supposed to be the real father of Joanna, submitted to Isabella. Peace
thus dawned for Castile; but it was not till three years afterwards,
when Ferdinand had triumphed over the enemies of Arragon, and
succeeded his father as Sovereign of that kingdom, that any vigorous
measures could be taken for the restoration of internal order.

The petty Sovereignties of the Peninsular, with the sole exception of
the mountainous district of Navarre, and the Moorish territories in
the south, were now all united; and it was the sagacious ambition of
Ferdinand and Isabella to render Spain as important in the scale of
kingdoms as any other European territory; and to do this, they knew,
demanded as firm a control over their own subjects, as the subjection
of still harassing foes.

Above a century had elapsed since Spain had been exposed to the sway
of weak or evil kings, and all the consequent miseries of misrule and
war. Rapine, outrage, and murder had become so frequent and unchecked,
as frequently to interrupt commerce, by preventing all communication
between one place and another. The people acknowledged no law but
their own passions. The nobles were so engrossed with hatred of each
other, and universal contempt of their late sovereign, with personal
ambition and general discontent, that they had little time or leisure
to attend to any but their own interest. But a very brief interval
convinced both nobles and people that a new era was dawning for them.
In the short period of eighteen months, the wise administration of
Isabella and Ferdinand, had effected a sufficient change to startle
all ranks into the conviction that their best interests lay in prompt
obedience, and in exerting themselves in their several spheres, to
second the sovereign's will. The chivalric qualities of Ferdinand, his
undoubted wisdom and unwavering firmness, excited both love and fear;