after his arrival at Yuste, the emperor's
health, under the influence of a temperate climate, the quiet of
monastic life, and more than all, probably, his exemption from the cares
of state, had generally improved.[322] His attacks of gout had been less
frequent and less severe than before. But in the spring of 1558, the old
malady returned with renewed violence. "I was not in a condition," he
writes to Philip, "to listen to a single sermon during Lent."[323] For
months he was scarcely able to write a line with his own hand. His
spirits felt the pressure of bodily suffering, and were still further
depressed by the death of his sister Eleanor, the queen-dowager of
France and Portugal, which took place in February, 1558.

A strong attachment seems to have subsisted between the emperor and his
two sisters. Queen Eleanor's sweetness of disposition had particularly
endeared her to her brother, who now felt her loss almost as keenly as
that of one of his own children. "She was a good Christian," he said to
his secretary, Gaztelu; and, as the tears rolled down his cheeks, he
added, "We have always loved each other. She was my elder by fifteen
months; and before that period has passed I shall probably be with
her."[324] Before half that period, the sad augury was fulfilled.

At this period--as we shall see hereafter--the attention of the
government was called to the Lutheran heresy, which had already begun to
disclose itself in various quarters of the country. Charles was
possessed of a full share of the spirit of bigotry which belonged to the
royal line of Castile, from which he was descended. While on the throne,
this feeling was held somewhat in check by a regard for his political
interests. But in the seclusion of the monastery he had no interests to
consult but those of religion; and he gave free scope to the spirit of
intolerance which belonged to his nature. In a letter addressed, the
third of May, 1558, to his daughter Joanna, he says: "Tell the
grand-inquisitor from me to be at his post, and lay the axe at the root
of the evil before it spreads further. I rely on your zeal for bringing
the guilty to punishment, and for having them punished, without favor to
any one, with all the severity which their crimes demand."[325] In
another letter to his daughter, three weeks later, he writes: "If I had
not entire confidence that you would do your duty, and arrest the evil
at once by chastising the guilty in good earnest, I know