[300] “Nos desnaturamos,” “We falsify our natures,” is the striking old Castilian phrase used by the principal personages on this occasion, and, among the rest, by the Constable Alvaro de Luna, to signify that they are not, for the time being, bound to obey even the king. Seguro, Cap. 3.
[301] See Crónica de Juan el IIº, 1440-41 and 1444, Cap. 3. Well might Manrique, in his beautiful Coplas on the instability of fortune break forth,—
Que se hizo el Rey Don Juan?
Los Infantes de Aragon,
Que se hizieron?
Que fue de tanto galan,
Que fue de tanta invencion,
Como truxeron?
Luis de Aranda’s commentary on this passage is good, and well illustrates the old Chronicle;—a rare circumstance in such commentaries on Spanish poetry.
[302] Pulgar (Claros Varones de Castilla, Madrid, 1775, 4to, Título 3) gives a beautiful character of him.