government without his
father's consent. That consent was always withheld. The prince
raised what we ought not to call a rebellion; but was made
prisoner. … After a life of perpetual oppression, chiefly
passed in exile or captivity, the prince of Viana died in
Catalonia [1461], at a moment when that province was in open
insurrection upon his account. Though it hardly seems that the
Catalans had any more general provocations, they persevered
for more than ten years [until the capitulation of Barcelona,
after a long siege, in 1472] with inveterate obstinacy in
their rebellion, offering the sovereignty first to a prince of
Portugal, and afterwards to Regnier duke of Anjou, who was
destined to pass his life in unsuccessful competition for
kingdoms." Ferdinand, who married Isabella of Castile, was a
younger half-brother of prince Charles of Viana, and succeeded
his father, John II., on the throne of Aragon, in 1479.

_H. Hallam,
The Middle Ages,
chapter 4 (volume 2)._

ALSO IN:
_W. H. Prescott,
History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella,
part 1, chapters 1-5._

See, also, NAVARRE: A. D. 1442-1521.

SPAIN: A. D. 1458.
Separation of the crown of Naples
from those of Aragon and Sicily.

See ITALY: A. D. 1447-1480.

SPAIN: A. D. 1476-1492.
The last struggle of the Moors.
Fall of the city and kingdom of Granada.

"The days of the Moorish kingdom were already numbered when,
in 1466, Aboul Hacem succeeded Ismael; but the disturbances in
Castille emboldened him, and when, in 1476, the regular demand
for tribute was made, he answered: 'Those who coined gold for
you are dead. Nothing is made at Granada for the Christians
but sword-blades and lance-points.' Such was the last
proclamation of war from the Moors. Even the Imaums
disapproved, and preached in the mosques of Granada. 'Woe to
the Moslems in Andalusia!' 'The end is come,' they said; 'the
ruins will fall on our heads!' Nevertheless, Aboul Hacem
surprised the Aragonese city of Zahara with 60,000
inhabitants, and put them all to the sword or sold them into
slavery; but he was not welcomed, evil was predicted, and he
became more and more hated when he put four of the
Abencerrages to death. The king and queen [Ferdinand, or
Fernando, and Isabella] now began to prepare the whole
strength of their kingdom for a final effort, not to be
relaxed till Spain should be wholly a Christian land. … Don
Rodrigo Ponce de Leon, who had become Marquis of Cadiz, made a
sudden night attack upon Alhama, only eight leagues from
Granada, and though the inhabitants fought from street to
street he mastered it. … Alhama was a terrible loss to the
Moors, and was bewailed in the ballad, 'Ay de me Al Hama,'
which so moved the hearts of the people that it was forbidden
to be sung in the streets of Granada. It has been translated
by Byron, who has in fact united two ballads. … Alhama had
once before been taken by St. Fernando, but could not then be
kept, and a council was held by the 'Reyes Catolicos'
[Ferdinand and Isabella], in which it was declared that it
would take 5,000 mules' burthen of provisions sent several
times a year, to support a garrison thus in the heart of the
enemy's country. The high spirit of the queen, however,
carried the day. She declared that the right thing to do was
to take Loja to support Alhama, and, after causing the three
chief mosques to be purified as Christian churches, she
strained every effort [1482] to equip an army with which
Fernando was to besiege Loja. On the day before he set out
Isabel gave birth to twins—one dead, the other a daughter: and
this was viewed as an ill omen. … Ali Atar, one of the bravest
of the Moors, defeated Fernando and forced him to retreat with
the loss of his baggage. Aboul Hacem was prevented from
following up his success by the struggles of the women in his
harem. His favourite wife was a Christian by birth, named
Isabel de Solis, the daughter of the Alcayde of Bedmar; but
she had become a renegade, and was commonly called Zoraya, or
the Morning Star. Childless herself, she was vehemently set on
the promotion of Abou-Abd-Allah, son of another wife, Ayescha,
who is generally known by the Spanish contraction of his name,
Boabdil; also in Arabic as Al Zaquir, the little, and in
Spanish as 'el Rey Chico.' Such disaffection was raised that
Aboul Hacem was forced to return home, where he imprisoned
Ayescha and her son; but they let themselves down from the
window with a rope twisted of the veils of the Sultana's
women, and, escaping to the palace or Albaycin, there held out
against him, supported by the Abencerrages. The Zegris held by
Aboul Hacem, and the streets of Granada ran red with the blood
shed by the two factions till, in 1482, while the elder king
was gone to relieve Loja, the younger one seized the Alhamra;
and Aboul Hacem, finding the gates closed against him, was
obliged to betake himself to Malaga, where his brother Abd
Allah, called Al Zagal, or the young, was the Alcayde."

_C. M. Yonge,
The Story of the Christians and Moors in Spain,
chapter 24._

{2983}

"The illegal power of Boabdil was contested by his uncle,
Az-Zagal (El Zagal), who held a precarious sway for four
years, until 1487, when Boabdil again came to the throne. This
was rendered more easy by the fact that, in a battle between
the Moors and Christians in the territory of Lucena, not long
after his accession, Boabdil was taken prisoner by the
Christian forces. By a stroke of policy, the Christian king
released his royal prisoner, in the hope that through him he
might make a treaty. Boabdil went to Loja, which was at once
besieged by Ferdinand, and this time captured, and with it the
Moorish king again fell into the Christian hands. Again
released, after many difficulties he came into power. The
Christian conquests were not stayed by these circumstances. In
1487, they captured Velez Malaga, on the coast a short
distance east of Malaga, and received the submission of many
neighboring towns. In the same year Malaga was besieged and
taken. In 1489, Baeza followed; then the important city of
Almeria, and at last the city of Granada stood alone to
represent the Mohammedan dominion in the Peninsula. The strife
between Boabdil and El Zagal now came to an end; and the
latter, perhaps foreseeing the fatal issue, embarked for
Africa, leaving the nominal rule and the inevitable surrender
to his rival. … The army of Ferdinand and Isabella was in
splendid condition, and reinforcements were arriving from day
to day. System and order prevailed, and the troops, elated
with victory, acknowledged no possibility of failure. Very
different was the condition of things and very depressed the
spirit of the people in Granada. Besides its own disordered
population, it was crowded with disheartened fugitives,
anxious for peace on any terms. The more warlike and ambitious
representatives of the tribes were still quarrelling in the
face of the common ruin, but all parties joined in bitter
denunciations of their king. When he had been released by
Ferdinand after the capture of Loja, he had promised that when
Guadix should be taken and the power of El Zagal destroyed, he
would surrender Granada to the Christian king, and retire to
some seignory, as duke or marquis. But now that the 'casus'
had arrived, he found … that the people would not permit him
to keep his promise. … The only way in which Boabdil could
appease the people was by an immediate declaration of war
against the Christians. This was in the year 1490. When this
was made known, Ferdinand and Isabella were at Seville,
celebrating the marriage of the Infanta Isabel with Alfonso,
crown prince of Portugal. The omen was a happy one. The armies
of Spain and Portugal were immediately joined to put an end to
the crusade. With 5,000 cavalry and 20,000 foot, the Spanish
king advanced to the Sierra Elvira, overlooking the original
site of the Granadine capital. The epic and romantic details
of the conquest may be read elsewhere. … There were sorties on
the part of the Moors, and chivalrous duels between
individuals, until the coming of winter, when, leaving proper
guards and garrisons, the principal Christian force retired to
Cordova, to make ready for the spring. El Zagal had returned
from Africa, and was now fighting in the Christian ranks. It
was an imposing army which was reviewed by Ferdinand on the
26th of April, 1491, in the beautiful Vega, about six miles
from the city of Granada; the force consisted of 10,000 horse
and 40,000 foot, ready to take position in the final siege. …
It was no part of the Spanish king's purpose to assault the
place. … He laid his siege in the Vega, but used his troops in
devastating the surrounding country, taking prisoners and
capturing cattle. … Meantime the Christian camp grew like a
city, and when Queen Isabella came with her train of beauty
and grace, it was also a court city in miniature." In July, an
accidental fire destroyed the whole encampment, and roused
great hopes among the Moors. But a city of wood (which the
pious queen called Santa Fé—the Holy Faith) soon took the
place of the tents, and "the momentary elation of the Moors
gave way to profound depression; and this induced them to
capitulate. The last hour had indeed struck on the great
horologe of history; and on the 25th of November the armistice
was announced for making a treaty of peace and occupancy."

_H. Coppée,
History of the Conquest of Spain by the Arab-Moors,
book 8, chapter 5 (volume 2)._

"After large discussion on both sides, the terms of
capitulation were definitively settled. … The inhabitants of
Granada were to retain possession of their mosques, with the
free exercise of their religion, with all its peculiar rights
and ceremonies; they were to be judged by their own laws,
under their own cadis or magistrates, subject to the general
control of the Castilian governor; they were to be unmolested
in their ancient usages, manners, language, and dress; to be
protected in the full enjoyment of their property, with the
right of disposing of it on their own account, and of
migrating when and where they would; and to be furnished with
vessels for the conveyance of such as chose within three years
to pass into Africa. No heavier taxes were to be imposed than
those customarily paid to their Arabian sovereigns, and none
whatever before the expiration of three years. King Abdallah
[Boabdil] was to reign over a specified territory in the
Alpuxarras, for which he was to do homage to the Castilian
crown. … The city was to be surrendered in 60 days from the
date of the capitulation;" but owing to popular disturbances
in Granada, the surrender was actually made on the 2d of
January, 1492. Boabdil soon tired of the petty sovereignty
assigned to him, sold it to Ferdinand and Isabella, passed
over to Fez, and perished in one of the battles of his
kinsmen.

_W. H. Prescott,
History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella,
chapter 15._

ALSO IN:
_W. Irving,
Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada._

SPAIN: A. D. 1476-1498.-
The reorganization of the Hermandad,
or Holy Brotherhood, in Castile.

See HOLY BROTHERHOOD.

SPAIN: A. D. 1481-1525.
Establishment and organization of the "Spanish Inquisition."
Its horrible work.

See INQUISITION: A. D. 1203-1525.

SPAIN: A. D. 1492.
Expulsion of the Jews.

See JEWS; 8-15TH CENTURIES.

{2984}

SPAIN: A. D. 1492-1533.
Discovery of America.
First voyages, colonizations and conquests.

See AMERICA: A. D. 1492, 1493-1406, and after.

SPAIN: A. D. 1493.
The Papal grant of the New World.

See AMERICA: A. D. 1493.

SPAIN: A. D. 1494.
The Treaty of Tordesillas.
Amended partition of the New World with Portugal.

See AMERICA: A. D. 1494.

SPAIN: A. D. 1495.
Alliance with Naples, Venice, Germany and the Pope
against Charles VIII. of France.

See ITALY: A. D. 1494-1496.

SPAIN: A. D. 1496-1517.
Marriage of the Infanta Joanna to the
Austro-Burgundian Archduke Philip.
Birth of their son Charles, the heir of many crowns.
Insanity of Joanna.
Death of Queen Isabella.
Regency of Ferdinand.
His second marriage and his death.
Accession of Charles, the first of the
Austro-Spanish dynasty.

Joanna, second daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, was married
in 1496 to "the archduke Philip, son of the emperor
Maximilian, and sovereign, in right of his mother [Mary of
Burgundy], of the Low Countries. The first fruit of this
marriage was the celebrated Charles V., born at Ghent,
February 24th, 1500, whose birth was no sooner announced to
Queen Isabella than she predicted that to this infant would
one day descend the rich inheritance of the Spanish monarchy.
The premature death of the heir apparent, Prince Miguel, not
long after [and also of the queen of Portugal, the elder
daughter of Isabella and Ferdinand], prepared the way for this
event by devolving the succession on Joanna, Charles's mother.
From that moment the sovereigns were pressing in their
entreaties that the archduke and his wife would visit Spain. …
In the latter part of 1501, Philip and Joanna, attended by a
numerous suite of Flemish courtiers, set out on their
journey," passing through France and being royally entertained
on the way. In Spain, they first received the usual oath of
fealty from the Castilian cortes, and then "were solemnly
recognized by the four 'arms' of Aragon as successors to the
crown, in default of male issue of King Ferdinand. The
circumstance is memorable as affording the first example of
the parliamentary recognition of a female heir apparent in
Aragonese history. Amidst all the honors so liberally lavished
on Philip, his bosom secretly swelled with discontent,
fomented still further by his followers, who pressed him to
hasten his return to Flanders, where the free and social
manners of the people were much more congenial to their tastes
than the reserve and stately ceremonial of the Spanish court.
… Ferdinand and Isabella saw with regret the frivolous
disposition of their son-in-law. … They beheld with
mortification his indifference to Joanna, who could boast few
personal attractions, and who cooled the affections of her
husband by alternations of excessive fondness and irritable
jealousy." Against the remonstrances of king, queen and
cortes, as well as in opposition to the wishes of his wife,
Philip set out for Flanders in December, again traveling
through France, and negotiating on the way a treaty with Louis
XII. which arranged for the marriage of the infant Charles
with princess Claude of France—a marriage which never
occurred. The unhappy Joanna, whom he left behind, was plunged
in the deepest dejection, and exhibited ere long decided
symptoms of insanity. On the 10th of March, 1503, she gave
birth to her second son, Ferdinand, and the next spring she
joined her husband in Flanders, but only to be worse treated
by him than before. Queen Isabella, already declining in
health, was deeply affected by the news of her daughter's
unhappiness and increasing disturbance of mind, and on the
26th of November, 1504, she died. By her will, she settled the
crown of Castile on the infanta Joanna as "queen proprietor,"
and the archduke Philip as her husband, and she appointed King
Ferdinand (who was henceforth king in Aragon, but not in
Castile), to be sole regent of Castile, in the event of the
absence or incapacity of Joanna, until the latter's son
Charles should attain his majority. On the day of the queen's
death Ferdinand resigned the crown of Castile, which he had
worn as her consort, only, and caused to be proclaimed the
accession of Joanna and Philip to the Castilian throne. "The
king of Aragon then publicly assumed the title of
administrator or governor of Castile, as provided by the
queen's testament." He next convened a cortes at Toro, in
January, 1505, which approved and ratified the provisions of
the will and "took the oaths of allegiance to Joanna as queen
and lady proprietor, and to Philip as her husband. They then
determined that the exigency contemplated in the testament, of
Joanna's incapacity, actually existed, and proceeded to tender
their homage to King Ferdinand, as the lawful governor of the
realm in her name." These arrangements were unsatisfactory to
many of the Castilian nobles, who opened a correspondence with
Philip, in the Netherlands, and persuaded him "to assert his
pretensions to undivided supremacy in Castile." Opposition to
Ferdinand's regency increased, and it was fomented not only by
Philip and his friends, but by the king of France, Louis XII.
To placate the latter enemy, Ferdinand sought in marriage a
niece of the French king, Germaine, daughter of Jean de Foix,
and negotiated a treaty, signed at Blois, October 12, 1505, in
which he resigned his claims on Naples to his intended bride
and her heirs. Louis was now detached from the interests of
Philip, and refused permission to the archduke to pass through
his kingdom. But Ferdinand, astute as he was, allowed himself
to be deceived by his son-in-law, who agreed to a compromise,
known as the concord of Salamanca, which provided for the
government of Castile in the joint names of Ferdinand, Philip,
and Joanna, while, at the same time, he was secretly preparing
to transfer his wife and himself to Spain by sea. On the first
attempt they were driven to England by a storm; but in April,
1506, Philip and Joanna landed at Coruña, in Spain, and in
June Ferdinand was forced to sign and swear to an agreement
"by which he surrendered the entire sovereignty of Castile to
Philip and Joanna, reserving to himself only the
grand-masterships of the military orders, and the revenues
secured by Isabella's testament." Philip took the government
into his own hands, endeavoring to obtain authority to place
his wife in confinement, as one insane; but this the
Castilians would not brook. Otherwise he carried things with a
high hand, surrounding himself with Flemish favorites, and
revolutionizing the government in every branch and the court
in every feature. His insolence, extravagance and frivolity
excited general disgust, and would probably have provoked
serious revolts, if the country had been called upon to endure
them long.
{2985}
But Philip's reign was brief. He sickened, suddenly, of a
fever, and died on the 25th of September, 1506. His demented
widow would not permit his body to be interred. A provisional
council of regency carried on the government until December.
After that it drifted, with no better authoritative guidance
than that of the poor insane queen, until July 1507, when
Ferdinand, who had been absent, in Naples, during the year
past, returned and was joyfully welcomed. His unfortunate
daughter "henceforth resigned herself to her father's will. "
Although she survived 47 years, she never quitted the walls of
her habitation; and although her name appeared jointly with
that of her son, Charles V., in all public acts, she never
afterwards could be induced to sign a paper, or take part in
any transactions of a public nature. … From this time the
Catholic king exercised an authority nearly as undisputed, and
far less limited and defined, than in the days of Isabella."
He exercised this authority for nine years, dying on the 23d
of January, 1516. By his last will he settled the succession
of Aragon and Naples on his daughter Joanna and her heirs,
thus uniting the sovereignty of those kingdoms with that of
Castile, in the same person. The administration of Castile
during Charles' absence was intrusted to Ximenes, and that of
Aragon to the king's natural son, the archbishop of Saragossa.
In September, 1517, Charles, the heir of many kingdoms,
arrived in Spain from the Netherlands, where his youth had
been spent. Two months later Cardinal Ximenes died, but not
before Charles had rudely and ungratefully dismissed him from
the government. The queen, Joanna, was still living; but her
arbitrary son had already commanded the proclamation of
himself as king.

_W. H. Prescott,
History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella,
part 2, chapters 12-13, 16-17,19-20, 24-25._

See, also, AUSTRIA: A. D. 1496-1526.

SPAIN: A. D. 1501-1504.
Treaty of Ferdinand with Louis XII. for
the partition of Naples.
Their joint conquest.
Their quarrel and war.
The French expelled.
The Spaniards in possession.

See ITALY: A. D. 1501-1504.

SPAIN: A. D. 1505-1510.
Conquests on the Barbary coast.

See BARBARY STATES: A. D. 1505-1510.

SPAIN: A. D. 1508-1509.
The League of Cambrai against Venice.

See VENICE: A. D. 1508-1509.

SPAIN: A. D. 1511-1513.
Ferdinand of Aragon in the Holy League against France.

See ITALY: A. D. 1510-1513.

SPAIN: A. D. 1512-1515.
Conquest of Navarre.
Its incorporation in the kingdom of Castile.

See NAVARRE: A. D. 1442-1521.

SPAIN: A. D. 1515-1557.
Discovery of the Rio de la Plata and
colonization of Paraguay.

See PARAGUAY: A. D. 1515-1557.

SPAIN: A. D. 1516-1519.
The great dominion of Charles.

See AUSTRIA: A. D. 1496-1526;
and NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1494-1519.

SPAIN: A. D. 1517.
The Treaty of Noyon, between Charles and Francis I.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1516-1517.

SPAIN: A. D. 1518-1522.
Popular discontent.
Election of Charles to the German imperial throne.
Rebellion of the Holy Junta, and its failure.
Absolutism of the crown established.

Charles had not been long in Spain before "symptoms of
discontent … were every where visible. Charles spoke the
Spanish language imperfectly: his discourse was consequently
slow, and delivered with hesitation; and from that
circumstance many of the Spaniards were induced to regard him
as a prince of a slow and narrow genius. But the greatest
dissatisfaction arose from his attachment to his Flemish
favourites, who engrossed or exposed to sale every office of
honour or emolument, and whose rapacity was so unbounded that
they are said to have remitted to the Netherlands no less a
sum than 1,100,000 ducats in the space of ten months. … While
Spain, agitated by a general discontent, was ready for
rebellion, a spacious field was opened to the ambition of her
monarch. The death of the Emperor Maximilian [1519] had left
vacant the imperial throne of Germany. The Kings of Spain, of
France, and of England, offered themselves as candidates for
this high dignity," and Charles was chosen, entering now upon
his great career as the renowned Emperor, Charles V.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1519.