Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. I.djvu/344

200 I. 200 ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILE. PART of the hermandad, which, although ostensibly directed against offenders of a more humble de- scription, was made to bear indirectly upon the no- bility, whom it kept in awe by the number and dis- cipline of its forces,' and the promptness w ith which it could assemble them on the most remote points of the kingdom ; while its rights of jurisdiction tended materially to abridge those of the seigno- rial tribunals. It was accordingly resisted with the greatest pertinacity by the aristocracy ; although, as we have seen, the resolution of the queen, sup- ported by the constancy of the commons, enabled her to triumph over all opposition, until the great objects of the institution were accomplished. Another measure, which insensibly operated to the depression of the nobility, was making official preferment depend less exclusively on rank, and much more on personal merit, than before. " Since the hope of guerdon," says one of the statutes enacted at Toledo, " is the spur to just and honor- able actions, when men perceive that offices of trust are not to descend by inheritance, but to be conferred on merit, they will strive to excel in virtue, that they may attain its reward." ^^ The sovereigns, instead of confining themselves to the grandees, frequently advanced persons of humble origin, and especially those learned in the laAv, to the most responsible stations, consulting them, and paying great deference to their opinions, on all matters of importance. The nobles, finding that 22 Ordenanqas Reales, lib. 7, lit. 2, ley 13.