a, with a wisdom
beyond her years, resolutely refused to take the throne. Her reasons
baffled her advisers: "So long as King Henry lives none other has the
right to wear the crown." She advised his reinstatement and promised to
help redress the wrongs of which the nation had the unquestioned right
to complain. An amnesty was declared and a reconciliation was effected;
but not until Henry had consented to divorce his queen and to
acknowledge Isabella as the heir-apparent to the throne in place of his
reputed daughter, Joanna. The cortes, or parliament, was assembled to
ratify the treaty, and at the same time, passed a resolution that the
infanta was not to be coerced in her matrimonial alliance. In 1468,
with great pomp and ceremony, Isabella was solemnly proclaimed Princess
of Asturias, heir-apparent to the throne of Castile and Leon. She is
described as of medium height, of fair complexion, regular features,
auburn hair, clear blue eyes, and with a sweet but serious expression
that told both sides of her character. She inherited from her father a
desire for knowledge and a love of literature, and was herself a fine
linguist. These graces of mind and person, added to her nearness to the
throne, soon brought many ardent suppliants from the principal thrones
of Europe for the honor of her hand. Her cousin, Prince Ferdinand of
Aragon, was her wise choice, and to him she was married, notwithstanding
her brother's opposition, in 1469. The brilliant wedding at Valladolid,
in the presence of the nobility and about two thousand persons, closes
the second period of her life. Five years intervened before the Princess
of Asturias became Queen of Leon and Castile. Stormy years, for the
angry brother instituted a fresh rebellion against her succession, and
Isabella was again the peace-maker; years of poverty, also, for the
heirs-apparent of Castile and Aragon had scarcely a competency for their
daily needs. Isabella was residing in Segovia at the time of her
brother's death; hence, in Segovia, with more than the usual solemnities
which accompany the accession of a new sovereign even in Spain, she took
the vows and was crowned Queen of Castile and Leon in 1474. During the
first four years and a half of her reign civil war desolated her
kingdom, for Joanna, the reputed daughter of Henry IV., again contested
her right to the crown, supported by the King of Portugal, to whom she
was affianced. But the same people who had said "Isabella sh