Paternal Affection
After Ferdinand, three more children (all boys) were born: Carlos Lorenzo in 1573, Diego in 1575 and Philip in 1578. Due to their parents' government commitments, but also the habits of the era, the children lived and grew upaway from their parents. Furthermore, Philip and Anna's awareness of the very high infant mortality rate of the time, may have created a sort of indifference to their children.
In spite of the Black Legend in which Philip was portrayed as a monster, he was a very caring and affectionate father. he used to buy dolls, miniatures and toys for his children, and during his stay in Portugal between 1581-82, he wrote to the older girls regularly in letters still preserved, to enquire after their health and education. when he returned from Portugal, he brought many candies and jams with him.
Read more about this topic: Ferdinand, Prince Of Asturias
Famous quotes containing the words paternal and/or affection:
“My paternal grandmother would not light a fire on the Sabbath and piled all Sunday’s washing-up in a bucket, to be dealt with on Monday morning, because the Sabbath was a day of rest—a practice that made my paternal grandfather, the village atheist, as mad as fire. Nevertheless, he willed five quid to the minister, just to be on the safe side.”
—Angela Carter (1940–1992)
“Nothing more powerfully excites any affection than to conceal some part of its object, by throwing it into a kind of shade, which at the same time that it shows enough to prepossess us in favour of the object, leaves still some work for the imagination.”
—David Hume (1711–1776)