The spirit of stern, revengeful justice which had marked the commencement of the short reign of Dom Pedro continued to show itself in all matters of administration; the king loved to dispense justice in person, and the rigour with which he treated all culprits, noble and priest as well as merchant and vagabond, won for him the title of “Pedro the Severe.” This severity was not unpleasing to the people, and many tales are extant of the king’s visits _incognito_ to the law courts, and of his rigorous punishment of unjust judges. Many of the famous stories told in the “Arabian Nights” of the Caliph Harun-ar-Rashid are also told of Dom Pedro, and in them his Chancellor, Vasco Martins de Sousa, played the part of the Vizīr, as companion and butt. In matters of policy Dom Pedro followed in his father’s and grandfather’s steps, avoiding interference with the other kingdoms of the peninsula, and maintaining a close political and commercial connection with England. His reign was too short to leave much trace on the history of Portugal, for he died in 1367 at Estremoz, and was buried at Alçobaça by the side of Ines de Castro. The accession of Ferdinand, called “the Handsome,” the only son of Dom Pedro by Constance Manuel, marks a crisis in the history of the Portuguese monarchy. As a natural result of the long era of peace and prosperity which had succeeded the final conquest of the Algarves, the people of Portugal had become more wealthy, more cultivated, and more conscious of their nationality than almost any people in Europe while the Court had become more and more dissolute, and more out of consonance with the feelings of the people. If the Portuguese monarchy was to continue to exist, it was obvious that it must again become a truly national monarchy, as it had been in the days of Affonso Henriques and of Diniz, which should lead the way in finding new outlets for the growing energies of the people, and that the kings must remember their duties, and not think only of their pleasures. The affection the people showed for Dom Pedro, who was by no means a good king, but rather a despot of the Oriental type, was a proof that they were ready to recognize with gratitude the efforts of a just monarch, and their energies, now that, owing to long peace, they were the richest nation in the peninsula, only needed to be directed. Neither the priesthood nor the nobility showed any disposition to check the dissoluteness of the Court. The bishops lost their old commanding influence, as the Papacy, on which they depended, became degenerate, and the nobles, now that they had no longer wars to occupy them, either became courtiers and abettors of the vices of the kings and princes, or else lived on their feudal estates and imitated them. The people had now no share in the government. The power which the Cortes had obtained during the reign of Affonso III. was in abeyance, because the king did not need its help