Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. II.djvu/361

337 GONSALVO SUCCOURS THE POPE. 337 doubt that Ferdinand had long since entertained chapter the idea of asserting his claim, at some time or ~- other, to the crown of Naples. He, as well as his father, and indeed the whole nation, had beheld with dissatisfaction the transfer of what thej deemed their rightful inheritance, purchased by the blood and treasure of Aragon, to an illegitimate branch of the family. The accession of Frederic, in particu- lar, who came to the throne with the support of the Angevin party, the old enemies of Aragon, had given great umbrage to the Spanish monarch. The Castilian envoy, Garcilasso de la Vega, agreeably to the instructions of his court, urged Alexander the Sixth to withhold the investiture of the kingdom from Frederic, but unavailingly, as the pope's interests were too closely connected, by marriage, with those of the royal family of Naples. Under these circumstances, it was somewhat doubt- ful what course Gonsalvo should be directed to pursue in the present exigency. That prudent commander, however, found the new monarch too strong in the affections of his people to be disturbed at present. All that now remained for Ferdinand, therefore, w^as to rest contented with the possession of the strong posts pledged for the reimbursement of his expenses in the war, and to make such use of the correspondence which the late campaigns had opened to him in Calabria, that, when the time arrived for action, he might act with effect. '" 10 Zurita, Hist, del Rey Her- 16. — Salazar de Mendoza, Monar- nando, lib. 2, cap. 26, 33. — Ma- quia, torn. i. lib. 3, cap. 10. nana. Hist, de Espana, lib. 26, cap. VOL. II. 43