The historians' history of the world in twenty-five volumes, volume 10 : $b Spain and Portugal
History
The historians' history of the world in twenty-five volumes, volume 10 : $b Spain and Portugal
World history
The inactivity of Pedro on the invasion of his kingdom was such as to
leave it a doubtful point with posterity whether he was a coward, or
whether he knew too well the disaffection of his people to hazard a
battle with the enemy. In opposition to the urgent remonstrances of the
inhabitants, he precipitately left Burgos for Seville, without venturing
his sword with his aspiring brother. Henry hastened to the abandoned
city, where he was joyfully received by many deputies of the towns, and
crowned in the monastery of Huelgas. With the money he found in the
Alcazar, and the presents made him by the Jewish inhabitants, he was able
to gratify his followers; their chiefs he rewarded more nobly: thus,
to Du Guesclin he gave the lordship of Molina and Trastamara; and to
the Englishman Hugh de Calverley, who, with the former, had the chief
command of the auxiliaries, the city and lordship of Carrion; on his
brother Tello he conferred the sovereignty of Biscay; on Sancho, another
brother, that of Albuquerque and Ledesma. He now lost no time in pursuing
the fugitive Pedro. Presenting himself before Toledo, he summoned that
important place to surrender; which, after some deliberation, obeyed the
summons. There he was joined by deputies from Avila, Segovia, Madrid,
Cuenza, Ciudad Real, with the submission of those towns. He was now
master of the whole of New Castile.
[Illustration: A SPANISH KING OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY]
The rapidity of these successes convinced the guilty Pedro that his
own subjects alone would form but a poor rampart against the assaults
of his brother. To procure the aid of Portugal, he sent his daughter
Beatrice, now the heiress of his states (his son Alfonso was no more),
into that country, with a great treasure as her marriage portion, for
the infante Don Ferdinand, to whom she had been promised. He was himself
soon obliged to follow her: an insurrection of the Sevillians, who openly
declared for Henry, inspiring the detested tyrant with a just dread of
his life, he fled into the territories of his uncle and ally. But here
new mortifications awaited him: the Portuguese returned both his daughter
and his treasures, on the pretext that, the states of Castile having
acknowledged Henry, the latter had no wish to plunge the two kingdoms
into war; all that he could obtain was permission to pass through the
Portuguese territory--he durst not venture into Estremadura--into
Galicia. No sooner was he arrived at Monterey, than the archbishop of
Santiago, Ferdinand de Castro, and other Galician lords, joined him, and
advised him to try the fortune of arms; especially as Zamora, Soria,
Logroño, and other cities still held for him: but, though they offered
to aid him with two thousand foot and five hundred horse, either through
cowardice or distrust he rejected the proposal, and set out for Santiago,
with the resolution of proceeding thence to Corunna, and embarking for
Bayonne, to join his ally the prince of Wales.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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