Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. II.djvu/308

284 284 ITALIAN WARS. FART II. The pope confers the title of ratholic. Naval prep- aiaiiona in Spain. should be devoted to the protection of the Holy See. Towards the close of this year, 1494, or the beginning of the following, he conferred the title of Catholic on the Spanish sovereigns, in consider- ation, as is stated, of their eminent virtues, their zeal in defence of the true faith and the apostolic see, their reformation of conventual discipline, their subjugation of the Moors of Granada, and the puri- fication of their dominions from the Jewish her- esy. This orthodox title, which still continues to be the jewel most prized in the Spanish crown, has been appropriated in a peculiar manner to Ferdi- nand and Isabella, who are universally recognised in history as Los Reyes CatolicosJ^ Ferdinand was too sensible of the peril, to which the occupation of Naples by the French would ex- pose his own interests, to require any stimulant to action from the Roman pontiff. Naval preparations 39 Zurita, Abarca, and other Spanish historians, fix the date of Alexander's grant at the close of 1496. (Hist, del Key Hernando, lib. 2, cap. 40. — Reyes de Ara- gon, rey 30, cap. 9.) Martyr notices it with great particularity as already conferred, in a letter of February, 1495. (Opus Epist., epist. 157.) The pope, according to Comines, designed to connpli- ment Ferdinand and Isabella for their conquest of Granada, by transferring to them the title of Most Christian, hitherto enjoyed by the kings of France. lie had even gone so far as to address them thus in more than one of his briefs. This produced a remon- strance from a number of the car- dinals ; which led him to substi- tute the title of Most Catholic. The epithet of Catholic was not new in the royal house of Castile, nor indeed of Aragon ; having been given to the Asturian prince Alfonso I. about the middle of the eighth, and to Pedro II., of Aragon, at the beginning of the thirteenth century. I will remark, in conclusion, that, although the phrase Los Eeycs Catdllcos, as applied to a female equally with a male, would have a whimsical appearance literally translated into English, it is per- fectly consonant to the Spanish id- iom, which requires that all words, having reference to both a mascu- line and a feminine noun, should be expressed in the former gender. So also in tlie ancient languages ; HjK6» TUfav»oi, says Queen Hecuba ; (Euripides, TPXIAA. v. 47G.) lint it is clearly incorrect to render Los Reyes Catolkos, as usually done by