History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain, Vols. 1 and 2

William Hickling Prescott

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pubOne.info present you this wonderfully illustrated edition. CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE OF FRANCE, OF THE ROYAL

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• Publié par: Pub One Info
• Date de parution: 27 septembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9782819925422
• Langue: English

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HISTORY
OF
THE REIGN
OF
PHILIP THE SECOND,
KING OF SPAIN.
BY
WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT,
CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE OF FRANCE, OFTHE ROYAL
ACADEMY OF HISTORY AT MADRID, ETC.
VOLUMES FIRST AND SECOND.
COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME.
LONDON
GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS
THE BROADWAY, LUDGATE
NEW YORK. 416, BROOME STREET.
Contents
Footnotes
PREFACE.


{iii}
The reign of Philip the Second has occupied the penof the historian more frequently— if we except that of Charles theFifth— than any other portion of the Spanish annals. It has becomefamiliar to the English reader through the pages of Watson, who hasdeservedly found favor with the public for the perspicuity of hisstyle, — a virtue, however, not uncommon in his day, — for thesobriety of his judgments, and for the skill he has shown inarranging his complicated story, so as to maintain the reader'sinterest unbroken to the end. But the public, in Watson's day, werenot very fastidious in regard to the sources of the information onwhich a narrative was founded. Nor was it easy to obtain access tothose unpublished documents which constitute the best sources ofinformation. Neither can it be denied that Watson himself was notso solicitous as he should have been to profit by opportunitieswhich a little pains might have put within his reach, — presenting,in this respect, a contrast to his more celebrated predecessor,Robertson; that he contented himself too easily with such cheap andcommonplace materials as lay directly in his path; and that,consequently, the foundations of his history are much too slightfor the superstructure. For these reasons, the reign of Philip theSecond must still be regarded as open ground for English andAmerican writers.
And at no time could the history of this reign havebeen undertaken with the same advantages as at present, when themore enlightened policy of the European governments has openedtheir {iv}national archives to the inspection of the scholar; whenhe is allowed access, in particular, to the Archives of Simancas,which have held the secrets of the Spanish monarchy hermeticallysealed for ages.
The history of Philip the Second is the history ofEurope during the latter half of the sixteenth century. It coversthe period when the doctrines of the Reformation were agitating theminds of men in so fearful a manner as to shake the veryfoundations of the Romish hierarchy in the fierce contest whichdivided Christendom. Philip, both from his personal character, andfrom his position as sovereign of the most potent monarchy inEurope, was placed at the head of the party which strove to upholdthe fortunes of the ancient Church; and thus his policy led himperpetually to interfere in the internal affairs of the otherEuropean states, — making it necessary to look for the materialsfor his history quite as much without the Peninsula as within it.In this respect the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella presents astrong contrast to that of Philip the Second; and it was theconsideration of this, when I had completed my history of theformer, and proposed at some future day to enter upon that of thelatter, that led me to set about a collection of authenticmaterials from the public archives in the great European capitals.It was a work of difficulty; and, although I had made some progressin it, I did not feel assured of success until I had the goodfortune to obtain the coöperation of my friend, Don Pascual deGayangos, Professor of Arabic in the University of Madrid. Thiseminent scholar was admirably qualified for the task which he sokindly undertook; since, with a remarkable facility— such as longpractice only can give— in deciphering the mysterious handwritingof the sixteenth century, he combined such a thorough acquaintancewith the history of his country as enabled him to detect, amidstthe ocean of manuscripts which he inspected, such portions as wereessential to my purpose.
With unwearied assiduity he devoted himself to theexamination of many of the principal collections, both in Englandand on the Continent. Among these may be mentioned the BritishMuseum and the State-Paper Office, in London; the Library of theDukes of Burgundy, in Brussels; that of the University of Leyden;the {v}Royal Library, at the Hague; the Royal Library of Paris, andthe Archives of the Kingdom, in the Hôtel Soubise; the Library ofthe Academy of History, the National Library at Madrid, and, moreimportant than either, the ancient Archives of Simancas, withinwhose hallowed precincts Señor Gayangos was one of the firstscholars permitted to enter.
Besides these public repositories, there are severalprivate collections to the owners of which I am largely indebtedfor the liberal manner in which they have opened them for mybenefit. I may mention, in particular, the late Lady Holland, whokindly permitted copies to be made by Señor Gayangos from themanuscripts preserved in Holland House; Sir Thomas Phillips, Bart., who freely extended the same courtesy in respect to the presentwork which he had shown to me on a former occasion; and PatrickFraser Tytler, Esq. , the late excellent historian of Scotland, whogenerously placed at my disposal sundry documents copied by him inthe public offices with his own hand, for the illustration of thereign of Mary Tudor.
In Spain the collection made by Señor Gayangos wasenriched by materials drawn from the family archives of the marquisof Santa Cruz, whose illustrious ancestor first had charge of theSpanish armada; from the archives of Medina Sidonia, containingpapers of the duke who succeeded to the command of that ill-starredexpedition; and from the archives of the house of Alva, — a nameassociated with the most memorable acts of the government ofPhilip.
The manuscripts, thus drawn from various quarters,were fortified by such printed works as, having made theirappearance in the time of Philip the Second, could throw any lighton his government. Where such works were not to be purchased, SeñorGayangos caused copies to be made of them, or of those portionswhich were important to my purpose. The result of his kind,untiring labors has been to put me in possession of such acollection of authentic materials for the illustration of the reignof Philip as no one before had probably attempted to make. Noruntil now had the time come for making the attempt withsuccess.
There still remained, however, some places to beexamined where I might expect to find documents that would be ofuse to {vi}me. Indeed, it is in the nature of such a collection,covering so wide an extent of ground, that it can never becomplete. The historian may be satisfied, if he has such authenticmaterials at his command, as, while they solve much that hashitherto been enigmatical in the accounts of the time, will enablehim to present, in their true light, the character of Philip andthe policy of his government. I must acknowledge my obligations tomore than one person, who has given me important aid in prosecutingmy further researches.
One of the first of them is my friend, Mr. EdwardEverett, who, in his long and brilliant career as a statesman, haslost nothing of that love of letters which formed his first claimto distinction. The year before his appointment to the Englishmission he passed on the Continent, where, with the kindness thatbelongs to his nature, he spent much time in examining for me thegreat libraries, first in Paris, and afterwards more effectually inFlorence. From the Archivio Mediceo , in which he waspermitted by the grand duke to conduct his researches, he obtainedcopies of sundry valuable documents, and among them the letters ofthe Tuscan ministers, which have helped to guide me in some of themost intricate parts of my narrative. A still larger amount ofmaterials he derived from the private library of CountGuicciardini, the descendant of the illustrious historian of thatname. I am happy to express my lively sense of the courtesy shownby this nobleman; also my gratitude for kind offices rendered me byPrince Corsini; and no less by the Marquis Gino Capponi, whose namewill be always held in honor for the enlightened patronage which hehas extended to learning, while suffering, himself, under theseverest privation that can befall the scholar.
There was still an important deficiency in mycollection, — that of the Relazioni Venete , as the reportsare called which were made by ambassadors of Venice on their returnfrom their foreign missions. The value of these reports, for theinformation they give of the countries visited by the envoys, iswell known to historians. The deficiency was amply supplied by theunwearied kindness of my friend, Mr. Fay, who now so ably fills thepost of minister from the United States to Switzerland. Whenconnected with the American legation at Berlin, he, in the mostobliging manner, {vii}assisted me in making arrangements forobtaining the documents I desired, which, with other papers ofimportance, were copied for me from the manuscripts in the RoyalLibrary of Berlin, and the Ducal Library of Gotha. I have also, inconnection with this, to express my obligations to thedistinguished librarian of the former institution, Mr. Pertz, forthe good-will which he showed in promoting my views.
Through Mr. Fay, I also obtained the authority ofPrince Metternich to inspect the Archives of the Empire in Vienna,which I inferred, from the intimate relations subsisting betweenthe courts of Madrid and Vienna in that day, must contain muchvaluable matter relevant to my subject. The result did notcorrespond to my expectations. I am happy, however, to have theopportunity of publicly offering my acknowledgments to that eminentscholar, Dr. Ferdinand Wolf, for the obliging manner in which heconducted the investigation for me, as well in the archives abovementioned, as, with better results, in the Imperial Library, withwhich he is officially connected.
In concluding the list of those to whose goodoffices I have been indebted, I must not omit the names of M