Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. I.djvu/249

MARRIAGE OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. 105 III. faction; and, bidding adieu to her 'dismayed guar- chapter dian, the bishop of Burgos, and his attendants, she was borne off by her little army in a sort of military triumph to the friendly city of Valladolid, where she was welcomed by the citizens with a general burst of enthusiasm. ^^ In the mean time Gutierre de Cardenas, one of the household of the princess," and Alfonso de Palencia, the faithful chronicler of these events, were despatched into Aragon in order to quicken Ferdinand's operations, during the auspicious inter- val afforded by the absence of Henry in Andalusia. On arriving at the frontier town of Osma, they were dismayed to find that the bishop of that place, together with the duke of Medina Celi, on whose active cooperation they had relied for the safe in- troduction of Ferdinand into Castile, had been gained over to the interests of the marquis of Vil- lena.^^ The envoys, however, adroitly concealing the real object of their mission, were permitted to pass unmolested to Saragossa, where Ferdinand was then residing. They could not have arrived at a more inopportune season. The old king of Aragon was in the very heat of the war against the 54 Castillo, Cronica, cap. 136. the world, qualities with which he — Alonso de Palencia, Coronica, united a steady devotion to the in- MS., part. 2, cap. 12. — Carbajal, terests of his mistress. Oviedo, Anales, MS., afio 69. Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 55 This cavalier, who was of an 2, dial. 1. ancient and honorable family in 56 Alonso de Palencia, Coronica, Castile, was introduced to the prin- MS., cap. 14. — The bishop told cess's service by the archbishop of Palencia, that "if his own servants Toledo. He is represented by deserted him, he would oppose the Gonzalo de Oviedo, as a man of entrance of Ferdinand into the much sagacity and knowledge of kingdom." VOL. I. 14