The History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic — Volume 2 — Inside the Classic

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Authors: Prescott, William Hickling, 1796-1859 Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2004 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Ferdinand V, King of Spain, 1452-1516; Isabella I, Queen of Spain, 1451-1504; Spain -- History -- Ferdinand and Isabella, 1479-1516 Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

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Reading time 653 min

Text sections 13

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Prescott's second volume traces the Granada War's sieges and the consolidation of royal authority, with sharp observations on 15th-century diplomacy, military discipline, and the Inquisition's spread in Aragon.

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CHAPTER XII. INTERNAL AFFAIRS OF THE KINGDOM.--INQUISITION IN ARAGON. ISABELLA ENFORCES THE LAWS CHASTISEMENT OF CERTAIN ECCLESIASTICS MARRIAGE OF CATHARINE OF NAVARRE LIBERATION OF CATALAN SERFS INQUISITION IN ARAGON REMONSTRANCES OF CORTES CONSPIRACY FORMED ASSASSINATION OF ARBUES CRUEL PERSECUTIONS INQUISITION THROUGHOUT FERDINAND'S DOMINIONS

CHAPTER XIII. WAR OF GRANADA.--SURRENDER OF VELEZ MALAGA.--SIEGE AND CONQUEST OF MALAGA. POSITION OF VELEZ MALAGA ARMY BEFORE VELEZ DEFEAT OF EL ZAGAL NARROW ESCAPE OF FERDINAND SURRENDER OF VELEZ DESCRIPTION OF MALAGA SHARP RECONTRE MALAGA INVESTED BY SEA AND LAND BRILLIANT SPECTACLE EXTENSIVE PREPARATIONS THE QUEEN VISITS THE CAMP SUMMONS OF THE TOWN DANGER OF THE MARQUIS OF CADIZ CIVIL FEUDS OF THE MOORS ATTEMPT TO ASSASSINATE THE SOVEREIGNS DISTRESS AND RESOLUTION OF THE BESIEGED ENTHUSIASM OF THE CHRISTIANS DISCIPLINE OF THE ARMY GENERAL SALLY GENEROSITY OF A MOORISH KNIGHT OUTWORKS CARRIED GRIEVOUS FAMINE PROPOSALS FOR SURRENDER HAUGHTY DEMEANOR OF FERDINAND MALAGA SURRENDERS AT DISCRETION PURIFICATION OF THE CITY ENTRANCE OF THE SOVEREIGNS RELEASE OF CHRISTIAN CAPTIVES LAMENT OF THE MALAGANS SENTENCE PASSED ON THEM WARY DEVICE OF FERDINAND CRUEL POLICY OF THE VICTORS MEASURES FOR REPEOPLING MALAGA

CHAPTER XIV. WAR OF GRANADA.--CONQUEST OF BAZA.--SUBMISSION OF EL ZAGAL. THE SOVEREIGNS VISIT ARAGON INROADS INTO GRANADA BORDER WAR EMBASSY FROM MAXIMILIAN PREPARATIONS FOR THE SIEGE OF BAZA THE KING TAKES COMMAND OF THE ARMY POSITION AND STRENGTH OF BAZA ASSAULT ON THE GARDEN DESPONDENCY OF THE SPANISH CHIEFS DISPELLED BY ISABELLA GARDENS CLEARED OF THEIR TIMBER CITY CLOSELY INVESTED MISSION FROM THE SULTAN OF EGYPT HOUSES ERECTED FOB THE ARMY ITS STRICT DISCIPLINE HEAVY TEMPEST ISABELLA'S ENERGY HER PATRIOTIC SACRIFICES RESOLUTION OF THE BESIEGED ISABELLA VISITS THE CAMP SUSPENSION OF ARMS BAZA SURRENDERS CONDITIONS OCCUPATION OF THE CITY TREATY OF SURRENDER WITH EL ZAGAL PAINFUL MARCH OF THE SPANISH ARMY INTERVIEW BETWEEN FERDINAND AND EL ZAGAL OCCUPATION OF EL ZAGAL'S DOMAIN EQUIVALENT ASSIGNED TO HIM DIFFICULTIES OF THIS CAMPAIGN ISABELLA'S POPULARITY AND INFLUENCE NOTICE OF PETER MARTYR

CHAPTER XV. WAR OF GRANADA.-SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF THE CITY OF GRANADA. THE INFANTA ISABELLA PUBLIC FESTIVITIES GRANADA SUMMONED IN VAIN KNIGHTHOOD OF DON JUAN FERDINAND'S POLICY ISABELLA DEPOSES THE JUDGES OF CHANCERY FERDINAND MUSTERS HIS FORCES ENCAMPS IN THE VEGA POSITION OF GRANADA MOSLEM AND CHRISTIAN CHIVALRY THE QUEEN SURVEYS THE CITY SKIRMISH WITH THE ENEMY CONFLAGRATION OF THE CHRISTIAN CAMP ERECTION OF SANTA FE NEGOTIATIONS FOR SURRENDER CAPITULATION OF GRANADA COMMOTIONS IN GRANADA PREPARATIONS FOR OCCUPYING THE CITY THE CROSS RAISED ON THE ALHAMBRA FATE OF ABDALLAH RESULTS OF THE WAR OF GRANADA ITS MORAL INFLUENCE ITS MILITARY INFLUENCE DESTINY OF THE MOORS DEATH AND CHARACTER OF THE MARQUIS OF CADIZ NOTICE OF BERNALDEZ, CURATE OF LOS PALACIOS IRVING'S CHRONICLE OF GRANADA

CHAPTER XVI. APPLICATION OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS AT THE SPANISH COURT. MARITIME ENTERPRISE OF THE PORTUGUESE EARLY SPANISH DISCOVERIES EARLY HISTORY OF COLUMBUS BELIEF OF LAND IN THE WEST COLUMBUS APPLIES TO PORTUGAL TO THE COURT OF CASTILE REFERRED TO A COUNCIL HIS APPLICATION REJECTED HE PREPARES TO LEAVE SPAIN INTERPOSITION IN HIS BEHALF COLUMBUS AT SANTA FE NEGOTIATIONS AGAIN BROKEN OFF THE QUEEN'S FAVORABLE DISPOSITION FINAL ARRANGEMENT WITH COLUMBUS HE SAILS ON HIS FIRST VOYAGE INDIFFERENCE TO HIS ENTERPRISE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS DUE TO ISABELLA NOTICE OF NAVARRETE

CHAPTER XVII. EXPULSION OF THE JEWS FROM SPAIN. EXCITEMENT AGAINST THE JEWS FOMENTED BY THE CLERGY VIOLENT CONDUCT OF TORQUEMADA EDICT OF EXPULSION ITS SEVERE OPERATION CONSTANCY OF THE JEWS ROUTES OF THE EMIGRANTS THEIR SUFFERINGS IN AFRICA IN OTHER COUNTRIES WHOLE NUMBER OF EXILES DISASTROUS RESULTS TRUE MOTIVES OF THE EDICT CONTEMPORARY JUDGMENTS MISTAKEN PIETY OF THE QUEEN

CHAPTER XVIII. ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF FERDINAND.--RETURN AND SECOND VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS. THE SOVEREIGNS VISIT ARAGON ATTEMPT ON FERDINAND'S LIFE GENERAL CONSTERNATION LOYALTY OF THE PEOPLE SLOW RECOVERY OF THE KING PUNISHMENT OF THE ASSASSIN RETURN OF COLUMBUS DISCOVERY OF THE WEST INDIES JOYOUS RECEPTION OF COLUMBUS HIS PROGRESS TO BARCELONA INTERVIEW WITH THE SOVEREIGNS SENSATIONS CAUSED BY THE DISCOVERY BOARD FOR INDIAN AFFAIRS REGULATIONS OF TRADE PREPARATIONS FOR A SECOND VOYAGE CONVERSION OF THE NATIVES NEW POWERS GRANTED TO COLUMBUS APPLICATION TO ROME FAMOUS BULLS OF ALEXANDER VI JEALOUSY OF THE COURT OF LISBON WARY DIPLOMACY SECOND VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS MISSION TO PORTUGAL DISGUST OF JOHN II TREATY OF TORDESILLAS

CHAPTER XIX. CASTILIAN LITERATURE.--CULTIVATION OF THE COURT.--CLASSICAL LEARNING.-- SCIENCE. FERDINAND'S EDUCATION NEGLECTED INSTRUCTION OF ISABELLA HER COLLECTION OF BOOKS TUITION OF THE INFANTAS OF PRINCE JOHN THE QUEEN'S CARE FOR THE EDUCATION OF HER NOBLES LABORS OF MARTYR OF LUCIO MARINEO SCHOLARSHIP OF THE NOBLES ACCOMPLISHED WOMEN CLASSICAL LEARNING LEBRIJA ARIAS BARBOSA MERITS OF THE SPANISH SCHOLARS UNIVERSITIES SACRED STUDIES OTHER SCIENCES PRINTING INTRODUCED THE QUEEN ENCOURAGES IT ITS RAPID DIFFUSION ACTUAL PROGRESS OF SCIENCE

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Prescott opens Volume 2 with a sustained analysis of late 15th-century diplomacy, arguing that European states were now "brought into as intimate relation with one another, as the different provinces of the same kingdom were before." He contrasts this new interconnectedness with the "low cunning, subterfuge, and petty trickery" that characterized princely negotiations, singling out Italy as the school where such political morality was taught. The narrative then shifts to the Granada War, where sieges of Velez Malaga, Malaga, and Baza are recounted in detail. Prescott highlights the "strict discipline" of the Spanish army and Isabella's personal interventions, such as her visit to the camp that dispelled despondency among the chiefs. The volume also covers the introduction of the Inquisition in Aragon, including the assassination of Arbues and subsequent persecutions.

Diplomacy as a Game of Personal Stakes

Prescott devotes a lengthy passage to the conduct of foreign relations, asserting that war was "regarded as a game, in which the sovereign parties engaged, not on behalf of their subjects, but exclusively on their own." He notes that the people took no part in foreign policy, leaving monarchs free to act with "temerity and precipitation." The author traces this mindset to Italy's fragmented states, where "maxims were gradually established, so monstrous in their nature as to give the work, which first embodied them in a regular system, the air of a satire." This is a reference to Machiavelli, though Prescott does not name him directly. The passage is notable for its moral condemnation of princely behavior, calling out "the most profligate maxims of state policy" openly avowed by men of reputed honor. Prescott's tone is that of a historian judging the past by a later standard of political ethics.

Siegecraft and the Queen's Resolve

The Granada War chapters are dominated by set-piece sieges. At Velez Malaga, Ferdinand narrowly escapes defeat, while at Malaga the city surrenders "at discretion" after grievous famine. Prescott records the "cruel policy of the victors" and the "wary device of Ferdinand" in sentencing the inhabitants. The siege of Baza is described as particularly difficult: the Spanish chiefs fall into despondency, dispelled only by Isabella's arrival. She "visits the camp" and her energy is credited with sustaining the army through a heavy tempest. Prescott emphasizes the "strict discipline" of the army and the construction of houses for the troops, a sign of the campaign's length. The queen's "patriotic sacrifices" are noted, including her willingness to pawn her jewels to fund the war. These episodes showcase Prescott's interest in the interplay between military logistics and royal leadership.

The Inquisition's Shadow in Aragon

Chapter XII details the introduction of the Inquisition in Aragon, a region that resisted Castilian centralization. Prescott recounts the "remonstrances of Cortes" against the tribunal, followed by a conspiracy that led to the "assassination of Arbues" in 1485. The subsequent "cruel persecutions" are described without embellishment, but the narrative makes clear the political dimension: the Inquisition was a tool for Ferdinand to assert authority over a restive kingdom. Prescott also notes Isabella's parallel efforts to enforce laws and chastise ecclesiastics, linking domestic order to the broader consolidation of royal power. The chapter ends with the Inquisition spreading throughout Ferdinand's dominions, a development Prescott treats as a matter of fact rather than judgment, though the juxtaposition with the Granada War's chivalric sieges creates a tension between ideals of crusade and the reality of religious coercion.

Readers should note that Prescott's narrative alternates between the theater of war and the machinery of state-building. The Granada campaigns are presented as a unified enterprise, but the diplomatic analysis and Inquisition material reveal fractures in the monarchy's methods. Pay attention to how Prescott uses the term "discipline"—it applies both to the army's conduct and to the crown's control over its subjects. The volume's structure, moving from internal affairs to foreign war and back, mirrors the dual focus of Ferdinand and Isabella's reign.

Reading about the Granada sieges, I kept thinking how crushing and slow those wars were—and how the same patient weight of politics settles on every era’s founding. It reminded me of Washington and his colleagues; a chronicle of the rise and fall of federalism — Text and Context, where devotion and ruin feel just as intimate, just as quiet. That lingering ache stayed with me long after closing it.