[Illustration: FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.]
This remarkable woman, Isabella of Spain, lived four hundred years ago.
Her name is always associated with that of her husband, Ferdinand, King
of Castile and Aragon. Isabella was a woman of strong character and
great resolution, as well as of remarkable talent. She married the one
whom she wished to marry in spite of the opposition of her brother,
and his threats of imprisonment. Upon the death of her brother, Henry
the Fourth, Isabella was the heir to the throne. However, she met with
opposition, and it was only after warring with the partisans of her
rival that she gained her seat upon the throne. She reigned jointly
with her husband, and their reign is spoken of as that of Ferdinand
and Isabella. It was an eventful reign; many reforms were introduced,
justice was firmly administered and crimes punished. The nobility were
restrained from acts of oppression. Their reign is also conspicuous
for the conquest of Granada; it is said that the honors of the Moorish
war belonged by right to Isabella rather than her husband, for she
personally directed the campaigns, and during the ten years the war
lasted spent much of the time in camp. There are some dark spots which
mar the brilliancy of this woman's record; one is the establishment of
the Inquisition.
We find that when a certain cardinal of the Roman Church presented his
plan of the "Spanish Inquisition" to the King and Queen, that while
Ferdinand approved, Isabella hesitated for a time; it may be that her
woman's heart made her hesitate to condemn all who did not agree with
her in religious matters. Perhaps you do not know what is meant by the
Inquisition.
The Inquisition was a court established for the purpose of seeking out
and punishing, or in some cases banishing, heretics. This meant all who
were not Romanists. I cannot think that a woman so amiable, so kind and
so devout, had other than good intentions in even this matter. The King
and Queen doubtless had the best interests of their people at heart,
and they looked also to the advancement of their church. They wanted
too to gain the favor of the Pope. Doubtless there was a variety of
motives urging them on; one writer says--
"Fear, piety, patriotism, absolutism and ambition" all influenced them.
And when we are inclined to condemn our beautiful queen, we must
remember that she was educated by a bigoted mother, that she lived
in bigoted times and that her advisers were sustained by the highest
authority she recognized--the Papal court. Let us judge her leniently
and put the blame of this act and of that other edict, the expulsion of
the Jews, elsewhere.
Let us think of her interest in Columbus, for it was she who took an
interest in his project of seeking a new world beyond the seas, and who
offered even to part with her jewels in order to furnish means for the
carrying out of his grand scheme.
We all know how it ended, and surely we as Americans will ever cherish
her memory.
[Illustration: THE PRISON OF THE INQUISITION.]
She was a most gracious queen, beautiful in face, pleasing in manner,
and very loving as a wife and mother. And among the royal personages of
her beloved Spain the name of Isabella stands foremost.