Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 05.djvu/255

LEFT ISAAC II. 203 ISAIAH of officers and men by his prudence and uprightness, and on the deposition of Michael VI, in 1057 was elevated to the throne. He repelled the Hungarians at- tacking his N. frontier; and then, resign- ing the crown (1059) retired to a con- vent, where he lived two years longer. He was one of the most virtuous and able emperors of the East. There are extant from his pen scholia and other works on Homer. ISAAC II., ANGELUS, connected through his mother with the Comnenian emperors, became sovereign of the East in 1185, and reigned 10 years. Isaac was a vicious and cowardly prince, and his reign was a period of war and tumult. He was dethroned, blinded, and im- prisoned by his brother Alexius in 1195. Eight years later he was restored to the throne, and reigned for a period of six months, when he was again dethroned, and soon after he died in prison. ISABELLA OF CASTILE, daughter of John, 2d king of Castile; born in 1451. By her marriage, in 1469, with Ferdi- nand, 5th king of Aragon, the two crowns were united. The subsequent conquest of Granada, and expulsion of the Moors, left Ferdinand and Isabella the first sovereigns of united Spain. Isabella was a princess of remarkable abilities, and rare domestic virtues. It was through her exertions and influence that Colum- bus obtained the small armament that enabled him to reach the New World. In the old fortress of Simancas, where the archives of Castile are kept, have been found some letters in Isabella's own handwriting, wherein she boasts of establishing and upholding the tribunal of the Holy Inquisition; while other offi- cial documents disclose the fact that the estates of the unhappy victims who per- ished by the flames were wholly devoted to the queen's use. It must be said, in exoneration of the queen, that, in her time, heresy was generally considered the greatest of crimes, and that the burning of heretics was held as legitimate a thing, as is, in our own time, the hanging of a murderer. She died in 1504. ISABELLA II., Queen of Spain; born in Madrid, in 1830. The Salic law, which had previously been in force in Spain, was repealed by the Cortes, in order that she might inherit the crown. The death of her father, in 1833, advanced Isabella, at the age of three years, to the throne. Her uncle, Don Carlos, who in his own right, and that of his son, regarding the abrogating of the Salic law as a direct injustice and violation of their interests, refused to take the oaths of allegiance. and a large portion of the Spanish peo- ple, deeming it beneath their honor as men to be swayed by a woman, supported Don Carlos in his treason, and a civil war at once broke out; which, after raging for nearly seven years, was fin- ally terminated in 1840, by the defeat of the Carlists, and expulsion of their chiefs and leaders. At the age of 13 Isabella was declared of age, and at 16 was mar- ried to her cousin Don Francisco de Assisi; the realm being governed, during her long minority, by her mother Dona Christina, and Espartero, Duke of Vic- tory, who were appointed severally to the post of regent. Dethroned by the revo- lution of September, 1868, Isabella left Spain, accompanied in her flight by the king-consort and her four younger chil- dren, and took refuge in France. After 1846, when she was married against her will to a man said to be unfit for the; conjugal state, the private character of Isabella was exposed to considerable cen- sure and scandal. She died in 1904. ISAIAH (i-za'ya), one of the greatest of the Hebrew prophets. He was the son of Amos, whom some of the fathers supposed to be the prophet Amos, the names being identical in Greek; in He- brew, however, they are diff^erent, the prophet being Amos, and Isaiah's father Amots. As in the vision recorded in Isaiah vi, the prophet is represented as being in the court which none but the descendants of Aaron might enter, he was perhaps a priest. He was born probably between 783 and 788 B. c. He married a woman to whom, as to him, prophetic gifts were given (Isa. viii: 3). One of his sons was called Shear-jashub = a remnant returns, or a remnant will return (vii: 3); another Maher-shalal- hash-baz = hasten to the spoil, quickly carry off the prey. Isaiah exerted great influence at the court of Jerusalem under Ahaz, and yet more under Hezekiah. He was contemporary with Amos, Hosea, Micah, and perhaps with Joel. Besides his prophecies, he wrote also biographies or histories of Uzziah (II Chron. xxvi: 22), and Hezekiah (xxxii: 32). Tradi- tion says that he was sawn asunder by order of King Manasseh, his tragic fate, it is supposed, being alluded to in Heb. xi: 37. The Prophecies of Isaiah, the first and most important of the prophetic books. It is headed "The vision of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, Kings of Judah." If chapter vi is chron- ologically the earliest of any, and de- scribes his first call to the prophetic