Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. III.djvu/516

488 FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. rART II. Chivalrous spirit of tlie people. first class only, but to the first place, in the scale of European powers. The extraordinary circumstances of the country tended naturally to nourish the lofty, romantic qual- ities, and the somewhat exaggerated tone of senti- ment, which always pervaded the national character. The age of chivalry had not faded away in Spain, as in most other lands. '^^ It was fostered, in time of peace, by the tourneys, jousts, and other warlike pageants, which graced the court of Isabella. ^^ It gleamed out, as we have seen, in the Italian cam- paigns under Gonsalvo de Cordova, and shone forth in all its splendors in the war of Granada. " This was a right gentle war," says Navagiero, in a pas- sage too pertinent to be omitted, " in which, as fire- arms were comparatively little used, each knight had the opportunity of showing his personal prow- ess ; and rare was it, that a day passed without some feat of arms and valorous exploit. The nobility and chivalry of the land all thronged there to gather renown. Queen Isabel, who attended l'*6 Old Caxton mourns over the little honor paid to the usages of chivalry in his time ; and it is snffi- cient evidence of its decay in Eng- land, that Richard III. thought it necessary to issue an ordinance, requiring those possessed of the requisite .£40 a year, to receive knighthood. (Turner, History of England, vol. iii. pp. 391, 392.) The use of artillery was fatal to chivalry ; a consequence well un- derstood, even at the early period of our History. At least, so we may infer from the verses of Ari- osto, where Orlando throws Cimos- co's gun into the sea. "Lo tolse e disse: Accio piii non istea Mai cavalier per te d'essere ardito ; Ne quanto il biiono val, mai piii si vanti II rio per te valer, <]iii glii rimnnti." Orlando Furioso, canto 9, st. 90. l'*7 " Quien podra contar," ex- claims the old Curate of Los Pala- cios, " la grandeza, el concierto de su corte, la cavalleria de los Nohles de toda Espafia, Duques, Maestres, Marqueses 6 Ricos homes ; los Ga- lanes, las Damas, las Fiestas, los Torneos, la Moltitud de Poetas ^ trovadores," &c. Reyes Cat61i cos, MS., cap. 201.