The physicians recommended a temporary separation of John from his young bride; a remedy, however, which the queen opposed from conscientious scruples somewhat singular. "Hortantur medici Reginam, hortatur et Rex, ut a principis latere Margaritam aliquando semoveat, interpellet. Inducias precantur. Protestantur periculum ex frequenti copulâ ephebo imminere; qualiter eum suxerit, quamve subtristis incedat, consideret iterum atque iterum monent; medullas laedi, stomachum hebetari se sentire Reginae renunciant. Intercidat, dum licet, obstetque principiis, instant. Nil proficiunt. Respondet Regina, homines non oportere, quos Deus jugali vinculo junxerit, separare." Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 176.
[24] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 182.—L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 182.—Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1497.—Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., dial. de Deza.
Peter Martyr, in more of a classic than a Christian vein, refers Prince
John's composure in his latter hours to his familiarity with the divine
Aristotle. "Aetatem quae ferebat superabat; nec mirum tamen. Perlegerat
namque divini Aristotelis pleraque volumina," etc. Ubi supra.
[25] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 183.
Martyr draws an affecting picture of the anguish of the bereaved parents, which betrayed itself in looks more eloquent than words. "Reges tantam dissimulare aerumnam nituntur; ast nos prostratum in internis ipsorum animum cernimus; oculos alter in faciem alterius crebro conjiciunt, in propatulo sedentes. Unde quid lateat proditur. Nimirum tamen, desinerent humanâ carne vestiti esse homines, essentque adamante duriores, nisi quid amiserint sentirent."
[26] Blancas, Coronaciones de los Serenissimos Reyes de Aragon, (Zaragoza, 1641,) lib. 3, cap. 18.—Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. lib. 19, cap. 6.— Sackcloth was substituted for the white serge, which till this time had been used as the mourning dress.
[27] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 182.—Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. lib. 19, cap. 6.—L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 182.—Blancas, Coronaciones, p. 248.
It must be allowed to furnish no mean proof of the excellence of Prince John's heart, that it was not corrupted by the liberal doses of flattery with which his worthy tutor was in the habit of regaling him, from time to time. Take the beginning of one of Martyr's letters to his pupil, in the following modest strain. "Mirande in pueritiâ senex, salve. Quotquot tecum versantur homines, sive genere polleant, sive ad obsequium fortunae humiliores destinati ministri, te laudant, extollunt, admirantur." Opus Epist., epist. 98.
[28] Hopes were entertained of a male heir at the time of John's death, as his widow was left pregnant; but these were frustrated by her being delivered of a still-born infant at the end of a few months. Margaret did not continue long in Spain. She experienced the most affectionate treatment from the king and queen, who made her an extremely liberal provision. (Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, tom. v. lib. 3, cap. 4.) But her Flemish followers could not reconcile themselves to the reserve and burdensome ceremonial of the Castilian court, so different from the free and jocund life to which they had been accustomed at home; and they prevailed on their mistress to return to her native land in the course of the year 1499. She was subsequently married to the duke of Savoy, who died without issue in less than three years, and Margaret passed the remainder of her life in widowhood, being appointed by her father, the emperor, to the government of the Netherlands, which she administered with ability. She died in 1530.
[29] Marina has transcribed from the archives of Toledo the writ of summons to that city on this occasion. Teoría, tom. ii. p. 16.—Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, tom. v. lib. 3, cap. 18.—Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 154.—La Clède, Hist. de Portugal, tom. iv. p. 101.— Carbajal, Anales. MS., año 1498.—Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, tom. ii. pp. 500, 501.