Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 04.djvu/149

LEFT FERDINAND 119 FERDINAND I. kingdom of Aragon, thus reuniting the two crowns of Castile and Aragon. He applied himself to the reform of the great abuses in the administration, and in 1480, at the instigation of Torque- mada, established the Inquisition at Se- ville and, after courageous resistance on the part of the people, at Saragossa also. One of the greatest events of this reign was the conquest of Granada. The war with the Moors began in 1483; victory after victory attended the arms of Fer- dinand, and in 1492 the capital city was taken after a siege of eight months. The "two kings," as they called Ferdinand and Isabella, made their entrance in January, 1493. The dominion of the Moors in Spain had lasted 800 years. By a cruel edict of the same year, 1493, the Jews in Spain were commanded to receive baptism, or quit the country in four months. Multitudes of them, counted at from 30,000 to 170,000, be- came exiles, and the prisons were filled with those who remained. It was at this period that Columbus, with vessels fur- nished by Ferdinand and Isabella, made his memorable voyages and discovered America, which the Pope Alexander VI. assumed authority to give to those sov- ereigns. The great Cardinal Ximenes was then confessor to Isabella, and in 1495 was made Archbishop of Toledo. In 1500, Gonsalvo was sent to make the conquest of Naples, which, partly by the sword and partly by the most unscru- pulous perfidy, he effected. On the death of Isabella, in 1504, the Kingd'^m of Castile passed to Philip, son-in-law of Ferdinand; but on Philip's death, two years later, Ferdinand again assumed the government. In 1507 Ximenes became first minister, labored successfully for the conversion of the Moors, and achieved the conquest of Oran. The in- famous League of Cambray was con- cluded in 1508. Soon after Navarre was conquered and united to Castile and Aragon. Of Ferdinand's four daughters, one was married to the Archduke Philip, two in succession to Emanuel, King of Portugal, and the fourth, Catharine, first to Prince Arthur of England, and afterward to his brother, Henry VIII. Ferdinand died in Madrigalejo, Spain, Jan, 23, 1516, and was interred in the cathedral of Granada with Queen Isa- bella. Ferdinand VI., son of Philip V.; born Sept. 23, 1713. He ascended the throne in 1746, and during the 13 years of his reign was one of the most just and hu- mane monarchs who ever ruled the Spanish destinies. He promoted the in- ternal welfare of his country, reorgan- ized the navy, encouraged manufactures. and by his judicious political conduct placed his elder brother on the throne of Naples, and another under the ducal canopy of Parma. The destruction of Quito, Lima, and Lisbon, by earth- quakes, occurred in this reign. He died Aug. 10, 1759. Ferdinand VII., son of Charles IV.: born in San Ildefonso, Oct. 13, 1784- succeeded his father in 1808. Upon the entry of Napoleon's troops into Spain, Ferdinand was taken prisoner and car- ried to Valen^ay, where he and his fam- ily remained till 1813, when he was restored to his kingdom. After his res- toration, he dissolved the Cortes, and assumed the powers of an absolute monarch. Like all the later Bourbons, "adversity taught him nothing, and in prosperity he forgot nothing." He re- established the Inquisition and those very liberals who had fought for the expulsion of the French from Spanish soil, he per- secuted with pitiless rancor. In 1820, his people broke out into I'ebellion, and re-established the Cortes. Ferdinand was, however, by the aid of French bayonets, restored to his crown, but not to his former absolutism. Bequeathed the crown to his daughter, Isabella, to the exclusion of his brother, Don Carlos — an act that led to a long and disastrous civil war. He abolished the Salic law by pragmatic sanction of 1830. He died in Madrid, Sept. 19, 1833. See Carlos, Don, Duke of Madrid. FERDINAND I, former King of Bul- garia. He was born in Vienna, in 1861, the youngest son of Prince Augustus of Saxe-Coburg and Princess Clementine of Bourbon-Orleans, who was the daughter of Louis Philippe. He was educated in the schools of Germany and developed a marked taste for natural history. He made several trips, including one to Brazil in 1879. He published his observa- tions in botany. In 1886 he was offered the throne of Bulgaria which at that time was vacant. This he accepted and on Aug. 14, 1887, was crowned Prince of Bulgaria. He was not, however, recog- nized by the Great Powers until 1896. He married in 1893 Marie Louise of Bourbon, the eldest daughter of Duke Robert of Parma. Following her death, he married in 1908, Eleanor, the daugh- ter of a prince of the house of Reuss. In the same year he took advantage of the political difficulties of Turkey and proclaimed the complete independence of Bulgaria, assuming the title of King. This title was recognized by Turkey and the Great Powers in the following year. Ferdinand took an active interest in the formation of the Balkan League and in the carrying on of the Balkan War of