THE CONGRESS OF WOMEN.
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Moorish domain in Spain. Throughout the long contest Isabella conducted the campaign with unceasing energy. She re-made roads, bridged rivers, cut passes through mountain defiles, raised money in every way: begged of the Pope because it was a religious war, begged from her nobles, appealing to their patriotism, and proved her own sincerity by selling some of the royal domains and pledging some of the crown jewels to the merchants of Barcelona. Ferdinand fought by her side, and won his right to command by his wisdom in council and his reckless daring in battle.
The city of Granada was surrendered to Isabella on the second of January, 1492. For ten years the Moor had fought for his country with matchless heroism. Boabdil, the reigning Sultan then of Granada, gave the keys of the city to Ferdinand with the words, “ I firmly believe you will use your victory with justice and moderation. ” In his address to the Moorish chiefs he said, “ Courage has never been wanting among the faithful; it has been the strength of their defense. Fatality has paralyzed our arms; men escaped from terrible peril fear new dangers when there is no hope for better fortune. What resource; the tempest has destroyed all!” The gate by which the royal household left Granada was walled up by the Sultan’s request, and the peak of Talmud, where he saw for the last time his beloved city, has since borne the name of “ The Last Sigh of the Moor. ” As the Moorish Sultan went on his way to exile he shed bitter tears of grief.
In Rome the success of this Spanish crusade against the infidel in Spain was celebrated by solemn religious services and public festivals. Isabella and Ferdinand received from the Pope the title of “ Catholic kings” and ever afterward Isabella signed all official papers as “ Isabella the Catholic. ” In London the final news of the victory at Granada was read to the citizens in Saint Paul’s cathedral by command of Henry VII. who went with his court to hear the recital and afterward attended the service of praise held in commemoration of the event.
After eighteen years of sovereignty Isabella saw for the first time her kingdom united and at peace. While she awaited the fall of Granada in Santa Fe, Christopher presented to her a memorial he had written to explain his theories in regard to a new world yet to be discovered and which he believed himself divinely commissioned to find. With all the resources of her treasury taxed to the utmost to sustain the war against the Moor, Isabella could not do anything but receive the Genoese sailor with sympathy and give him hope of future aid. She recognized his intellect, his ardent temperament and his piety, and was fascinated by the hope of spreading the Christian faith and planting the cross in new worlds.
Ferdinand, who was less enthusiastic and more cynical than his wife, called Columbus an Italian adventurer with impossible plans, and opposed any idea of aiding him.
Isabella met his objections by saying that Castile would be able when at peace to furnish the means for the expedition without any help from Aragon, and she gave Columbus her protection and a sufficient income for his support until the state of her kingdom should justify her in more active measures in his behalf. After once plighting her faith to Columbus, Isabella was his firm friend and gave him her most generous confidence. His commission signed by Ferdinand and Isabella on the 17th of April, 1492, named him admiral of the little fleet which accompanied him on the first expedition, and gave him ample resources for his voyage. Isabella’s faith in him was rewarded. When he returned from his first expedition she saw those who derided his plans as impossible, the idle dreams of a visionary, hail him as a god, crowding the streets of every city he visited to do him honor, ringing the bells and singing hymns as if a great conqueror had returned.
Isabella proved herself as energetic in the work of increasing the temporal power of her kingdom as she had been in driving her enemies from its soil. After a few years of tranquillity, Spain stood among the first nations of Europe in commercial importance and wealth.
The mercantile navy of Spain numbered more than a thousand ships; they carried her work to all the ports of the world and returned laden with gold, to still further