I must leave thee), became a popular melody in the Lutheran church as early as 1540. When the Emperor Maximilian I. ascended the throne in 1493, he was appointed his chapel-master, in which situation he probably died; but the exact period is not known.—E. F. R.
ISABELLA I. of Castile, surnamed the Catholic, daughter of John II. of Castile by his second wife, Isabella of Portugal, was born on the 22nd April, 1451, at Madrigal. The death of John in 1454, leaving the kingdom in a fearful state of distraction, transferred the crown to his weak and worthless son, Henry IV. Isabella was educated by her mother at Arevalo in the strictest seclusion. Her first suitor was that Ferdinand, then nine years old, who afterwards became her husband; but she was successively betrothed to his brother Carlos, to Alfonso of Portugal, and to the master of Calatrava. She only escaped marriage with the latter by his sudden death, just as preparations for the nuptials had been commenced. Other aspirants to her hand were a brother of Edward IV. of England, and the duke of Guienne. But Isabella, setting at nought the intrigues which surrounded her, made a choice which the personal qualities of her cousin Ferdinand (son of John II. of Arragon) abundantly justified. Ferdinand entered the kingdom of Leon in disguise, made his way to Valladolid, and the nuptials were celebrated, 19th October, 1469; neither the bride nor the bridegroom being at this time possessed of sufficient means to defray the expenses of the ceremony. No submission could mollify the anger of Henry IV. at this marriage, and from henceforth the kingdom was distracted by the rival claims to the succession of Isabella, and of Joanna the reputed daughter of Henry. Isabella had, with her usual discretion, stood aloof from all the intrigues which were on foot to dethrone Henry in favour of her elder brother Alfonso; but the latter died before her marriage, and an apparent reconciliation took place between the brother and sister in 1473. The death of Henry, 11th December, 1474, opened the succession to Isabella, whose right was founded not only on the reputed illegitimacy of Joanna, but on the decision of the cortes, twice solemnly recorded. Isabella caused herself and her husband to be proclaimed immediately on Henry's death, although the participation of Ferdinand in the government was so strictly limited as to occasion him great offence. Alfonso of Portugal espoused the rival claim of Joanna; but the contest, after enduring for four years and a half, ended in the complete establishment of Isabella's authority. On the 20th January, 1479, Ferdinand inherited the crown of Arragon by the death of his father, and thus the two most powerful monarchies of the peninsula were incorporated. Isabella showed herself worthy the name of queen by her prompt efforts to secure the administration of justice. Sincerely pious as she had been from girlhood, she never suffered the sacerdotal office to be a pretext for idleness, still less a cover for crime; and, with the aid of Cardinal Ximenez, the discipline of the priesthood was greatly improved. The Santa Hermandad or holy brotherhood, a species of rural police, was admirably adapted to hold in check the insolence of the nobility, and the subordination of the great military orders had an important effect in strengthening the power of the crown. Throughout her reign the utmost care seems to have been taken to give prominence to merit, to relieve the people as far as possible from taxation, and to develope the trade of the country. The wars of Granada, ending in the total subjugation of the Moors, belong rather to the life of Ferdinand; but it was Isabella who continually assisted her husband with supplies drawn from her private revenues, who raised new levies, inspired the troops with new valour by her personal presence, and crowned the triumph of the Spanish arms by her solicitude that mercy should be shown to the vanquished. It was Isabella who first entertained the lofty schemes of Columbus, who supported him when overwhelmed by the intrigues of base-minded men, and who, while she lived, resolutely enforced the duty of treating the new subjects of her crown with humanity and justice, as well as of using every effort for their conversion to the christian faith. The establishment of the inquisition is the great blot on her reign, and it is no sufficient excuse, in one gifted with such keen insight into character, that she was guided herein by her confessor Torquemada. We can only say that, while not more enlightened than her age, she was at least sincere in the desire, which others perhaps falsely professed, to promote the cause of religion. The same must be said of the cruel expulsion of the Jews, of whom an immense number were compelled to leave the kingdom amidst the severest privations. Isabella's last years were beclouded with sorrow. Her eldest daughter Isabella—married first to Alonzo, the heir to the crown of Portugal, and afterwards to Emmanuel, king of the same country—died in child-birth in 1498. Her son Juan, prince of Asturias, married to Margaret, daughter of the Emperor Maximilian, also died suddenly in 1497; and her daughter Joanna (married to the Archduke Philip, and the mother of the future Charles V.) displayed symptoms of insanity which boded ill for the future peace of the kingdom. Isabella herself, her constitution prematurely worn out by grief and fatigue, expired on the 26th of November, 1504. Her will, executed shortly before her death, bequeathes the crown to her daughter Joanna and her husband Philip, with many sage counsels; and her jewels, with a handsome revenue, to Ferdinand. In a codicil she embodies many wise proposals for the codification of the laws, the administration of Indian affairs, and the management of the crown revenues. Besides the children above named, Isabella had a daughter Maria, who after her sister's death became the second wife of the king of Portugal, and another daughter Catherine, known in English history as the ill-fated wife of Henry VIII.—F. M. W.
ISABELLA of France, wife of Edward II. of England, and daughter of Philip the Fair, king of France, and of Jeanne of Navarre, was born at Paris in 1290. In 1298, when Philip the Fair and Edward I. disputed the possession of Guienne, an appeal was made to Pope Boniface VIII. as mediator; and the pontiff, while awarding to Edward the province of Guienne which had been confiscated by Philip, stipulated that the prince of Wales should espouse the young Isabella, In 1302 the parties were affianced, with the understanding that Guienne was carried in dowry by the princess, and received in appanage by the prince. The marriage took place at Boulogne in 1309; and amid the brilliant ceremonies it was the unanimous voice that Isabella was the "handsomest woman in Europe." The royal pair proceeded to London to be crowned, but unfortunately were not crowned with happiness. Proud and licentious, the queen placed her affections on Roger Mortimer, and sacrificed not only the honour of her lord but the interests of the kingdom to her illicit passion. Edward perished in Berkeley castle, and the queen, as regent, became so regardless of even ordinary propriety, that her son, Edward III., took upon himself the charge of retribution. Mortimer was executed, and Isabella was shut up in the castle of Rising, where she had twenty-seven long years to repent her crimes. She died in 1357.—P. E. D.
* ISABELLA II. (Maria Louisa de Bourbon), ex-Queen of Spain, born 10th October, 1830, daughter of Ferdinand VII. by his fourth wife, Maria Christina of Naples, was heir-apparent to the throne, in virtue of the pragmatic sanction settled by Ferdinand, 29th March, 1830, repealing the old Salic law, and thus excluding his brother Carlos. The infancy of this unhappy princess was surrounded by deadly intrigues. Her own mother lent herself to an attempt to deprive her of the succession; and, during an illness which nearly proved fatal to him in 1832, Ferdinand was induced to sign an instrument drawn by Calomarde, recognizing the succession of Don Carlos. On his unexpected recovery, however (5th November, 1832), this act was cancelled, and Don Carlos was banished to Portugal. Ferdinand died, 29th September, 1833, and by his will appointed the queen-mother regent during the minority of his daughter. The pretensions of Don Carlos involved the country in the horrors of civil war from 1834 to 1839. Before tranquillity was restored, the insurrection of Barcelona in 1840 led to the deposition of the queen-regent, and the accession of Espartero to the supreme power. Soon after the fall of Espartero (May, 1843), Isabella, scarcely thirteen years old, was declared by the cortes of age, in order to avoid the evils of a protracted minority. The queen-mother—now duchess of Rienzares—returned to Spain, and exercised a predominating influence over the child-sovereign. The influence which during her exile Louis Philippe had gained over her, may account for the ascendancy of French counsels at this period. Among the suitors for the young queen's hand were the count of Trapani, brother of the king of Naples, the count de Montemolin, son of Don Carlos; Prince Leopold of Coburg; and the Infante Francisco de Assis, son of the late king's brother. To the last-named prince she was married, 10th October, 1846, her younger sister, then aged fourteen years, being united on the same day to
