History of the Reign of Philip the Second King of Spain, Vol. 3: And Biographical & Critical MiscellaniesPrescott, William Hickling
History
History of the Reign of Philip the Second King of Spain, Vol. 3: And Biographical & Critical Miscellanies
Prescott, William Hickling
Philip II, King of Spain, 1527-1598; Spain -- History -- Philip II, 1556-1598
Embarking at Barcelona, he set sail with a squadron of more than thirty
galleys,--a force strong enough to guard against the Moslem corsairs in
the Mediterranean, and landed, on the twenty-fifth, at Genoa. The doge
and the senate came out to welcome him, and he was lodged during his
stay in the palace of Andrew Doria. Here he received embassies and
congratulatory addresses from the different princes of Italy. He had
already been greeted with an autograph letter, couched in the most
benignant terms, from the sovereign pontiff. To all these communications
Don John was careful to reply. He acquainted his holiness, in
particular, with the whole course of his proceedings. While on the way,
he had received a letter from his brother, giving him a full catalogue
of the appropriate titles by which each one of his correspondents should
be addressed. Nor was this list confined to crowned heads, but
comprehended nobles and cavaliers, of every degree.[301] In no country
has the perilous code of etiquette been more diligently studied than in
Spain, and no Spaniard was better versed in it than Philip.
Pursuing his route by water, Don John, in the month of August, dropped
anchor in the beautiful bay of Naples. Arrangements had been made in
that city for his reception on a more magnificent scale than any he had
witnessed on his journey. Granvelle, who had lately been raised to the
post of viceroy, came forth, at the head of a long and brilliant
procession, to welcome his royal guest. The houses that lined the
streets were hung with richly-tinted tapestries, and gaily festooned
with flowers. The windows and verandahs were graced with the beauty and
fashion of that pleasure-loving capital; and many a dark eye sparkled as
it gazed on the fine form and features of the youthful hero, who at the
age of twenty-four had come to Italy to assume the baton of command, and
lead the crusade against the Moslems. His splendid dress of white velvet
and cloth of gold set off his graceful person to advantage. A crimson
scarf floated loosely over his breast; and his snow-white plumes,
drooping from his cap, mingled with the yellow curls that fell in
profusion over his shoulders. It was a picture which the Italian maiden
might love to look on. It was certainly not the picture of the warrior
sheathed in the iron panoply of war. But the young prince, in his
general aspect, might be relieved from the charge of effeminacy, by his
truly chivalrous bearing and the dauntless spirit which beamed from his
clear blue eye. In his own lineaments he seemed to combine all that was
most comely in the lineaments of his race. Fortunately he had escaped
the deformity of the heavy Burgundian lip, which he might perhaps have
excused, as establishing his claims to a descent from the imperial house
of Hapsburg.[302]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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