e king; so long that
before he had obtained a capitulation with the king for his
brother the enterprise was achieved, and so the West Indies by
Providence were then reserved for the crown of Castilia."
_Historie of the Raygne of K. Henry the Seventh_, Bacon's
_Works_, Boston, 1860, vol. xi. p. 296. Lord Bacon may have
taken the statement from Ferdinand's biography; but it probably
agreed with English traditions, and ought not to be slighted in
this connection.]

[Footnote 497: One of the sisters of Charles VIII. See
Harrisse, tom. ii. p. 194.]

[Sidenote: The Duke of Medina-Celi proposes to furnish the ships for
Columbus,]

[Sidenote: but Isabella withholds her consent.]

[Sidenote: Columbus makes up his mind to get his family together and go
to France, Oct., 1491.]

As for Christopher Columbus, we find him back in Spain again, in May,
1489, attending court at Cordova. In the following autumn there was much
suffering in Spain from floods and famine,[498] and the sovereigns were
too busy with the Moorish war to give ear to Columbus. It was no time
for new undertakings, and the weary suitor began to think seriously of
going in person to the French court. First, however, he thought it worth
while to make an attempt to get private capital enlisted in his
enterprise, and in the Spain of that day such private capital meant a
largess from some wealthy grandee. Accordingly about Christmas of 1489,
after the Beza campaign in which Columbus is said to have fought with
distinguished valour,[499] he seems to have applied to the most powerful
nobleman in Spain, the Duke of Medina-Sidonia, but without success. But
at the hands of Luis de la Cerda, Duke of Medina-Celi, he met with more
encouragement than he had as yet found in any quarter. That nobleman
entertained Columbus most hospitably at his castle at Puerto de Santa
Maria for nearly two years, until the autumn of 1491. He became
convinced that the scheme of Columbus was feasible, and decided to fit
up two or three caravels at his own expense, if necessary, but first he
thought it proper to ask the queen's consent, and to offer her another
chance to take part in the enterprise.[500] Isabella was probably
unwilling to have the duke come in for a large share of the profits in
case the venture should prove successful. She refused the royal license,
saying that she had not quite made up he