Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. I.djvu/321

VI. CHAPTER VI. INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION OF CASTILE. 1475—1482. Schemes of Reform. — Holy Brotherhood. — Tumult at Segovia.— The Queen's Presence of Mind. — Severe Execution of Justice. — Royal Progress through Andalusia. — Reorganization of the Tribu- nals. — Castilian Jurisprudence. — Plans for reducing the Nobles. — Revocation of Grants. — Military Orders of Castile. — Masterships annexed to the Crown. — Ecclesiastical Usurpations resisted. — Res- toration of Trade. — Prosperity of the Kingdom. I HAVE deferred to the present chapter a consid- ciiapteu eration of the important changes introduced into the interior administration of Castile, after the ac- cession of Isabella, in order to present a connected and comprehensive view of them to the reader, without interrupting the progress of the military ncirrative. The subject may afford an agreeable re- lief to the dreary details of blood and battle, with which we have been so long occupied, and which were rapidly converting the garden of Europe into a wilderness. Such details indeed seem to have the deepest interest for contemporary writers; but the eye of posterity, unclouded by personal interest or passion, turns with satisfaction from them to those cultivated arts, which can make the wilder- ness to blossom as the rose. " VOL. I. 23