Kings & rulers > History of the reign of the Emperor Charles V. > Volume 1

348 PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS,
but was obliged to remit the cafe to the ordinary judge
of the place. Commenraria in Regias Hifpan. Conftitur.
per Alph. de Azevedo, pars v. p. Sec. fol. Duaci,
i6ii. Notvviihdanding thefe reftriftions, the barons
were early fenfible how much the eftablilhment of the
Hermandad would encroach on their jui ifdiftion. In
Callile, feme oppofition was made to the inditution ; I
but Ferdinand had the addrefs to obtain the confent of
the Conftable to the introdudlion of the Hermandad into
that part of the kingdom where his eftate lav ; and by
that means, as well as the popularity of the inftitution,
he furmounted every obllacle that flood in its way.
.dEI. Ant. Nebriflen. 851. In Aragon, the nobles com¬
bined againft it with great fpirit; and Ferdinand,
though he fupported it with vigour, was obliged to
make feme cor.cefftons, in order to reconcile them.
Zurita Anales de Arag. iv. 356. The power and re¬
venue of the Htrmandad in Caflile feems to have been
very great. Ferdinand, when preparing for the war
againft the Moors of Granada, required of the Hermandad
to furnifh him fixteen thoufand beads of burthen, to¬
gether with eight thoufand men to corduft them, and
he obtained what he demanded. ZE1. Ant. NebrilT. 88r.
The Hermandad has been found to be of fo much ufe in
preferving peace, and reftraining ot detedling crimes,
that it is ftill continued in Spain ; but as it is no longer
neceftary either for moderating the power of the nobili¬
ty, or extending that of the crown, the vigour and au¬
thority of the inftitution diminilh gradually.
NOTE XXXVIII. Sect. III. p. 178. [PP].
Nothing is more common among Antiquaries, and
theie is not a more copious fource of error, than to de¬
cide concerning the inftitutions and manners of pad
ages, by the forms and ideas which prevail in their own
times. The French lawyers in the feventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, having found their fovereigns in
pofleffion of abfolute power, feem 10 think it a duty
incumbent on them to maintain that fuch unbounded
authority