Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

ineffectual, and perceiving that the edict relative to their change of customs would be immediately enforced, resolved to throw off their allegiance, and attempt the recovery of Granada. Their measures were conducted with the most profound secresy; and they had sent repeatedly to Algiers before Philip had any idea of the design. At length one of their deputies was discovered, and his papers gave so clear an account of their preparations, that the marquis de Mondijar found it necessary to repair immediately to Granada, in order to prevent the surprisal of that city. His exertions were attended with success; but a general revolt took place in the adjacent couny, and Ferdinand de Valor, a young man of approved conduct and bravery, was proclaimed king of Granada and Cordova, after vowing to live and die in support of the Mahometan religion. The most outrageous excesses and wanton cruelties were now committed by the exasperated rioters; and a most sanguinary war ensued, which lasted between two and three years, and depopu lated some of the finest countries of Spain. At length, however, the Christians obtainedà decisive victory; and, upon the death of the Moorish prince, the public tranquillity was restored. Shortly after the termination of this war, Don Juan, with a powerful body of auxiliaries, gained a naval victory over the Turks, at Lepanto, by which they lost thirty thousand men, besides ten thousand that were taken prisoners, and fifteen thou sand Christian slaves who were liberated by the conqueror. Thirty of their finest galleys were sunk, twenty-five burnt, and one hundred and thirty taken; and it was merely owing to the precipitate retreat of one of their commanders, VOL. XV.

Bb

that

that the remainder of the fleet escaped destruc tion. Philip celebrated this victory by a feast which continued nine days, and appointed the anniversary of it to be kept for ever in the cathedral of Toledo.

A. D.

1571.

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

Elated with this brilliant success, Don Juan resolved on fresh achievements, and soon made himself master of Tunis: but instead of demolishing the town, according to his brother's orders, he repaired the fortifications, marked out a new citadel, and formed a project of assuming, by the mediation of Rome, the re gal title. He was, however, admonished by Philip to abandon this design; and he had, soon afterward, the mortification to witness the conquest of his intended kingdom by the infidels. After making some unsuccessful attempts to procure the lieutenancy of Italy, he went into the Netherlands, where he died, on the 7th of October 1578, not without suspicion of poison.

Upon the demise of Henry king of Portugal, Don Philip laid claim to the vacant throne, and gave the command of a numerous army to the duke of Alba, who soon effected the reduction of the kingdom, after defeating Don Antonio in two battles. The Spanish monarch made his public entry into Lisbon on the 29th of June, and received the pleasing intelligence that he had been acknowledged and proclaimed in the Indies. However, as he found it utterly impossible to gain the affections or even to silence the murmurs of his new subjects, and as his feelings were sensibly wounded by the loss of a promising son, he appointed the cardinal archduke Albert regent of Portugal, and returned to Ma drid. Nothing of importance took place in the ensuing

ensuing year, except an acknowledgment of the infant Don Philip by the states of Castile, and the conclusion of a marriage between the duke of Savoy and the infanta Catalina.

In consequence of some recent depre- A.D. dations committed in Europe and Ame1588. rica by the English, Philip resolved to take an ample revenge on queen Elizabeth; and, after mature deliberation, ordered the whole maritime force of Spain to be assembled for a descent upon her dominions. The execution of this project was rapidly accelerated by pecuniary supplies, and all possible exertions; and an armament, consisting of one hundred and thirty vessels, with twenty thousand land troops, and eight thousand two hundred and fifty seamen, sailed from Lisbon, on the 27th of May, to dethrone a princess who was universally considered among the catholics as a wicked protectress of heretics. But Divine Providence interfered, at this critical juncture, for the preservation of England and of the true religion. The winds and the waves arose against the presumptuous invaders; the Spanish vessels were scattered, sunk, or dashed upon the rocks; the exertions of their enemies were crowned with brilliant success; and Philip had the mortification to witness not only the frustration of his grand design, but also the annihilation of his naval power. The duke de Medina Sidonia, who had the command of this invincible armada, retired, in the utmost chagrin, to his own house, not chusing to encounter the eyes of his unfortunate master; bút Philip condescended to write him a letter, in which he acknowledged his past services, and réminded him that in things depending upon the elements

Bb 2

elements no fault could be justly imputed to men. In the following year, Philip was alarmed by a descent of an English fleet upon his Portuguese dominions, and, though his enemies did not effect their design, he had the fresh mortification of witnessing the destruction of fort Cascaes, and the capture of several Spanish vessels.

Notwithstanding these repeated misfortunes, and the consequent embarrassment of his domestic affairs, Don Philip devoted a considerable portion of his time to the projection of various schemes for the aggrandisement of his fame, and in particular, regarded the civil war of France as very favorable to his designs: for he seems to have thought that he might easily obtain the protectorship of that distracted kingdom, and, afterward, place his favorite daughter Isabella on the vacant throne; but these expectations were eventually disappointed; his troops and emissaries were effectually repulsed; and Henry IV. whom the Spaniards designated by the epithet, " Prince of Bearn," surrounded with splendor that diadem which he had de, signed for the infanta.

A. D.

1590.

[ocr errors]

About this time Antonio Perez, the king's secretary of state, was put to the torture for being concerned in the murder of one Escovado; and the prosecution was carried on with such vigor that he deemed it advisable to shelter himself under the privileges of his native country Arragon, and accordingly escaped thither with the first opportunity. Being again apprehended, he appealed to the chief justice, and was carried to Saragossa, where he expected to be heard before an equitable tribunal. But as a public trial might probably defeat

the

the designs of his enemies, they contrived to ef 5fect his removal to the prison of the inquisition. This measure, however, produced a revolt, and, after much effusion of blood, Perez obtained his oliberty, and retired into Bearn, where, notwithE standing the circumstances of his exile and ill treatment, he retained his loyalty to his former master. He appears to have owed many of his misfortunes to his affection for Anna de Mendoca y la Cerda, the king's mistress; yet he retained his admiration of that princess in the midst of affliction: and when Henry IV. asked him how he could hazard his life by an attach*ment to a woman who had lost the sight of one eye, he replied with vivacity, "With that eye she sets the world on fire; if she had two-she would reduce it to ashes."

A. D.

1594.

- Shortly after the frustration of hist schemes in France, Don Philip received the unpleasant intelligence that a Turkish fleet had ravaged the coast of Calabria, and that one Gabriel de Spinosa had assumed the character of a prince of Portugal: but, his fears were soon quieted by the apprehension and death of the impostor; and two of his naval.commanders revenged themselves on the infidels by making a well-timed descent on Patrass in -the Morea.

Upon the first intimation that an English ar2 mament had been fitted out for the invasion of his dominions, the king ordered all his officers to prepare for the defence of Lisbon, as he persuaded himself that the enemy would make an a attack upon that city but whilst his fleet was moored at Lisbon, the earl of Essex and lord 3 admiral Howard made themselves masters of Cadiz,

Bb3

« ZurückWeiter »