man of good parts,
correct judgment, and popular manners,--well qualified, notwithstanding
his youth, for the post assigned to him. He was betrothed, as already
mentioned, to the emperor's eldest daughter, his cousin Mary; and the
regency was to be delivered into his hands on the marriage of the
parties.

Philip received his father's commands while presiding at the cortes of
Monzon. He found the Aragonese legislature by no means so tractable as
the Castilian. The deputies from the mountains of Aragon and from the
sea-coast of Catalonia were alike sturdy in their refusal to furnish
further supplies for those ambitious enterprises, which, whatever glory
they might bring to their sovereign, were of little benefit to them. The
independent people of these provinces urged their own claims with a
pertinacity, and criticized the conduct of their rulers with a
bluntness, that was little grateful to the ear of majesty. The
convocation of the Aragonese cortes was, in the view of the king of
Spain, what the convocation of a general council was in that of the
pope,--a measure not to be resorted to but from absolute necessity.

On the arrival of Maximilian in Castile, his marriage with the Infanta
Mary was immediately celebrated. The ceremony took place, with all the
customary pomp, in the courtly city of Valladolid. Among the festivities
that followed may be noticed the performance of a comedy of Ariosto,--a
proof that the beautiful Italian literature, which had exercised a
visible influence on the compositions of the great Castilian poets of
the time, had now commended itself, in some degree, to the popular
taste.

Before leaving the country, Philip, by his father's orders, made a
change in his domestic establishment, which he formed on the Burgundian
model. This was more ceremonious, and far more costly, than the
primitive usage of Castile. A multitude of new offices was created, and
the most important were filled by grandees of the highest class. The
duke of Alva was made _mayor-domo mayor_; Antonio de Toledo, his
kinsman, master of the horse; Figueroa, count of Feria, captain of the
body-guard. Among the chamberlains was Ruy Gomez de Silva, prince of
Eboli, one of the most important members of the cabinet under Philip.
Even the menial offices connected with the person and table of the
prince were held by men of rank. A guard was lodged in the palace.
Philip dined in public in great state, attended by his kings-at-arms,
and b