Part 42

“When these same women came to Leuconia with their husbands, fathers and brothers (who were going into exile), they performed a deed no less glorious than this: the Erythræans, who were there with their allies, waged war upon these Chiotes, who were unable to resist, and so bound themselves to quit the city in tunic and shift only. Hearing of this shameful bargain, the women bewailed and upbraided the men for abandoning their weapons and going forth almost naked among the enemy; and the men answering that they were already bound, the women told them to wear their shields and spears and leave their clothes behind, and to tell the enemy that this was their attire. And thus, acting upon the advice of their women, they in great part atoned for the shame that they could not wholly escape.

“Again, Cyrus having routed an army of Persians in battle, in fleeing to their city they met their women outside the gate, who, stopping in the way, said: ‘Whither do ye flee, base men? Would ye perchance hide yourselves in us, from whence ye came?’ On hearing these and other like words, and being sensible how inferior they were in courage to their women, the men were ashamed, and returning against the enemy, fought with him anew and routed him.”

33.—Having thus far spoken, the Magnifico stopped, and turning to my lady Duchess, said:

“Now, my Lady, you will give me leave to be silent.”

My lord Gaspar replied:

“You will forsooth have to be silent, for you do not know what more to say.”

The Magnifico said, laughing:

“You provoke me so, that you run risk of having to listen to women’s praises all night; and to hear of many Spartan women who rejoiced in the glorious death of their children; and of those who disowned or even slew theirs when seen to behave basely. Then how in the ruin of their country the Saguntine women took up arms against the forces of Hannibal; and how, when Marius overcame the army of the Germans, the women, being unable to get leave to live free at Rome in the service of the Vestal Virgins, all killed themselves and their little children; and of a thousand others whereof all the ancient histories are full.”

Then my lord Gaspar said:

“Ah, my lord Magnifico, but God knows how those things happened; for that age is so remote from us that many lies can be told and there is none to refute them.”

34.—The Magnifico said:

“If in every age you will compare women’s worth with that of men, you will find that they have never been and are not now at all inferior to men in worth; for leaving aside the times that are so ancient, if you come to the time when the Goths ruled in Italy, you will find that there was a queen among them, Amalasontha, who long reigned with admirable wisdom; then Theodolinda, queen of the Lombards, of singular worth; Theodora, the Greek empress; and in Italy among many others the Countess Matilda was a most illustrious lady, of whose praises I will leave Count Ludovico to speak, since she was of his family.”

“Nay,” said the Count, “that rests with you, for you know it does not become a man to praise what is his own.”

The Magnifico continued:

“And how many women in times past do you find belonging to this most noble house of Montefeltro! How many of the house of Gonzaga, of Este, of Pio! Then, if we wish to speak of the present times, we shall have no need to seek very far for instances, because we have them at home. But I shall not avail myself of those we see before us, lest you pretend to grant me out of courtesy that which you can in no wise deny. And to go outside of Italy, remember that we in our day have seen Queen Anne of France, a very great lady not less in worth than in state; and if you will compare her in justice and clemency, liberality and pureness of life, with Kings Charles and Louis (to both of whom she was consort), you will not find her at all their inferior. You see madonna Margarita (daughter of the Emperor Maximilian) who has until now governed and still governs her state with the utmost wisdom and justice.

35.—“But laying all others aside, tell me, my lord Gaspar, what king or what prince has there been in our days, or even for many years past in Christendom, who deserves to be compared with Queen Isabella of Spain?”

My lord Gaspar replied:

“King Ferdinand, her husband.”

The Magnifico continued:

“That I shall not deny; for since the queen judged him worthy to be her husband, and so loved and honoured him, we cannot say that he did not deserve to be compared with her: yet I believe that the fame he had by her was a dowry not inferior to the kingdom of Castile.”

ISABELLA THE CATHOLIC 1451-1504 ]

Much enlarged from a part of Laurent’s photograph (no. 533) of an altar-piece, formerly in the royal chapel of the Convent of St. Thomas de Avila, but now in the Prado Gallery at Madrid. It was painted about 1491 by order of the Inquisitor Torquemada, and has been attributed to Miguel Zittoz.

“Nay,” replied my lord Gaspar, “I think that Queen Isabella had credit for many of King Ferdinand’s deeds.”

Then the Magnifico said:

“Unless the people of Spain,—lords, commons, men and women, poor and rich,—have all agreed to lie in praise of her, there has not been in our time on earth a brighter example of true goodness, of lofty spirit, of wisdom, of piety, of purity, of courtesy, of liberality,—in short, of every virtue,—than Queen Isabella; and although the fame of that illustrious lady is very great in every place and among every nation, those who lived in her company and were witness to her actions, do all affirm that this fame sprang from her virtue and merits. And whoever will consider her deeds will easily perceive such to be the truth. For leaving aside countless things that give proof of this and could be told if it were our theme, everyone knows that when she came to reign she found the greater part of Castile usurped by the grandees; yet she recovered the whole so righteously and in such fashion that the very men who were deprived of it, remained very devoted to her and content to give up that which they possessed.

“A very noted thing also is with what courage and wisdom she always defended her realms against very powerful enemies; and likewise to her alone can be given the honour of the glorious conquest of the kingdom of Granada; for in this long and difficult war against obstinate enemies,—who were fighting for property, for life, for religion, and (to their thinking) for God,—she always showed, both in her counsel and in her very person, such virtue that perhaps few princes in our time have had the hardihood, I will not say to imitate, but even to envy her.

“Besides this, all who knew her affirm that she had such a divine manner of ruling that her mere wish seemed enough to make every man do quietly that which he ought to do; so that men hardly dared in their own houses and secretly to do anything they thought would displease her: and in great part the cause of this was the admirable judgment she had in discerning and choosing right agents for the duties she meant to employ them in; and so well did she know how to unite the rigour of justice with the gentleness of mercy and liberality, that in her day there was no good man who complained of being ill rewarded, nor any bad man of being too severely punished. Thus there sprang up among the people an exceeding great reverence for her, composed of love and fear, which still remains so implanted in the minds of all, that they almost seem to think that she looks down upon them from heaven and must bestow praise or blame upon them from above; and thus those realms are still governed by her name and the methods she ordained, so that although her life is at an end, her authority lives,—like a wheel which, long revolved with force, still turns of itself for a good space, although nothing more impels it.

“Consider also, my lord Gaspar, that in our times nearly all the men in Spain who are great or famous for anything whatever, were made so by Queen Isabella; and Consalvo Ferdinando, the Great Captain, was far prouder of this than of all his famous victories, and of those eminent and worthy deeds which have made him so bright and illustrious in peace and war, that if fame is not very thankless, she will always herald his immortal praises to the world, and give proof that we have in our age had few kings or great princes who have not been surpassed by him in magnanimity, wisdom, and in every virtue.