Part I. Chapter 6, and Part II. Chapter 26, of this History.

[12] Las Casas, who will not be suspected of sycophancy, remarks, in his narrative of the destruction of the Indies, "Les plus grandes horreurs de ces guerres et de cette boucherie commencèrent aussitôt qu'on sut en Amérique que la reine Isabelle venait de mourir; car jusqu'alors il ne s'était pas commis autant de crimes dans l'île Espagnole, et l'on avait même eu soin de les cacher à cette princesse, parce qu'elle ne cessait de recommander de traiter les Indiens avec douceur, et de ne rien négliger pour les rendre heureux: j'ai vu, ainsi que beaucoup d'Espagnols, les lettres qu'elle écrivait à ce sujet, et les ordres qu'elle envoyait; ce qui prouve que cette admirable reine aurait mis fin à tant de cruautés, si elle avait pu les connaître." Oeuvres, ed. de Llorente, tom. i. p. 21.

[13] The original codicil is still preserved among the manuscripts of the Royal Library at Madrid. It is appended to the queen's testament in the works before noticed.

[14] Clemencin has given a fac-simile of this last signature of the queen, in the Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. Ilust. 21.

[15] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 187.--Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. lib. 19, cap. 16.

[16] Arevalo, Historia Palentina, MS., apud Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. p. 572.--L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 187.--Garibay, Compendio, ubi supra.

[17] Isabella was born April 22d, 1451, and ascended the throne December 12th, 1474.

[18] Opus Epist., epist. 279.

[19] Opus Epist., epist. 280.--The text does not exaggerate the language of the epistle.

[20] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 201.--Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1504.--Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. lib. 19, cap. 16.--Zurita, tom. v. lib. 5, cap. 84.--Navagiero, Viaggio, fol. 23.

[21] The Curate of Los Palacios remarks of her, "Fue muger hermosa, de muy gentil cuerpo, e gesto, e composicion." (Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 201.) Pulgar, another contemporary, eulogizes "el mirar muy gracioso, y honesto, las facciones del rostro bien puestas, la cara toda muy hermosa." (Reyes Católicos, part. 1, cap. 4.) L. Marineo says, "Todo lo que avia en el rey de dignidad, se hallava en la reyna de graciosa hermosura, y en entrambos se mostrava una majestad venerable, aunque a juyzio de muchos la reyna era de mayor hermosura." (Cosas Memorables, fol. 182.) And Oviedo, who had likewise frequent opportunities of personal observation, does not hesitate to declare, "En hermosura puestas delante de S. A. todas las mugeres que yo he visto, ninguna vi tan graciosa, ni tanto de ver como su persona." Quincuagenas, MS.

[22] Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. Ilust. 8.

[23] Ibid., ubi supra.

[24] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 182.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, part. 1, cap, 4.

[25] Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. p. 323.

[26] Such occasions have rare charms, of course, for the gossipping chroniclers of the period. See, among others, the gorgeous ceremonial of the baptism and presentation of Prince John at Seville, 1478, as related by the good Curate of Los Palacios. (Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 32, 33.) "Isabella was surrounded and served," says Pulgar, "by grandees and lords of the highest rank, so that it was said she maintained too great pomp; pompa demasiada." Reyes Católicos, part. 1, cap. 4.

[27] Florez quotes a passage from an original letter of the queen, written soon after one of her progresses into Galicia, showing her habitual liberality in this way. "Decid a doña Luisa, que porque vengo de Galicia desecha de vestidos, no le envio para su hermana; que no tengo agora cosa buena; mas yo ge los enviare presto buenos." Reynas Cathólicas, tom. ii. p. 839.

[28] See the magnificent inventory presented to her daughter-in-law, Margaret of Austria, and to her daughter Maria, queen of Portugal, apud Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. Ilust. 12.

[29] "Alegre," says the author of "Carro de las Doñas," "de una alegria honesta y mui mesurada." Ibid., p. 558.

[30] Among the retainers of the court, Bernaldez notices "la moltitud de poetas, de trobadores, e músicos de todas partes." Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 201.

[31] "Queria que sus cartas é mandamientos fuesen complidos con diligencia." Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, part. 1, cap. 4

[32] See a remarkable instance of this, in her treatment of the faithless Juan de Corral, noticed in