The historians' history of the world in twenty-five volumes, volume 10

by Unknown

CHAPTER V. HENRY OF TRASTAMARA AND ISABELLA OF CASTILE

[1369-1479 A.D.]

All Castile breathed more freely at the news of the death of Pedro the Cruel, and acknowledging Henry of Trastamara as king, did him homage. By a rule as judicious and just as it was vigorous he endeavoured to obliterate the dark blots which stained his accession.

Don Pedro’s race vanished from Castilian soil. On the death of his mistress Maria de Padilla shortly after the murder of the unhappy Blanche, Pedro had tried every means to secure the succession for her children. He brought sworn witnesses to testify that he had been joined with Padilla in lawful wedlock, and induced the estates to confer the first title to the throne upon her son Alfonso, and, in case of his death without issue, upon her three daughters, Beatrice, Isabella, and Constanza, in order of seniority. Alfonso, however, died the same year, and Beatrice followed soon after the frustration of her projected marriage with the heir of Aragon; while the two youngest, whom their father had taken with him when he fled to Guiennes, were detained as hostages by the Black Prince, who sent them to England, where they were married to two sons of Edward III (Constanza to John of Lancaster and Isabella to Edmund of York), and thus transmitted to the English dynasty their claims to the heritage of Castile.

[1369-1373 A.D.]

Henry assumed the government of Castile under difficulties. As the illegitimate son of King Alfonso XI, he met with strong opposition. Moreover his right to the throne was contested by others besides a large body of the Castilian nobility. King Ferdinand of Portugal, who had renewed the alliance which his father had concluded with Don Pedro, tried to win the crown of Castile for himself after the murder of the latter, on the ground that he, being the grandson of Beatrice, princess of Castile, was the only male descendant born in lawful wedlock. To support his claim he allied himself with Muhammed, the Moorish prince of Granada. Like Pedro IV of Aragon, he received with all honour the malcontent and fugitive Castilian nobles. He paid no heed to the murmurs of the Portuguese at their king’s liberality to foreigners, but marched into Galicia with an army, while the Moors took Algeciras; and the king of Aragon endeavoured to unite Molina, Almazan, Soria, and other frontier districts with his own dominions. At the same time the duke of Lancaster, uncle of Richard II, assumed the title of king of Castile in right of his wife, the eldest daughter of Don Pedro, and was acknowledged as such by the English court.

But Henry extricated himself from the difficulties that encompassed him in his own country with prudence and skill, and turned the disadvantages of his opponents to his own profit; and thus he succeeded in putting down all resistance and seated himself firmly on the throne of Castile, though he was still regarded by enemies as a usurper. The Moorish conquests were confined to Algeciras; the king of Portugal, who also styled himself “king of Castile,” carried on the war with so little success that the Spanish historian López de Ayala[b] says that it would have been more to his honour to have discontinued the campaign; the English had their hands full in their own country, and the Aragonese, besides having their attention diverted by a war in Sardinia, found themselves, by Henry’s shrewd contrivance, confronted with another adversary in the person of James III of Majorca, the pretender to the throne of the Balearic kingdom.

This adventurous infante, though married to Queen Juana of Naples, had entered the service of Pedro the Cruel and been taken prisoner at Montiel. Henry set him at liberty on payment of a heavy ransom by the wealthy queen of Naples, and thus fulfilled the double object of filling his own coffers and setting up a rival to his enemy. He had already taken possession of the abundant treasure which the fallen tyrant had amassed in the strong vaults of the castles of Seville and Carmona, and had obtained large subsidies besides from the estates of the kingdom at Medina del Campo; and was therefore able to pay off and discharge the mercenary troops which had carried him to victory and to surround himself with a well disciplined army. Bertrand du Guesclin and the leaders of other companies received gifts of towns and territory over and above their pay, and promptly sold them again.

Henry of Castile

The history of Castile for the next few years is like a diplomatic game of chess in which the French, the English, and the pope all played their parts as well as the sovereigns of the peninsula. And all did their best to win. While the faithless and fickle king of Portugal, who had given great offence to his own subjects by his marriage, made common cause with the duke of Lancaster and acknowledged him king of Castile in order to secure the assistance of England; and while the Roman see, alarmed at the alliance between Christian courts and the Mohammedans of Granada and Morocco exhausted itself in attempts at mediation, Henry concluded a treaty with France and invaded Portugal with an army. Viseu was occupied, Lisbon blockaded by land and sea and sorely damaged and wasted by fire, Coimbra was besieged, and only spared by the Castilians out of chivalrous gallantry, because Ferdinand’s consort Leonora was there waiting the birth of her child. Many Portuguese nobles with the king’s brother at their head abetted the Castilians out of disgust at Ferdinand’s marriage. At length the papal legate brought about a reconciliation, which was accelerated and rendered easier by Henry’s magnanimity and moderation (1373). The Portuguese king relinquished his alliance with the duke of Lancaster and England, banished from his dominions the malcontent Castilians who still refused to acknowledge Henry king, in spite of his chivalrous nature and high sovereign qualities, and joined the Franco-Castilian alliance. The war with Aragon was brought to an equally successful issue. Don Pedro concluded peace and alliance and restored the districts on the Castilian frontier which he had occupied in the course of the campaign.

[1373-1380 A.D.]

Biscay was also united to the kingdom of Castile on the death without issue of the infante Don Tello on whom the king had bestowed it in fee, but the province remained in possession of its ancient rights and liberties. When the daughter of Ferdinand de la Cerda, who had married the duke of Alençon, laid claim to Biscay and the whole of the Lara heritage in her own name and that of her children, Henry stipulated that her sons should reside in Spain. They refused, however, to resign the position they held in France, and he therefore declared the principalities fiefs that had lapsed to the crown. When Henry had further prevailed upon the king of Navarre to make peace with him by reimbursing the expenses he had incurred in the fortification of Logroño and Vitoria, Castile was once more complete within her ancient borders and his own sovereignty was firmly established and fully recognised. But by the reckless munificence with which he gave away the immediate property of the crown, in order to satisfy the nobles and attach them to the new dynasty, he laid up many troubles in store for his successors.[c]

In the schism which afflicted the church, from the rival pretensions of Urban VI and the anti-pope Clement, Henry declared for neither—doubtless to gratify his avarice by withholding the customary contributions to the papal see. He died in 1379. In character he was as cruel as Pedro; as loose in morals, and scarcely inferior as a tyrant. On the whole, however, he was a fortunate ruler. Either by bribes or force, he reduced Galicia to obedience, recovered several places from the king of Navarre, whose capital he at one time invested, and overawed his neighbours of Portugal and Aragon.

JUAN I AND THE PORTUGUESE WARS

Juan I followed his father’s advice, by cultivating the friendship of the French king, whom he frequently assisted in the interminable wars between that monarch and the English. Like his father, he had also to dread the pretensions of John of Gaunt the duke of Lancaster; and it was equally his aim to occupy the ambitious Plantagenet with other affairs than disputing his succession.

To preserve Portugal as an ally, Juan, in the second year of his reign, consented or proposed to marry his infant son Henry with Beatrice, presumptive heiress of the Portuguese crown. This princess, who was in her tenth year, had been promised to Frederick, brother of the Castilian king; but the superior pretensions of Henry induced the Portuguese monarch to prefer the latter for a son-in-law. One condition of the projected marriage was that, in case either of the young betrothed died without issue, the other should inherit the states of the deceased. So fair a prospect of uniting the two crowns could not fail to be agreeable to the two sovereigns. Notwithstanding this solemn treaty, Ferdinand of Portugal secretly resolved to make war on Castile; and, with the view of strengthening himself by the alliance of the duke of Lancaster, he despatched a trusty messenger to obtain the co-operation of that prince, who readily promised it.

[1380-1385 A.D.]

Juan, who was soon acquainted with the league, resolved to anticipate his enemy: off Cape St. Vincent his fleet triumphed, in 1381, over that of Ferdinand; and Almeida was forced to submit to him. The arrival from England of the earl of Cambridge, brother of the duke, with five hundred men-at-arms, and as many archers, roused the courage of the Portuguese, but did them little service. As the allies could obtain no money from Ferdinand, they did not scruple to lay their hands on whatever they pleased: hence the distrust and dislike which arose between them and the natives, and which neutralised the little success obtained by their combined arms.[44] Wearied alike with his allies and the war, Ferdinand, in 1382, solicited and obtained peace, and the English returned home. The death of the queen of Castile leaving Henry a widower, Ferdinand offered him the princess Beatrice, who had been successively promised to his brother, to his two sons, and even to the son of the earl of Cambridge; on condition, however, that the issue of the marriage, whether male or female, should be the sovereign of Portugal, and that he himself should have no share in the administration so long as Leonora, the Portuguese queen, should survive Ferdinand. This condition, so characteristic of Portuguese dislike of Castilian sway, did not prevent Juan from marrying the princess. Ferdinand died the very year of this marriage; and his death opened the door to new hostilities.

Though Juan and his new queen were, in fact, excluded by the treaty accompanying their union, he no less eagerly claimed the crown in her own right; and several of the Portuguese nobles admitted the justice of that claim. Even the widowed queen, Leonora, caused her daughter to be proclaimed in the capital; but the bulk of the towns and prelates refused to acknowledge her, and declared Don João bastard brother of Ferdinand, regent of Portugal. The latter prepared to vindicate his right; when Urban VI, whom he had refused to recognise, raised up against him his old enemy, the duke of Lancaster, who was persuaded by that pope again to invade Castile. The usurper Juan was no less anxious to secure the co-operation of the Plantagenet, whose departure to claim the crown of Castile he began to urge with success. To frustrate the double object of this alliance, the Castilian, in 1384, entered the kingdom, received the homage of his adherents, and proceeded to invest the capital: but his troops were ignobly defeated by those of his rival; even the queen-mother scorned to favour his pretensions; and he was constrained to abandon the siege, and return into his dominions. In 1385, the states of Coimbra proclaimed his rival king; who began vigorously to invest the places which held for him.

[1385-1387 A.D.]

Fortune attended the arms of the Portuguese, who successively obtained possession of the chief fortified places, and, in several partial engagements, was hailed as victor. A greater and a decisive action was now at hand. Though he had but ten thousand men, he marched against the Castilian king, who met him with an army of at least thirty-four thousand; in which were two thousand French knights. The two armies met near Aljubarrota, a village in Portuguese Estremadura; where, by the advice of the English knights who served in his army, the Portuguese intrenched his followers in a position of some strength. As the troops of the Castilian were wearied by their march, some of his officers, especially the chronicler Pedro López de Ayala,[b] in a council of war assembled to decide on the subject, endeavoured to dissuade him from the battle; but the greater number, among whom were the French knights, confiding in their overwhelming numerical superiority and in their own ardour, inclined him to risk it. The action commenced towards sunset, on a fine summer evening (August 14th), and was, for a short time, maintained with great spirit on both sides. In the end, the Portuguese obtained a splendid victory, most of the Castilian chivalry and ten thousand of the infantry being left dead on the field: the king himself with difficulty effected his escape. The loss was so heavy that he ordered his subjects to mourn for a whole year; while the victors annually commemorated their triumph. The French allies, who bore the brunt of the battle, suffered severely on this occasion.

JOHN OF GAUNT IN SPAIN

To profit by this victory, the Portuguese monarch commanded his barons to make an irruption into Castile, while he himself despatched to the duke of Lancaster a circumstantial account of this signal success. The latter now burned to assert his rights by other means than threats, or by the mere report of his preparations; he actually left England, with a small but choice armament (about fifteen hundred knights, and as many archers), accompanied by his wife, the lady Constanza, and his three daughters. In July, 1386, he appeared off the coast of Galicia, and ultimately landed at El Padron; thence he proceeded to Santiago, where he was solemnly proclaimed king of Castile and Leon. In an interview with the king of Portugal, on the confines of the two states, both entered into a treaty offensive and defensive; and, to cement it the more strongly, agreed that the king should marry Philippa, daughter of the duke.

In the meantime, the Castilian was not idle: he had obtained succours from his constant ally the French king and encouragement from Clement VII, the rival of Urban. In the spring of 1387, the duke and the Portuguese king arrived at Benavente; but their progress was stayed by the plague, which daily made great ravages in their ranks. After the conquest of a few towns and fortresses, the allied army retired into Portugal. The duke himself was seriously indisposed in body, and consequently dispirited. Their retreat was hastened by intelligence of the troubles which raged in England, and which ended in the imprisonment, and eventually the death of the unfortunate Richard II. The Castilian king dreaded the resumption of hostilities at a more favourable period. He proposed to the Plantagenet the marriage of his eldest son, Henry, with Catherine, daughter of the duke, by the princess Constanza, and, consequently, granddaughter of Pedro the Cruel. To this overture the duke lent a favourable ear; towards the close of the year the conditions were definitively arranged at Bayonne. The principal were that, if Henry died before the consummation of the marriage, the princess should be given to the next son, Don Ferdinand; that Constanza, mother of the princess, should receive in fief five or six towns in Castile, besides a revenue of 40,000 francs per annum; that the duke should receive 600,000 in gold, by instalments, as an indemnification for the expenses of the war; that both Constanza and her husband should renounce all claim to the Castilian crown; and that hostages should be given him as a security for the due performance of the first three. Thus, if the personal ambition of the Plantagenet remained without gratification, he had at least the satisfaction of seeing one of his daughters queen of Portugal, and the other destined to the throne of Castile. Early in the following year, Catherine, who was in her fourteenth year, was betrothed to Henry, who was only in his ninth, and who on this occasion assumed the title of prince of the Asturias.

[1387-1390 A.D.]

The king of Castile did not long survive this reconciliation with the Plantagenet. On the 9th day of October, 1390, he was killed by falling under his horse. The reign of Juan I was one of continued troubles, which, though his abilities were moderate, his firmness prevented from ruining the state, or endangering his own power. Once, indeed, during the disputed succession to the Portuguese crown, he seriously intended to resign in favour of his own son Henry, who, as the son of Beatrice, daughter of Ferdinand, was the true heir to the Portuguese no less than the Castilian throne. His object was to secure the execution of the treaty made with that prince, and forever to unite the two crowns. But his nobles, who were evidently no less averse to such a union than their western neighbours, not merely advised but compelled him to preserve his dignity.[g]

But the greatest glory of King Juan’s reign was his successful expedition against the coasts of England, to punish the presumption of the duke of Lancaster. Once more the maintenance of the Lancastrian claims was the signal for the destruction of a British fleet. Not content with threatening the ports, the Castilians, emboldened by former successes, sailed up the Thames, in 1380, and took or burned the shipping in the river almost within sight of London.[h]

THE GOOD KING HENRY III (1390-1406 A.D.)

[1390-1396 A.D.]

The crown descended to Henry, Juan’s first-born son, who since his betrothal in 1387 had taken from the ancestral seat of his family, now elevated into a principality, the title of “prince of Asturias,” which has been borne by the heir-apparent of Castile ever since.

Henry, surnamed the Infirm, was a weakly prince of eleven years of age, and a regency had to be appointed during his minority, whence much evil accrued to the realm of Castile. By the last testament of the late king the affairs of state were to be managed by a council of regency composed of the three estates of the kingdom. This arrangement was contested as showing too little regard for the rights of the heads of the great families, and a fresh regency was set up by the help of the estates, in which the lords temporal and spiritual—the duke of Benavente, a natural son of Henry II, Count Pedro of Trastamara, the marquis of Villena, the archbishops of Toledo and Santiago de Compostella, the grand-masters of the orders, and others—divided the royal authority between them.

No notice was taken of the assessors of the middle class who ought to have been admitted to their deliberations. But the nobles at the head of affairs, each one of whom was eager to take advantage of these propitious circumstances to enrich himself and increase his own power, were soon at variance and strife among themselves, the kingdom was split up into factions, the crown property alienated, disorder prevailed throughout the country.

Not until the king, having passed his fourteenth year, proclaimed himself of age with the consent of the estates and assumed the reins of government in person (1393) did a change for the better set in. For in spite of his youth and feeble frame, Henry III was possessed of sagacity and a real aptitude for political and public affairs. Trusting to the temper of the nation, which yearned for a strong government and for deliverance from the oppressive rule of the nobles and the anarchy of the knights, he promptly proceeded to energetic measures. Not content with sharing the royal authority among themselves, the lords in power had seized upon many of the estates of the crown, already much reduced by the lavishness of former kings, and consequently the necessary funds to meet public expenditure were lacking. Henry’s first step therefore was to come to an agreement with the cortes, to which he promised in return for the grant of the alcabalas that no fresh tax should be introduced without their consent, and then took vigorous action against the nobles. All gifts and pensions which had been made at the expense of the crown demesnes during his minority were cancelled and the revenues of the lords temporal and spiritual reduced to the level at which they had stood at Don Juan’s death, and at the same time all engagements which the barons had entered into with one another and confirmed by oath were annulled.

This bold stroke on the part of the young king greatly incensed the feudal lords; the duke of Benavente, the marquis of Villena, and the two infantes Alfonso count of Gijon and Don Pedro of Trastamara, endeavoured to form a coalition of nobles to avert by force the impending reduction of their revenues; but it was nipped in the bud by the energetic action of King Henry, who offered pardon and favour to the obedient and tractable and menaced the stubborn and recalcitrant with the forces which quickly gathered round his standard. The leaders of the coalition, unsupported by the nation and without help from abroad, could not carry their purpose into effect; they were overthrown or captured one by one, and compelled to submit to the king’s orders and purchase his favour by taking the oath of fealty and allegiance.

Henry displayed the same energy and discretion in all other acts of his reign. His marriage with Catherine of Lancaster, a sister of Queen Philippa of Portugal, hastened the conclusion of peace with that country, and Castile then had leisure to restore her lost prestige abroad among Christians and Mohammedans alike. Although the king relied upon skilful diplomacy rather than upon arms and armies, his forces by land and sea were in such a state of efficiency as not merely to enable him to repel all attacks with vigour but to secure for him the authority of an arbitrator in quarrels between others. Thus he preserved the peace of his own dominions, set bounds to the license of Moorish piracy, and enhanced his consequence abroad.

[1396-1417 A.D.]

War was on the point of breaking out with the emir Yusuf of Granada, kindled by the fanaticism of the grand-master of the order of Alcantara, who was eager to make converts of the infidels at the sword’s point, when it was averted by Henry’s presence of mind. He declared that he had nothing in common with the assailants, most of whom paid for their folly with their lives in a disastrous battle, and persuaded the offended emir to restore peace (1394). Yusuf died shortly after, of poison administered to him by the prince of Fez; and Muhammed, his ambitious second son, usurped the throne of Granada and threw his elder brother into prison. The king availed himself of the general apprehension that under the new emir the friendly relations between Castile and Granada would not last, to incite the estates to a more liberal expenditure on preparations for war. The amount of money, ships, and armed men, both horse and foot, which the cortes was said to have raised in conjunction with the king’s exchequer, bears witness to the height of prosperity and power to which Castile had risen through the wise and peaceful policy of Henry III. His contemporaries adduce the exchange of embassies between the king of Castile and the great Mongol sovereign Timur [or Tamerlane] as a proof of how far the fame of the former had extended. The Turkish sultan responded to the embassy from the Christian king by sending a return embassy with costly presents, among which were two Christian captives of high rank and great beauty. But Henry’s life was hastening to its close. He had been prevented by sickness from opening in person the diet at Toledo, where the demands were presented of which mention has been made, and was obliged to delegate his share in the proceedings to his brother Ferdinand, the infante who ascended the throne of Aragon a few years later. On Christmas Day in the same year (1406) King Henry III died at the age of twenty-seven, leaving a child one year old as heir to the throne. Great was the mourning in Castile for the high-souled prince who had combined vigour with gentleness, maintained peace and justice, and never violated the constitution or the existing framework of law by the abuse of the principle he himself had laid down—that the welfare of the nation is the supreme law against which no usurper or chartered rights could appeal. His country had all the more reason to lament him, as a war with the Moors was imminent and a fresh regency in prospect.

Ferdinand, the brother of Henry III, had so fully won the esteem of the nation that the Castilian nobles tendered him the crown. This the high-minded prince[45] indignantly refused; but lest the kingdom should be left to the weak hands of a child and a woman, he undertook the government in conjunction with Catherine, the widowed queen, and displayed such admirable qualifications for rule that Castile was for many years spared the evils usually inseparable from a minority. He gained the confidence of the estates, kept the nobles under control, and won the fortress of Antequera and the surrounding country in a successful war against the Moors (1411). When the cortes of Aragon elected him king (1412), he continued to govern his nephew’s dominions in conjunction with the queen-mother, and the power which was thereby concentrated in his hands enabled him not merely to subdue the rebellious nobles of Aragon and secure himself and his house in possession of the crown, but to frustrate every revolt in Sardinia and the Balearic Islands, and to assume the tone of a ruler and arbitrator, even in Sicily. Unfortunately he died after a reign of four years, in 1416, and Queen Catherine passed away not long after, too early for the young king, Juan II, who had hitherto shown but small intellectual vigour, and who now, in the fourteenth year of his age, took the sceptre in his own hands without either capacity, experience, or strength of character to wield it. A troublous time then began for Castile, during which revolts and civil wars dealt grievous blows at the prosperity and power of the nation.[c]

The old historian Guzman[j] has traced a faithful portrait of the young sloth who now filled the throne.

GUZMAN’S PORTRAIT OF JUAN AND HIS MINISTER

[1406-1454 A.D.]

Juan was of tall stature and largely built, but was neither well made nor possessed of great strength; he had a pleasing countenance, fair complexion, and high shoulders; his face was broad, his speech slightly rapid. He was calm and gentle, his conversation measured and simple. As his disposition was most extraordinary, it is necessary to dilate thereon: he was a man who in speech was wise and prudent, possessed great knowledge of other men, and understood those whose conversation was best, most discreet, and most witty.

It pleased him to listen to well-informed men, and he took good note of what they said. He both spoke and understood Latin. He read well; books and histories delighted him; he loved to hear witty rhymes, and could point out their defects; he enjoyed gay and intelligent conversation, in which he could bear his part. He spent much time in the chase and hunting of fierce animals, and was well skilled in the art of it. He had studied music, and could both sing and play well; he was skilful in jousting, and well versed in the exercise of tilting with reeds.

But enjoying a tolerable proficiency in these graceful accomplishments, he was lamentably deficient in real virtues, necessary to all men and more so to kings; for after good faith the chief virtue of a king should be a diligent application to the government and administration of his kingdom. In this Solomon proved himself the wisest of all, who, when God bade him ask for what he most desired, merely begged for wisdom to govern his people, which request was so agreeable to the Lord, that he granted this virtue and other singular attributes pertaining to it. This king was so deficient in this respect that, possessed of the aforesaid accomplishments, he refused to give one hour to the government of his kingdom. Although during this time there were more rebellious seditions and evils than were experienced during the reigns of past kings for more than two hundred years, which were productive of considerable harm to his fame and kingdom, yet such were his negligence and remissness in the government of his kingdom that he would never devote any time to it, but preferred to spend it in other occupations more peaceful and pleasing than useful or honourable.

And yet in the histories which he read he learned the evils which had befallen kings and their kingdoms through such negligence and remissness, and, moreover, was warned by many priests and knights that his kingdom was in great peril through his neglect, and that his fame greatly suffered thereby; and what was more serious, that he must render to God strict account for the evils fallen upon his subjects through his negligence, since God had given him brain and judgment to govern. In spite of these warnings and notwithstanding that he saw the scanty obedience he could command, the little reverence paid him, the contempt of his letters and commands, yet he would not reform nor give his mind to the government of his kingdom.

Don Juan II of Castile left the government of his kingdom entirely in the hands of Alvaro de Luna, in whom he placed such singular confidence that, to those who did not witness it, it appeared hardly credible, and to those who did it was a matter of extreme wonder. Not only all orders relating to his rents and treasures, offices of his household and administration of justice were given by the constable, but nothing was done without the latter’s consent. It is true that orders and letters, licenses, favours, and donations were made in the king’s name and under his signature, yet the secretaries waited the constable’s pleasure to write, the king to sign, and the chancellor to seal; without it no letter carried weight or was put into execution.

So great was the singular confidence which the king placed in the constable, and so excessive the latter’s power, that it would be difficult to find a king or prince, however feared and obeyed, more powerful in his kingdom than was the constable in Castile, or who enjoyed greater freedom in the government and administration. Not only the offices, positions, and grants, of which the king had the disposal, were in his hands, but also the ecclesiastical dignities and benefices; no man in the kingdom was bold enough to petition the pope or recognise his orders save with the constable’s consent. Thus both spiritual and temporal power were in his hands; the king’s sole responsibility was to affix his signature to letters; for the form and execution the constable was responsible. So extended was his power, and so fully had he taken on himself the king’s prerogative, that few thought of petitioning the latter were it for the highest office in the land or the meanest favour, or returned him thanks for the same; but to the constable they were applied for, and to him acknowledged. But, what is yet more to be marvelled at, even in natural acts the king allowed himself to be ruled by the constable; so that being young and healthy, and knowing his queen to be young and beautiful, he would not seek her apartment at night, did the constable forbid him, nor yet solace himself with other women, though his inclinations in this respect were naturally strong.

Don Juan II

(From an effigy)

Finally we have two points to consider and marvel at: the first a king in many ways accomplished, yet totally negligent and remiss in the government of his kingdom, being neither moved nor stimulated thereto by discretion, nor by experience of the difficulties encountered in the disputes and uprisings occurring in his kingdom, nor yet by the admonitions and warnings tendered him by powerful nobles and priests. Further, that a natural attraction should be so strong and vigorous as to make him in all things, without exception, submit to the constable’s command or counsel with an obedience unequalled by the most humble of sons to a father, or the most obedient of monks to his abbot or prior. Some persons, upon noting this marked love and excessive confidence, held it to be the work of witchcraft, but this was never proved, although steps were taken in the matter. The second point is that a man without connections and of such poor origin, in a kingdom of vast dimensions, containing so many powerful nobles, during the reign of a king so little feared or obeyed, should enjoy such singular power. Because if we suppose this power was due to the king’s authority, how could he give to another what he himself never possessed, or how is it that the lieutenant was obeyed where he whose place he took could not command obedience? Truly I fear that no distinct reason can be given for this, save by him who was responsible for the king’s extraordinary disposition, nor yet an explanation of the constable’s power, for I know not which is most to be marvelled at, the king’s character, or the constable’s power.[j]

We need not feel the amazement felt by Guzman at Alvaro’s power over the king if we can trust the following portrait of him from an old and anonymous biography of Alvaro.[a]

CHRONICLE OF THE CONSTABLE DON ALVARO DE LUNA

[1417-1420 A.D.]

The outward shape and seeming of Don Alvaro de Luna, master of the order and knighthood of Santiago, and constable of the kingdoms of Castile and Leon, were in the following wise:

He was short of stature and very upright; fair complexioned, and of a very graceful figure all his years, slight and well-built with a well-turned leg and length of limb in proportion to his height. His neck was long, straight, and well-shaped, his eyes joyous and always bright. He had a calm presence, and where he gazed, his eyes dwelt longer than those of other men. He carried his head ever erect with a joyous countenance; his nose was well shaped with wide nostrils, his forehead broad, and he was early bald. He laughed readily and sought food for mirth, and stammered a little in his speech. He was full of life; he never put on flesh or varied in figure in the least, so that he seemed made of bone and muscle.

He was temperate and restrained in his habits from his youth; he ever loved and honoured the whole race of women. He loved much, and ever observed great secrecy concerning his loves. He made discreet and lively ballads of his loves, in which he often touched upon the mysteries of other great deeds. He was always well-dressed, and whatever he wore sat well upon him, so that whether dressed for the chase, for war, or for state occasions, he was approved of all. He had a ready wit and was much given to inventing tales and presenting interludes at the feasts, the jousts, or in the fight, and in these compositions he very subtly signified what he wished. He was a famous horseman in both saddles, and a great soldier. He was very careful to have good fleet horses. He took great delight in getting his arms repaired, and in examining them and keeping them bright and clean and point-device. In war, he was too courageous and daring, so that he often placed himself in great peril, as may be seen from his history and in many other places. He was often in arms and ever eager for the fray. He addressed his king at all times with great reverence and ceremony [?]. He was a great huntsman and laboured much therein, and followed the chase so often, when other business gave him leisure, that he was better skilled in it than other men. He took great pleasure in discoursing of archery, and in that sport it was a marvel to find any who could beat him at the crossbow. He loved wise and prudent men, and endeavoured to win them to himself and reposed great trust in them; but for those who were libertines and chatterers, he laughed with them and showed them good countenance, and held them of small account.[k]

INTERNAL DISSENSIONS

[1420-1445 A.D.]

It was not to be supposed that the power of De Luna would fail to arouse the jealousy and indignation of both nobles and people. But the first disturbances of Juan’s reign were caused by the refusal of his sister, Catalina, to marry Henry, infante of Aragon. The latter proceeded to use force, succeeded in capturing not only the princess but Juan himself, and retained them as his prisoners at Avila. The marriage took place, and though Juan soon afterwards contrived to escape, Henry and his brother, the king of Navarre, both continued to give him serious trouble in the succeeding years of his reign by their invasions of Castile, and the encouragement they gave to his revolted subjects. The king’s wasteful bounty towards his favourites was a constant excuse for rebellion. It was against his constable, Alvaro de Luna, that the enmity of nobles and people alike was chiefly directed.[a]

In 1439 a league (not the first) was formed against him, and was headed as usual by Henry of Aragon and the king of Navarre. Its members loudly demanded the removal of the obnoxious favourite. To dispel the approaching storm, Don Alvaro retired for a time from the court; but the confederates refused to lay down their arms until he should be forever driven from the royal presence. Though the complaints which they elaborately brought against him were for the most part invented or exaggerated, it is evident enough that he had abused his influence over the royal mind, and exhibited as much eagerness to enrich, no matter by what means, his creatures and instruments, as vindictiveness against all who ventured to thwart his will. To appease his barons, the king convoked his cortes at Valladolid; such a step was become necessary, for the leaguers had seized on some of his chief cities, and were preparing to proceed still further.

The first act of the assembly was to recommend that all parties should disarm—the king as well as the infante, the constable as well as the king of Navarre. But this recommendation led to no result; both parties continued exasperated as before. That of the king was weakened by the desertion of his only son, Prince Henry, who espoused the cause of the confederates. The queen followed the example of her son: in short, the aspect of affairs was so menacing that Don Alvaro began to turn his eyes towards Portugal in search of an asylum. Through the persuasion of the king, however, who assured him that everything should be arranged to his wish, he consented to await the result.

The horrors of internal strife were now felt in all their force; city after city was invested and taken by the confederate rebels, who showed little mercy to the partisans of the king and constable. In vain did Juan whisper peace; in vain did he appear to abide by the decision of his states, which he might summon for the purpose: as he did not at once and forever banish Don Alvaro from his presence, his entreaties and remonstrances were equally disregarded. In 1443 the rebels obtained possession of the king’s person and held him as a kind of prisoner in his own palace. Though their subsequent efforts were somewhat paralysed by the defection of Prince Henry, who even called on all good men to aid him in rescuing his father from a slavish dependence on them, they persevered not the less in their design. They took the field against both the prince and the father, who now contrived to escape and reach the camp of the former. But on this occasion the confederates were routed and dispersed in several successive actions, and their strong places recovered by the royal forces. Their estates were seized by the king, and they themselves forced to seek refuge in Aragon or Navarre. Subsequently, both the king of Navarre and his brother, the reckless Henry, collected troops, and invaded, the one Castile, the other Murcia; but without any other result than that of harassing the innocent peasantry, or wreaking vengeance on their personal enemies. Finally the victory of Olmedo, gained by Juan in person over the two brothers, the acquisition of a considerable number of prisoners, and the death of Henry (of Aragon) through a wound received in that battle, appeared to consolidate both the power of the king and the influence of the favourite.

THE FALL OF ALVARO

[1445-1453 A.D.]

But royal attachments are seldom permanent, because they are seldom founded on merit; and because the minds of men, especially those of kings, are generally incapable of any lasting impression. Though the favour of Juan II had been protracted far beyond the limits of ordinary duration, it was not to prove an exception to the usual course of human experience. Soon after the battle of Olmedo, the partiality of the monarch began to be weakened. Years elapsed before Juan could put into execution his long-meditated design of destroying his constable. His attention, indeed, was long distracted by the irruptions into his territories of the Aragonese and Navarrese, in conjunction with the Castilian exiles; and by the partial revolts which from time to time agitated his kingdom (that of Toledo for instance, occasioned by an exaction, under the name of a loan, of a million maravedis, was not suppressed without much difficulty). It was not until the year 1453, that he seriously resolved to rid himself of this formidable minister.

To rashness, and an insolent contempt of the royal power and authority, Don Alvaro soon added the crime of murder. Knowing that Alfonso de Vivero, one of his creatures, was become his secret enemy, he planned the destruction of that false confidant. One day he held in his own house a council, to which Alfonso was summoned. On the appearance of the latter, he was shown the correspondence which he had held with the king relative to the constable’s arrest, and which Alvaro had intercepted. The confusion of the traitor would have been evidence enough of his guilt, without the incontestable documents then produced. On a signal from the constable, he was dragged to the top of the tower, precipitated headlong, and dashed to pieces on the ground below. The creatures of Alvaro suddenly raised a note of lamentation, as if the fall had been purely accidental; but the king was soon acquainted with the truth, and the more confirmed in his purpose of vengeance.

[1453-1454 A.D.]

Don Alvaro was at Burgos, when the order for his arrest was given by the king to the son of the count of Plasencia, to take him dead or alive. During the night, troops were secretly placed in various parts of the city and at the entrance of the fortress, into which some men-at-arms were silently introduced. The royal order was to invest the house in which the constable resided, and thereby compel him to surrender. Accordingly the young Zuñiga, with two hundred men-at-arms and twenty horsemen, surrounded the house, exclaiming, “Castilla! Castilla! libertad para el Rey!” The constable showed his head from a window; but an arrow being shot at him, he withdrew it, and his men began to fire on the royal troops. The assault was repelled; but he himself was at length persuaded to surrender, on receiving an assurance in writing, under the king’s own hand, that his life, liberty, and even possessions should be spared. No sooner, however, was he secured, than his gold and jewels were seized by the faithless monarch, and orders given to try—in other words, to condemn him. Twelve lawyers and several barons, being assembled for this purpose, unanimously passed on him the last sentence and the confiscation of all his possessions. From Burgos he was conducted to Valladolid, where the execution was appointed to take place.

He prepared for death with firmness, and with apparent contrition for his past misdeeds. During the night preceding the execution, the king’s mind was far from tranquil. He remembered the real services of the constable through so many years, the affection he had once borne him, and the promise he had made of sparing his life. The remembrance was so troublesome that he once or twice delivered a sealed paper to the chamberlain on duty, which he wished to be taken to Zuñiga—doubtless, to stay the execution. Hearing of his agitation, the queen, whose conduct throughout was exceedingly vindictive, hastened to him, and succeeded in suspending rather than removing his scruples. As the fatal hour approached, Don Alvaro, mounted on a mule, and attended by two monks, left his house for the scaffold. On the way, the public herald, according to custom, vociferated his crimes and punishment. “I deserve all this,” said he, “and more, for my sins!” When near the scaffold, he called a page of the prince, and said to him, “Page, tell my lord the prince to reward his servants better than the king, my sovereign, now rewards me!” He ascended with a firm step, knelt for a few moments before a crucifix, bared his neck with his own hands, and quietly laid his head on the block, when the executioner plunged the knife into his throat, and afterwards separated the head from the body, amidst the tears of the surrounding multitude.

Thus fell the great constable of Castile, the victim, chiefly, of his own immeasurable ambition, and in no mean degree of courtier jealousy and of royal faithlessness. If his crimes were many, they were characteristic rather of the age than of the man: he was certainly no more criminal than the great body of the Castilian barons, who despised alike justice and reason when violence could secure their ends. To him the queen was indebted for her crown; yet she persecuted him with unrelenting hatred. The numbers whom he had enriched forsook him as his favour declined; three only of his army of dependents remained faithful to the last. And as to his trial, the most eminent legal authorities of Spain have satisfactorily proved that in his case both the spirit and forms of justice were disregarded.

Juan II did not long survive the constable: he died in 1454. He was one of the weakest and most despicable princes that ever swayed the scepter of any country. Besides two sons, he left issue the infanta Isabella,[46] so famous in the annals of Spain.[g]

HUME’S ESTIMATE OF JUAN II

[1406-1458 A.D.]

Juan II was unfortunate in living when he did. Peace-loving and amiable, one of the greatest patrons of letters who ever ruled in Spain, he was not without considerable gifts of mind, but utterly unfitted to hold the reins of government in a state during the crucial period of struggle between the aristocratic and democratic principles. Alvaro de Luna, though greedy and intolerant, ruled on the whole not unwisely, with a view to the increase of the power of the crown, and with a strong king to support him the latter might have become supreme over both elements, as his great-grandson did.

But though his long reign was politically a failure, it marks a period of social splendour at court and almost universal luxury such as had never been seen in Spain before; while Castilian letters, under the patronage of the king, reached one of those culminating points of development which appear in Spain at intervals of about two centuries. With the advance of culture and the arts of peace the old rough epics of an earlier time and the didactic verse that followed had become unfashionable; and in the early fifteenth century, both in the courts of Castile and Aragon, lyric poetry and chronicles of romantic incident became the rage. From King Juan II and Alvaro de Luna downward, almost every noble and knight wrote verses of some sort; and of the 136 poets who wrote the songs in the Cancionero General (Valencia, 1511), probably more than half belonged to the court of Juan II, while in the Cancionero de Baena the proportion must be still larger. Music, dances, theatrical interludes, and poetic competitions were the favourite diversions which kept the king amused, while Alvaro de Luna governed according to his will.[i]

THE DISASTERS OF HENRY IV

The reign of Henry IV, surnamed the Impotent, was even more disastrous than that of his father. That this surname was not undeserved, we have the testimony of his own wife, Blanche of Navarre, whom he led to the altar in 1440, and who, after a union of thirteen years, could complain that the debitum conjugale remained unpaid. On this ground, in 1453, the marriage was annulled. After his accession, however, he obtained the hand of a Portuguese infanta.

From his rebellious conduct towards his own father, it could scarcely be expected that he would be allowed to sway the sceptre in peace. Besides the disputes which he had with the crowns of Navarre and Aragon, he was perpetually subjected to the insults no less than the defiance of his turbulent nobles, and to the partial revolts of the people whom the exactions of his revenue officers never failed to exasperate. In 1457 a league was formed against him, just as it had been against the late king, and composed of the most influential barons and ecclesiastics: among these was Henry’s favourite Pacheco, for whom he had obtained the marquisate of Villena, and whom he had laden with honours and wealth. Their complaints were that the business of administration was neglected; that the king kept aloof from the hereditary advisers of his crown, and associated with individuals of low birth [these included numerous Moors], on whom he lavished his resources to the great detriment of the state. Whatever might be his other faults, he was naturally mild, and disposed to cherish his people; to their remonstrance he replied that he would convoke his cortes, and do whatever they advised him. They accordingly disbanded. But he soon abandoned himself to new favourites.

[1458-1465 A.D.]

In the meantime, the confederates again proceeded to strengthen their league: made a second petition, drawn up in more decided terms than the preceding; and, besides, insisted that the king should pay more regard to the education of the infantes, Alfonso and Isabella, and cause the former to be recognised as his heir by the states of the kingdom. As his answer was evasive, they again placed the king of Aragon and Navarre[47] at their head, and laboured by every means to obstruct the course of his government. Hostilities between him and that monarch were the consequence; but they led to nothing, especially as from time to time he found means to gain over several of the discontented lords. His satisfaction was increased by the pregnancy of his queen; who, early in 1462, was delivered of a daughter, the infanta Juana or Joanna. Though popular report did not hesitate to assign the child to the familiarity of the mother with Don Beltran de la Cueva, count of Ledesma, one of Henry’s favourites, and even applied to that issue the significant epithet of Beltraneja, the latter was not the less eager in securing the recognition of the princess as heiress to his dominions.

Henry IV

At length the marquis of Villena, the very soul of the league, being disappointed in his expectation of the grand-mastership of Santiago, which was conferred on the count of Ledesma, formed no less a project than that of arresting both king and queen, of proclaiming Alfonso, and, in concert with his confederates, of reigning under the name and authority of that young prince. Being seasonably warned by four faithful servants, the king avoided the snare. Nevertheless in a subsequent interview he agreed that his brother Alfonso should be declared his heir; that Don Beltran should resign the grand-mastership of Santiago in favour of that infante, who should be consigned to the guardianship of the marquis of Villena. Early in the following year (1465), these conditions were punctually performed: Beltran resigned the dignity, with which Alfonso was immediately invested; and that infante, on engaging to marry the Beltraneja, was, at the same time, proclaimed prince of the Asturias, and successor to the throne. But Henry’s unexampled concessions were insufficient. Henry summoned them to lay down their arms, and to surrender his brother, and went to invest Arevalo, one of their fortresses: that siege, however, he soon raised on hearing that Valladolid had declared for Alfonso, whom the rebels were conducting to Avila, to be there proclaimed king of Leon and Castile.

The scene which now disgraced Avila was one of unparalleled effrontery. In the midst of the plain, near the walls of the city, a vast theatre was constructed; in the centre rose a throne, on which was placed an effigy of Henry with a crown on the head, a sceptre in the hand, and other ensigns of royal dignity. A herald ascended the platform and read, in a loud voice, the various charges that had long been urged against the administration of the king—his neglect of justice, his incapacity, the outrages which he had committed against his kingdom and nobles; hence, that, in conformity with reason and justice, no less than the fundamental laws of the realm, the said Henry had been pronounced by the most eminent civilians to be unfit any longer to wear the crown, and that his deposition was imperiously demanded by the interests of the nation. This decision was justified by an allusion to other kingdoms, which, in various periods of history, had been compelled to depose their rulers.

No sooner was this strange homily finished than the archbishop of Toledo, with the marquis of Villena, the count of Plasencia, the grand-master of Alcantara, and other barons, ascended the platform, and approached the statue. The first took off the royal crown; the second snatched away the sceptre; the third, the sword; a fourth stripped off the kingly robe; a fifth and sixth, the other emblems of royalty: all six then simultaneously kicked the statue from the chair, and precipitated it to the ground, loading it with curses and the most insulting terms of reproach. Alfonso was next brought on the stage, and was elevated on the shoulders of the nobles, who exclaimed, “Castilla! Castilla! para el rey Don Alfonso!” The flourish of trumpets, the beating of drums, and the homage solemnly rendered to the new king, completed the scene.

[1465-1469 A.D.]

Henry was naturally anxious to punish the rebels, but their attitude was too formidable for him. They continued under arms, besieging fortress after fortress, and wreaking vengeance alike on their personal and political enemies. During these troubles there was a total relaxation of the laws; numerous bands of robbers paraded the highways, and not infrequently pillaged the towns of the kingdom; until the inhabitants formed themselves into voluntary confederations for the protection of their persons and properties. Thus continued the face of affairs until 1467, when Henry resolved to risk a battle with the rebels. He met them near Olmedo, where, after a fierce but indecisive struggle, both armies left the field, each boasting of the victory. While each was collecting reinforcements to try the event of another action, arrived a papal legate, who endeavoured to reduce the rebels to reason, and who was so imprudent as to threaten them with the thunders of the church unless they laid down their arms and submitted their complaints to arbitration. Three hundred tongues hooted him from the camp of the confederates: to avoid something worse, he hastily mounted his mule, and fled. This event, however, did not prevent the king from meeting the leaders at Segovia, where a suspension of arms was agreed on. The following year his rival, the infante Alfonso, died—an event highly favourable to the king.

The rebels, indeed, proposed to raise the infanta Isabella, his sister, to the throne, and thereby perpetuate their own impunity; but that princess, who had principles and an understanding far above her years, refused to become the tool of a few factious rebels. Finally, peace was made: Isabella and Henry met with every appearance of good will; and that princess was recognised, both by him and the great body of the barons and deputies as the undoubted heiress of the two crowns. The queen, indeed, protested against this arrangement in favour of her daughter; but her complaints passed unheeded.

MARRIAGE OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA

[1469-1474 A.D.]

In the same year was laid the foundations of a union which was to prove of such unbounded value to Spain; Juan II of Aragon solicited the hand of Isabella of Castile for his son and heir Don Ferdinand, king of Sicily. The overture was formally received by the princess; but obstacles of so formidable a nature intervened that, for some time, there was little hope of a successful issue to the negotiations. Neither the king nor the queen wished to see the cause of Isabella supported by so powerful a neighbour as the future monarch of Aragon would necessarily be. Besides, several barons, who had followed the fortunes of Henry, and procured great estates at the expense of the infanta’s adherents, naturally dreaded her accession in any case, especially if there should be a junction of her power with that of Aragon.

Queen Isabella

Such, however, was the eagerness of Juan to conclude the match; such the sums he distributed among the Castilian nobles; and so powerful the interference of the archbishop of Toledo in the cause, that her adherents decided on bringing the affair as soon as possible to a conclusion. The whole negotiation was secretly conducted; the rather as the princess was sought both by the duke of Berri, brother to the French king, and by the monarch of Portugal, whose agents were sure to oppose every obstacle in their power to the union with Aragon. For a time she was a prisoner in Madrigal, where it was evidently intended to detain her until she gave her consent to either the Portuguese or the Frenchman. The former was considered too old to have issue, the latter was too far removed to be dreaded. She contrived to acquaint her friends with her unexpected position. The primate immediately collected three hundred lances, and marched to her relief; the admiral of Castile and the bishop of Curia did the same; she was released, and triumphantly escorted to Valladolid. Ferdinand was invited to hasten from Aragon with all possible expedition, while Henry was absent in Andalusia, and receive his bride. As he was likely to be intercepted on his reaching the Castilian territory, he assumed a suitable disguise, and, with three attendants only, eluded the design of his enemies. On the 25th of October, 1469, the royal pair received the nuptial benediction in the cathedral of Valladolid.

No sooner was Henry acquainted with this precipitate marriage, than he resolved to leave no measure untried for securing the crown to Beltraneja. To the deputations of his sister and brother-in-law, who entreated him to forgive a step rendered necessary by circumstances, he returned answers studiously evasive. The profusion with which he lavished lands, lordships, and other honours on the more powerful barons, proved how anxious he was to effect his object. But his attention was long distracted, and his efforts rendered abortive, by the troubles which lacerated his kingdom. There was no longer a government: one baron made war on another, and one class of the community on another, with perfect impunity and with perfect contempt of their sovereign’s authority. In some towns the streets were deluged with blood by their contentions. But the king was too mutable in character to persevere long in any given line of conduct. In 1474 he again sought for an opportunity of entrapping and imprisoning the infanta and her husband; but his purpose was divined and eluded.

This weak monarch—weak even to helplessness—died near the close of 1474; by his last will he declared the young Juana his successor, and charged four of his most considerable barons with its execution. The desire of wiping away the stain on his manhood did not forsake him even on the verge of the grave.

On the death of Juan, Ferdinand was at Saragossa; but his consort, being at Segovia, summoned that city to acknowledge her, and was instantly obeyed: by the nobles and prelates present, both were solemnly proclaimed joint sovereigns of Castile and Leon. On his return from Aragon, there was much dispute as to the power he was to exercise in the administration. While one party contended that the undivided executive ought to depend on the queen, as domina et hæres of the monarchy, another maintained that he alone should govern; since, in default of male issue by the deceased king, the crown devolved of right to him as the next heir. But the Salic law had never been in force in this kingdom, however it might be recognised in some neighbouring states. After frequent and acrimonious consultations, it was agreed that the king and queen should reign conjointly, and that, in all public acts, his name should precede hers; but, to save her rights, or rather to satisfy Castilian jealousy, it was no less stipulated that without her express sanction he should not have power to alienate any portion of the royal revenues or domains, nor to nominate the governors of towns or fortresses. These restrictions were far from pleasing to Ferdinand, who was immoderately fond of power, and who, at first, even threatened to return into his hereditary kingdom. His indignation was disarmed by the prudence of the queen, who, by promising submission to his will, averted so fatal a misfortune.

WAR OF THE SUCCESSION (1474-1479 A.D.)

[1474-1479 A.D.]

But if the majority of the people were in favour of the new reign, there were yet many barons, and those of considerable influence, who espoused the interests of Juana. The marquis of Villena, with other barons of the same party, resolved to marry the young princess to Alfonso V of Portugal, assisted by whose arms they hoped to make head against the reigning pair. Alfonso readily embraced the proposals of the disaffected: he collected troops, and at the same time, as uncle of Juana, applied to the pope for a dispensation to celebrate the marriage.

However important the stake for which the two parties now began to contend, the details of that contention are too obscure in themselves, and were too indecisive, to merit minute attention. Though the Portuguese obtained some partial successes, among others the strong fortress of Zamora, the war was decidedly in favour of the Castilian sovereigns: in the very first campaign the marquis of Villena had the mortification to see his hereditary domains in possession of the royal forces; while many of the towns and forts, which had at first declared for Juana, returned to their duty. In 1476 the Portuguese king was compelled to retreat from Zamora, which was invested by Ferdinand; near Toro he was overtaken by his active enemy, and a battle ensued, in which victory declared for the latter;[48] it was immediately followed by the surrender of the fortress. About the same time, Madrid, which had held for Juana, capitulated to the duke del Infantado: Ucles followed the example. Both the marquis and the primate were now tired of their ally and their cause. Negotiations were opened; and, in September, 1479, satisfactorily concluded at Alcacebas.

The principal conditions were that Alfonso should renounce the title of king of Castile; that he should neither marry, nor in any way favour the pretensions of Doña Juana; that “this pretended daughter of the late king, Don Henry,” should be allowed six months to decide whether she would wait until the infante Juan (only son of Ferdinand and Isabella, then but a year old) arrived at a marriageable age, or take the veil; that the Portuguese should restore the few places they still held in Estremadura. It was added that if, on arriving at a proper age, the infante should be averse to the match, he had only to pay 100,000 pistoles to be at liberty to marry whom he pleased. The unfortunate lady, seeing that she was sacrificed to the interests of the two kings, professed in the convent of St. Clair at Coimbra.[49]

The very year in which peace was thus happily restored between Castile and Portugal, Ferdinand, by the death of his father, Juan II, was called to the throne of Aragon. Having received the homage and confirmed the privileges of his Aragonese subjects at Saragossa, of the Catalonians at Barcelona, and of the Valencians in the capital of that province, he returned into Castile.[g]

There was now a Spain, though the government of the two kingdoms was separately administered under separate constitutions long after the time of Ferdinand and Isabella; yet the double throne was after all one throne, and Spain was at last a nation, fronting the world united, as far as the Spaniards of that time could be united, and the first reign of the new realm was the most glorious of all.[a]

FOOTNOTES

[44] Let us hope that the atrocities of the English allies—so gently noticed by Froissart[d]—are exaggerated; yet certain it is that the old Portuguese chroniclers dwelt largely on them: “Nao se cançaõ os nossos chronistas de encarecer as atrocidades que estas tropas auxiliares cometteraõ em todos os terrenos de Portugal por onde andaraõ,” says Lemos.[e] “King Ferdinand,” says the Chronicon Conimbricense[f] “had to seize the church plate to satisfy his allies: Mandou o ditto senhor rey tomar os thesouros das igrejas, convem a saber, frontaes, e calices et magestades, para pagar o soldo aos dittos Ingrezos.”

[45] [Hume[i] calls him “one of the noblest personages of Spanish history.”]

[46] [While there are discrepant statements as to the date and place of Isabella’s birth, Prescott accepts April 22nd, 1451, as the date, and Madrigal as the place.[l] Burke[h] emphasises the fact that in her veins flowed the blood both of Guzmans and of Plantagenets; both her great-grandmother and her grandmother were English.]

[47] Juan, king of Navarre, who in 1458 had succeeded his brother Alfonso as king of Aragon.

[48] In this battle it was somewhat singular to see two eminent ecclesiastical dignitaries, the cardinal De Mendoza and the archbishop of Toledo, fighting on opposite sides. There was something not exactly apostolic in the former’s hastening along the Castilian ranks, with a crucifix borne before him, shouting, “Knaves, fight away! have ye not a cardinal with you?”

[In honour of this victory Isabella walked barefoot in a religious procession through the streets.]

[49] Alfonso later abdicated and went into a monastery.