This great campaign ended with the conquest of Algeciras and covered Alfonso’s name with glory and honour, both in the estimation of his contemporaries and of posterity; to defray its cost the estate of Burgos, after the example of the Moors, granted the Alcabala tax, a twentieth on all movable and real property, whenever it was sold or bartered, an impost most injurious to trade and commerce which though first intended to last only during the war was afterwards continued for the future. Six years later (1350), at the siege of Gibraltar, King Alfonso was carried off by the plague, which, coming from Asia, now spread itself like a destroying angel over the whole of Europe.[f] MARIANA’S ACCOUNT OF PEDRO THE CRUEL In Castile, grave disturbances, storms, events, cruel and bloody wars, deceit, treachery, exiles, and innumerable deaths, followed one on the other; many great lords met with a violent end, numerous were the civil wars, no care was taken of matters either sacred or profane; none knew whether to attribute these disorders to the new king or to the nobles. By common opinion they were laid to the king’s charge, so much so that he earned from the people the nickname of “the cruel.” Some trustworthy authors attribute the majority of these disorders to the intemperance of the nobles, who, heedless of right, followed their inclinations and inordinate avarice and ambition in all things good or evil, so that the king was compelled to punish their excesses. Upon the death of Don Alfonso, Don Pedro, his son by his lawful wife, was there and then proclaimed king in the camp, as was just, though he was only fifteen years and seven months old and was absent in Seville, where he had remained with his mother. In years he was unfitted for such grave cares, in natural disposition he showed capacity for great things. He had a pale complexion, handsome countenance, and majestic air; his hair was fair, and his stature commanding. He showed signs of great courage, wisdom, and other qualities. In mind and body he was undaunted by difficulty and fatigue. Falconry and hawking were his chief pleasures. He was upright in the administration of justice. To these virtues he joined vices equally great, which were already visible and increased with age. He despised others, spoke insolently, listened haughtily, and granted an audience with difficulty, not only to strangers but also to members of his own household. These bad qualities were visible from his early childhood; avarice, dissoluteness, and harshness were added to them in the course of time. [Illustration: LEONORA DE GUZMAN (Thrown into prison by order of Pedro the Cruel)]