Christendom at the Opening of the Sixteenth Century - James Aitken Wylie

numerous countries that owned her sway sent each
whatever was most precious and most prized
among its products, to stock her markets and enrich
her exchequer. To Spain flowed the gums of
Arabia, the drugs of Molucca, the diamonds of
Borneo, the wheat of Lombardy, the wine of
Naples, the rich fabrics worked on the looms of
Bruges and Ghent, the arms and cutlery forged in
the factories and wrought up in the workshops of
Liege and Namur.
This great empire was served by numerous
armies and powerful fleets. Her soldiers, drawn
from every nation, and excellently disciplined,
were brave, hardy, familiar with danger, and inured
to every climate from the tropics to the arctic
regions. They were led by commanders of
consummate ability, and the flag under which they
marched had conquered on a hundred battle-fields.
When the master of all these provinces, armies and
fleets, added the imperial diadem, as Charles V.
did, to all his other dignities, his glory was
perfected. We may adapt to the Spanish monarch
the bold image under which the prophet presented
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