Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. I.djvu/236

92 92 CASTILE UNDER HENRY IV. PART Fourth was ever confirmed by an act of cortes. He • '- still continued to reign with the consent of a large portion, probably the majority, of his subjects ; and it is evident that proceedings, so irregular as those at Avila, could have no pretence to constitutional validity, without a very general expression of ap- probation on the part of the nation. The crown Tlic Icadcrs of the confederates were thrown offered to Isabella. JntQ constcrnatiou by an event, which threatened to dissolve their league, and to leave them exposed to the resentment of an offended sovereign. In this conjuncture, they naturally turned their eyes on Isabella, whose dignified and commanding charac- ter might counterbalance the disadvantages arising from the unsuitableness of her sex for so perilous a situation, and justify her election in the eyes of the people. She had continued in the family of Henry during the greater part of the civil war ; until the occupation of Segovia by the insurgents, after the battle of Olmedo, enabled her to seek the protection of her younger brother Alfonso, to which she was the more inclined by her disgust with the license of a court, where the love of pleasure scorned even the veil of hypocrisy. On the death of her brother, she withdrew to a monastery at Avila, where she was visited by the archbishop of Toledo, who, in behalf of the confederates, requested her to occupy the station lately filled by Alfonso, and allow her- self to be proclaimed queen of Castile.^^ 36 Lebrija, Rerum Gcstarum 1, cap. 92. — Florez, Reynas Ca- Decad., lib. 1, cap. 3. — Alonso tWlicas, torn. ii. p. 790. de Palencia, Cor6nica, MS., part.