The last writer expatiates with great satisfaction on the stately etiquette observed at the reception of the Portuguese monarchs and their suite by the Spanish sovereigns. "Queen Isabella," he says, "appeared leaning on the arm of her old favorite Gutierre de Cardenas, comendador of Leon, and of a Portuguese noble, Don Juan de Sousa. The latter took care to acquaint her with the rank and condition of each of his countrymen, as they were presented, in order that she might the better adjust the measure of condescension and courtesy due to each; a perilous obligation," he continues, "with all nations, but with the Portuguese most perilous!"
[30] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 194.—Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. fol. 334.—Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. lib. 27, cap. 3.
[31] Blancas, Commentarii, p. 273.—Idem, Coronaciones, lib. 1, cap. 18.— Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. lib. 27, cap. 3.—Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, tom. v. fol. 55, 56.
It is remarkable that the Aragonese should so readily have acquiesced in the right of females to convey a title to the crown which they could not enjoy themselves. This was precisely the principle on which Edward III. set up his claim to the throne of France, a principle too repugnant to the commonest rules of inheritance to obtain any countenance. The exclusion of females in Aragon could not pretend to be founded on any express law, as in France, but the practice, with the exception of a single example three centuries old, was quite as uniform.
[32] Blancas, Coronaciones, lib. 3, cap. 18.—Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, tom. v. lib. 3, cap. 30.
It is a proof of the high esteem in which Isabella held this independent statesman, that we find his name mentioned in her testament among half a dozen others, whom she particularly recommended to her successors for their meritorious and loyal services. See the document in Dormer, Discursos Varios, p. 354.
[33] Carbajal, Anales, MS., años 1470, 1498.—Florez, Reynas Cathólicas, tom. ii. pp. 846, 847.—Faria y Sousa, Europa Portuguesa, tom. ii. p. 504.
[34] Blancas, Commentarii, pp. 510, 511.—Idem, Coronaciones, lib. 3, cap. 19.—Gerónimo Martel, Forma de Celebrar Cortes en Aragon, (Zaragoza, 1641,) cap. 44.—Alvaro Gomez, De Rebus Gestis a Francisco Ximenio Cisnerio, (Compluti, 1569,) fol. 28.—Lanuza, Historias, lib. 1, cap. 9.
[35] Blancas, Coronaciones, ubi supra.—Idem, Commentarii, pp. 510, 511.
The reverence of the Aragonese for their institutions is shown in their observance of the most insignificant ceremonies. A remarkable instance of this occurred in the year 1481, at Saragossa, when, the queen having been constituted lieutenant general of the kingdom, and duly qualified to hold a cortes in the absence of the king her husband, who, by the ancient laws of the land, was required to preside over it in person, it was deemed necessary to obtain a formal act of the legislature, for opening the door for her admission. See Blancas, Modo de Proceder en Cortes de Aragon, (Zaragoza, 1641,) fol. 82, 83.