Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/798

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784: PADUA cia, and Avila; and at a meeting in the last named city a solemn league was formed, and its interests were committed to a junta de las comunidades composed of deputies from all the towns. In a short time the rebellion spread all over the kingdom. Padilla, who had driven a body of royalist troops from before the gates of Segovia, marched to Tordesillas, where the queen mother Joanna resided, and placed her at the head of the government. The junta now removed to Tordesillas, seized the members of the council at Valladolid, took possession of the public archives, seals, and treasury books, deposed the regent (Cardinal Adrian of Utrecht, afterward Pope Adrian VI.), and sent a re- monstrance to Charles, which proposed a thor- ough reform of the political constitution of the state. These measures alienated the nobility, who succeeded in depriving Padilla of the mil- itary command and conferring it upon Don Pedro de Giron, whose incapacity led to the capture of Tor- desillas by the royal- ists, the seizure of the queen's person, and the recovery of the public seal. Padi- lla, again taking the command, made him- self master of several small towns, and car- ried Torrelobaton by storm after a desper- ate siege. The jun- ta, however, consent- ed to a truce, du- ring which the un- disciplined popular army rapidly dwin- dled away, while the royalists under the conde de Haro pre- pared for battle, and as soon as the truce expired advanced up- on Torrelobaton. Padilla was overtaken at Villalar, April 23, 1521, defeated, and made prisoner, and on the next day was executed with his two principal officers without any form of trial. His wife, MAKIA PAOHECO, be- longed to one of the most illustrious families of Spain, and was an ardent supporter of her husband. When he was in great strait for money after the defeat of Giron, she seized the ornaments in the cathedral of Toledo. Af- ter her husband's death she placed herself at the head of the popular party, and invited the French, who had just invaded Navarre, to ad- vance into Castile. The French were defeat- ed, the insurrection was subdued, and after the fall of Toledo she escaped into Portugal where she passed the rest of her life. e PADUA (It. Padova). I. A province of Italy, m Venetia, bordering on Vicenza, Treviso, Venice, Eovigo, and Verona; area, 755 sq. m. ; pop. in 1872, 364,430. The surface gen- erally is level, but in the southwest are the volcanic Euganean hills, near which are nu- merous mineral springs. The principal rivers are the Adige, which forms the S. boundary, the Brenta, the Musone, and the Bacchiglione. The soil is fertile, and wheat, maize, rice, hemp, flax, grass, and the grape are carefully culti- vated. Cattle, sheep, and poultry are reared ; oil, silk, and wool of a superior quality are produced. The province is traversed by a number of irrigating and navigable canals. It is divided into the districts of Padua, Cam- posanpiero, Piove, Cittadella, Monselice, Este, Montagnana, and Conselve. II. A city (anc. Patavium), capital of the province, on the Bacchiglione, 20 m. W. of Venice, with which it is connected by railway; pop. in 1872, 66,- Town Hall, Padua. 107. It is traversed by several canals, which give it communication with the lagoons and with other places. It is sometimes called Pa- dova la Forte, and in ancient times it deserved that appellation, but its defences are now dilap- idated. The old wall is triangular, about 6 m. in circuit. The city is irregularly built. The narrow streets are lined by arcades, with here and there irregular open spaces, and in the outskirts broad squares. The houses are for the most part well built, and many of the pub- lic edifices are fine specimens of architecture. The municipal palace, built between 1172 and 1219, stands entirely upon open arches sur- rounded by a loggia, and is covered by a vast roof unsupported by pillars and rising about half as high again as the walls. The great hall is about 240 ft. long, 80 ft. wide, and 70 ft. high. It is closely covered with curious allegorical