King Don Alonso I de Aragona did not feel safe with the crown of the Regno which he wore. The House of Anjou claimed it. Madame Marguerite d’Anjou, daughter of the poet-king Réné, had ceded or sold her rights to the Christian King Louis XI of France, whose claim was supported by the Lord Martin P.P. III. The Magnanimous King Don Alonso I threatened to espouse the cause and benefit by the aid of the Pseudopontiff (called Clement VIII); and so the materials for a devastating conflagration were brought together. But the diplomacy of Bishop Alonso de Borja was repeated here. Once again, by negotiating the peaceful disappearance of a pseudopontiff, he earned the gratitude of the Pope; and the Lord Martin P.P. III, Who owed so much to Bishop Alonso, was easily persuaded to look favourably also upon Bishop Alonso’s royal master. Unfortunately the Pope died, and His Successor, the Lord Eugenius P.P. IV had a prejudice for the French claim, which resulted in a renewal of the quarrel in 1439. But a third time the difficulties of the Roman Pontiff were turned to account by Bishop Alonso. When the schismatic Synod of Basilea, to gain some private ends, futilely pronounced a sentence of excommunication and deposition upon the Lord Eugenius P.P. IV, and elected the ambitious Duke Amadeo of Savoja as Pseudopontiff with the name Felix V, all Christendom expected that King Don Alonso, who was a very crafty potentate, would be only too happy to make common cause with the rival of that Pope who would not confirm his crown to him. But all Christendom was disappointed. King Don Alonso’s secretary ably manœuvred in his accustomed manner. First, Bishop Alonso de Borja in his proper person refused to attend that schismatic Synod of Basilea; and, by this act, became persona gratissima at the Vatican. Second, the King of Naples instructed his Orators (ambassadors) to play with Pontiff and pseudopontiff, to find out which would meet him with a satisfactory concession. Third, Don Francesco Sforza-Visconti, Duke of Milan, began to harass the Lord Eugenius P.P. IV. And, then, the Pope agreed to receive an embassage from the King of Naples, and to hear his cause pleaded by Bishop Alonso de Borja. This was the cause of King Don Alonso. A bastard of the House of Aragon, he had been adopted by Queen Doña Juana of Naples, who lacked a lineal heir, in 1420. He was acknowledged by the people as sovereign of the Regno, and was actually in possession of the crown. The Christian King Louis XI. also claimed to have been adopted by Queen Doña Juana: but he never had been acknowledged, nor ever had possessed the crown. Then there was the matter of King Don Alonso’s bastard, Don Ferrando. The childless Queen believed him to be the son of Doña Margarita de Hijar, one of her ladies; and, in jealous rage, she smothered her. Whereupon the King banished his wife to Aragon, and legitimated Don Ferrando as his heir.