The History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic — Volume 1

by William Hickling Prescott

[10] Zurita, Anales, tom. iii. fol. 278.—Lucio Marineo Siculo, Coronista de sus Magestades, Las Cosas Memorables de España, (Alcalà de Henares, 1539,) fol. 104.—Aleson, Anales de Navarra, tom. iv. pp. 494-498.

[11] Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. fol. 223.—Aleson, Anales de Navarra, tom. iv. pp. 501-503.—L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 105.

[12] Compendio, tom. iii. p. 419.—L. Marineo describes the heavens as uncommonly serene at the moment of Ferdinand's birth. "The sun, which had been obscured with clouds during the whole day, suddenly broke forth with unwonted splendor. A crown was also beheld in the sky, composed of various brilliant colors like those of a rainbow. All which appearances were interpreted by the spectators as an omen, that the child then born would be the most illustrious among men." (Cosas Memorables, fol. 153.) Garibay postpones the nativity of Ferdinand to the year 1453, and L. Marineo, who ascertains with curious precision even the date of his conception, fixes his birth in 1450, (fol. 153.) But Alonso de Palencia in his History, (Verdadera Corónica de Don Enrique IV., Rei de Castilla y Leon, y del Rei Don Alonso su Hermano, MS.) and Andrés Bernaldez, Cura de Los Palacios, (Historia de los Reyes Católicos, MS., c. 8,) both of them contemporaries, refer this event to the period assigned in the text; and, as the same epoch is adopted by the accurate Zurita, (Anales, tom. iv. fol. 9,) I have given it the preference.

[13] Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 3-48.—Aleson, Anales de Navarra, tom. iv. pp. 508-526.—L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 105.

[14] Giannone, Istoria Civile del Regno di Napoli, (Milano, 1823,) lib. 26, c. 7.—Ferreras, Histoire Générale d'Espagne, trad. par D'Hermilly, (Paris, 1751,) tom. vii. p. 60.—L'Histoire du Royaume de Navarre, par l'un des Secrétaires Interprettes de sa Majesté, (Paris, 1596,) p. 468.

[15] Compare the narrative of the Neapolitan historians, Summonte (Historia della Città e Regno di Napoli, (Napoli, 1675,) lib. 5, c. 2) and Giannone, (Istoria Civile, lib. 26, c. 7.—lib. 27. Introd.) with the opposite statements of L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, (fol. 106,) himself a contemporary, Aleson, (Anales de Navarra, tom. iv. p. 546,) and other Spanish writers.

[16] Enriquez del Castillo, Crónica de Enrique el Quarto, (Madrid, 1787,) cap. 43.

[17] Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 97.—Nic. Antonio, Bibliotheca Vetus, tom. ii. p. 282.—L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 106.—Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. fol. 250.—Carlos bargained with Pope Pius II. for a transfer of this library, particularly rich in the ancient classics, to Spain, which was eventually defeated by his death. Zurita, who visited the monastery containing it nearly a century after this period, found its inmates possessed of many traditionary anecdotes respecting the prince during his seclusion among them.

[18] Aleson, Anales de Navarra, tom. iv. pp. 548-554.—Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. fol. 251.—Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 60-69.

[19] Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, ubi supra.—Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 70-75.—Aleson, Anales de Navarra, tom. iv. p. 556.