For the true character of Ferdinand consult Shakespeare, who understood all things—“who didst the stars and sunbeams know.” He describes Ferdinand, by the mouth of our eighth Henry’s ill-fated queen, Katharine of Aragon, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella:
“....Ferdinand,
My father, King of Spain, was reckon’d
The wisest prince, that there had reign’d by many
A year before: ...”
Henry VIII., Act II.
And of Katharine’s qualities, King Henry, in all things else unrelenting, speaks in high terms:
“....Thou art, alone,—
If thy rare qualities, sweet gentleness,
Thy meekness saint-like, wife-like government,
Obeying in commanding, and thy parts
Sovereign and pious else, could speak thee out,—
The queen of earthly queens.”
Henry VIII., Act II.
As to Queen Isabella, Ford is loud in her praise, regarding her as a pearl among women. She died, indeed, far from Granada, but desired to be buried here—in the Cathedral of Granada—the bright jewel of her crown. Isabella was the Elizabeth of Spain, the most effulgent star of an age which produced Ximenez, Columbus, and the Great Captain, all of whom rose to full growth under her smile, and withered at her death. She is one of the most faultless characters in history, one of the purest sovereigns who ever graced or dignified a throne; who, “in all her relations of queen, or woman,” was, in the words of Lord Bacon, “an honour to her sex, and the corner-stone of the greatness of Spain.” Then it was that Spain spread her wings over a wider sweep of empire, and extended her name of glory to the far antipodes. Then it was that her flag, on which the sun never set, was unfolded to the wonder and terror of Europe; while a New World, boundless, and richer than the dreams of avarice, was cast into her lap, discovered at the very moment when the Old World was becoming too confined for the outgrowth of the awakened intellect, enterprise, and ambition of mankind.
After receiving the keys of the fortress, Ferdinand remained for a few days in Granada, having entrusted the custody of the Alhambra to Don Inigo Lopez de Mendoza, Count of Tendilla.[6]