"As to the friars," observes the secretary,
Gaztelu, in the same amiable mood, "please God that his majesty may be
able to tolerate them,--which will be no easy matter; for they are an
importunate race."[291] It is evident that Charles's followers would
have been very willing to exchange the mortifications of the monastic
life for the good cheer and gaiety of Brussels.

The worthy prior of the convent, in addressing Charles, greeted him with
the title of _paternidad_, till one of the fraternity suggested to him
the propriety of substituting that of _magestad_.[292] Indeed, to this
title Charles had good right, for he was still emperor. His resignation
of the imperial crown, which, as we have seen, so soon followed that of
the Spanish, had not taken effect, in consequence of the diet not being
in session at the time when his envoy, the prince of Orange, was to have
presented himself at Ratisbon, in the spring of 1557. The war with
France made Philip desirous that his father should remain lord of
Germany for some time longer. It was not, therefore, until more than a
year after Charles's arrival at Yuste, that the resignation was accepted
by the diet, at Frankfort, on the twenty-eighth of February, 1558.
Charles was still emperor, and continued to receive the imperial title
in all his correspondence.[293]

We have pretty full accounts of the manner in which the monarch employed
his time. He attended mass every morning in the chapel, when his health
permitted. Mass was followed by dinner, which he took early and alone,
preferring this to occupying a seat in the refectory of the convent. He
was fond of carving for himself, though his gouty fingers were not
always in the best condition for this exercise.[294] His physician was
usually in attendance during the repast, and might, at least, observe
how little his patient, who had not the virtue of abstinence, regarded
his prescriptions. The Fleming, Van Male, the emperor's favorite
gentleman of the chamber, was also not unfrequently present. He was a
good scholar; and his discussions with the doctor served to beguile the
tediousness of their master's solitary meal. The conversation frequently
turned on some subject of natural history, of which the emperor was
fond; and when the parties could not agree, the confessor, a man of
learning, was called in to settle the dispute.

After dinner,--an important meal, which occupied much time with
Charles,--he listened to some passages f