Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. III.djvu/256

230 230 THE REGENCY OF FERDINAND. PART 11. Ferdinand resigns the regency. His private proleat. ously snatched from his grasp. ^^ At any rate, should force be necessary, he would be better able to employ it effectively, with the aid of his ally, the French king, after he had adjusted the affairs of Naples.'*^ Whatever considerations may have influenced the prudent monarch, he authorized the archbishop of Toledo, who kept near the person of the archduke, to consent to an accommodation on the very grounds proposed by the latter. On the 27th of June, he signed and solemnly swore to an agreement, by which he surrendered the entire sovereignty of Cas- tile to Philip and Joanna, reserving to himself only the grandmasterships of the military orders, and the revenues secured by Isabella's testament. ^^ On the following day, he executed another in- strument of most singular import, in which, after avowing in unequivocal terms his daughter's inca- pacity, he engages to assist Philip in preventing any interference in her behalf, and to maintain him, as far as in his power, in the sole, exclusive author- Before signing these papers, he privately made a protest, in the presence of several witnesses, that 46 Lord Bacon remarks, in allu- sion to Philip's premature death, " There was an observation by the wisest of that court, that, if he had lived, his father would have gained upon him in that sort, as he would have governed his councils and de- signs, if not his affections." (Hist, of Henry VH., Works, vol. v. p. 180.) The prediction must have been suggested by the general es- timation of their respective charac- ters ; for the parties never met again after Ferdinand withdrew to Aragon. 4^ Zurita, Anales, torn. vi. lib. 7, cap. 8. 48 Bernaldez, Reyes Catolicob, MS., cap. 204. — Carbajal, Ana- les, MS., ailo 1506.— Zurita, Ana- les, torn. vi. lib. 7, cap. 7. — Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 210. 49 Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 7, cap. 8.