Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. III.djvu/301

275 RETIREMENT OF GONSALVO. 275 the affairs of the kingdom. He had avoided en- chapter • XX. tering into the local politics of Italy, refusing all '- — treaties and alliances proposed to him by its various states, whether offensive or defensive. He had evaded the importunate solicitations and remon- strances of Maximilian in regard to the Castilian regency, and had declined, moreover, a personal conference proposed to him by the emperor, during his stay in Italy. After the great work of restoring the Angevins to their estates, he had thoroughly reorganized the interior administration of the king- dom ; creating new offices, and entirely new de- partments. He made large reforms, moreover, in the courts of law, and prepared the way for the new system, demanded by its relations as a depen- dency of the Spanish monarchy. Lastly, before leaving the city, he acceded to the request of the inhabitants for the reestablishment of their ancient university. ^ In all these sagacious measures, he had been ably g°;?]ova!''^ assisted by his viceroy, Gonsalvo de Cordova. Fer- dinand's deportment towards the latter had been studied, as I have said, to efface every uncomforta- ble impression from his mind. On his first arrival, indeed, the king had condescended to listen to complaints, made by certain officers of the ex- chequer, of Gonsalvo's waste and misapplication of 9 Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, gnorelli, Coltura nelle Sicilie, torn, lib. 30, cap. 1-5. — Summonte, iv. p. 84. Hist, di Napoli, torn. iv. lib. 6, The learned Neapolitan civilian, cap. 5. — L. Marineo, Cosas Me- Giannone, bears emphatic testimo- morables, fol. 187.— Buonaccorsi, ny to the general excellence of Diario, p. 129. — Bernaldez, Reyes the Spanish legislation for Naples. Catolicos, MS., cap. 210. — Si- Ubi supra.