[40] This was the battle-ground of Julius Caesar in his wars with Pompey. See his ingenious military manoeuvre as simply narrated in his own Commentaries, (De Bello Civili, tom. i. p. 54,) and by Lucan, (Pharsalia, lib. 4,) with his usual swell of hyperbole.
[41] The cold was so intense at the siege of Amposta, that serpents of an enormous magnitude are reported by L. Marineo to have descended from the mountains, and taken refuge in the camp of the besiegers. Portentous and supernatural voices were frequently heard during the nights. Indeed, the superstition of the soldiers appears to have been so lively as to have prepared them for seeing and hearing anything.
[42] Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, tom. ii. p. 390.—Alonso de Palencia, MS., part. 2, cap. 60, 61—Castillo, Crónica, pp. 43, 44, 46, 49, 50, 54.—Zurita, Anales, tom. ii. fol. 116, 124, 127, 128, 130, 137, 147.—M. La Clède states, that "Don Pedro no sooner arrived in Catalonia, than he was poisoned."(Histoire Générale de Portugal, (Paris, 1735,) tom. iii. p. 245.) It must have been a very slow poison. He arrived January 21st, 1464, and died June 29th, 1466.
[43] Sir Walter Scott, in his "Anne of Geierstein," has brought into full relief the ridiculous side of René's character. The good king's fondness for poetry and the arts, however, although showing itself occasionally in puerile eccentricities, may compare advantageously with the coarse appetites and mischievous activity of most of the contemporary princes. After all, the best tribute to his worth was the earnest attachment of his people. His biography has been well and diligently compiled by the viscount of Villeneuve Bargemont, (Histoire de René d'Anjou, Paris, 1825,) who has, however, indulged in greater detail than was perhaps to have been desired by René, or his readers.
[44] Comines says of him, "A tous alarmes c'estoit le premier homme armé, et de toutes pièces, et son cheval tousjours bardé. Il portoit un habillement que ces conducteurs portent en Italie, et sembloit bien prince et chef de guerre; et y avoit d'obéissance autant que monseigneur de Charolois, et luy obéissoit tout l'ost de meilleur coeur, car à la vérité il estoit digne d'estre honoré." Philippe de Comines, Mémoires, apud Petitot; (Paris, 1826,) liv. 1, chap. 11.
[45] Villeneuve Bargemont, Hist. de René, tom. ii. pp. 168, 169.—Histoire de Louys XI., autrement dicte La Chronique Scandaleuse, par un Greffier de l'Hostel de Ville de Paris, (Paris, 1620,) p. 145.—Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 150, 153.—Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 17.— Palencia swells the numbers of the French in the service of the duke of Lorraine to 20,000.
[46] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 139.—Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 148, 149, 158.—Aleson, Anales de Navarra, tom. iv. pp. 611-613.— Duclos, Hist. de Louis XI., (Amsterdam, 1746,) tom. ii. p. 114.—Mém. de Comines, Introd., p. 258, apud Petitot.
[47] Villeneuve Bargemont, Hist. de René, tom. ii. pp. 182, 183.—L. Marineo, fol. 140.—Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 153-164.—Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. rey 29, cap. 7.
[48] Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., part. 2, cap. 88.—L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 143.—Aleson, Anales de Navarra, tom. iv. p. 609.— The queen's death was said to have been caused by a cancer. According to Aleson and some other Spanish writers, Joan was heard several times, in her last illness, to exclaim, in allusion, as was supposed, to her assassination of Carlos, "Alas! Ferdinand, how dear thou hast cost thy mother!" I find no notice of this improbable confession in any contemporary author.
[49] Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. pp. 459, 460.—L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 151.—Alonso de Palencia, Corónica, MS., cap. 88.