The Palace and Park by Phillips, Forbes, Latham, Owen, Scharf, and Shenton

[Born in Castile, 1437. Died, 1517. Aged 80.] A learned priest who had withdrawn to a convent, and was in his fifty-sixth year, when Queen Isabella of Spain brought him from his retirement, and appointed him Archbishop of Toledo, and her own Confessor. His power over the queen was used, according to the ideas of his time, in the interests of his country, for the benefit of the Spanish people, and for the advancement of learning and religion. After the death of Isabella, in 1504, he was made Governor of Spain, in the absence of the King, and he managed to steer his political course with consummate skill and prudence. In 1516, he became Governor of Castille for the young Emperor, Charles V. He possessed in an eminent degree the genius of government, and his rule paved the way for the greatness of Charles V.’s reign. He was unbending in authority, and organized with a rigid sense of justice, that amounted to cruelty. As Inquisitor-General, he had suffered, during eleven years of office, 50,000 condemnations to be passed, and 2500 human beings to be consigned to the flames. Shortly before his own death he fell into disgrace, and he closed his eyes in grief. He was a fanatic without passion. Pious with sword in hand; austere in his way of life, sagacious, imperious, and a profound politician.