Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. I.djvu/110

xcii xcii INTRODUCTION. iNTROD. resort to arms on an infringement of their liber- ties.^^ The hermandad of Castile had never been countenanced by legislative sanction ; it was chiefly resorted to as a measure of police, and was direct- ed more frequently against the disorders of the no- bility, than of the sovereign ; it was organized with difficulty, and, compared with the union of Aragon, was cumbrous and languid in its opera- tions. While these privileges continued in force, the nation was delivered over to the most fright- ful anarchy. The least offensive movement, on the part of the monarch, the slightest encroachment on personal right or privilege, was the signal for a gen- eral revolt. At the cry of Union, that " last voice," says the enthusiastic historian, " of the expiring republic, full of authority and majesty, and an open indication of the insolence of kings," the nobles and the citizens eagerly rushed to arms. The principal castles, belonging to the former were pledged as security for their fidelity, and intrusted to conservators, as they w^ere styled, whose duty it was to direct the operations and watch over the in- terests of the Union. A common seal was pre- pared, bearing the device of armed men kneeling before their king, intimating at once their loyalty and their resolution, and a similar device was dis- played on the standard and the other military in- signia of the confederates. ^* 23 Zurita, Analcs, lib. 4, cap. 24 Blancas, Commentarii, pp. 96. — Abarca dates this event in 192, 193. — Ziirita, Anales, torn, the year precedinij. Reyes de Ar- i. fol. 2G6 et alibi, agon, en Anales Hist6ricos, (IMad- rid, 1682- 1684,) tom.ii. fol. 8.