Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. III.djvu/289

263 FERDINAND VISITS NAPLES. 263 nent tranquillity. ^° The Neapolitans, in particular, chapter were intoxicated with joy at his arrival. The most — '- — "- - splendid preparations were made for his reception. A fleet of twenty vessels of war came out to meet him and conduct him into port ; and, as he touched the shores of his new dominions, the air was rent with acclamations of the people, and with the thun- ders of artillery from the fortresses, which crowned the heights of the city, and from the gallant navy which rode in her waters. ^^ The faithful chronicler of Los Palacios, who iiisenuy into Naples. generally officiates as the master of ceremonies on these occasions, dilates with great complacency on all the circumstances of the celebration, even to the minutest details of the costume worn by the king and his nobility. According to him, the monarch was arrayed in a long, flowing mantle of crimson velvet, lined with satin of the same color. On his head was a black velvet bonnet, garnished with a resplendent ruby, and a pearl of inestimable price. He rode a noble white charger, whose burnished caparisons dazzled the eye with their splendor. By his side was his young queen, mounted on a milk-white palfrey, and wearing a skirt, or under- garment, of rich brocade, and a French robe, simply fastened with clasps, or loops of fine wrought gold. 30 " Un re glorioso per tante p. 124. — Giannone, Istoria di Na- vittorie avute contro gl' Infedeli, e poli, Jib. 30, cap. 1. contro i Cristiani, venerabile per ^i Summonte. Hist, di Napoli, opinions di prudenza, e del quale torn. iv. lib. 6, cap. 5. — Guicciar- risonava fama Crislianissima, che dini, Istoria, torn. iv. p. 31. — Gio- avesse con singolare giustizia, e vio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, pp. 278, tranquillitagovernatoi reamisuoi." 279. — Bembo, Istoria Viniziana, Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. iv. p. lib. 7. 31. — Also Buonaccorsi, Diario,