Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. I.djvu/502

356 356 WAR OF GRANADA. PART hermandad, the incessant military operations of — '- the late campaign, together with the equipment of a navy, not merely for war, but for maritime dis- covery, were so many copious drains of the ex- chequer.^^ Under these circumstances, they obtain- ed from the pope a grant of one hundred thousand ducats, to be raised out of the ecclesiastical reve- nues in Castile and Aragon. A bull of crusade was also published by his Holiness, containing numerous indulgences for such as should bear arms against the infidel, as well as those who should prefer to commute their military service for the payment of a sum of money. In addition to these resources, the government was enabled on its own credit, justi- fied by the punctuality with which it had redeem- ed its past engagements, to negotiate considerable loans with several wealthy individuals. ^^ With these funds the sovereigns entered into ex- tensive arrangements for the ensuing campaign ; V causing cannon, after the rude construction of that age, to be fabricated at Huesca, and a large quanti- ty of stone balls, then principally used, to be man- ufactured in the Sierra de Constantina ; while the magazines were carefully provided with ammunition and military stores. Justice of An event not unworthy of notice is recorded by the Bove rrigna. 15 Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum De- Coleccion de C^dulas y Otros Do- cades, ii. lib. 2, cap. 1. cumentos, (Madrid, 1829,) torn. iii. Besides the armada in the Med- no. 25. iterranean, a fleet under Pedro de For this important collection, a V^era was prosecuting a voyage of few copies of which, only, were discovery and conquest to the Ca- printed for distribution, at the ex- naries at this time. pense of the Spanish government, 16 Pulgar, Reyes Catolicos, p. I am indebted to the politeness of 199. — Mariana, torn. ii. p. 551. — Don A. Calderon de la Barea.