f maritime intercourse with Europe.

Peter was now the arbiter of Northern Europe. In May 1724, he had
Catherine crowned and anointed as empress. But he was suffering from a
mental disease, and of this he died, in Catherine's arms, in the
following January, without having definitely nominated a successor.
Whether or not it was his intention, it was upon his wife Catherine that
the throne devolved.

* * * * *

W.H. PRESCOTT

The Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella

William Hickling Prescott was born at Salem, Massachusetts, on
May 4, 1796. His first great historical work, "The History of
the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella," published in 1838, was
compiled under circumstances of extraordinary difficulty.
During most of the time of its composition the author was
deprived of sight, and was dependent on having all documents
read to him. Before it was completed he recovered the use of
his eyes, and was able to correct and verify. Nevertheless,
the changes required were few. The "Conquest of Mexico" and
"Conquest of Peru" (see _ante_) followed at intervals of five
and four years, and ten years later the uncompleted "Philip
II." He died in New York on January 28, 1859. The subjects of
this work, Ferdinand and Isabella, were the monarchs who
united the Spanish kingdoms into one nation, ended the Moorish
dominion in Europe, and annexed the New World to Spain, which
during the ensuing century threatened to dominate the states
of Christendom.

_I.--Castile and Aragon_

After the great Saracen invasion, at the beginning of the eighth
century, Spain was broken up into a number of small but independent
states. At the close of the fifteenth century, these were blended into
one great nation. Before this, the numbers had been reduced to
four--Castile, Aragon, Navarre, and the Moorish kingdom of Granada.

The civil feuds of Castile in the fourteenth century were as fatal to
the nobility as were the English Wars of the Roses. At the close, the
power of the commons was at its zenith. In the long reign of John II.,
the king abandoned the government to the control of favourites. The
constable, Alvaro de Luna, sought to appropriate taxing and legislative
powers to the crown. Representation in the cortes was withdrawn from all
but eighteen privileged cities. Politically disastrous, the reign was
conspicuous f