L^a^U^a^ Tf^^ p4^^ — — By thi Autin DANTE THE WAYFARER CHRISTOPHER HARE Author of "The Most Illustrious Ladies of the Italian Renaissance." I OS. 64 Profusely Illustrated. Demy 8vo, cloth extra, gilt tops. The author has followed, step by step, the poet's many wanderings and presents to the reader scenes and incidents which inspired some of Dante's finest descriptive passages. No better way to gain an insight into the ife and genius of Dante than under the guidance of Mr. Hare." —Daily Telegraph. " Illustrated copiously with most beautiful and romantic pictures of the fair land of Italy, through which the poet's tragic footsteps pressed." Liverpool Courier. THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS LADIES OF THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE CHRISTOPHER HARE I OS. 6d. Profusely Illustrated. Demy 8vo, cloth extra, gilt tops. •' Profound knowledge is here united to considerable literary gifts. These great ladies (Lucrezia and Clarice dei Medici, Lucrezia Borgia, Vittoria Colonna, Beatrice and Isabella d'Este, &c.) of past ages seem very real. The volume is handsomely bound, and there are in- teresting and beautiful illustrations, including por- traits by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Titian, and Sandro Botticelli." The Scotsman. A QUEEN OF QUEENS ^ THE MAKING OF SPAIN =„..Z.u^e^v cJ^/:k:t'C^/' o^ ^a^)-u/-^. A QUEEN OF QUEENS ^ THE MAKING OF SPAIN By CHRISTOPHER HARE author OF "DANTE THE WAYFARER," "THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS LADIES OF THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE," "FELICITA: A ROMANCE OF OLD SIENA," ETC. ^ ^ ^ ^ ILLUSTRATED LONDON AND NEW YORK HARPER & BROTHERS 45 ALBEMARLE STREET, W. 1906 CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE Introduction i I. The Making of Spain 7 The Moors in Spain 8 II. Rise OF THE Christian Kingdoms ... 26 The Kingdom of Asturias and Leon . 26 The Kingdom of Castile .... 29 The Kingdom of Navarre .... 30 The Story of the Cid 33 The Kingdom of Aragon .... 36 The Realm of Catalonia and the City of Barcelona 39 III. The United Kingdoms 41 Aragon and Catalonia 41 Castile and Leon 46 IV. The Story of Isabel of Castile ... 54 Her Birth and Early Life .... 54 V. The Suitors of the Infanta Isabel ... 70 VI. The Marriage of Isabel 80 She Succeeds to the Crown of Castile . 84 VII. Fernando and Isabel 97 Allied Sovereigns of Aragon and Castile VIII. The Moorish War 113 Siege of Alhama 116 V C?O.A ,^^07 CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE IX. Civil War IN Granada 128 The Capture of Boabdil .... 141 " X. Remember the Mountains of Malaga" . 145 Success of the Spanish Artillery . 154 XI. Queen Isabel takes the Field .... 161 A War of Sieges 166 XII. The Besieging of Malaga 175 XIII. Isabel: Her Court and Home Life . 192 XIV. The Inquisition in Spain 206 XV. The Fall of Granada 221 The Great Surrender 227 XVI. Christopher Columbus 236 XVII. Diplomacy of Fernando 252 Wars in Italy 256 XVIII. Literature in Spain 263 XIX. Art and Architecture 277 XX. Royal Marriages 289 Juan and Margaret 289 Philip and Juana 289 XXI. Isabel and Maria, Queens of Portugal . 303 Katharine, Queen of England . 307 XXII. Conquest of Naples 317 Rising in the Alpujarras .... 328 XXIII. The Latter Days and Death of the Great Queen 331 XXIV. Conclusion 345 Policy of Fernando 345 His Death 355 Death of Philip 1 360 Death of Juana 360 VI ILLUSTRATIONS Queen Isabel of Castile Frontispiece King Fernando of A ragon Queen fuana. La Loca . Statue of King Fernando of A ragon . Queen Katharine of England King Charles VIII. of France King Henry VII. of England . Altar-piece, with portraits of Fernando Isabel ..... Christopher Columbus Emperor Maximilian Pope A lexander VI. Rodrigo Borgia Statue of Qtieen Isabel of Castile Tomb of Margaret of A ustria . Pope ftilius II. .... Emperor Charles V. ... Empress Isabel, Wife of Charles V. King Henry VIII. of England Maps of Spain CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 1451. Birth of Isabel of Castile. 1452. Birth of Fernando of Aragon. 1454. Juan II. of Castile succeeded by Enrique IV. 1455. Enrique divorces Blanche of Navarre and marries Juana of Portugal. 1461. Louis XI. succeeds Charles VII. as King of France. 1462. Juana (knov/n as la Beltraneja) born. 1467. Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. 1469. Marriage of Fernando of Aragon and Isabel of Castile. 1470. Their daughter, the Infanta Isabel born. 1474. Isabel succeeds Enrique IV. on throne of Castile. 1476. Battle of Toro gained by Fernando. 1477. Defeat and death of Charles the Bold at Nancy. Marriage of Maximilian and Mary of Burgundy. 1478. Prince Juan born, son of Isabel and Fernando. Philip, son of Maximilian, born. Council of Seville. 1479. Juana, daughter of Fernando and Isabel, born. Fernando inherits Aragon. 1480. Margaret, daughter of Maximilian, born. 148 1. The Inquisition established in Castile. The King of Granada takes Zahara. Beginning of Moorish war. 1482. Maria, daughter of Fernando and Isabel, born. Torquemada Grand Inquisitor of Spain. CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 1482. Alhama taken from the Moors. Death of Mary of Burgundy, wife of Maximilian. 1483. Charles VIII. succeeds Louis XI.—Anne de Beaujeu regent. Edward IV. of England succeeded by Richard III. Mendoza, Archbishop of Toledo. Rout of the Christians in the Axarquia. Defeat and capture of Boabdil. 1484. Pope Innocent VIII. Peace of Bagnolo. 1485. Capture of Ronda from the Moors. Birth of Katharine, daughter of Fernando and Isabel. Battle of Eosworth. Henry VII. succeeds to the throne. Marries Elizabeth of York. i486. Birth of Arthur, son of Henry VII. 1487. Siege and conquest of Malaga by the Christians. Treaty of marriage between Arthur, Prince of Wales, and Katharine. 1489. Siege and capture of Baza by the Christians. 1490. Marriage of Infanta Isabel to Prince Affonso of Portugal. 1491. Charles VIII. marries Anne of Brittany. Birth of Henry VIII. of England. 1492. Spanish expedition under Christopher Columbus discovers America. Fall of Granada and end of the Moorish kingdom. Pope Alexander VI. (Rodrigo Borgia). 1493. Death of Emperor Frederick III. and Maximilian succeeds. Marriage of Maximilian and Bianca Sforza. Margaret of Austria sent back to the Netherlands from France. 1494. Charles VIII. invades Italy. 1495. Charles VIII. takes Naples. Battle of Fornova. The Great Captain in Italy. Juan II. of Portugal succeeded by his cousin Emanuel the Fortunate. 1496. The French turned out of Naples. CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 1496. Marriage of Juana, daughter of Isabel, with the Archduke Philip. 1497. Prince Juan of Spain marries Margaret, daughter of Maximilian. Third voyage of Cristopher Columbus. Synod of Alcala. 1498. Louis XII. succeeds Charles VIII. Death of Isabel of Portugal daughter of Fernando and Isabel. Death of Torquemada. 1499. Louis XII. marries Anne of Brittany, widow of Charles VIII. 1500. Birth of Charles V. (Emperor) son of Philip and Juana. Second Treaty between Spain and France for the partition of Naples. Death of Isabel of Portugal. Her sister Maria marries Emanuel, King of Portugal. 1 501. Granada declared Christian. Rebellion in the Alpujarras. Katharine of Aragon marries Arthur Prince of Wales. 1502. War between Aragon and France. Death of Arthur Prince of Wales. 1503. The Great Captain defeats the French at Cerignola. Takes Naples for the King of Aragon. Death of Alexander VI., Pius III., Julius II. T504. Death of Queen Isabel of Castile. Philip and Juana proclaimed— Fernando regent, 1505. Treaty of Salamanca. 1506. Death of Archduke Philip. Fernando goes to Naples. Death of Christopher Columbus. 1507. Jimenez Grand Inquisitor. Cordova rebels against against Inquisition. Fernando assumes government of Castile. Margaret of Austria regent in the Netherlands. 1508. League of Cambray—Julius II., Louis XII., Fernando of Spain, and Maximilian—against Venice, xi CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 1509. Venice defeated by Louis XII. and the Chevalier Bayard at Agnadello. Oran captured by Cardinal Jimenez. Accession of Henry VIII. He marries Katharine of Aragon. 1511. The Holy League— Pope Julius, Fernando, Henry VIII. Maximilian, Venice and Switzerland—against France. 1512. Battle of Ravenna. Fernando invades Navarre. 1513. Death of Pope Julius II. Leo X. succeeds. I. Italian 1515. Death of Louis XII. ; is succeeded by Francis expedition. Fernando annexes Navarre to his kingdom. 1516. Death of Fernando of Aragon. — " 1555. Death of Juana " la Loca —Queen of Castile. xu g J3 (U -j 1) 3 ™ C 5 MB S .S '^ w5c£ as C/2 w D si 2 O s< Ci4 o CU o "5 rt O C^oU ^ INTRODUCTION ISABEL OF CASTILE The very name is an "Open Sesame" to the world of romance, of legend and of story ; and as we gaze upon it, our minds are flooded with dim enthralling memories of a long-vanished past. The magic spell is upon us. Once more we are in the unforgotten land of Spanish chivalry and Moorish enchantment, where every tale of prince and paladin, of feast and foray ; every vision of stately rock-girt castle, of fairy palace, of dome and minaret—set in a fair garden land of exquisite beauty passing a poet's dream—all combine to form the emblazoned tapestry on which stands forth the gracious figure of our peer- less lady : Isabel the Queen. Never was woman raised upon such a pedestal of worship. It was her rare good fortune to rise up at the very crisis of a nation's history, and, with the splendid skill and heroism of a strong mind and a brave heart, to turn the tide of fortune and wrest salvation for her people. Friend and foe alike proclaim her fame ; it was sung in every language and rang out to the ends of the earth. Her people adored her, and to this day the mere mention of that familiar name, Isabel I A ISABEL OF CASTILE La Catolica, strikes a responsive chord in the land of her birth.