Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. II.djvu/394

370 370 RISE OF XIMENES. I'ART The minister did not abuse the confidence so '- — generously reposed in him. He called the atten- And charac-. -, . ■. , , . -. t'- tion 01 his rojal mistress to objects most deserving it. His views were naturally grand and lofty; and, if he sometimes yielded to the fanatical impulse of the age, he never failed to support her heartily in every generous enterprise for the advancement of her people. When raised to the rank of primate of Spain, he indulged his natural inclination for pomp and magnificence. He filled his palace with pages, selected from the noblest families in the kingdom, whom he carefully educated. He main- tained a numerous body of armed retainers, which, far from being a mere empty pageant, formed a most effective corps for public service on all requi- site occasions. He dispensed the immense reve- nues of his bishopric with the same munificent hand which has so frequently distinguished the Spanish prelacy, encouraging learned men, and en- dowing public institutions. The most remarkable of these were the college of Santa Cruz at Vallado- lid, and the hospital of the same name for found- lings at Toledo, the erection of which, completed at his sole charge, consumed more than ten years each.^ Ills arnoiirs. Thc Cardinal, in his younger days, was occasion- ally seduced by those amorous propensities, in which the Spanish clergy freely indulged, contam- inated, perhaps, by the example of their Mahom- etan neighbours. He left several children by his 3 Salazar de Mendoza, Cr6n. del Gran Cardenal, pp. 263 -273, 381 -410.