It was not long, however, before the people of Castile had an opportunity for the full display of their enthusiasm, on the occasion of Philip's recognition as rightful heir to the crown. The ceremony was conducted with great pomp and splendor in the cortes at Madrid, on the nineteenth of April, 1528, when he was but eleven months old. The prince was borne in the arms of his mother, who, with the emperor, was present on the occasion; while the nobles, the clergy, and the commons took the oath of allegiance to the royal infant, as successor to the crown of Castile. The act of homage was no sooner published, than the nation, as if by way of compensation for the past, abandoned itself to a general jubilee. Illuminations and bonfires were lighted up in all the towns and villages; while everywhere were to be seen dancing, bull-fights, tilts of reeds, and the other national games of that chivalrous and romantic land.
Soon after this, Charles was called by his affairs to other parts of his far-extended empire, and he left his infant son to the care of a Portuguese lady, Doña Leonor Mascareñas, or rather to that of the Empress Isabella, in whose prudence and maternal watchfulness he could safely confide. On the emperor's return to Spain, when his son was hardly seven years old, he formed for him a separate establishment, and selected two persons for the responsible office of superintending his education.[16]
One of these personages was Juan Martinez Siliceo, at that time professor in the College of Salamanca. He was a man of piety and learning, of an accommodating temper,--too accommodating, it appears from some of Charles's letters, for the good of his pupil, though not, as it would seem, for his own good, since he found such favor with the prince, that, from an humble ecclesiastic, he was subsequently preferred to the highest dignities of the Church.
Under him Philip was instructed in the ancient classics, and made such progress in Latin, that he could write it, and did write it frequently in after life, with ease and correctness. He studied, also, Italian and French. He seems to have had little knowledge of the former, but French he could speak indifferently well, though he was rarely inclined to venture beyond his own tongue. He showed a more decided taste for science, especially the mathematics. He made a careful study of the principles of architecture; and the fruits of this study are to be seen in some of the noblest monuments erected in that flourishing period of the arts. In sculpture and painting he also made some proficiency, and became, in later life, no contemptible critic,--at least for a sovereign.