THE CONGRESS OF WOMEN.
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In the years passed so peacefully by Isabella, Henry IV. had proved himself incapable of ruling the kingdom left him by his father. Dissolute, proud and frivolous, he found the cares of state so distasteful that he left them to unworthy favorites, who robbed the treasury and oppressed the people. The country was in a state bordering on ruin, public faith was a jest, the treasury bankrupt, private morals too loose and audacious to seek even the veil of hypocrisy. The troubles culminated in civil war, and Henry, despairing of being able to conquer his rebellious subjects, sought a compromise by proposing to marry his sister Isabella to the brother of the rebel leader. Isabella was sixteen years old at this time, and her horror of the thought of this marriage was so great as to almost deprive her of her reason. She fasted and prayed for twenty-four hours, beseeching God to spare her the disgrace by taking her life. Among her youthful companions at Arevallo was one named Beatrix de Bova- dilla. Beatrix, to console Isabella, said: “ God will never permit this to be, and I swear to you by all that is sacred before it happens I will myself plunge a poignard into his breast.” Her courage and fidelity were not put to the test, for the sudden death of the bridegroom put an end to the king’s plans for his sister’s marriage.
One year after these events the archbishop of Toledo, as the representative of the dissatisfied subjects of Henry, offered Isabella the throne of Castile. He assured her that her strong and elevated character was so well known that her sex offered no objection, and that God Himself had destined her to save the honor of Castile. Isabella, with wonderful judgment for so young a woman, refused to accept the crown. She gave her reasons in the following words: “The work of rebellion is only to excite passions and sow discord, to light the blaze of civil war and to put all in danger; to prevent such evils is it not better to tolerate in the state some abuses of which the consequences are not so fatal? A fruit which ripens before its time can never last. Ambition to reign has no place in my heart, and I desire that the crown of Castile shall not be mine until death shall have ended the reign of my brother. Make the evils to cease which have for so long a time cursed Castile, and I shall look upon your submission as the most signal service you can give to me, and the best mark of your affection.”
This advice was followed and in the terms made by the rebels with Henry, Isabella was recognized as the sole heir to the Castilian throne, but she could not marry without the consent of her brother.
Three suitors now appeared for her hand. The Duke of Gloucester, afterward Richard III. of England, the Duke of Guienne, brother of Louis IX. of France, and Ferdinand, Prince of Aragon and heir to its throne. A marriage with Ferdinand would best advance the political and national interests of Castile. It would unite the two kingdoms and make one nation of their peoples, who were of the same race, spoke the same language and had similar customs, religions and laws. United, their strength would equal that of any European power, while, separated, they must remain inferior. A favorable answer was sent to the Court of Aragon, and was received with joy by the king and the Prince P'erdinand.
In a letter remarkable for the sense it displayed Isabella asked the consent of her brother to her marriage with Ferdinand. Henry did not even answer the letter. Isabella asked the help of the bishop of Toledo, who had always been her friend and disliked the king. Protected by him she defied her brother and signed the articles of agreement for her marriage with Ferdinand on January 43Y469. By this contract her rights to the crown of Castile were absolutely secured to her and Ferdinand promised to continue the^war against the infidels. A few days before the wedding, which occurred on the iBth of October, Ferdinand went secretly to the palace to see Isabella. In this interview, which lasted two hours, the beauty and spirit of the Princess delighted Ferdinand, and Isabella admired equally well the manly bearing and affable manners of the Prince who, although but seventeen years old had already acquired a soldierly reputation.
Henry IV. died in December, 1474, and two days afterward Isabella proclaimed herself Queen of Castile. She was then in Segovia, and it was in the cathedral of that