ast
days of struggle, the queen appeared on the field daily, superbly
mounted, and dressed in complete armor; and she gave much time to the
inspection of the quarters of the soldiers and reviewed the troops at
her pleasure. One day she said, in talking to some of her officers, that
she would like to go nearer to the city walls for a closer inspection of
the place, whereupon a small escort of chosen men was immediately
detailed to take the queen to a better point for observing the city and
its means of defence. They all advanced boldly, the queen in the front
rank, and so angered the Moors by their insolence, so small was their
party, that the gates of the city suddenly opened and a large body of
citizens came forth to punish them for their temerity. In spite of the
unequal numbers, the Christian knights, inspired by the presence and the
coolness of their queen, who was apparently unmoved by the whole scene,
performed such miracles of valor that two thousand Moors were slain in a
short time and their fellows compelled to retire in confusion.

With the conquest of the Moors, the spreading of the influence of Spain
beyond the seas became a more immediate question. Its solution, however,
was still prevented by the theories of statesmen and theologians.
Columbus had won the queen to his cause during the famous audience at
the summer court at Salamanca, when he was presented to the sovereigns
by Cardinal de Mendoza, at which interview, we are told, he "had no eyes
for any potentate but Isabella." But after years of disappointment to
Columbus, the queen was again the great power to further his project:
she offered to pledge her crown jewels to defray the cost of the
expedition. Thus a speedy issue was obtained, and to Isabella's
determination Spain owes a glory which gilds the reign of this queen
with imperishable lustre.

CHAPTER XVIII

THE WOMEN OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY

The wealth which had come to Spain as the result of her conquests in
Moorish territory, and, far more, the treasure which was beginning to
pour into the country from the new Spanish possessions beyond the seas,
brought to the old peninsula a possibility for lavish and brilliant
display in dress which was by no means disregarded. All Europe, in this
same period of the Renaissance, had been undergoing to a greater or less
degree this social transformation, but the looms of Valencia and Granada
furnished the silks and brocades which other countries