Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. I.djvu/539

MILITARY POLICY OF THE SOVEREIGNS. 393 besought him to keep the field as long as the season chapter should serve. The grandees, says Lebrija, morti- '. fied at being surpassed in zeal for the holy war by a woman, eagerly collected their forces, which had been partly disbanded, and returned across the borders to renew hostilities. ^^ A circumstance, which had frequentlv frustrated P°^y '"- ' 1 •/ wards the the most magnificent military enterprises under "°'^ former reigns, was the factions of these potent vassals, who, independent of each other, and al- most of the crown, could rarely be brought to act in efficient concert for a length of time, and broke up the camp on the slightest personal jealousy. Ferdinand experienced something of this temper in the duke of Medina Celi, who, when he had received orders to detach a corps of his troops to the support of the count of Benavente, refused, replying to the messenger, " Tell your master, that I came here to serve him at the head of my house- hold troops, and they go nowhere without me as their leader." The sovereigns managed this fiery spirit with the greatest address, and, instead of curbing it, endeavoured to direct it in the path of honorable emulation. The queen, who as their hereditary sovereign received a more deferential homage from her Castilian subjects than Ferdinand, frequently wrote to her nobles in the camp, com- plimenting some on their achievements, and others less fortunate on their intentions, thus cheering the hearts of all, says the chronicler, and stimulating 23 Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decades, ii. lib. 3, cap. 6. — Pulgar, Reyes Catolicos, cap. 31. VOL. I. 50