Events conspired to aid the prisoner. Isabella the Catholic, anticipating that her daughter, Jeanne la Folle, wife of Philippe le Beau, would never recover her reason, decided to make her husband Ferdinand regent of Castile on her death. Ferdinand was surrounded by enemies, and in the kingdom of Naples even the loyalty of Gonsalvo de Cordova was suspected. Louis XII., in spite of his defeat at the Garigliano, still maintained his right to the Regno, while the Emperor Maximilian, whose son Philippe le Beau, husband of Jeanne la Folle, had been excluded from the regency by Isabella’s will, feeling himself aggrieved, determined to demand his son’s rights. At this juncture Ferdinand suggested to Louis XII. that they discontinue their struggle for Naples, and that, as evidence of good faith, the French King bestow upon him the hand of his niece, Germaine de Foix, who was then eighteen years of age, while the King of Spain was fifty-four. As dowry she would bring her husband half of the Kingdom of Naples which had been granted the King of France by the treaty of Granada. In addition Louis was to aid Ferdinand to recover Navarre--which on his death was to be returned to the crown of France--for Gaston de Foix, brother of the betrothed and nephew of Louis XII. The treaty of alliance was signed at Blois, October 12, 1505, and the marriage was performed March 18, 1506, at Dueñas. At the same time the Cortes confirmed Ferdinand in the possession of Castile, disregarding the fact that Isabella had willed it to him only on condition that he did not marry again. Some of the most powerful members of the Court refused their consent and declared themselves in favour of Jeanne and her husband, Philippe le Beau. They elected the Count of Benavente their leader. The others ranging themselves on Ferdinand’s side, under Don Fabrique de Toledo, Duke of Alva, civil war broke out. At first the King’s party was successful, whereupon the Emperor Maximilian entered into the conflict, and his son, Philippe le Beau, hastened from Flanders and demanded the regency. The help which the Count of Benavente later gave Caesar and the relations of the latter with Maximilian’s ambassadors show that in prison the Duke was on the side of Philippe, who, as soon as he came to Spain, established himself at Medina del Campo.