PADILLA, Doña Maria Pacheco de, the wife of the preceding, proved herself a worthy mate to the leader of the forces of the "Holy Junta." During her husband's life she rendered a bold and active assistance to his warlike enterprise. On his death, she seized the standard of freedom as it fell from his lifeless hand; and although all the other insurgents were covering in submission before the victorious royalists, she resolved to make Toledo the last citadel of liberty, and to defend it against the whole country. The commanding spirit of the heroine immediately brought into simultaneous action all the devices that could awaken sympathy for herself, or interest in behalf of Spain. She rallied the citizens around her, and kept their enthusiasm ever burning by constantly calling to their remembrance the deeds and death of her husband. She gave a sacred
character to the contest by using crucifixes instead of colours, and employing the revenues of the cathedral to defray expenses. She was also continually despatching letters and emissaries to implore assistance from the other cities of Castile, and the French general in Navarre. Thus did Doña María for several months, in the face of a powerful government, hold the city of Toledo. At length her influence, which could not be overcome by external force, began to be undermined by internal dissension. The troops, though victorious in several sallies, became hopeless of ultimate success; the mob grew impatient of the rigours of a blockade; the clergy took advantage of this disaffection to accuse the heroine of using witchcraft; and the noble woman was driven out by her ungrateful fellow-citizens. Yet Doña María made a becoming exit off the stage of history. Retreating into the citadel, she held out for four months longer; and not until she had been reduced to the last extremity did she retire into Portugal to pass the rest of her life. (Robertson's Charles V.)