At the hour of eleven that night the king came down-stairs, wearing armor
on his body and a helmet on his head. With him were the Duke of Feria,
captain of the guard, several other lords, and twelve guardsmen. They
quietly entered the chamber of the prince, and the duke, stealing to the
bedside, secured the sword, dagger, and musket which lay there.
The noise now wakened Carlos, who sprang up, demanding who was there.
"It is the council of state," answered the duke.
On hearing this the prince leaped from the bed, uttering threats and
imprecations, and endeavored to seize his arms. Philip, who had prudently
kept in the background until the weapons were secured, now advanced and
bade his son to return to bed and keep quiet.
"What does your majesty want of me?" demanded the prince.
"You will soon learn," Philip harshly replied.
He then gave orders that the windows and doors of the room should be
strongly secured and the keys brought to him. Every article of furniture,
even the andirons, with which violence might have been done, was removed
from the room. The king then appointed Feria keeper of the prince, and
bade the other nobles to serve him, with due respect, saying that he would
hold them as traitors if they permitted him to escape.
"Your majesty had better kill me than keep me a prisoner," exclaimed
Carlos. "It will be a great scandal to the kingdom. If you do not kill me
I will kill myself."
"You will do no such thing," answered Philip. "That would be the act of a
madman."
"Your majesty," replied the prince, "treats me so ill that you drive me to
this extremity. I am not mad, but you drive me to despair."
Other words passed, and on the withdrawal of the king the voice of Carlos
was so broken by sobs that his words could scarcely be heard. That night
the Duke of Feria and two other lords remained in the prince's room,--now
his prison. Each succeeding night two of the six appointed lords performed
this duty. They were not allowed to wear their swords in the presence of
the prince, but his meat was cut up before serving, as no knife was
permitted to be used at his meals. A guard was stationed in the passage
without, and, as the prince could not look from his barricaded windows, he
was from that day dead to the world.
The king immediately summoned his council of state and began a process
against the prisoner. Though making a show of deep affliction, he was
present at all the meetings and listened to all the testimony, which, when
written out, formed a heap of paper half a foot thick.
The news of the arrest of Don Carlos made a great sensation in Spain. The
wildest rumors were set afloat. Some said that he had tried to kill his
father, others that he was plotting rebellion. Many laid all the blame on
the king. "Others, more prudent than their neighbors, laid their fingers
on their lips and were silent." The affair created almost as much
sensation throughout Europe as in Spain. Philip, in his despatches to
other courts, spoke in such vague and mysterious language that it was
impossible to tell what he meant, and the most varied surmises were
advanced.
Meanwhile, Carlos was kept rigorously confined, so much so that he was not
left alone day or night. Of the two nobles in his chamber at night, one
was required to keep awake while the other slept. They were permitted to
talk with him, but not on political matters nor on the subject of his
imprisonment. They were ordered to bring him no messages from without nor
receive any from him. No books except devotional ones were allowed him.
If it was the purpose of Philip to end the life of his son by other means
than execution he could not have taken better measures. For a young man of
his high spirit and fiery temper such strict confinement was maddening. At
first he was thrown into a frenzy, and tried more than once to make way
with himself. The sullenness of despair succeeded. He grew daily more
emaciated, and the malarial fever which had so long affected him now
returned in a severe degree. To allay the heat of the fever he would
deluge the floor of his chamber with water, and walk for hours with bare
feet on the cold floor. He had a warming-pan filled with ice and snow
brought him, and kept it for hours at night in his bed. He would drink
snow-water in immoderate draughts. In his eating he seemed anxious to
break down his strength,--now refusing all food for days together, now
devouring a pasty of four partridges at a sitting, washing it down with
three gallons or more of iced water.
That he was permitted to indulge in such caprices seems to indicate that
Philip wished him to kill himself. No constitution, certainly not so weak
a one as that of Carlos, could long withstand these excesses. His stomach
refused to perform its duty; severe vomiting attacked him; dysentery set
in; his strength rapidly failed. The expected end came on the 24th of
July, six months after the date of his imprisonment, death releasing the
prince from the misery of his unhappy lot. One writer tells us that it was
hastened by a strong purgative dose, administered by his father's orders,
and that he was really assassinated. However that be, Philip had little
reason to be sorry at the death of his lunatic son. To one of his austere
temperament it was probably an easy solution of a difficult problem.
Less than three months passed after the death of Carlos when Isabella
followed him to the grave. She was then but twenty-three years old,--about
the same age as himself. The story was soon set afloat that Philip had
murdered both his son and his wife, moved thereto by jealousy; and from
this has arisen the romantic story of secret love between the two, with
the novels and dramas based thereon. In all probability the story is
without foundation. Philip is said to have been warmly loved by his wife,
and the poison which carried her away seems to have been the heavy doses
of medicine with which the doctors of that day sought to cure a passing
illness.