HISTORY OF KING HENRY VII. 375 



them, they saw no better conditions, they shut 

 it up. 



The marriage money the princess brought, 

 which was turned over to the king by act of renun 

 ciation, was two hundred thousand ducats ; whereof 

 one hundred thousand were payable ten days after 

 the solemnization, and the other hundred thousand 

 at two payments annual ; but part of it to be in 

 jewels and plate, and a due course set down to have 

 them justly and indifferently prized. The jointure 

 or advancement of the lady, was the third part of the 

 Principality of Wales, and of the Dukedom of Corn 

 wall, and of the Earldom of Chester, to be after set 

 forth in severalty ; and in case she came to be Queen 

 of England, her advancement was left indefinite, but 

 thus ; that it should be as great as ever any former 

 Queen of England had. In all the devices and con 

 ceits of the triumphs of this marriage, there was a 

 great deal of astronomy ; the lady being resembled 

 to Hesperus, and the prince to Arcturus, and the old 

 King Alphonsus, that was the greatest astronomer of 

 kings, and was ancestor to the lady, was brought in, 

 to be the fortune-teller of the match. And who 

 soever had those toys in compiling, they were not 

 altogether pedantical ; but you may be sure, that 

 King Arthur, the Briton, and the descent of the Lady 

 Catharine from the house of Lancaster, was in no 

 wise forgotten. But as it should seem, it is not 

 good to fetch fortunes from the stars; for this young 

 prince, that drew upon him at that time, not only 

 the hopes and affections of his country, but the eyes 



