History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, the Catholic, vol 2 | Page 6

348.
[2] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 66.--A pertinent example of this
occurred, December, 1485, at Alcalá de Henares, where the court was
detained during the queen's illness, who there gave birth to her
youngest child, Doña Catalina, afterwards so celebrated in English
history as Catharine of Aragon. A collision took place in this city
between the royal judges and those of the archbishop of Toledo, to
whose diocese it belonged. The later stoutly maintained the pretensions
of the church. The queen with equal pertinacity asserted the supremacy
of the royal jurisdiction over every other in the kingdom, secular or
ecclesiastical. The affair was ultimately referred to the arbitration of
certain learned men, named conjointly by the adverse parties. It was not
then determined, however, and Pulgar has neglected to acquaint us with
the award. Reyes Católicos, cap. 53.--Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1485.
[3] Aleson, Annales de Navarra, tom. v. lib. 35, cap. 2.
[4] Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. cap. 52, 67.--Mariana, Hist. de España, lib.
25, cap. 8.

[5] Llorente, Hist. de l'Inquisition, tom. i. chap. 6, art. 2.--Zurita,
Anales, lib. 20, cap. 65.
At this cortes, convened at Taraçona, Ferdinand and Isabella
experienced an instance of the haughty spirit of their Catalan subjects,
who refused to attend, alleging it to be a violation of their liberties to be
summoned to a place without the limits of their principality. The
Valencians also protested, that their attendance should not operate as a
precedent to their prejudice. It was usual to convene a central or general
cortes at Fraga, or Monzon, or some town, which the Catalans, who
were peculiarly jealous of their privileges, claimed to be within their
territory. It was still more usual, to hold separate cortes of the three
kingdoms simultaneously in such contiguous places in each, as would
permit the royal presence in all during their session. See Blancas, Mode
de Proceder en Cortes de Aragon, (Zaragoza, 1641,) cap. 4.
[6] By one of the articles in the Privilegium Generale, the Magna
Charta of Aragon, it is declared, "Que turment: ni inquisicion; no sian
en Aragon como sian contra Fuero el qual dize que alguna pesquisa no
hauemos: et contra el privilegio general, el qual vieda que inquisicion
so sia feyta." (Fueros y Observancias, fol. 11.) The tenor of this clause
(although the term inquisicion must not be confounded with the name
of the modern institution) was sufficiently precise, one might have
thought, to secure the Aragonese from the fangs of this terrible tribunal.
[7] Llorente, Hist. de l'Inquisition, chap. 6, art. 2, 3.
[8] Llorente, ubi supra.--Paramo, De Origine Inquisitionis, pp. 182, 183.
--Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, tom. viii. pp. 37, 38.
[9] Llorente, Hist. de l'Inquisition, tom. i. chap. 6, art. 5.--Blancas,
Aragonensium Rerum Commentarii, (Caesaraugustae, 1588,) p. 266.
Among those, who after a tedious imprisonment were condemned to do
penance in an auto da fe, was a nephew of King Ferdinand, Don James
of Navarre. Mariana, willing to point the tale with a suitable moral,
informs us, that, although none of the conspirators were ever brought to
trial, they all perished miserably within a year, in different ways, by the
judgment of God. (Hist. de España, tom. ii. p. 368.) Unfortunately for
the effect of this moral, Llorente, who consulted the original processes,
must be received as the better authority of the two.
[10] According to Paramo, when the corpse of the inquisitor was
brought to the place where he had been assassinated, the blood, which

had been coagulated on the pavement, smoked up and boiled with most
miraculous fervor! De Origine Inquisitionis, p. 382.
[11] Paramo, De Origine Inquisitionis, p. 183.--Llorente, Hist. de
l'Inquisition, chap. 6, art. 4. France and Italy also, according to Llorente,
could each boast a saint inquisitor. Their renown, however, has been,
eclipsed by the superior splendors of their great master, St. Dominic;
--"Fils inconnus d'un si glorieux père."

CHAPTER XIII
.
WAR OF GRANADA.--SURRENDER OF VELEZ
MALAGA.--SIEGE AND CONQUEST OF MALAGA.
1487.
Narrow Escape of Ferdinand before Velez.--Malaga invested by Sea
and Land.--Brilliant Spectacle.--The Queen visits the Camp.--Attempt
to Assassinate the Sovereigns.--Distress and Resolution of the
Besieged.-- Enthusiasm of the Christians.--Outworks Carried by
them.--Proposals for Surrender.--Haughty Demeanor of
Ferdinand.--Malaga Surrenders at Discretion.--Cruel Policy of the
Victors.
Before commencing operations against Malaga, it was thought
expedient by the Spanish council of war to obtain possession of Velez
Malaga, situated about five leagues distant from the former. This strong
town stood along the southern extremity of a range of mountains that
extend to Granada. Its position afforded an easy communication with
that capital, and obvious means of annoyance to an enemy interposed
between itself and the adjacent city of Malaga. The reduction of this
place, therefore, became the first object of the campaign.
The forces assembled at Cordova, consisting of the levies of