PART Ferdinand named regent. 66 crown, which she settles on the infanta Joanna, as 9 She next comes to the great question proposed by the cortes of 1503, respecting the government of the realm in the absence or incapacity of Joanna. She declares that, after mature deliberation, and with the advice of many of the prelates and nobles of the kingdom, she appoints King Ferdinand her husband to be the sole regent of Castile, in that exigency, until the majority of her grandson Charles ; 9"Ni fagan fuera de los dichos mis Reynos e Señorios, Leyes e Premáticas, ni las otras cosas que en Cortes se deven hazer segund las Leyes de ellos;" (Testamento, apud Dormer, Discursos Varios, p. 343.) an honorable testimony to the legislative rights of the cortes, which contrasts strongly with the despotic assumption of preceding and succeeding princes. XVI. being led to this, she adds, "by the consideration CHAPTER of the magnanimity and illustrious qualities of the king, my lord, as well as his large experience, and the great profit, which will redound to the state from his wise and beneficent rule." She expresses her sincere conviction, that his past conduct affords a sufficient guaranty for his faithful administration, but, in compliance with established usage, requires the customary oath from him on entering on the duties of the office. for him. She then makes a specific provision for her hus- Provision band's personal maintenance, which," although less than she could wish, and far less than he deserves, considering the eminent services he had rendered the state," she settles at one half of all the net proceeds and profits accruing from the newly discovered countries in the west; together with ten million maravedies annually, assigned on the alcavalas of the grandmasterships of the military orders. After some additional regulations, respecting the descent of the crown on failure of Joanna's lineal heirs, she recommends in the kindest and most emphatic terms to her successors the various members of her household, and her personal friends, among whom we find the names of the marquis and marchioness of Moya, (Beatrice de Bobadilla, the companion of her youth,) and Garcilasso de la Vega, the accomplished minister at the papal court. And, lastly, concluding in the same beautiful strain of conjugal tenderness in which she began, she says, "I beseech the king my lord, that he will accept all my jewels, or such as he shall select, so that, seeing them, he may be reminded of the singular love I always bore him while living, and that I am now waiting for him in a better world; by which remembrance he may be encouraged to live the more justly and holily in this." Six executors were named to the will. The two principal were the king and the primate Ximenes, who had full powers to act in conjunction with any one of the others. 10 I have dwelt the more minutely on the details of Isabella's testament, from the evidence it affords of her constancy in her dying hour to the principles which had governed her through life; of her expansive and sagacious policy; her prophetic insight into the evils to result from her death,—evils, alas! which no forecast could avert; her scrupulous attention to all her personal obligations; and that warm attachment to her friends, which could never falter while a pulse beat in her bosom. After performing this duty, she daily grew weaker, the powers of her mind seeming to brighten, as those of her body declined. The concerns of her government still occupied her thoughts; and several public measures, which she had postponed through urgency of other business, or growing infirmities, pressed so heavily on her heart, that she made them the subject of a codicil to her former will. 10 I have before me three copies of Isabella's testament; one in MS. apud Carbajal, Anales, año 1504; a second printed in the beautiful Valencia edition of Mariana, tom. ix. apend. no. 1; and a third published in Dormer's Discursos Varios de Historia, pp. 314-388. I am not aware that it has been printed elsewhere. It was executed November 23d, only three days CHAPTER before her death. Three of the provisions contained in it are too remarkable to pass unnoticed. The first concerns the codification of the laws. For this purpose, the queen appoints a commission to make a new digest of the statutes and pragmáticas, the contradictory tenor of which still occasioned much embarrassment in Castilian jurisprudence. This was a subject she always had much at heart; but no nearer approach had been made to it, than the valuable, though insufficient work of Montalvo, in the early part of her reign; and, notwithstanding her precautions, none more effectual was destined to take place till the reign of Philip the Second."1 The second item had reference to the natives of the New World. Gross abuses had arisen there since the partial revival of the repartimientos, although Las Casas says, "intelligence of this was carefully kept from the ears of the queen."12 Some vague apprehension of the truth, however, appears to have forced itself on her; and she enjoins her 11 The "Ordenanças Reales de Castilla," published in 1484, and the "Pragmáticas del Reyno,' first printed in 1503, comprehend the general legislation of this reign; a particular account of which the reader may find in Part I. Chapter 6, and Part II. Chapter 26, of this History. 12 Las Casas, who will not be suspected of sycophancy, remarks, in his narrative of the destruction of the Indies, "Les plus grandes horreurs de ces guerres et de cette boucherie commencèrent aussitôt qu'on sut en Amérique que la reine Isabelle venait de mourir ; XVI. 1504. Nov. 23. PART 11. She fails rapidly. successors, in the most earnest manner, to quicken the good work of converting and civilizing the poor Indians, to treat them with the greatest gentleness, and redress any wrongs they may have suffered in their persons or property. Lastly, she expresses her doubts as to the legality of the revenue drawn from the alcavalas, constituting the principal income of the crown. She directs a commission to ascertain whether it were originally intended to be perpetual, and if this were done with the free consent of the people; enjoining her heirs, in that event, to collect the tax so that it should press least heavily on her subjects. Should it be found otherwise, however, she directs that the legislature be summoned to devise proper measures for supplying the wants of the crown, — "measures depending for their validity on the good pleasure of the subjects of the realm." 13 Such were the dying words of this admirable woman; displaying the same respect for the rights and liberties of the nation, which she had shown through life, and striving to secure the blessings of her benign administration to the most distant and barbarous regions under her sway. These two documents were a precious legacy bequeathed to her people, to guide them when the light of her personal example should be withdrawn for ever. The queen's signature to the codicil, which still exists among the manuscripts of the royal library at 13 The original codicil is still preserved among the manuscripts of the Royal Library at Madrid. It is appended to the queen's testa ment in the works before noticed. |