Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. III.djvu/495

467 REVIEW OF THEIR ADMINISTRATION. 467 were the ones most capable, from their position, of chapter being brought under control, and thoroughly and ^^^^' permanently identified with the Spanish monarchy. Granada, as we have seen, was placed under the sceptre of Castile, governed by the same laws, and represented in its cortes, being, in the strictest sense, part and parcel of the kingdom. Navarre was also united to the same crown. But its con- stitution, which bore considerable analogy to that of Aragon, remained substantially the same as be- fore. The government, indeed, was administered by a viceroy ; but Ferdinand made as few changes as possible, permitting it to retain its own legisla- ture, its ancient courts of law, and its laws them- selves. So the forms, if not the spirit of indepen- dence, continued to survive its union with the victorious state. ^^ The other possessions of Spain were scattered over the various quarters of Europe, Africa, and America. Naples was the conquest of Aragon ; or, at least, made on behalf of that crown. The queen appears to have taken no part in the conduct of that war, whether distrusting its equity, or its expediency, in the belief that a distant possession in the heart of Europe would probably cost more to maintain than it was worth. In fact, Spain is the only nation, in modern times, which has been able to keep its hold on such possessions for any very considerable 99 The fullest, though a sufR- the "Diccionario Geografico-Hist. ciently meagre, account of the Na- de Espafia," (torn, ii.pp. 140-143.) varrese constitution, is to be found The historical and economical de- in Capmany's collection, " Practica tails in the latter are more copious, y Esiilo," (pp. 250-258,) and in