226 THE REGENCY OF FERDINAND. i>ART does not appear that he sent it. He probablj' found that the call would not be answered ; for the French match had lost him even thai degree of favor, with which he had been regarded by the commons ; so the very expedient, on which he re- lied for perpetuating his authority in Castile, was the chief cause of his losing it altogether. Ferdinand Jje was doomcd to exDcrience still more mortify- unpopular. 1 J ing indignities. By the orders of the marquis of Astorga and the count of Benevente, he was actu- ally refused admittance into those cities ; while proclamation was made by the same arrogant lords, prohibiting any of their vassals from aiding or har- bouring his Aragonese followers. " A sad specta- cle, indeed," exclaims the loyal Martyr, " to behold a monarch, yesterday almost omnipotent, thus wan- dering a vagabond in his own kingdom, refused even the sight of his own child ! " ^° Of all the gay tribe of courtiers who fluttered around him in his prosperity, the only Castilians of note who now remained true, were the duke of Alva and the count of Cifuentes.^' For even his son-in-law, the constable of Castile, had deserted him. There were some, however, at a distance from the scene of operations, as the good Talavera, for instance, and the count of Tendilla, who saw with much concern the prospect of changing the steady and well-tried hand, which had held the "W Opus Epist., epist. 308. this fine old ballad, would seem "Ayer eniRcy de Espaiia, hardly loo extravagant in the oy nolo soy donna villa; mouth of his royal descendant. aycr t Jnia eriados," &c. «'>^«'rsm probant." ^^^ The lament of King lloderic, in
