latristereina: There are fifteen personal letters exchanged between Isabel and Fernando in the years
There are fifteen personal letters exchanged between Isabel and Fernando in the years 1474-1502, that survived to our times, the originals are stored at the Archivo General de Simancas. Their original language is Castilian. Thirteen of them were written by Fernando and two by Isabel. They were gathered in the work titled Cartas autógrafas de los Reyes Católicos de España don Fernando y doña Isabel que se conservan en el Archivo de Simancas, 1474-1502, transcribed and analyzed by Amalia Prieto Cantero, published in Isabel la Católica en la opinión de españoles y extranjeros: siglos XV al XX. Apéndices. Tomo 3 by Vicente Rodríguez Valencia.
I translated only eight of them, six from Fernando to Isabel and two from Isabel to Fernando. I don’t plan on translating more, considering it’s not an easy task in itself, especially for a non-native speaker like me, who translates from her third to her second language respectively, and as much as modern language isn’t a problem, the language and grammar they used in the XV and XVI centuries is a whole new ballgame, some constructions and words are either hard or impossible to comprehend even for some native speakers.
Fernando to Isabel:
My Lady
After having the other note written, I received a letter from the King, my Lord [John II of Aragon], which I send to Your Ladyship. By which you will see how the matters in Enna are, and how he orders me to come with all the people of this kingdom to the aid of this city. Seeing this I cannot express my sorrow; I think that if I were in hell, I would suffer much less than I do now, and so many times I wish death upon myself that I think I may fulfill my thoughts, I do not know why our Lord gave me so much good and so little time to enjoy it, since, for three years, I have not been with Your Ladyship at times even seven months in a row. Now I have demonstrated and I say that I have to go to make them move quicker in order to do the service, which cannot be faster than before Christmas, and if during this time Your Ladyship could make the King [Henry IV of Castile] call me to be sworn in [he is referring to the swearing-in as the Princess heiress of Castile and her consort], I would quickly come, but otherwise, I do not think I would have an excuse for the King, my Lord [John II of Aragon]. However, I will do everything that is in my power to be able to come, but this bad honor [charge of Lieutenant in Aragon which did not let him join his wife] makes me feel so bad that what I am saying does not make sense. I beg Your Ladyship for the Archbishop [of Toledo] and Cardinal [Mendoza] to help in this matter, I do not ask Your Ladyship because you have enough yourself, and do not Your Ladyship think that I need something more than your order [to come to Castile], under different circumstances, I would come, but for now, other reasons are required for me to leave. I beg Your Ladyship to forgive me because being angry and disturbed, I do not know what I am saying, even with all that, I will delay my departure until I get a response from Your Ladyship, which I beg you to be soon, and it is how this slave of Your Grace concludes, The Prince-King [Prince of Aragon and king of Sicily].
Zaragoza, [1 December 1474]
My Lady
At last, now it is clear which of us two loves best, judging by what others write to me about Your Ladyship, you can be happy [while] I cannot sleep… There are so many messengers over there that come without letters [from you], not for lack of paper and not for not knowing how to write, but for insufficient love and haughtiness, for you are in Toledo and I in small villages, but someday we shall return to our first love. If you do not want to make me kill myself, you should write and tell me how you are… There is nothing more to be said about the matters from here, except what Silva will tell you and what Fernando del Pulgar has already said. I beg Your Ladyship to believe Silva and to write to me and not to forget about the Princess, who, for God’s sake, is not to be forgotten, as well as about her father, who kisses the hands of Your Ladyship and is your servant.
The King
Tomorrow, on Wednesday, I am going to Medina.
Tordesillas, [16 May 1475]
My Lady
It took me one day to pass from Valladolid to Cabia, and I decided to come to this city only because I knew it would be of no harm to rest here; I informed people of the city (city of Burgos) about the arrival, upon which the Bishop of Burgos escaped along with others, who are not much at our service. These of the city sent emissaries to me, begging me not to enter (the city) until after the meal, and I did so. Given the little time they had, the reception they gave me was marvelous and with so many people, and with such great love, that it is not an earthly thing, the love they have for us, but a Godly one. I must tell Your Ladyship that I never saw a thing that I would like more than this city nor more honorable. I saw las Huelgas and la Iglesia Mayor which in their way are miraculous. Tomorrow I will go to kiss the hands of King Don Juan for Your Ladyship and for myself*, and for the love of friar Alonso, I will go to see the Monastery of San Pablo. In two days I will depart and soon I will arrive at Valladolid. […] for what is in the letters that I got, I kiss the hands of Your Ladyship. Because I am tired, I do not respond except to what Your Ladyship tells me about how it was necessary for us to see each other, if it had not been for this city, I would have already gone, but the hurry was such that the Cardinal and the Constable put on me, that I could not do so. It seems to me that it is very necessary and that Your Ladyship ought to come because in getting together we help each other more than anything in life, and now is the time that all our power should be jointly exerted. Tired, I finish, kissing the hands of Your Ladyship.
Your servant: The King
Burgos, [12 June 1475]
*he meant la Cartuja de Miraflores where Isabella’s father was buried
My Lady
I have put off writing until the night, in order to see the people that came; infantry has come and the Constable with very good and many people; others have come except for the Admiral and the Marquis of Astroga. The people of the Count of Lemos, the Viscount of Palacios, the Count of Castro have not come, and now the Marquis of Santillana wrote to me that he and the Duke of Alburquerque would join me on Sunday, and they begged me not to move until then; given all of this, it seems to me that for us to go with more ease, in order to not detain anything until arrival in Toro, we should not depart tomorrow; either Your Ladyship from there or I from here, considering the distress you felt about the people [distress there would not be enough people at their service], Alonso de Quintanilla is already in Mojados; it is what the situation looks like over here, but if Your Ladyship orders otherwise, I shall do it with few or with many. God knows how it weighs on me that I will not see Your Ladyship tomorrow, for I swear by your life and mine that never have I so loved you. And I finish with more desire to serve Your Ladyship more than ever.
Real of Tordesillas, Monastery of Saint Thomas, [14 July 1475]
In regards to what Your Ladyship wrote to me about the two fractions that are being formed, I knew about them before, Your Ladyship will take care of it better than I being here.
Without date or direction.
Amalia Prieto Cantero’s commentary: This note touches upon some negotiation that was being conducted by the Queen or tendencies that she noted at the Court, in regards to which, the King was in favor of Doña Isabel resolving it on her own because she could do it better than him. The sense is obscure and imprecise. Perhaps by the two fractions he meant tendencies of the nobles.
Isabel to Fernando
My Lord
I kiss the hands of Your Lordship a hundred thousand times for such care that you have to know about me, and I have already written to you that I am well and I had that fever no more nor I have felt any bad thing afterward, and even though Your Lordship had already known this by my letter, procure for your life, and since in this case there should not be any hesitation at all, I ask you to answer me after you receive this courier; I beg you to let me know what you determine, and on what day the siege is to take place, where you would like it to be. May our Lord help you to determine and act, and aid Your Lordship in everything and guard you more than me, and I finish by kissing [your] hands, and all our children kiss them, and they are well. At Córdoba, on 18 May [1486]
My Lord
May our Lord continue with the victory He has granted to Your Lordship in the conquest of these suburbs until He gives you the city and the entire kingdom. This has been a marvelous thing and the most honorable in the world; now it seems well how the Moors are doing in Loja who die while defending it [Loja] and our people do it [die] as well. The dead weigh on me heavily but they could not have gone better employed nor could have died better people in their professions than Pedro Valenciano and Velasquillo. I cannot forget Velasquillo and how he was afraid to die such honorable death, it is enough the madness was good for he knew how to live and how to die. All that Your Lordship has ordered has been done and people were summoned, even more than it was said in the memorial, and because I thought the term given for them to depart was too late, although they say that it cannot be less, I ordered people of this city and these of Master of Calatrava to depart [from here] tomorrow; we were doubting whether they should take sacks with supplies or not, because to take them more time was needed, and still it was agreed that they would take them for we do not know if el Real is that well provided; and from now on I will do everything, I want to know what should be done and on what day for we do not want to err in anything. Regarding Alhama, the mayor commander had already talked about it with the Master, and what is done, Your Lordship will see in this memorial. I marveled a lot at the concert of the Moorish Kings which is so disadvantageous to them. In order to leave the Kingdom, it would be better to concert with us and I hope that God’s mercy lets this happen, for him to leave the Kingdom it would be good to have a treaty with him, if Your Lordship were to grant him [Boabdil] Baza and Guadix and their lands in act of perpetual truce, so that they could be his, although Your Lordship won all the Kingdom, maybe the necessity in which he is, would make him agree and hand it over. Pardon, Your Lordship, for I speak of matters that I do not know, it might cause damage, they might become arrogant, thinking there was some necessity for it to happen, for they are fickle, they rise and fall quickly. May God tear them down, and the desire for it all to be done without risk or work of Your Lordship and all your army makes me rave. For now there is nothing to be said about matters from here, except that we all are well, and I close by kissing the hands of Your Lordship, May our Lord guard you, and give you victory as I wish. At Córdoba, on 30 May [1486].
Amalia Prieto Cantero’s commentary: At the end of January 1487 the Monarchs left Salamanca for Córdoba, in order to finalize the campaign of Málaga and locations in its proximity, which had been planned since the previous year. At the beginning of March their Highnesses had already reached the city of Córdoba. The men at arms, who had been summoned, gathered at las Yeguas River. The King’s departure from Córdoba, to lead the said men, took place on 7 April - on Saturday - on the eve of Palm Sunday, in direction of la Rambla. According to the chroniclers, Fernando del Pulgar and Mosén Diego de Valera, the night before the King’s departure, at 2 a.m, there was an earthquake in the city, particularly noticeable on the terrain of the Royal Palaces. And even though some people saw in this occurrence a bad omen, the King did not alter his plans. Although las Yeguas River was the destination of the King’s trip, it had its first phase at la Rambla, where the King spent the night with his army, and from where he wrote his wife a letter that is being analyzed, dated on Palm Sunday. In the text of the missive we can discover an extraordinary emotional state in which the King was, although dominated with great effort, to uplift his spirits. It could be a consequence of the impression the earthquake caused in him, coupled with the fact it took place shortly after he left his wife and children in Córdoba. In the letter Don Fernando tried to console his wife with the hope of quick reunion at some place, where they would be together with much joy, and expressed the anguish that he had gone through that night, being alone, already separated from his family, the anguish he had overcome with great strength of will…Such expressions, like many others in the analyzed letters, display the affection of the Monarch for his wife and confirm the judgment of the historian Vicens Vives about Don Fernando, endowed with great ability to love or hate, reserve and dissimulation, among other qualities.
My Lady
I beg you to let me know how you are, and be very merry, because I hope that with our Lord’s help, I will soon send for you, to beg you to come to me, so we can be together with much joy. It pained me, I could not sleep this night of solitude, but I do not dare to think of sad things. The last night don Alonso de Aguilar came over here, for I had summoned him, to go to the sierras of Loja and Antequera, in order to provide them with more guards; he told me that yesterday an alhaqueque* from Málaga had come to his house with a few hostages. He [alhaqueque] said they had been split over my departure, and 300 Gomeres* went displeased to Vélez; I do not know why they did so, I reckon all this quarrel happened because they wanted to provide for Vélez, apparently thinking it was not done well. Our Lord will save their thoughts. I beg Your Ladyship to let me know how my children are and I kiss your hands. May our Lord protect you more than anyone else.
At la Rambla, Palm Sunday [8 April 1487]
*alhaqueque - a person who managed contracts and at times purchased the freedom of captives and set them free, or acted as a courier between Christian and Arabic population
*Gomeres - inhabitants of la Gomera
Thu, 10 Mar 2022 01:25:53
