Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. III.djvu/290

264 264 REIGN AND DEATH OF PHILIP. II I'ART On the inole they were received by the Great Captain, who, surrounded by his guard of halber- diers, and his silken array of pages wearing his device, displayed all the pomp and magnificence of his household. After passing under a triumphal arch, where Ferdinand swore to respect the liber- ties and privileges of Naples, the royal pair moved forward under a gorgeous canopy, borne by the members of the municipality, while the reins of their steeds were held by some of the principal nobles. After them followed the other lords and cavaliers of the kingdom, with the clergy, and am- bassadors assembled from every part of Italy and Europe, bearing congratulations and presents from their respective courts. As the procession halted in the various quarters of the city, it was greeted with joyous bursts of music from a brilliant assem- blage of knights and ladies, who did homage by kneeling down and saluting the hands of their new sovereigns. At length, after defiling through the principal streets and squares, it reached the great cathedral, where the day was devoutly closed with solemn prayer and thanksgiving.^^ Ferdinand was too severe an economist of time, to waste it willingly on idle pomp and ceremonial. His heart swelled with satisfaction, however, as he gazed on the magnificent capital thus laid at his feet, and pouring forth the most lively expressions of a loyalty, which of late he had been led to dis- ss Bcmaldcz, Roves Catolicos, Vita; lllust. Virorum, ubi supra. MS., cap. 210. — Zurita, Anales, — Garibay, Compcndio, lib. 20, torn. vi. lib. 7, cap. 20. — Giovio, cap. 9.