John, of Austria, 1547-1578; Spain -- History -- Philip II, 1556-1598
Neither did Doña Magdalena go again to visit the Emperor, but she had
daily received signs of his favour, by the visits of authorised persons
or by tactful presents. It was seldom that a day passed without the
Emperor sending her some dish from his table, and no convoy of meat,
preserves, fruit or sweetmeats arrived at Yuste without a substantial
portion being reserved for her, which was sent with messages of the
greatest kindness. These presents were as useful as honourable, since
there was a great scarcity of provisions in Cuacos, and what was
obtainable was not very good. On the 30th of August, 1558, Jeromín saw
the Emperor for the last time. The child was wandering about in the
garden at Yuste with his crossbow and arrows, as he did sometimes by
Quijada's own wish in his play-hours. The day was cold for summer in
that part of the world, and although the glare from the sun was great on
the terraces, the Emperor caused himself to be taken to the west one,
and ordered that dinner should be brought there. Hidden in the orange
grove that was in front of it Jeromín watched him for a long time.
Luis Quijada and a groom of the chamber named Guillermo Van Male were
serving him, on a little table made on purpose, which fixed on to the
Emperor's chair. Van Male presented the dishes, Quijada carved them, and
four servants brought and took away the courses. D. Mattys was absent;
he should have inspected the viands, but was away in Jarandilla. The
confessor, Fr. Juan de Regla, was standing before the Emperor, austere
and grave as one of Zurbarán's Carthusians, reading as usual a chapter
from St. Bernard.
The Emperor ate little and without appetite, and then, in spite of the
glare and against the wishes of Quijada, he composed himself there to
take his short siesta. He was awakened by the arrival of Garcilaso de la
Vega, who came from Flanders to treat with the Dowager-Queen of Hungary
to induce her to return to govern the States. The conversation lasted
for more than an hour, and at four o'clock the Emperor blew his golden
whistle, complaining of a severe headache. A change had come over him
and he was shivering. They put him to bed at once, and when the doctor
came back that night from Jarandilla, where the Emperor had sent him to
see the Conde de Oropesa, he was not pleased with the Emperor's looks.
Nor could he have been so himself, as that night he expressed to Quijada
his wish to add a codicil to the will he had made in Brussels on the 8th
of June, 1554.
This desire did not frighten Quijada, as the Emperor had often expressed
the same wish before; but the continued fever, delirium and collapse did
alarm him, and on the 1st of September he wrote to the Princess Juana,
begging her to send as quickly as possible Queen Maria's old doctor,
Corneille Baersdorp, who was staying with her at Cigales.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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