History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, the Catholic, of Spain (Volume 2) (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1854. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... required than the brief tribute of Alvaro Gomez, the accomplished biographer of Cardinal Ximenes. " Porro Annales Laurentii Galendi Caravajali, quibus vir gravissimus rerumque lllarura cum primis particeps quinquaginta fermd annorum memoriam complex us est, haud vulgariter meam operam juverunt." -- De Rebus Gestis, Prsefatio. CHAPTER XXVI. GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. Policy of the Crown--towards the Nobles--the Clergy--Consideration of the Commons--Advancement of Prerogative--Legal Compilations--The Legal Profession--Trade--Manufactures--Agriculture--Restrictive Policy--Revenues--Progress of Discovery--Colonial Administration--General Prosperity --Increase of Population -- Chivalrous Spirit -- The Period of National Glory. We have now traversed that important period of history, comprehending the latter part of the fifteenth and the beginning of the sixteenth century; a period when the convulsions which shook to the ground the ancient political fabrics of Europe roused the minds of its inhabitants from the lethargy in which they had been buried for ages. Spain, as we have seen, felt the general impulse. Under the glorious rule of Ferdinand and Isabella, we have beheld her emerging from chaos into a new existence; unfolding, under the influence of institutions adapted to her genius, energies of which she was before unconscious; enlarging her resources from all the springs of domestic industry and commercial enterprise; and insensibly losing the ferocious habits of a feudal age, in- the refinements of an intellectual and moral culture. In the fulness of time, when her divided powers had been concentrated under one head, and the system of internal economy completed, we have seen her descend into the arena with the other nations of...