Page:Great Men and Famous Women Volume 3.djvu/174

 Ill STATESMEN AND SAGES ISABELLA OF CASTILE* BY SARAH H. KILLIKELLY (1451-1504) TSABELLA, the only daughter of John IL, L of Castile, and Isabella, of Portugal, his second wife, was born in Madrigal, Spain, in 1451. Upon the death of her father her elder half-brother succeeded to the throne in 1454, as Henry IV. The queen dowa- ger retired from court life with her infant son Alfonso, and her daughter Isabella, then in her fourth year. The royal children were reared by a wise mother in the seclusion of the little town of Arevalo, until Isabella was twelve years old. How carefully the seeds of character were sown in these early years is shown by the after-fruits. Her fervent piety and unwavering faith, her strict integ- rity and self-abnegation, disarmed the enemies of her crown, as they disarm the unprejudiced historian of to-day. The verdict of four hundred years is still : " Her faults were the faults of her age, her virtues were her own." The quiet home life at Arevalo came suddenly to an end in 1463, when King Henry arbi- trarily ordered the infantas, as all royal children are called in Spain, to repair to the palace as members of his court. Thus at the early age of twelve years Isa- bella entered upon her public career, and from thenceforth the eyes of the civilized world were turned upon her. Shortly after, a revolution deposed Henry and placed Alfonso upon the throne. Both kings had their followers, and the boy-king, eleven years old, rode on horseback at the head of his troops beside his appointed regent. But the crown was too heavy for the young victim, and Alfonso was one morning found dead in his bed. To Isabella, a beautiful girl of sixteen, the fallen crown was offered and urged ; but in spite of the fact that the old standard had already been unfurled in her honor, and unmoved by the eloquence of the primate and the arguments of the first noble's of the land, Isabella, with a wisdom beyond her years, resolutely rpfused to take the throne. Her reasons baffled her advisers : " So long as King Henry lives none other has the right to wear the crown," She advised his reinstatement and promised to help redress the wrongs of which the nation had the unquestioned right to complain. An amnesty was declared and a reconciliation was effected ; but not until Henry had consented to divorce his queen and to acknowledge Isabella as the heir-apparent to the throne in place of his reputed daughter, Joanna. The cortes, or parliament, was assembled to ratify the treaty, and at the same time, passed a resolution that the infanta was not to Copyright, 1894, by Seltnar Hess.