These failings, to which he was naturally addicted, increased under the tuition of Don Juan Alfonso de Albuquerque, the tutor given him by his father when a little child to train him in good habits. This may be suspected from the fact that, after he was king, this man was admitted to his intimacy, and in all things was given great authority, to the envy and discontent of the nobles, who declared that he endeavoured to increase his wealth at the expense of the public good—the worst possible of all plagues.[g]
Thus the historian Mariana.[g] The figure of Pedro I stands in history and romance for that of a monster of cruelty, though it must be borne in mind that Pedro López de Ayala,[h] the chronicler who has left us an account of his reign, was the friend and supporter of his rebellious brother Henry of Trastamara. Pedro was the only son of Maria of Portugal, queen of Alfonso XI, but Alfonso’s mistress, Leonora de Guzman, had several sons of whom Henry (Enrique) was the eldest. His father had settled on him the great domain and title of Trastamara, and he is generally known as Henry of Trastamara.[a]
[1350-1352 A.D.]
On the accession of Pedro, Leonora de Guzman, dreading his resentment, or rather that of the queen-mother, retired to the city of Medina Sidonia, which formed her appanage. Through the perfidious persuasions, however, of a Lara and an Albuquerque, who governed the mind of Pedro, and who pledged their knightly faith that she had nothing to fear, she proceeded to Seville to do homage to the new sovereign. No sooner did she reach that city, than she was arrested and placed under a guard in the Alcazar. The eldest of her sons, who was permitted to visit her there, would have shared the same fate, had he not precipitately retreated from the capital. From Seville she was soon transferred to Carmona; and if her life was spared a few months, it was not owing to the forbearance, but to the indisposition of the king, which was at one time so dangerous as to render his recovery hopeless. Unfortunately for Spain, he did recover; and one of his first objects, early in 1351, was to draw her from Carmona, and make her accompany him to Talavera, where she was consigned to a still closer confinement. Her doom was soon sealed: in a few days she was put to death by the express order of the queen; no doubt, with the concurrence of the king.
This murder was quickly followed by another. Having despatched one of his creatures to Burgos, to levy, by his own authority alone, a tax which, to be legal, required the sanction of the states, the people resisted, and slew his collector. Accompanied by his unscrupulous adviser, Don Juan de Albuquerque, he hastened to that capital, to inflict summary vengeance on the inhabitants. They naturally took up arms; and being joined by Garcilasso de la Vega, the adelantado of Castile, sent a messenger to the king, disclaiming all wish to oppose his authority, but beseeching him not to allow Albuquerque, whose violent character they well knew, to attend him. The request was disregarded; the count arrived, and the doom of Garcilasso was sealed.
No sooner did Pedro perceive him, than the command was given; “Ballasteros,[32] seize Garcilasso!” The adelantado begged for a confessor; but no attention would have been paid to the request, had not a priest accidentally appeared in sight. Both having retired for a few minutes into a corner, Albuquerque, who bore great enmity to the prisoner, desired the king to order what was to be done, and the ballasteros were immediately told to kill Garcilasso. On receiving the order, the men, who could not conceive it was seriously given, hesitated to fulfil it: one of them, approaching the king, said, “Sir king, what are we to do with Garcilasso?” “Kill him!” was the reply.
The man returned, and with a mace struck the adelantado on the head, while another associate despatched him. The bleeding body was thrown into the street; where, after lying for some time to be trodden under foot by some bulls which were passing, it was removed outside the walls of the city, to be there buried. The same fate would have befallen the child Nuño de Lara, who by his father’s death was become the hereditary lord of Biscay, had not his governess, apprised of the intention, removed to a fortress in the heart of the Biscayan Mountains. The child, however, soon died; and Pedro, by imprisoning the female heirs, obtained what he so much coveted—the rich domains of that house.
Pedro proceeded to Ciudad Rodrigo, to confer on the interests of the two kingdoms with his grandfather, the sovereign of Portugal. Well had it been for him had he followed the advice of that monarch, who urged on him the necessity of living on a good understanding with his illegitimate brothers, and of forgiving the natural indignation they had shown at the death of their mother. But both brothers soon left him and revolted. Some of the confederates were reduced and put to death; but the princes themselves eluded his pursuit,—Don Tello by fleeing into Aragon. While besieging the places which had thrown off his authority, he became enamoured of Doña Maria de Padilla, who was attached to the service of his favourite’s lady, Doña Isabella de Albuquerque. Through the persuasion of this unprincipled minister, the uncle of the young lady, Don Juan de Henestrosa, did not hesitate to sacrifice the honour of his house by consigning her to the arms of the royal gallant. The connection thus formed, which continued unto the death of Doña Maria, brought the greatest disasters on the country.
[1352-1353 A.D.]