The grandfather's feelings were touched, and he left her unharmed. But the arguments of his favorites, Gonsalves, Pacheco, and Coelho, who had attended him to Coimbra, taught him to despise his compassion as a weakness, and induced him to authorize them to perpetrate the crime they urged. The three courtiers hurried back, buried their daggers in the bosom of their defenceless victim, and rejoined their master with hands dyed in the blood of his daughter-in-law.

The grief and rage of Don Pedro when apprised of his loss, bordered upon madness, and exercised a fearful influence over much of his subsequent life. Revenge became his ruling passion. The prince immediately revolted against his father, deluged one half of Portugal in blood, and was proceeding to devastate the other half, when his mother's interposition stayed his fury. He listened to her remonstrances upon the injustice of punishing the people for their sovereign's crime; and, laying down his arms, submitted to a reconciliation with his father. The king employed all means to appease his son, and divert his thoughts from the murdered Iñez. Her assassins he sent out of the country to secure them from future revenge.

In 1357 Alfonso IV. died; and Pedro of Portugal's first thought upon ascending the throne was vengeance for the murder of his wife. For this purpose his first step was to conclude a treaty with Pedro of Castile, in whose dominions the murderers resided, for the mutual restitution of fugitive offenders. Further to secure his grand object the king of Portugal agreed to the marriage of his three sons, Ferdinand, John, and Denis,-Alfonso was deadwith three of the king of Castile's daughters by Maria de Padilla, a lady whom Pedro the Cruel loved with an unbounded passion, to which his ill treatment of his queen is attributed. The Castilian fugitives required in exchange for the murderers of Iñez, are said to have been innocent men, unjustly persecuted by Pedro the Cruel's hatred. The more favorable view taken of that monarch's character would render this improbable; but at all events the Portuguese Pedro's thirst of vengeance was too ardent to hesitate at almost any sacrifice that might insure its gratification. He obtained possession of only two of the objects of his hatred, Gonsalves and Coelho; Pacheco, having received an intimation of his danger, had escaped into Aragon. Pedro put

his wife's assassins to death with tortures too horrible for description, and glutted his eyes with their sufferings. The next measure, prompted by his excessive and unalterable passion, if less morally objectionable, partakes more of insanity. After having solemnly sworn before the assembled Cortes that he had obtained a papal dispensation, and been lawfully married to Iñez de Castro, in the presence of the bishop Guarda, and his own chief equerry, both of whom confirmed his oath by theirs, he ordered her corse to be raised from the tomb, her coronation to be celebrated with every civil and religious rite, and her dead hand kissed by all who would have rendered that homage to the living queen, beginning with her step-son and his heir, the Infante Ferdinand. The remains of Iñez were then re-interred with appropriate honors in the royal sepulchre at Alcobaça, whither, during his whole after life, Pedro was in the frequent habit of retiring, to indulge in meditation over the grave of his wife, and that destined for himself. The children of Iñez were of course declared legitimate, and all her attendants were profusely rewarded. Pedro of Portugal was the only Peninsular king who kept clear of the civil wars of Castile.

Castile, 1361-1391, was involved in the rebellions and disorders in Granada. Pedro having divorced two queens married his mistress. Bertrand du Guesclin, the renowned French warrior, invaded Castile at the head of a numerous body of malcontents and easily overpowered Pedro, and Henry of Transtamar was crowned king at Burgos. Pedro fled to Bordeaux, then the capital of the English dominions in France, and besought the aid of Edward the Black Prince, who agreed to escort Pedro back to his dominions at the head of 30,000 men. Henry purchased the alliance of Pedro of Aragon, and that of Charles of Navarre. Pedro on the other hand offered Charles two towns, and the king of Navarre earned both bribes. In a pitched battle Henry's army was routed, Du Guesclin made prisoner, and Pedro was again sovereign of Leon and Castile. Henry, who had fled to France, obtained money, ransomed Du Guesclin, and again invaded Castile at the head of well disciplined troops. Pedro was worsted and delivered himself up to Du Guesclin, who handed him over to Henry, who plunged a sword into his heart. So liberal in his gifts was Henry II. that he was distinguished as Henriquenas.

Ferdinand of Portugal, 1367-1369, laid claim to Henry II.'s crown. John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, was another pretender to the crown. Under Henry II. the Jews first began to be really oppressed in Spain.

Her

In Portugal, 1373-1387, Queen Leonora was the moving spirit. She was clever, ambitious, and unprincipled. She plunged her country into war with Castile, and only saved it by the timely arrival of an English fleet, under the Earl of Cambridge, a younger brother of the Duke of Lancaster. royal husband, Ferdinand, died in 1383, and Leonora was appointed regent for her daughter. To her was opposed Don John, King Pedro's son by an illicit connection, appointed by his father grand master of the Portuguese order of Knights of Avis. In a conspiracy against Avis, one of the conspirators, Garcia Gonsalves de Valdez, was seized and burnt.

In retaliation for this execution, one of his confederates, named Duque, who had secured himself in Torres Vedras, of which he was governor, cut off the noses of six Portuguese prisoners, whom he sent, thus mutilated, to the regent. In the first emotion of anger, Don John ordered six Castilian prisoners to be similarly mangled; but before the messenger could leave his presence, stopped him, saying, "I have sufficiently vented my indignation by issuing such orders; to execute them were disgraceful. Do not hurt the Castilians." This is esteemed one of the noblest passages of the master of Avis's life, and touched even his adversaries with admiration. Prisoners were thenceforward treated with more humanity. In 1385, the master of Avis was proclaimed king, by the title of John I.

John and Beatrice of Castile did not of course recognize the right of election assumed by the Portuguese Cortes, and still prosecuted their claim to the throne. The fortune of war for some time fluctuated; and John of Portugal was so inferior in power to his competitor, that he would fain have delayed any decisive engagement until the arrival of the Duke of Lancaster, whom he had strenuously urged to take this opportunity of renewing his endeavors to establish his wife's right to the kingdoms of her forefathers; and whom he was daily expecting with a considerable army.

John, however, was compelled to give battle, and gained a complete victory. The Duke of Lancaster

soon afterward landed with his English troops; Portugal was cleared of enemies. John of Gaunt was accompanied by his family, and King John married his daughter Blanche, heiress of Lancaster.

In Aragon, 1386-1398, John I., though a mild. prince, was almost as much harassed with rebellion as his tyrannical father had been. The chief grievance complained of by his Aragonese subjects was of a very whimsical kind. His queen was warmly attached to a lady named Donna Caraza Vilaragut, who excelled as a poet and musician; and her majesty, delighting in her favorite's talents, had established at court academies of poetry and music. These were considered as Mahometan abominations, and provoked such bitter wrath among the Aragonese, as actually to produce insurrection; and the king was in the end forced to prohibit his queen's elegant amusements, and to banish her talented friend. The usual troubles prevailed in Sardinia, which he at length pacified, by conciliating Donna Eleanora di Arborea, the heiress of the principal turbulent chieftain of that island.

In Castile, 1390-1406, the new king, Henry III., by the exemplary frugality with which he renounced the pomp of royalty, reducing his household to the scale of a private gentleman's, and by the firmness with which he repressed the encroachments of the courtiers, accustomed to enrich themselves at the expense of king and public, he replenished the treasury, drained by the calamitous wars of his father, and the profusion of his grandfather.

Under Henry the contests with the popes respecting church patronage, which had subsisted ever since Alfonso X.'s alteration of the old Gothic law upon the subject, reached their height. The kingdom rang with complaints of the intrusion of Italians into every benefice and ecclesiastical dignity; and the Cortes, to remedy the evil, passed a law declaring foreigners incapable of holding any church preferment in the realm.

To give in detail the history of the next few years would prove as uninteresting as it would be useless. It is a mere repetition of intrigue, jeal ousy, and warfare. Kings and queens succeeded one another in rapid succession, some to die in cloisters, others in coat of mail. The third son of King John I. of Portugal, Prince Henry, grand master of the Order of Knights of Christ, was a great student and navigator, and it is to him that is

due the discovery and settlement, in 1418, of the island of Madeira. Prince Henry also bought the newly-discovered Canaries. This prince with his brother were unfortunate in their engagement with the Moors in Africa, the Infante Ferdinand dying in captivity.

In Granada, 1407-1427, Jusef, the rightful king, unexpectedly recovered his throne at a moment when he had little hope of preserving his life. His usurping brother, Mahomet, was taken ill, and, understanding his case to be desperate, in order to secure his son's succession he wrote to the alcayde of Salobrena, to whom he had entrusted the safe keeping of Jusef, to cut off his prisoner's head, and return it by the bearer of the letter. The alcayde was engaged at chess with the prince, whose amiable qualities had won his affection, when this cruel. mandate was delivered to him. He sat speechless with horror at its purport, whilst Ahmed, the messenger, urged the necessity of prompt obedience, and his own immediate departure with his allotted burden. The prince took the paper from the alcayde's hands, read it, and calmly asked a few hours to take leave of his family. Ahmed refused this request, and again urged an immediate execution, as his own life depended upon his reaching Granada at the appointed minute. With great difficulty he was at length persuaded to allow time for finishing the game at chess. The distressed alcayde could not play, and the intended victim quietly pointed out the blunders by which his antagonist was giving him the victory more rapidly than he desired; when, just as the decisive checkmate could no longer be deferred, two noble cavaliers arrived at full gallop from Granada, bringing intelligence of Mahomet's death; and those who were about to deprive the prince of life kissed his hand as their sovereign. Granada immediately acknowledged him as Jusef III.

His brilliant and chivalrous court was thronged with exiles and malcontents from the different states of the Peninsula, and was visited by all those young and noble gallants, who found obstacles opposed at home to the settlement of their disputes by the established mode of duel; for which Jusef willingly afforded every facility, presiding over the lists in person.

Jusef died in 1423, and was succeeded by his son Mahomet VII., surnamed el Hayzari, or the left

handed. The new king was haughty and reserved, and immediately incurred the ill-will of his subjects. He was dethroned by his cousin, who mounted the throne as Mahomet VIII. Jusef aben Zeragh, who had been Mahomet VII.'s hagib, and the numerous members of his widely-spreading family (the Abencerrages, probably, of Spanish romance), were objects of anxious suspicion to Mahomet VIII. They received timely warning of a plot for their destruction, and most of them escaped from Granada. Those who remained were assassinated by the usurper's orders. Jusef aben Zeragh and forty of his kindred fled to Castile.

The Aben Zeraghs were received by King John II. of Castile with open arms, and his ablest general, Don Alvaro de Luna, grand constable of Castile, with the Castile army espoused the cause of the dethroned Mahomet VII., besieging Mahomet VIII. in the Alhambra, from whence the usurper was delivered up and beheaded. King John II. spent nine-tenths of his life in supporting the nation against his tyrannical favorite De Luna, and the last tenth in getting rid of him. From 1441 to 1454 Granada was the scene of dispute between two cousins for the sovereignty, in which Mahomet Ben Ismael triumphed.

Few reigns have opened more auspiciously than that of Henry IV. of Castile, 1450-1469. In his wars with Granada, he early made himself master of Gibraltar, whilst the governors of his frontier. towns incessantly ravaged the Mussulman territories, gradually narrowing them by small conquests. This border warfare produced many romantic adventures that have furnished the subjects of Spanish ballads. Here is one of them. Ferdinand Narvaez, commandant of Antequera, stood in the foremost rank of Castile's adventurous frontier governors. One day, a party of his men who had been out upon a marauding expedition into the hostile territories, brought home with them a young Moorish cavalier, handsome in person, and splendidly attired, whom they had surprised alive. The captive declared himself the son of the alcayde of Ronda; and the burst of tears accompanying his words astonished Narvaez, as altogether unbecoming the son of so gallant a warrior as the alcayde. The young Moor explained that he wept, not his captivity, but the disappointment of his dearest hopes; that he loved the daughter of a neighboring al

cayde, who had promised to wed him secretly that very night. "Pledge me your word to return," said Narvaez, "and you are free to visit her." The youth stood beneath his lady's window in dawn, and told her that he was a prisoner, that he had come only to bid her an eternal farewell. The maiden replied, "Can I live free, whilst thou art a prisoner? My lot must be one with thine; and the contents of this casket will ransom us both, or support us in captivity." Before the shades of the next evening fell, the youth and maiden presented themselves to Narvaez, and he, touched by their love and fidelity, released them, and escorted them in safety to Ronda.

The kingdom's fair prospects were early overcast by the effects of Henry's levity and indolence, and addiction to favoritism, in which he even exceeded his father. His treacherous and rapacious minion, Don John de Pacheco, whom he created Marquis of Villena, was far less able and more criminal than Don Alvaro de Luna; and is said to have received a bribe from Louis XI. of France, to prevent the union of Catalonia with Castile. Certain it is that the union was not effected; and that the French king, who at this very time was carrying on intrigues for the annexation of Catalonia to France, was shortly afterwards acknowledged by the Catalans as their feudal sovereign.

Henry's only daughter, Joanna, was regarded as the fruit of the queen's adulterous intercourse with one of his favorites. Henry was deposed, and restored on condition that he acknowledged his sister Isabella as his heiress. This lady was as much distinguished for her virtue aud prudence, as for her abilities. She married Ferdinand, the son of the king of Navarre; thus her marriage with the heir of Aragon promised to unite the two most powerful of the separate Spanish kingdoms into one yet more powerful state.

Henry died in 1474. Isabella did not, on her brother's death, succeed quictly to an uncontested and untroubled throne. Donna Joanna was supported by Alfonso of Portugal. The government was conducted in the name of Ferdinand and Isabella, who were glad to conclude a two years' truce with the Moorish king of Granada, Muley Aly Abul Hassan, in order to devote their undivided attention to the maintenance of their daughter Isabella's title, against Joanna, and her Portuguese betrothed

uncle. Alfonso invaded Castile, 1464-1479, and got worsted. He applied for aid to Louis XI. of France, also to Charles the Bold of Burgundy. Louis promised succor, but the bold Burgundian flatly refused. This so mortified Alfonso, that he resolved upon a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The regent, Don John, on receipt of this determination, caused himself to be proclaimed king. A few days afterwards he was informed that his father, King Alfonso, had landed in Portugal; and he asked the Duke of Braganza, with whom, and the Archbishop of Lisbon, he was walking, how he should receive him? "As your father and your king," promptly replied the duke.

The young monarch stood silent, flinging stones into the river; and the prelate whispered to the duke, "That stone shall not light upon my head." The newly-proclaimed sovereign, after a tough struggle, conquered himself, and sank back into the obedient infante. Alfonso concluded a peace with Ferdinand and Isabella, and Joanna retired to the convent of Santa Clara, where she took the veil. In Castile, the bonds of the law were everywhere relaxed, consequent upon the war with Alfonso, and a state of anarchy existed of which one instance will be given to demonstrate the condition of affairs.

Agiular, governor of Cordova, authorized the rescue of two murderers whom the officers of justice were conveying to prison by order of the corregidor, or chief magistrate of the town. The corregidor, on being violently attacked, was compelled to take refuge in a church. Agiular dared not in person to violate the sanctuary, but he employed a body of Mahometan prisoners to break open the sacred edifice, and drag out the corregidor, whom Agiular clapped into one of his castles in revenge for a private feud. Conduct so flagitious was Isabella forced to pardon in consideration of Agiular releasing her corregidor.

Isabella in 1480 sanctioned the introduction of the Inquisition in Spain, the first establishment being at Seville. Family dissensions now endangered the kingdom of Granada, 1475-1484.

Queen Zoraya, the mother of the heir apparent, Abu Abdallah, conceived a jealousy of a Christian slave, by whom the king had two sons, Cid Alnayer, and Cid Yahie, that at first distracted only the harem and the court, but soon extended its mischievous effects to the city of Granada, which was

split into the factions of Zoraya, and of the fair Christian.

Zoraya, in the virulence of her jealousy and hatred of a rival, had lavished her treasures and her influence in organizing and increasing a faction, through whose agency she projected deposing her husband, and placing her son Abu Abdallah prematurely upon his father's throne. The king upon reaching Granada imprisoned both mother and son; but Zoraya, by bribing their jailers, gained admittance for herself and her women to Abu Abdallah's apartment; where they formed a rope of their veils and robes, by means of which they let the prince down from the window. Abu Abdallah joined his partisans, and was immediately proclaimed king. Granada now became a scene of blood and conflict; the father occupying one fortified palace within its walls, the Alhambra, and the son another, the Albaycin, whilst their factions battled in the streets. The old king, hoping that military success against the Christians might recall his subjects to loyalty, quitted his strong hold to attempt the relief of Loxa. He succeeded, and routed Ferdinand's army; but during his absence, his son seized upon the Alhambra, and thus made himself sole master of the capital.

In Portugal, 1479-1492, John II. promoted maritime discoveries, and reigned with considerable austerity. He was surrounded by powerful conspirators, who sought his life. One of them he summoned to court, and plunged a dagger into his heart. This vigor beyond the law dismayed the rest. The Cape of Good Hope was named by John, whose great desire was to have Bartholomew Dias sail round Africa into the Indian Ocean. John's only son married the Infanta Isabella, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, but was killed whilst riding a race with a courtier.

Meanwhile, 1484-1490, Ferdinand and Isabella steadily pursued their design of extirpating the last remnant of Mussulman domination in Spain. Under the show of supporting their vassal, Abu Abdallah, they wrested one by one every place in the kingdom from Abdallah el Zagal, whose prowess and gallantry, counteracted as he was by civil dissension, could only prolong the struggle. The war lasted ten years from its commencement by the Moorish capture of Zahara. In every campaign Ferdinand commanded his army in person; and

Isabella not only, by her diligence and frugality, supplied him with all things requisite for his opera tions, but frequently appeared in the camp, animating the zeal of the troops by her resolution, and further encouraging them by her solicitude in providing for their wants, contributing to their comforts, and securing due tendance for the sick and wounded. However feminine in its manner were this participation in her husband's military toils, it occasionally exposed the queen to considerable danger. While the Spanish army was besieging Malaga, a Moor issued from the town with the intention of assassinating both the king and queen. To obtain an opportunity of executing his design, he demanded an audience of the royal pair, in order, as he said, to reveal to them a certain method of penetrating into the besieged city. The supposed deserter was conducted to headquarters, and introduced into the apartment of Donna Beatrice de Bovadilla, the queen's favorite lady. Seeing Donna Beatrice richly dressed, and engaged at chess with Don Alvaro de Portugal, a member of the Braganza family, the Moor mistook the players for his des tined victims, and suddenly attacking them, killed Don Alvaro, and wounded Donna Beatrice, ere he could be seized or disarmed. Isabella, whose chamber adjoined her attendant's, heard the disturbance, and entering the room to inquire its cause, witnessed the bloody scene.

In the engagements under the walls of Granada, Gonsalvo de Cordova, afterwards surnamed the Great Captain, first acquired distinction. Frequent repulses gradually damped the courage and the spirits of the Granadans, who were, after a while, entirely pent up within their walls. Different divisions of the Spanish army now ravaged the adjacent districts which still belonged to Granada, and occupying every approach to the city, cut off its supplies; whilst Isabella, who had joined her royal consort, to prove how fixed was the determination never to relax in exertion until Granada should have fallen, built a wooden town upon the site of the encampment, to afford the troops shelter during the inclemency of the approaching winter. The town thus built was named Santa Fé, or Holy Faith. Had the queen's invincible constancy needed confirmation, she might have found it in the steady resolution with which her confessor, Father Hernando de Talavera, rejected every bishopric she