Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. III.djvu/304

278 FERDINAND'S RETURN AND REGENCY. I'ART dor and renown for nearly four years. The Neapo- n. Grief of the Neapolitans, terview of Ferdinand and Louis. litans in a body followed him to the vessel ; and nobles, cavaliers, and even ladies of the highest rank lingered on the shore to bid him a last adieu. Not a dry eye, says the historian, was to be seen. So completely had he dazzled their imaginations, and captivated their hearts, by his brilliant and popular manners, his munificent spirit, and the equity of his administration, — qualities more use- ful, and probably more rare in those turbulent times, than military talent. He was succeeded in the office of grand constable of the kingdom by Pros- pero Colonna, and in that of viceroy by the count of Ribagorza, Ferdinand's nephew.'^ iiriiiiant in- Ou thc 28th of Juue, the royal fleet of Aragon entered the little port of Savona, where the king of France had already been waiting for it several days. The French navy was ordered out to receive the Catholic monarch, and the vessels on either side, gayly decorated with the national flags and ensigns, rivalled each other in the beauty and magnificence of their equipments. King Ferdinand's galleys were spread with rich carpets and awnings of yel- low and scarlet, and every sailor in the fleet exhibit- ed the same gaudy-colored livery of the royal house of Aragon. Louis the Twelfth came to welcome his illustrious guests, attended by a gallant train of i-t Giovio, Vitfc lUust. Virorum, poli, torn. iv. lib. 6, cap. 5. — pp. 280, 281. — Garibay, Compen- Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. iv. p. 72 dio, torn. ii. lib. 20, cap. 9. — — Chronica del Gran Capitan, lib. Giannone, Istoria di Napoii, lib. 30, 3, cap. 4. cap. 1. — Summonte, Hist, di Na-