Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. I.djvu/352

208 208 ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILE. I'ART prisoner, hy one of the alcaldes of her court, '• through the great square of Valladolid to the for- tress of Arevalo, where he was detained in strict confinement, all privilege of access being denied to him ; and, when at length, moved hy the considera- tion of his consanguinity with the king, she con- sented to his release, she banished him to Sicily, until he should receive the royal permission to re- turn to his own country. ^^ Notwithstanding the strict impartiality as well as vigor of the administration, it could never have maintained itself by its own resources alone, in its offensive operations against the high-spirited aris- tocracy of Castile. Its most direct approaches, however, were made, as we have seen, under cover of the cortes. The sovereigns, showed great defer- ence, especially in this early period of their reign, to the popular branch of this body ; and, so far from pursuing the odious policy of preceding prin- ces in diminishing the amount of represented cities, they never failed to direct their writs to all those, which, at their accession, retained the right of rep- resentation, and subsequently enlarged the num- ber by the conquest of Granada ; while they exer- cised the anomalous privilege, noticed in the Intro- duction to this History, of omitting altogether, or issuing only a partial summons to the nobility. ^^ 32 Carhajal, Anales, MS., ailo were summoned, except those in 80. — Pulgar, Reyes Catolicos, immediate attendance on the court, part. 2, cap. 100. until the measure for the resump- 33 For example, at the great tion of the grants, which so nearly cortes of Toledo, in 1480, it does aflcctcd that body, was brought not appear that any of the nobility before the legislature.