English Order of the Garter which is of S. George he used for his Crest the Head of a winged Dragon and from that time forward the Portuguese use to call upon S. George in the time of Battle 10. Discoveries in this King's time were made by John Gonzalez Zarco Discoveries made in his time Tristan Vaz Teixeira and Bartholomew Perestrello who being drove they knew not whither by a storm found the Island they called Puerto Santo in the Year 1418 and two Years after that of Madera where they found a little Oratory and Inscription declaring that one Machin an English-Man had been there before Giles Yanez attempting what none durst before him passed beyond Cape Bojador and there planted a Cross CHAP. IV. The Life and Reign of Edward the First of the Name and Eleventh King of Portugal his Actions and Death from the Year 1391 till 1438. 1. KIng Edward was Born at Viseo Birth of King Edward in the Year 1391. He was with his Father at the taking of Ceuta and married Ellenor Daughter to King Ferdinaâ—d the first of Aragon 1391. in the Year 1428. The Body of King John being deposited in the Cathedral of Lisbon 1428. on the 14th of August the next Day his Eldest Son Edward was proclaimed King 1433. An Astrologer advised him to pass by that unfortunate Day An Astrological Prediction for that all the Constellations were Conspired against him But he religiously â—lighting these Predictions went on with the Solemnity and was Crowned that very Day Then began the Astrologer publickly as he had before done in private to denounce that his Reign would be short as to time but tedious for the Misfortunes which would happen in it The New King went to divert himself at Sintra where his Son Alonsâ— not full 20 Months Old was Sworn Heir to the Crown by the Nobility This was the only time the like Ceremony was performed without the Concurrence of the Commonalty by their Representatives He was also the first that had the Title of Prince given him in Portugal Alonso Son to King Edward the first that 〈◊〉 the Title of Prince in Portugal his Father following the example of the other Courts of Christendom The first that used it was that of England where the Heir of the Crown was called Prince of Wales From Sintra the King sent his Summons to all the Prelates and Nobles for them to meet in order to attend the Translation of his Father's Body to a noble Sepulchre designed for it in the Church of Batalla belonging to the Dominicans and of the invocation of the Assumption of our Blessed Lady built by that King in Memory of the Victory obtained in that Place 2. It will not here be amiss The Funeral of King John in short to say something of his Funeral which may shew the Custom of those times All the Nobility and Clergy Assembled at Lisbon The Mourning then used was either white Sack-Cloath or raw Canvas Such was the Apparel of all the Nobility and their Families The Pallace was all Hung with Black On the 25th of October all the Company marched in orderly Procession from the Pallace to the Church with great silence the Bells of all the Churches ringing At the Church after a short Sermon the Body was placed on a Mausoleum and then the Divine Office for the dead performed with great Solemnity Prince Peter and many other great men stay'd in the Church all Night with the Body and next Day after Mass and Sermon a costly Offering was made of Gold Silver and rich Brocados This done the Body was placed on a Triumphant Charriot which was drawn through the Streets by the King his Brothers and the Nobility In the New Street and in the great Place called Recio Scaffolds were erected on which Learned Men made Funeral Orations suitable to the Occasion At S. Vincent's Gate Four Horses were put to the Charriot Four times the Funeral halted betwixt Lisbon and the Church of Batalla at Odivellas Villafranca Alcoentre and Alcobaça The Fifth Day it came to the Church of Batalla whither the Cortes or Parliament was summoned and there all that great Assembly assisted at Mass and the other Funeral Rites 3. The King hasted away to Leyria King Edward holds a Parliament flying from the Plague for here began his Misfortunes The Cortes or Parliament was held at Santarem where the King gave general Satisfaction Then he applied himself to the cares of the Government He caused also the Laws to be epitomized and reduced to one Volume taking special care that they should be put in Execution His next care was to moderate excess in Apparel and Diet and then he Ordered That only one of the Princes and such of the Nobility as were named should attend at Court at one time the rest being sent away to their Estates and they to relieve the others in their turns 1434. Thus the ensuing Year was spent A general Council Pope Martin had before this time summoned a general Council to meet at Basle for Uniting the Greek and Latin Churches 1435. To this Council were sent Six Embassadors from Portugal The Union of the Two Churches took Effect but was not lasting for the Greeks not finding those Supplies they expected from the Pope against the Turks soon fell off The Portuguese Embassadors obtained a Grant of the then Pope Eugenius That the Kings of Portugal might be Crowned and Anointed in the same manner as those of England and France This same Year the King designed his Sons should receive the Sacrament of Confirmation with great Pomp and Solemnity but News being then brought that the Kings of Naples and Navarre Prince Henry and above 100 Persons of great Note were taken Prisoners in a Sea Fight by Philip Duke of Milan all publick Joy ceased and the Court was filled with Mourning nevertheless the Young Princes were confirmed 4. This same Year also it was An Expedition against Tangier that the Princes Henry and Ferdinand having first gained the Queen to their Party perswaded the King to take in Hand an Expedition against Tangier in Africk It was long before they could prevail upon him but at last overcome by their importunities he took the Fatal Resoluton A Tax was laid upon the Kingdom for the Expence of this War and all the Preparations for such an Expedition diligently made On the 17th of August the Princes Embarked and the 22th they sailed from Belem 1437. The particulars of this Unhappy Undertaking belong properly to the Portuguese Africk where they are to be seen at large but the even was The Portuguese Army destroyed by the Moors and the King's Brother taken That most of the Portuguese Army perished and Prince Ferdinand remained in Captivity he being left as an Hostage for restoring Ceuta to the Moors upon their suffering the Relicks of the Portuguese to return home Prince Henry the Adviser of this Enterprize sent Notice to
flight of his Daughter Ximena The third was Sancha Daughter to the King of Navarre by these two he had no Children 923. The last Action of his life darkn'd all the Glory of his former Triumphs He sent for four Counts who governed Castile upon safe Conduct to Carrion and there cut off their Heads Which so incensed the People of Castile that they only wanted an Opportunity to rebell and take Revenge But Death prevented their Designs 924. taking him away at Zamora His Body was buried in the great Church of Leon which City he had so entirely loved that he took its Name for the Title of his Kingdom leaving that of King of Oviedo and Galicia CHAP. VIII The Succession of the Kings of Castile and Leon from the Year 924 till 985 With the Revolt of Count Fernan Gonzalez And the Desolation made in Portugal by Alcoraxis and Almanzor the Moors 1. D. Fruela II. was Successor to his Brother Ordonno Fruela II. usurps the Crown usurping the Crown from his Children who were then very young He was nothing like to his Brother in Valour for he ceased the Prosecution of the War against the Infidels but was not unlike to him in the last Action of his Life for as Ordonno unjustly put to death the fore-mentioned Counts so Fruela wrongfully executed certain Gentlemen called Olmudes He became so odious to the Castilians that the Nobility Castile separates from Leon. and creates a Government under Judges joining together rebelled and separated themselves from the Crown of Leon. To this purpose they chose two Judges to rule them The two first were Nunno Rasura and Lain Calvo They were of the Middle Sort of People neither of the Greatest nor Meanest that so they might neither be too powerful nor become contemptible Yet from them are the Kings of Spain descended At the same time that this Government was instituted in Castile we find Counts governing in some Parts of Portugal as D. Gutierre Arias at Porto and Hufo Hufez at Viseo A Leprosie consumed King Fruela so fast 925. that he died at Leon having reigned scarce a Year and was buried in the Cathedral He had two Wives D. Munia and D. Vrraca By them he had Issue Ordonno Alonso and Ramiro King Ramiro II. put out all their Eyes and thrust them into the Monastery of St. Julian either upon Suspicion or Proof that they conspired against him He had also a fourth Son called Fruela 2. Alonso IV Alonso IV. resigns the Government to his Brother Ramiro Eldest Son of King Ordonno II after the Death of Fruela recovered his Right and Kingdom He was not wicked as his Predecessor but as unprofitable to his Kingdom as he His best Quality was That he was sensible of his own Insufficiency and therefore first sent his Brother Ramiro to govern Portugal and afterwards resigned the Kingdom to him and became himself a Monk Ramiro had chosen the City Viseo for his Residence in Portugal whence he made Inroads into the Frontiers of the Moors and by his gentle Government gained the Affections of the People Here he received Letters from the King his Brother calling him to Court in order to resign the Crown to him for that his Son Prince Ordonno was but an Infant D. Ramiro fearing his Brother's Inconstancy hasted to Zamora that he might not have Time to repent The King immediately put the Crown upon his Head and was the first that did him Homage as his Subject Which done he took the Habit of a Benedictine Monk in the Monastery of Sahagun and is therefore called Alonso the Monk He was married to Ximena the Daughter of King Sancho Abarca of Navarre and had by her Ordonno who came to be King and D. Alonso who died young He died in the Monastery of St. Julian and lies there buried But we shall see him repent and disturb his Brother's Reign 3. King Alonso being become a Monk 928. and repenting Alonso repents and raises a Civil War his Brother Ramiro now possessed of the Crown resolved not to part with it and thus began a Civil War which was the Cause of much Mischief The Moors making their Advantage thereof recovered the Cities of Lamâ—go Braganza and Porto with all the Country lying between the Rivers Tagus and Duero The Castilians also made use of this Opportunity their Judges Nunno and Lain being dead to raise up in their stead the Count Ferran Gonzalez King Ramiro politickly winking at this Affront 932. which he could not revenge upon the Authors invaded the Kingdom of Toledo destroying all before him with Fire and Sword King Alonso the Monk held out two Years in Leon against his Brother Ramiro But then despairing of Success he stirred up Alonso Ordonno and Ramiro the Sons of his Predecessor Fruela to raise a Rebellion in Asturias and Biscay believing that would draw away the King his Brother from attending upon him Nevertheless the King continued the Siege obliged him to surrender and afterwards put him into Prison This done he found Means to apprehend the three Brothers and to prevent future Designs put out theirs and his Brother the Monk's Eyes Two Years Alonso lived blind But the King repenting of this Cruelty used towards his Brother to testifie his Repentance built the Monastery of St. Julian 4. Two Months are said to have passed in the Year 934 934. in which Time the Light of the Sun was scarce seen Prodigies in the Sky at the End whereof a Breach or Yawning appeared in the Sky along which great Flames of Fire were seen to run and the Stars seemed to wander in the Region of the Air. Many Judgments were made upon these Prodigies but most agreed they portended the End of the World to be at hand At last the Sun shined out and whilst the Christians appeased God with Prayers the Moors consulted their Wizards Alfarani of Meca affirmed to King Abderramen that this Prodigy threaten'd the Downfall of Christian Princes if he would take in hand to pull them down Diviners fore-tell what they know is pleasing to Princes and Princes believe that which pleases them Abderramen declares War and makes mighty Preparations for it drawing great Succours out of Africk under the Command of Almanzor With an Army almost innumerable he broke into Portugal bearing down all before him and putting the Christians to most cruel Deaths King Ramiro having gathered the greatest Power he could set forward to meet the Enemy whose Multitude obliged him to retire to the Mountains of Clavijo Ramiro destroys a great Army of Infidels Here the Apostle St. James is said to have appeared to him promising he should obtain a wonderful Victory in that Place In the Fight the Apostle was seen on Horseback making great Slaughter among the 〈◊〉 This Victory some will have to be the Cause of his being taken for Patron of Spain though others say it was that in the Time of King Alonso I. as was
Navarre kills King Bermudo and becomes sole Monarch of Castile Leon Portugal Galicia and Navarre and his Son Ferdinand succeeding him King Bermudo was in hopes to recover what Ferdinand's Father had taken from him They came to a Battel in the Valley of Tamara near Fromista where after a bloody Fight King Bermudo was killed and his Army overthrown Ferdinand now victorious immediately laid Siege to Leon and having made himself Master thereof he was there Crowned King of Leon Galicia and Portugal in the Right of his Wife Sancha the lawful Heiress of those Kingdoms Thus for want of Issue Male to the Kings of Leon and Earls of Castile those two Dominions fell to the House of Navarre 1037. by the Female Line 9. What I am about to relate happen'd in the Reign of King Bermudo but in what Year is not certain Two Grandsons of Prince Alboazar Ramirez Son to King Ramiro III called Tedon and Rosendo with a Body of resolute Men broke into that part of the Country that lies betwixt the Rivers Tavora and Duero Having drove the Moors thence A Stratagem of the Christians against the Moors they began to Till the Land and knowing well that the Infidels would not suffer them quietly to rest there they fortified themselves on a Rock over the River Tavora which running round great part of it makes it a sort of Peninsula which with the Steepness of the Rock it self renders it inaccessible any Way but one Here they built their Habitation and hence infested the Country of the Moors At length on Midsummer-Day which is much reverenced even by those Infidels in Honour of St. John the Baptist the Moors of the Town of Paredes resorted in great Numbers to sport and divert themselves on the Banks of the River and to bathe themselves in it D. Rosendo cloathing his Men in Moorish Apparel passed the River out of sight and lay close in Ambush till he saw all the Banks covered with the Barbarians Then by degrees coming out as if he had been some of their own Company he suffered his Men to mix with the Enemy who took them for Friends Being all mixed the Christians fell upon them and turned their Pleasure into Sorrow However many stood and made a good Defence and others coming to their Aid the Success was doubtful till D. Tedon fording the River with his Men ended the Dispute with the Slaughter of most of the Moors This and other Victories put the two Brothers in Possession of many Lands in that Country And in Memory of the Action they took to themselves the Name of the River which still continues in the Family of the Tavora's 10. The Fame of the Exploits of D. Tedon particularly that upon the River together with that of the Comliness of his Person reaching the Ears of Ardinga the beautiful Daughter of Aliboazen King of Lamego she fell in Love with him by Hear-say The Effects of Love Love perswaded her to quit her Father's Palace and disguised in the Habit of a Man through bye Ways she found out the Abbot Gelasius a solitary Hermit She told him who she was and the Cause of her Coming and he baptized her promising to perswade D. Tedon to take her to Wife This took not effect for her Father closely pursuing her overtook and put her to death Tedon hearing of her Love had promised to marry her and she being dead would take no other Wife but was afterwards killed by the Moors near a small Brook which of him was called Tedo So he took his Surname from one River and gave his Name to another There being nothing else remarkable recorded in Portugal during the Reign of King Bermudo and he being the last King thereof of that Name I must not omit to remark that Bermudo is the same Name with Veremundus which the Spaniards call Veremundo so that to make it Bermudo there is corruptly an e and an n omitted and to use B for V is common in Spanish Thus Bermudo and Veremundus appear to be the same Name CHAP. X. The remaining Kings from the Year 1037 till the Year 1108 and till the Establishment of Count Henry of Burgundy in the Sovereignty of Portugal where begins the Line of the Portuguese Kings and ends the Second Book 1. FErdinand Prince of Navarre inherited the Crown of Leon King Ferdinand called The Great in the Right of his Wife the Lady Sancha Daughter to King Alonso V and Sister to King Bermudo III who died without Issue The Earldom of Castile fell to him by his Mother the Lady Nunna and the Crown of Navarre he inherited from his Father Three Crowns were united in him and he was well worthy thereof purchasing by his Piety Valour and Bounty the Title of The Great The Moors believing King Ferdinand was wholly employed in reconciling his new Subjects in Castile Leon Galicia and Portugal broke into Lustainia but hearing he was provided to receive them they retired hastily He once provoked would not put up his Sword without doing Execution His Conquests over the Infidels He took the Town of Sea and the Cities Merida Badajoz Beja and Evora without any Resistance Viseo guilty of the Death of King Alonso and fearing a Revenge was strongly fortified and governed by Cid Alafun a notable Commander The King sate down before it resolving not to stir thence till he were Master of it Eighteen Days the City was battered and bravely defended at the End whereof being the Eve of the Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul it was enter'd by Force and never after returned under the Yoak of the Infidels The Man that shot King Alonso being taken in the City had his Eyes put out and both his Hands and one Foot cut off which done he was shot to Death The Governor Alafun had in Consideration of his Valour Lands given him to live upon paying a certain Tribute His Name is still preserved in those Parts in the Mountain called Alafun the Council of Alafâ—â—â— and other Places 2. The City Lamego held out no less obstinately during Twenty Five Days at the end whereof it was surrendred upon Articles the 22th Day of July It was not then used to expel the Moors but to bring them to pay a moderate tribute After these Conquests the King crossed the Province between the Rivers Duero and Minho into Galicia to visit the Sepulcher of the Apostle St. James 1039. and make his Offerings there The following Year he conquered many places in the Province of Tras os Montes and pierced down even to the River Tagus King Ferdinand made glorious Conquests the ensuing Years but they being out of Portugal do not appertain to us Coimbra taken by the Advice and Assistance of the Monks of Lorvan Two Monks of the Monastery of Lorvan advertised the King that the City Coimbra was ill provided and worse fortified and therefore it would be easie to gain it King Ferdinand marched in December 1063
St. Michael the Archangel is said to have been seen by his side hewing down the Infidels Hence he went to the Monastery of Alcobaca to return thinks to God for this success and staying there a Month is said to have instituted a new order of Knighthood called that of the Wing for that in the Battle he saw a winged Arm near him fighting against the Moors which the King supposing to be St. Michael or his Guardian Angel he dedicated the order to them both The chief Rules were that the Knights should wear a red Wing embroidered with Gold that none but Gentlemen of Note should be admitted to the Order that in fight they should carry the Royal Standard that they should take the Oath of Allegiance administred by the Prior of Alcobaca who was to be superior of the Order that they should every day say the same Prayers as did the Converts of that Monastery that their Feast should be observed on Michaelmass Day The King and principal Men were enrolled in this Order but it was not lasting 5. At this time there was in the Portuguese Court Gonzalo Hermiguez his actions a Gentleman called Gonzalo Hermiguez much esteemed of the Ladies for his Eloquence and Art in Poetry and no less envied of the Men as well for those Qualities as for that his extraordinary Actions had purchased him the Title of Moor Swallower This Gentleman with a party that used to follow him passed over the River Tagus before it was light on Midsummer Day from Lisbon to Almada and there lay in Ambush The Moors according to their Custom coming out that Morning with their Women to be merry upon the Banks of the River he suddenly rushed out upon them expecting no such Entertainment and made a great slaughter of them The Infidels strove to defend themselves but in vain for he carried off a rich Booty to his Boats Being ready to put off he espied a Moor carrying away a beautiful Woman and leaping again ashore he forced her from him and so made over to Santarem with his Prey Of all the booty he took nothing to himself but the fair Captive whom Baptized he made his Wife She soon after dying he was so afflicted that leaving the World he took upon him the habit of St. Bernard in the Monastery of Alcobaca and out of his own Patrimony having no Children founded the Monastery of St. Mary de Tumarayâ— near Ourem Much about this time it is recorded that the King being near the mouth of the River Mondego found a small Chappel with the Image of our B. Lady which restored to life one of his Servants killed with a fall from his Horse An old Hermit told him it was the same that had preserved all the Women and Children killed by John the Abbot as was said in its place when he sallied out of Montemayor and unexpectedly overthrew a multitude of Infidels This moved the King to erect a Monastery there called at present St. Mary de Seica and the Image being several times removed from the poor Chappel to the magnificent Church of this Monastery is said always of it self to have returned to its own place Peter the King's Bastard Brother ranging abroad met a party of Moors conducting a Beautiful Lady with much Treasure all which having routed them he took Cide Achim a Moor of Silves who courted this Lady begged her of the King or else desired him to keep him also for his slave The King referred him to his Brother Peter who not only restored to him the Lady but all the Treasure taken with her upon condition he should send no succours to Lisbon which it seems was not then taken 6. Peter of Peter Bastard Brother to Alonso Bastard Brother to King Alonso was sent into France to prevail with St. Bernard to use his interest with the Pope for to obtain his investiture and confirmation of the new Kingdom of Portugal To omit what is too Romantick concerning this Peter he is said for his extraordinary valour to have been admitted into the number of the 12 Peers of France and that preparing to accompany that King to Hierusalem he was diswaded by St. Bernard who advised him rather to act against the Moors in Spain He followed his advice and was at the taking of Santarem Lisbon Trancoso Badajoz and other great Actions After this he was chosen Master of the new instituted order of Knight-hood called that of Avis which Honour he obtained of the King that he might not be obliged by him to Marry Returning one day with a party from an Engagement with the Moors he laid down in a Field and fell a Sleep at which time St. Bernard appeared to him in a Dream perswading him to take upon him the Habit of his Order which he accordingly performed and lived 13 Years in the Monastery of Alcobaca with an extraordinary opinion of Sanctity 7. The Dominions of Portugal being now enlarged from a small Dower given by the King of Leon with his Bastard Daughter to the proportion of a considerable Kingdom King Alonso sued to Pope Alexander III. for his invessiture in the same offering to pay to the See of Rome for ever two pound of Gold yearly as an acknowledgment of his holding that Crown of the Pope His Holiness granted his request and accordingly expedited his Bulls to that effect in the Year 1172. 1172. Hereupon the Cortes or Parliament was assembled at Lamego Pope Alexander grants the Investiture of the Kingdom of Portugal to Alonso under a Tribute in which pursuant to these Bulls the King was crowned with a Crown of Gold by the Archbishop of Braga and all the States there assembled unanimously voted their Kingdom independent of the Crown of Leon For the better regulating of the succession it was enacted That the King's Sons should inherit and for want of them his Brothers whose Sons should not succeed them without consent of the People That Daughters might Inherit provided they Married not out of the Kingdom that their Husband should not be called King till the Queen had a Son that he should not wear the Crown on his Head in Parliament that if she Married a Forreign Prince she should not inherit least the Crown should be transferred to Strangers 8. About this time the King made an incursion into Algarve The body of St. Vincent translated to Lisbon as far as the Promontorium Sacrum or Cape St. Vincent desiring to translate the Body of that Saint which he understood to be there but he could not perform it and retired Afterwards the Council of Lisbon sent People to discover it who brought it away to that City where it is kept with great Veneration a number of Crows following the Body from the Mountain to the great Church where it lies and there they also continue to this Day Abenjacob Son to the Miramamolin or Emperor of Morocco with a mighty Army besieged and much streightned the Town of Abrantes but certain
considering the great merit of D. Payo Correa before spoken of made him General for the conquest of Algarve He acted therein with the success that was hoped of his conduct taking several strong holds among which were Estombar and Alvor Garcia Rodrigues who had travelled that Country as a Merchant was his principal Guide having forsaken the pursuit after Riches to purchase Honour with his Sword Paderne was also taken but cost dear the success remaining a long time dubious The Enemy having proposed a Cessation of Arms it was granted because our forces fatigued with so many expeditions required some time of refreshment During this Truce the Commendary Peter Perez with five Gentlemen went out to hunt in the Mountains of the Village of Antas In their passage by Tavira a City belonging to the Moors they were set upon by a greater number of Infidels Garcia Rodriguez the Merchant above mentioned passing that way hasted to their succour and after a brave resistance they were all killed upon the place D. Payo Correa could not come time enough to save their lives though upon the first advice of the accident he hasted thither Seeing his Friends could not be saved he fell upon the Enemy for revenge and they flying to the City he entred it together with them and though he met with a vigorous resistance made himself Master of it King Sancho hearing of the taking of Tavira gave it to the Knights of Santiago 4. The conquest of Silves only was wanting to compleat our General 's Glory Silves again recovered His Policy and Celerity brought it about the Enemy offering him a favourable opportunity The Inhabitants of that place went out to assist King Aben Afan at the Siege of Estombar D. Payo instead of relieving the Besieged attacked Silves then forsaken of its Defendants and easily made himself Master of it The Moorish King hasting to succour the City came late for his design but in time for D. Payo who rushing out of the City put him to flight so precipitately that he was drowned on the Coast which in memory of him is to this day called the Sea of Abenafan Thus all Algarve was brought under the power of King Sancho The Pope about this time having invited all Christian Princes to joyn their Forces against the Tartars 1244. King Sancho provided a Gallant Army for that Expedition but all his Preparations were disappointed for he went not as he had designed Roderick Sanchez Son to King Sancho I. having been long at variance with Giles de Soverosa a powerful Man in those days they met with armed Troops near the City Porto and after a sharp Engagement the dispute ended with the life of Roderick Sanchez who was there slain In this Encounter Roderick Fafes a Man of Note having lost his Horse asked Gonzalo Rodriguez de Abreu to give him his he gave it upon condition the other should give him his Daughter Mencia in Marriage which according to promise Fafes afterwards performed 5. The King continued to bestow liberally most rich Possessions on the Church The subjects ripe for rebellion tho' the King was blameless His goodly Actions deserved no less love of his Subjects than any of his Predecessors but it is not always Merit that gains esteem among Men. Envy towards his Favourites produced Malice against him nor was the fault in his Government or in choosing such Ministers but that all who aspired to it could not be Favourites There never is wanting a pretence to subjects disposed to rebell The King easing himself on his Favourites the Portuguese gave out he was uncapable to Govern and therefore proposed to erect a Lieutenant to manage affairs for him and made application to the Pope hereupon having fixed upon the King's Brother Alonso to fill that place and succeed him It was want of Loyalty in them and not of capacity in him that produced this Resolution One objection raised against King Sancho by his Enemies They cavil at all his Actions was That he had married a Wife below his Quality and was too fond of her Weak motives to a Rebellion especially considering his Queen was the Daughter of D. Lope Diaz de Haro Lord of Biscay and of Vrraca bastard Daughter to Alonso IX King of Leon so that she was equal to him either as being both the Off-spring of the same King's Bastards or as to grandeur her Father wanting nothing but the usurped Title of King to make him as great as he of Portugal It is true the Queen favouring those who had been instrumental in advancing her to the Crown hid some miscarriages from the King which gave occasion to the multitude to commit several insolencies and the King not punishing them whilst he could had not afterwards the power to do it when he would Some would have it that the Queen had given her Husband a Potion the more to secure his love to her and to divert him wholly from the care of the Government 6. The tumultuous Cryes of the People not prevailing The Clergy joins in the Rebellion with the Laity the Clergy took upon them to espouse their Quarel and had recourse to Pope Gregory IX who thundered out Ecclesiastical Censures against the King on account of his being Married to Queen Mencia who was his Kinswoman within the prohibited degree The King making no account of the Spiritual Weapons the People mutinied being headed by Raymund Viegas Portocarreo a Man of quality The Rebels seize the Queen and breaking into the Palace at Coimbra took away the Queen and put her into the Castle of Ourem This exasperated the King to that height that gathering what force he could he endeavoured to recover her but all in vain for the Rebels conveyed her into Castile The King betrayed by all his Ministers Now it plainly appeared that King Sancho was rather Unfortunate than unfit to Govern for even the Ambassadors he employed abroad betrayed him He sent John Egas Archbishop of Braga and Peter and Tiburicus Bishops of Porto and Coimbra to Rome and they forgetting they were sent by their Prince became Sollicitors for the Rebels who held correspondence there Hereupon a Council was held at Lions in France assembled by Pope Innocent IV. and King Sancho having sent thither his Ambassadors Ruy Gomez de Briteiros Gomez Viegas Peter Alonso a Franciscan and Dominick de Braga a Dominican they joyned with the mutinous Prelates Alonso Brother to King Sancho made Vicar of the Kingdom by the Rebels and thereupon Count Alonso Brother to King Sancho then Married in France to Maud Countess of Bolen was at Paris Sworn Vicar of the Kingdom and as such confirmed by the Pope yet so that King Sancho should still retain the Title and Preheminence of King and his Sons if he had any should inherit This new Substitute brought more harm than good to the Kingdom for his followers treated him as a King and he assumed that respect which did not belong to him
chief whereof was D. Payo Perez Correa Master of the Military Order of Santiago CHAP. VIII The Life and Reign of Denis the first of that Name and sixth King of Portugal his Actions and Death from the Year 1261. till 1325. 1. KIng Denis King Denis his Birth and Succession to the Crown Eldest Son to Alonso III. and Queen Beatrix was born at Lisbon on the 9th of October 1261. and was so called from the Saint whose Day that was From his Infancy he was educated in all those Vertues and Accomplishments that make an Excellent Prince In Truth Justice and Liberality he exceeded most of them that had been before him His Father dying when he was but Eighteen Years of Age though he honoured his Mother in all other Respects he would allow her no share in the Government She resenting this as an Affront went away into Castile pretending her Journey was only to pay a Visit to her Father That King desiring to please her took a Journey to Badajoz and sent to desire King Denis to come as far as Elvas Thither the Princes Peter Sancho Jayne and his Brother Emanuel repaired to him by whom the King of Castile desired they might meet at Badajoz King Denis having entertained them magnificently for the space of three Days sent them back saying He would soon be after them but suddenly returned to Lisbon thinking it a better Expedient not to meet his Grand-father than to deny his Request The Queen thus disappointed went away with her Father to Sevil where she continued being convinced her Son would admit no Partner in the Throne 2. The King being Twenty Years of Age He Marries Elizabeth the Daughter of King Peter of Aragon sent his Embassadors to Peter III. King of Aragon to ask his Daughter Elizabeth then but Eleven Years old in Marriage His Request was easily granted and the Bride conducted to Braganza where she was received by Alonso the King's Brother who conveyed her to Trancoso where the best King of Portugal and one of the best Queens in the World were marryed His next Care was â—o compleat what his Father had begun which was to dear the Kingdom of Robbers and Out-laws and to Protect the meaner sort against the Insolencies of Great Men and particularly the Country People whom he called the Sinews of the Commonwealth For this Reason and because he built many Castles he was called the Husbandman and Father of his Country Having at his Entrance into the Government passed many extravagant Grants when he came to the Age of 22 he recalled them all 1283. He had some Difference with his Brother Alonso who refused to make any Acknowledgment for the Towns left him by his Father Has Differences with his Brother Alonso and had some Pretensions to the Crown pleading that Denis was Born before the Death of the Countess of Bologne and consequently must be Illegitimate whereas he was Born after her Death when the Pope had ratified the Match They both took Arms and Alonso was besieged by his Brother in Portalegre yet at last they agreed The chief Articles were That Alonso should be allowed 30000 Crowns a Year out of the King's Revenue and instead of the Towns he possessed should have Sintra and Ourem for that the others were more dangerous to the King as lying on the Borders of Castile Thus ended those Civil Broils 3. A War broke out with King Sancho the Third of Castile War betwixt Castile and Portugal called the Fierce for that he performed not the Covenants about the Marriages of the Princes for Security whereof he had put into Portuguese Hands the Cities of Badajoz and Truxillo as also the Towns of Moura Serpa Caceres Allariz and Aguiar de Neiva All these Places he again suddenly surprized and made several inroads into Algarve and into Portugal by the way of Leon destroying all the Country before him King Denis being then wholly unprovided for War sent Embassadors to adjust Affairs but to no effect King Denis now moved to Wrath challenged King Sancho and at the same time caused his Forces to do much harm in the Enemy's Country Sancho designed to answer the Challenge but was prevented by Death at which time he ordered all that had been before stipulated should be performed Ferdinand the Fourth his Successor not answering what was expected from him King Denis sent his Embassadors to demand the Restitution of the Towns taken by his Predecessor and in case of Refusal to fix the Challenge upon him Restitution being denied the Challenge was accordingly given and the Embassadors withdrew This done King Denis with a Puissant Army marched from the City Guarda and entred Castile committing all manner of Hostilities Prince Henry who was Governour to the young King Ferdinand put a stop to our King 's further Progress making him advantageous Proposals and referring the Conclusion to Cuidad Rodrigo where the two Kings met with the Queen-Mother of Castile and concluded all Articles the Towns demanded by the Portuguese being put into the Hands of Ferdinand Longominhâ— as a Pledge for performing all other parts But this Compliance on the part of Castile being the Product of Fear and not of any Friendly Intention nothing of what had been promised was performed 4. King Denis draws together his Forces again Denis enters Castile the second time and furiously enters Castile and with him Prince John who stiled himself King of Leon as Son to King Alonso the Tenth and John Nunnez de Lara who was in Rebellion against his Prince Our Army being in the Province of Beira near the Frontiers of Castile there came to the King Margaret Daughter to the Earl of Narbonne Wife to Prince Peter the Son of King Alonso and with her her Son Sancho de Ledesma who offered to serve our King being disgusted with his own Yet tho he was much honoured and received great Bounties from King Denis he soon returned to his own Master and served against him of whom he had received such Favours King Ferdinand understanding that King Denis had invaded his Dominions sent his Fleet from Sevil under the Command of that Sancho we last spoke of to Lisbon where he surprized some Portuguese Vessels Our Admiral having gathered what Force he could pursued and overtook the Fleet of Castile without the Bar. The Fleet of Castile worsted by the Portugueses There was fought a most obstinate Battle till the Castillians were worsted and their Commander D. Sancho brought back Prisoner In the mean while K. Denis without Opposition ranged about the Territories of Cuidad Rodrigo and Ledesma where he took the Castle of Torres putting all the Defendants to the Sword He passed by Simancas where King Ferdinand was and laid Siege to Possaldes where neither Sex nor Age was spared nor was any Reverence paid to the Churches where the Altars were stained with Blood nor did their Sacrilegious Hands abstain from Plundering those Holy Places The Castilians were not
Hair reddish and curled his Beard forked and long his Limbs gross and his Presence Majestick He died at Lisbon in May 1357. being 67 Years of Age 1357. and having Reigned 31 Years and a half His and his Queen's Tombs are to be seen in the Quire of the Cathedral of Lisbon 12. Queen Beatrix 〈…〉 Wife to King Alonso was Daughter to King Sancho the Fierce of Castile and of Queen Mary the Daughter of Prince Alonso de Molina By her the King had Issue 1. Alonso who died Young 2. Denis died much at the same Age. 3. John died in his Infancy 4. Mary who was Queen of Castile Wife to King Alonso XI and Mother to King Peter 5. Peter who Succeeded his Father 6. Elenor Queen of Aragon Second Wife to King Peter IV. This King reduced the number of Castles in the Orle being the Arms of Algarve His Arms. to 8. and the Bezants in each Escutcheon to 10. CHAP. X. The Life and Reign of Peter the First of the Name and the Eighth King of Portugal with his Actions and Death from the Year 1320 till 1367. 1. KING Alonso King Peter the first his Earth and his Queen Beatrix were Unfortunate in their Children who all died Young But Peter the 5th who was Born at Coimbra on the 19th of April 1320. He was by some called the Cruel by others 1320. Executor of Justice and this last Title most properly appertained to him His Accession to the Crown was in the 37th 1358. Year of his Age being twice a Widdower by the Death of his two Wives Constance and Agnes His First care was to secure Peace with his Neighbour 1357. the King of Castile which was accordingly Ratified The following Year it was farther Confirmed Peace concluded with Castile and it was agreed that Ferdinand Prince of Portugal should marry Beatrix Eldest Daughter to King Peter of Castile and the Princesses Constance and Elizabeth should marry John and Denis Sons to the Lady Agnes de Castro That both Kings should Aid each other by Sea and Land That the Portuguese should not joyn with the Aragonian or any other Prince without acquainting the Castilian That he should assist him against the Aragonian with whom he was then at War King Peter having now the Power in his Hands He punisheth the Murderers of his Wife the Lady Agnes de Castro and being at leasure to meditate his Revenge for the Death of his beloved Agnes was grieved at nothing more than that he thought the Lives of the Three Murderers too small an Expiation for the Death of her in whom he had lived Yet for some farther Satisfaction he resolved to make up in Torments what was wanting of Life in them We saw in his Fathers Life time how far he proceeded in his Revenge so as to raise a Civil War But scarce was he now seated on the Throne when the Three Murderers Peter Coello James Lopez and Alvaro Gonzalez were Attainted of Treason and their Estates Confiscated Next he contrived how to get them out of Castile and soon found the means to effect it for Peter Nunnez de Guzman Lieutenant of Leon Mem Roiz Tenorio Ferdinand Gudiel de Toledo and Fortun Sanchez Calderon being fâ—ed from Castile were then in Portugal He knew that King was no less desirous to reach them than he was to have the other Three Therefore he agreed with the Castilian that both should at the same time secure the Fugitives of the other which was accordingly put in Execution 2. James Lopez Pacheco had the good Fortune to be abroad a Hunting the Day the others were taken He being missed Guards were set upon the Gates that none might give him Notice but a Beggar got through unregarded and not only informed him of what had happened The Murderers Racked but changing Cloaths with him he got away with a Carrier to Aragon and thence into France Alvaro Gonzalez and Peter Coello were carried to Portugal as were the Four Castilians taken there conveyed to Sevil. King Peter was at Santarem when the two Prisoners were brought to him He instantly put them to the Rack to force them to discover their Accomplices But they continued silent or else answered far from the purpose which caused the King to lash Coello on the Face to which he returned nothing but reproachful Language The King smiling hereat said to the standers by Bring me Vinegar and Onion for this Rabbet for Coello in Portuguese signifies a Rabbet and that was the Sauce then used giving them thereby to understand he should be Burnt Whilst they were yet Living their Hearts were cut out one at his Breast and the other at his Back Lastly he caused them to be Burnt and the Table he dined at to be set in sight of the Fire Nor did King Peter's Amorous Flame expire here But before we shew what farther Effects it had we must observe in this Place that the Kings of Castile and Aragon being ready to break into War our King sent his Embassadors to the latter 1360. to Mediate a Peace That Prince complained to them that their Master should take part with Castile against him yet offered in regard of the Ancient Friendships betwixt the two Crowns and in respect to the Pope to give ear to Conditions of Peace 3. This was the posture of Affairs when our King discovered the Love he still entertained for the Lady Agnes The Funeral Pomp for the Lady Agnes de Castro by performing her Funeral Obsequies Being in the Town of Cantannede in the Presence of several Persons of Note he solemnly Swore That he had taken to Wife the Lady Agnes de Castro at Bragança Six Years before that time Then he caused the Witnesses of the Marriage which were Giles Bishop of Guarda and Stephen Lobato Master of the Robes to be Examined This done the Bishops of Lisbon Porto and Visco the Prior of Sancta Cruz and other Persons of Note meeting together published the said Marriage and the Causes why it was concealed as also the Dispensation granted by Pope John the 22th in regard that they were within the forbidden Degrees of Consanguinity An authentick Instrument to this purpose being formed several Copies were dispersed and the Original is still preserved among the Records at Lisbon Not content herewith he caused two Tombs of the whitest Marble and most exquisite Workmanship to be erected One of them for himself and the other for the Lady Agnes whose Image stood on the Top with a Crown on her Head that she might appear like a Queen after her Death These Tombs were placed in the famous Church of Alcobaça Then entring the Church of S. Clare at Coimbra he caused the Body to be taken up and being Crowned and Cloathed in Royal Robes placed it on a Chair where his Subjects kissed those Bones that were once beautiful Hands as being the remains of their lawful Queen After this Ceremony being put into a
Herse the Corps was conducted to Alcobaça to be placed in that rich Urn with the noblest Attendance and greatest Grandeur that has been seen vast numbers of Noblemen and Gentlemen in long Mourning Cloaks and Ladies in White Mourning Vailes attended the Funeral From Coimbra to Alcobaça it is 17 Leagues and yet all that Distance was filled with many Thousands of Men in two Rows making a continued Lane with lighted Flambeaus in their Hands 4. The Unfortunate King Peter of Castile being drove out of his Kingdom by his Bastard-Brother Henry assisted by the French King Peter of Castile flying from his Rebellious Subjects is refused Protection in Portugal and flying from Sevil after loosing all the Treasure he had amassed arrived at the Town of Coruche in Portugal with his two Daughters Constance and Elizabeth and thence sent to Advertise our King then at Coimbra of his Arrival That King's Daughter Beatrix was Travelling another way to be Married to the Portuguese Prince her Father not having any fore-thought of what hapned to him This Accident much surprized the Portuguese some were for protecting a rightful King their Neighbour and Confederate others were for more safe than honourable Courses not to embroil themselves in the Quarrels of others This Advice was followed and our King made the best Excuse he could for not entertaining that Unhappy Prince He failing of this Refuge withdrew to Albuquerque but neither was he to be admitted there He sent to ask a Pass of our King to Travel through his Dominions into Galicia and the Earl of Barcelos and Alvaro Perez de Castro were sent to Conduct him But they not only forsook him by the way but stole from him Elenor the Daughter of his Bastard-Brother Henry whom he carried with him From Galicia he passed over into England where he so grievously Complained to the Prince of Wales against the King of Portugal that he was forced to send Embassadors to Vindicate himself In the mean while the New King or rather Usurper Henry Solicited the Friendship of Portugal and Embassadors meetting to that Effect betwixt Badajoz and Elvas a Treaty was Concluded And it was Stipulated That the Castilian should solicite an Accommodation betwixt Aragon and Portugal and also That the Aragonian should suffer the Portuguese Princess Mary Widow of Prince Ferdinand to return to her Country if she thought good 5. About the end of October Prodigiâ—â—â— seen in the Sky almost Three Months before the Death of our King was seen a prodigious Alteration or rather Confusion in the heavenly Luminaries On the 27th Day at Midnight all the Stars in a Body began to run from East to West then suddenly dispersing they wandred through several parts of the Sphere next falling nearer to the Region of the Air the nearness made them appear like vast Globes of Fire so that the whole Heaven seemed to be in a Flame and the Earth threatned to be reduced to Ashes The Sky in many places seemed to gape the Stars being removed This Spectacle lasting a considerable time Men stood amazed expecting the Dissolution of the Universe Three Months after this Prodigy King Peter's Death our King died It will not be amiss to give some Instances of his Justice and Magnificence His Justice and Magnificence He was not as some have called him Cruel but a zealous lover of Justice punishing Crimes with the utmost Severity and rewarding Vertue with Liberality The Punishments he inflicted tho' in appearance terrible were necessary and well applyed A Young Man having struck his supposed Father and the King hearing thereof called the Mother and pressed her to tell him who was the Youth's Father for it was impossible it should be her Husband She confessed in some time a Fryar had got him Thereupon the King went in Person to the Monastery and putting the Fryar into a Case of Cork sawed him in two One of his Favourites lived in Adultery with a Judge's Wife for which the King caused his Privities to be cut off A Priest being suspended for killing a Man he caused him to be put to Death by a Mason saying That the Ecclesiastical Judges condemned a Priest for killing a Man to be suspended from his Office but he in his Tribunal would suspend the Mason from Working for killing the Priest The Bishop of Porto he scourged for having to do with a Citizen's Wife He caused a Gentleman to be beheaded for staving a Country-man's Cask that was full A Clerk of the Treasury was hanged for receiving a small Bribe Hearing a Woman upbraid another with being forced he asked the cause and being told her Husband ravished her before they were marryed he caused him to be hanged Knowing that a Merchant's Wife cuckolded him one day when the Merchant was at some Publick Feast he surprized his Wife with her Gallant and burnt them and then congratulated the Merchant that he was revenged A Bawd having procured a Young Woman for the Admiral Lancelote Pessana the Bawd was burnt and the Admiral hardly obtained Pardon after several Years absence A Country-man complaining that a Gentleman to whom he had lent certain Silver Cups would not restore them the King kept him in hand a Year and then caused the Gentleman to pay him Nine times the value which was then the Penalty of Thieves and farther told him he should be always answerable for the Country-man's Life A Pursivant complaining that in the Execution of his Office a Gentleman had struck him and torn his Beard the Gentleman was immediately beheaded 6. The Laws he instituted Laws established by him were religiously observed One of them condemned Judges who received Bribes to Death To avoid delays in Suits he established there should be no Counsellors Sollicitors nor Attorneys He went about the Kingdom in Person to administer Justice impartially to all Men. Tho' so much subdued himself by the Love of the Lady Agnes de Castro he suffered no Crime of Incontinency to pass unpunished Several new Pieces were coined by him on the one side whereof was his Effigies sitting in a Chair holding a naked Sword on the reverse the Royal Arms with these Inscriptions Peter King of Portugal and Algarve God assist me and make me Victorious over my Enemies He was so Bountiful that like the Emperor Titus he thought himself not a King the day he gave nothing To this purpose he kept always much Plate He was much addicted to Musick and used to go abroad at Nights and dance to the sound of Trumpets Notwithstanding his great Liberality he left a considerable Treasure to his Successor which he gathered without the least dissatisfaction to his Subjects In fine such was his Life that his Death was generally lamented and it was in all mens Mouths That such Ten Years Government never were nor would again be seen in this Kingdom Others said That either he should never have been born or never have died 7. This King was of great Stature His Person and
had renewed the War and the Country was now again in Hostile manner wasted on both sides wherein many notable Skirmishes happened CHAP. III. The remaining Part of the Life and Reign of King John the First of the Name and Tenth King of Portugal from the Year 1393. till 1433. 1. MAny great Men disgusted for that the King as was before said Had since his establishment recalled part of the Grants made to them during his Necessity went over to Castile where settling themselves they became the Heads of Noble Families The King having taken Salvatierra layed Siege to Tuy which after a vigorous Defence was surrendred to him In the mean while Denis Son to King Peter enters Portugal with an Army Prince Denis Son to King Peter by Lady Agnes de Castro was by the King of Castile sent into Portugal with an Army and the Title of King At the same time the Castilian Admiral James Hurtado de Mendoza entred the River Tagus with a Fleet of Forty Ships and Fifteen Galleys Nunho Alvarez Pereyra with all the Forces he could make marched to oppose Prince Denis who upon the News of his approach returned to Castile The King had given to the Constable the sole Government of the Province of Alentejo and Algarve which he for some time held but soon after resigned and went away to the King to assist him at the Siege of Tuy but it was taken before he arrived there 1398. Misser Ambrosio Marines a Genoese was sent Embassador from Castile to settle a Peace in order to which a Cessation was agreed upon for Nine Months 1401. This Term expired and nothing was concluded Hereupon the King about the middle of May layed Siege to Alcantara but was forced after some Days to desist from that Enterprize 2. A Treaty of Peace was again set on Foot at Segovia Peace concluded betwixt the Two Crowns where after long Debates it was concluded upon the following Conditions That no Money should be demanded of Castile on account of former Breach of Articles That Towns and Prisoners should be exchanged on both sides That the Castilian Hostages should be restored That the Portugueses who fled to Castile should return to their Estates On these Terms a Truce was concluded for Ten Years Nâ—t observed and Hostages were given on both sides for Performance But this Cessation produced no more quiet than the former continual Hostilities were exercised tho' the Actions seem not very considerable for there is no particular Account of them but the 4th Year after the conclusion of the last Truce a perpetual Peace began to be discoursed of King Henry of Castile was then dead and Queen Katherine Sister to the Queen of Portugal had the tuition of King John the Second not yet a Year Old In her Husband's Life time she had always advised Peace and she now moved That Embassadors from both sides might meet on the Frontiers of the Two Kingdoms who did so accordingly but came to no conclusion because the Castilians Demands ran high After many Messages had passed on both sides and much time spent the Treaty was again set a Foot and now Embassadors employed to manage it who at length agreed upon Articles whereof the chiefest was 1411. That the Subjects of both Crowns who had served against their Princes should be restored to their Countries and Estates Peace now established and the Crown secured Peace at length established application was made to the Pope for Absolution of the Censures laid on the Kingdom upon Account of promoting King John to the Throne he being a Bastard and having professed in the Order of Avis Pope Boniface the 9th granted his Request and Absolved the Kingdom The King had a Bastard-Son called Alonso whom he loved no less than his lawful Issue and therefore gave him to Wife Beatrix the only Daughter of the Constable Nunho Alvarez Pereyra They had a Daughter called Elizabeth who was Wife to Prince John Son to King John the First and two Sons which were Alonso afterwards Earl of Ourem and Ferdinand Earl of Arroyolos and First Duke of the House of Bragança 3. The King now fixed in his Throne The King bent upon publick rejoycings for the Peace had bent his thoughts upon solemn entertainments and publick rejoycings designing to Knight his Five Sons with all imaginable Solemnity But they advised him to expend that Money on some Forreign enterprize since all was quiet at home and it would be more honourable for them to be Knighted in the Field 1412. than in the Court The Design they fixed upon was the taking of Ceuta on the Coast of Africk which they acquainted the King withal and he approving thereof enjoyned them to keep it secret To this end Two Gallyes were sent to view the Place and sound the Port and to conceal what they went about they continued their Voyage to Sicily as had been at First given out Great industry was used in fitting out Vessels at Lisbon and many more of Galicia Biscay England and the Low-Countries were hired The Young Princes at the same time raised Forces in all Parts of the Kingdom Various judgments were made of the Intent of these Preparations Castile began to grow jealous the Aragonian was not well satisfyed and the Moorish King of Granada feared all the Storm would fall upon him The Rumour of these preparations drew many Martial Men from Forreign Parts to gain Honour in this Enterprize The Plague in Lisbon the Queen dies of it At this time the Plagâ—e had spread it self throughout Lisbon and having entred the Pallace Queen Philippa died of it Her Body was found Fifteen Months after not only uncorrupted but yielding a most Fragant smell Her Life was a Pattern of Piety and Vertue her happy Death was on the 18th of July 1415 1415. in the 64th Year of her Age. Many looked upon her Death as an ill Omen to the Enterprize in Hand and therefore advised to desist from it but the King and Princes could not be moved 4. On the last Day of July 1415. the Fleet sailed from Lisbon A great Fleet sails from Lisbon for the Conquest of Ceuta the 7th of August it came to Faro and the 14th the City Ceuta was taken to the Wonder of all Europe and Terror of the Enemies of Portugal The particulars of this Action which are not many the Place being taken in Four Hours are to be found in the Portuguese Affrick The King returning home created his Second Son Peter Duke of Coimbra and his Third Henry Duke of Viseo This done he went to Ebora and was there received in Triumph by the Princes John and Ferdinand and the Princess Elizabeth The Ratification of the perpetual Peace with Castile had been delayed till that King came to the Age of Fourteen and took the Government upon himself 1419. He being at that Age this Year 1419 Embassadors passed to and fro and after much Debate
it was his Will that the present King Alonso should marry Elizabeth Daughter of the said Prince Peter to which she willingly consented and desired it might be immediatly performed The Prince tho' astonished at so great a favour accepted the offer No sooner was this noised abroad but Alonso Earl of Barcelos Bastard-Brother to Prince Peter designing to marry the King to his own Grand Daughter prevailed with the Archbishop of Lisbon the Queen's Favâ—â—rite to diswade her from that Resolution Prince Petâ—â— understanding the Design asked the Queen to confirm her Promise to him under her Hand which she tho her mind was altered easily granted 2. The Cortes being met at Torres Novas The Cortes meet and instead of settling Peace widen the Breach where Peace ought to have been established there Discord broke out The Nobility envying Prince Peter the Honour of marrying his Daughter to the King Conspired against him However it was carried in this Parliament That the Queen should have the Education of the King and Prince Peter the Power of the Government She was content but his Adversaries stickled against this Resolution so that they came to be divided the Nobility affirming the Queen ought to Govern and the Commons asserting it was their Right to nominate the Prince a Protector Prince Henry mediated between them allotting the Queen the Charge of the King and the Revenue appointing the Prince to Defend the Kingdom and allowing Earl Alonso to take Charge of the Administration of Justice with the Advice of the Council and Approbation of the Queen and Prince directing the Cortes to meet Yearly to settle all greater Matters Prince Peter tho' nothing was left him but the bare Title of Protector submitted rather than embroil the Kingdom Earl Alonso tho' he had more than he could have demanded was dissatisfied and the Queen pushed on by the Prince's Adversaries would part with nothing The mutinous People obliged the Queen to accept of what was allotted her Earl Alonso sent his Son to demand of Prince Peter the Note the Queen had given him for Security of the King 's Marrying his Daughter he in scorn tore it in pieces and so returned it 3. Embassadors from Castile had been some time in Portugal Embassadors of Castile sent away without an Answer and could not be heard by reason of the present Disorders At length they had Audience of the Queen at Lisbon where they proposed in the Name of King John the Second of Castile That the Bishops expelled during the Schism should be restored That the Military Orders of Avis and Santiago in Portugal should submit themselves as they had been before to those of Calatrava and Avis in Castile That some Portuguese Bishopricks formerly subject to the Archiepiscopal See of Sevil should return to its Obedience After some Debate they were sent away without any Answer which was to be given by Portuguese Embassadors appointed to follow them The People were not at all pleased with the Queen's Administration and pressed Prince Peter to take it upon himself She flying from the Plague then in the City retired to Mount Olivet where she was delivered of the Princess Joanna afterwards Queen of Castile and received Letters from the Pope condoling the Death of the King and advising her not to deliver Ceuta for Prince Ferdinand Prince Peter stirred up by the People to take upon him the Government and advised to it by his Brother Prince John to prevent a Civil War delayed the time At length the People wholly averse to the Queen The People averse to 〈◊〉 Queen ran in multitudes to oblige the Prince to enter upon the Administration of the Publick Affairs and he tho' displeased with the Queen pacified the Multitude perswading them to put off that Design till the Meeting of the Cortes or Parliament 4. The Queen privately writ to all the Members of Parliament to come armed Tumults against the Queen that they might suppress the Rabble But Prince Peter understanding it as Protector charged them to be ready to obey his Orders This done he took leave of the Queen in a course manner which President made her the more slighted she being sensible of it speedily removed to Alenquer The Citizens of Lisbon elected a Standard-bearer and held Seditious Meetings in contempt of the Queen's Letters The Archbishop fortified himself against the Citizens they stopped his Revenue sent Complaints against him to Rome and he was forced to fly to Castile The Multitude headed by a Cooper declared Prince Peter should Govern and a Taylor ratify'd this Decree Thus the Kingdom was disposed of by a Cooper and a Taylor The Governour of the Castle of Lisbon held for the Queen but being sore pressed by the People was forced to surrender it to Prince John Prince Peter sent to Summons the Queen to the Parliament she replyed she would not go unless he resigned all Claim to the Government but he rather chose to stand to the Election made of him by the Cooper and the Taylor Prince Peter made Regent by a Cooper and a Taylor Heads of the Rabble The Prince coming from Coimbra to Lisbon accepted the Government at the hands of the Multitude which was afterwards confirmed to him by the Cortes or Parliament to which the Young King was brought after sufficient Security given his Mother that he should be restored to her Nevertheless he was forcibly taken from her and she retired to Sintra Thence she craved Assistance of her Brothers the Princes of Aragon who sent Embassadors to intercede for her but they were dismissed without any Answer She ceased not to make Friends in Navarre and Aragon and the Prince secured Castile to his Party The Queen in order to make her Escape sent away her Plate and Jewels which were of a great Value to be kept in the Castle of Albuquerque Embassadors came from Castile to require she might either be restored to the Government or have leave to depart the Kingdom But no satisfactory Answer being given them she hereupon made her Escape with her Daughter Joanna born after the Death of the King 5. The Queen being missing Civil War in Portugal all was in Confusion Crato and all the Castles subject to that Priory held for her and thus the Civil War commenced Some Places were taken by the Prince and he resolved to Besiege the Queen in the Town of Crato but she having called some Castilian Troops to her Assistance after making much havock withdrew into Castile Alonso Earl of Barcelos still held out for the Queen but his Son following the Prince brought him over to that Party tho' not without difficulty Thus for some time all Storms seemed to be blown over About this time was brought from Rome a Dispensation for the Young King to Marry Prince Peter's Eldest Daughter Elizabeth as also the Orders of Santiago and Avis in Portugal were exempted from any Subjection to the Orders in Castile The Dispensation being come the King
was marryed by the Consent of the Cortes then sitting to the Regent's Daughter 1441. at Obidos on the 15th of August 1441. The Bridegroom was then Ten Years of Age The Young King marries the Regent's Daughter and the Bride Seven or Eight The Queen Dowager still pressed to be restored to the Government and the King of Castile sent several Embassages in her behalf which nothing availing it was feared a War would ensue but that King dying all that Negotiation fell to nothing Thus the Queen Dowager being forsaken on all hands and having spent her Treasure in solliciting to make War upon Portugal went away at last to Toledo where she lived upon Charity and there died as was suspected poisoned by the Regent tho others say by D. Alvaro de Luna then Favourite to the King of Castile 6. The King of Castile being jealous of the Aragonian asked some Supplies of Men out of Portugal They were accordingly sent him under the Command of the Constable Peter Son to the Regent but there being no use for them they returned home However the Constable while he was in Castile concluded a Match betwixt that King and the Lady Elizabeth Daughter to Prince John 144◠King Alonso of Portugal being now Fourteen Years of Age King Alonso take◠upon him the Government and confirms all that had been done by the Regent according to the Custom of Spain took upon him the Government in the Assembly of the Cortes or Parliament thanked Prince Peter for his good Administration till that time and desired him to continue in it till he were of riper Years Next he ratified his Marriage with that Prince's Daughter and then went away to Alcaçaras where the Embassador of Castile was Proxy for his Master in the Ceremony of Contracting the Lady Elizabeth Daughter to Prince John to that King There also the Lady Beatrix Sister to Elizabeth was contracted to Prince Ferdinand Brother to that King Prince Peter by this time thought he had wholly gained over all his Enemies that opposed his Advancement to the Government but now it appeared it was but a counterfeit Reconciliation The Duke of Braganza the Earl of Ourem and the Archbishop of Lisbon prevailed with the King to remove him from the Government laying Disloyalty to his Charge and they at the same time displaced all Officers as well Civil as Military that had been preferred by him Not so content they accused him of aspiring to the Crown and so far prevailed as to have him banished the Court which done several Libels were dispersed abroad fraught with nothing but Reflections upon him and many Articles laid to his charge were Judicially examined Prince Henry came from Algarve to Court to vindicate his Brother's Honour but to little purpose because he was look'd upon to be no less guilty than the other and both of them were charged with poisoning King Edward Queen Ellenor and Prince John D. Alvaro de Almada Earl of Abranchez in the King's Presence challenged any Man that should lay blemish on the Prince's Reputation but the King was carryed away to Sintra by his Favourites that he might not give ear to those that favoured Prince Peter 7. The King from Sintra issued out his Orders Prince Peter the late Regent in Arms and declared Rebel forbidding all Persons to Converse and hold Correspondence with the Prince also Summoning all the Queen his Mother's Servants who had been discarded to appear and put in their Claims and Commanding the Prince not to depart from his own Lands without the King's leave He was also commanded to deliver up all the Arms that were in Coimbra which he refused to do The Duke of Braganza being called to Court was to pass through the Prince's Lands and therefore intended to Travel well attended but the Prince marched out with Forces to oppose him and tho' several times Orders were brought him from the King to return to Coimbra he still advanced towards the Duke who was forced privately to fly 1449. and make his escape to Santarem where the Court then was Hereupon he was declared a Rebel and Traytor and Forces were raised with Expedition against him D. Sancho de Noronha Earl of Odemira was sent with Forces against the Constable Prince Peter's Son who fled to Castile where he found not such kind Entertainment as he expected Queen Elizabeth being the Prince's Daughter studied how to save her Father and gave him Advice that the Fifth of May was the day appointed to Besiege him Then she went to the King to beg Pardon for him which the King said he would grant provided the Prince himself would beg it acknowledging his Faults He did so in a Letter to the King but the Queen shewing him her Letter wherein the Prince vindicated himself and said he complyed so far only to satisfie her the King said since he did not really acknowledge his faults he merited no Pardon The Prince's Enemies to prevent the Queen's interceding for him kept him as much from her as they could and imprisoned D. Alvaro de Castro a Man of a most beautiful Person and excellent Behaviour as standing accused of too much Familiarity with the Queen but the King knowing well her Vertue caused D. Alvaro to be set at Liberty and did him great Honour 8. The King had now gathered a numerous Army but could not set forward for want of Provisions and Carriages The King comes to a Battle with the Rebels But the Prince on his part set forward from Coimbra with 1000 Horse and 5000 Foot and came within five Leagues of Santarem without meeting any Opposition There he was advised to return to Coimbra but he chose to advance towards Lisbon and by the way put to Death about fifty Horse of the King 's that at a distance called him Traytor Being come to a Brook called Alfarreveira he there chose a convenient Ground for a small Body to oppose a greater for he had not yet 8000 Men and the King's Army consisted of above 30000. By that Multitude he found himself encompassed on the 20th of May. Proclamation was made declaring all Traytors that should thenceforth adhere to the Prince yet none forsook him but some of the King's Army deserted to him Some Shot of Musquets and Cross-bows flying from the King's Camp to the Prince's he answered with some Cannon one of the Bullets whereof falling near the King's Tent so enraged his Army that they immediately without Orders fell on and in a moment broke and put to flight the Prince's Forces He himself fighting resolutely Prince Peter killed was shot through with an Arrow and died His inseparable Friend the Earl of Abranchez having sworn not to forsake him in Death after having performed incredible Acts of Bravery was there also slain Most of the Prince's followers were either taken or killed His Body was left three days in the Field and then being laid upon a Ladder four Country men carryed it to the poor
Church of Alverca where it was buried The King was received at Lisbon in Triumphant manner Many Persons were executed on Account of these Troubles and their Heirs to the Fourth Generation declared Infamous The Prince's Enemies fearing the Queen might some time or other Revenge the Death of her Father advised the King to be divorced from her but he received her with all the marks of True Love and Affection They begged of him some Towns that had belonged to the Prince which he freely gave them but the Cities of Porto and Portalegre would not submit to be given away to any Body and were therefore annexed to the Crown 9. The Princess Ellenor during this time was contracted to the Emperor Frederick the Third The Princess Ellenor contracted to the Emperor Frederick the Third and was now delivered in the Month of August to his Embassadors They embarked at Lisbon and landed at Leghorn whence she was conducted to Sienna where the Bridegroom met her attended by Ladislaus King of Hungary his Brother Albertus the Arch-Duke and other Princes Hence they travelled together to Rome where they were crowned with the usual Solemnity 1451. Prince Ferdinand who was marryed to the Lady Beatrix 1452. Daughter to Prince John privately built a Caravel and went away in it to Ceuta to employ himself against the Moors but the King soon sent for him home and to settle his Mind gave him the Towns of Beja 1453. Moura and Serpa The great Monarch of the Turks Mahomet having taken Constantinople Pope Calixtus stirred up the Christian Princes to unite their Forces against the Common Enemy Our King offered to serve in Person one Year with 12000 Men but all these Projects fell to nothing Our Queen had before this time brought forth a Son and a Daughter whereof the former died 1455. and now on the third of May she was delivered at Lisbon of another Son whom she called John as the first had been for the special Devotion she had to that Name He was sworn Prince being but a Month old with great Solemnity The Queen upon this Occasion obtained leave of the King that the Body of her Father Prince Peter might be placed in the Tomb he had built for himself at the Famous Monastery of Batalla At this time also a Match was concluded betwixt the Princess Joanna King Alonso's Daughter and Henry the Fourth King of Castile She was Seventeen Years of Age and very beautiful which was all her Portion and she was conducted to Castile by Count Alvaro Gonzalez de Atayde Elizabeth our Queen died on the Second of December following The Queen's Death not without suspicion of Poison given her by her Father's Enemies fearing she might prevail with the King to Revenge his Death She was carried to the Church of Batalla with the greatest Pomp that had been used at the Funeral of any Queen For Beauty Patience Obedience and Piety she was inferior to none The Monastery of Xabregas of the religious of S. Eloy was founded by her 1456. The King ordered the Body of his Mother Queen Ellenor to be brought from Toledo to be buried at the Church of Batalla As far as Elvas it was conducted by the King and Queen of Castile and there they were met by our King 10. The Bishop of Silves brought the Croisade from Rome 1457. granted to Encourage Christian Princes to joyn their Forces against the Turks The Croisade brought into Portugal Our King made Preparations for that Expedition and recalled Peter the Constable and Master of Avis Son to Prince Peter who was Banished to Castile He also coined a New sort of pieces called Cruzadoes from the Croisade and the Cross on them These were of pure Gold and great Weight that they might pass in Forreign Countries but the other Christian Princes not answering on their Part he bent his Mind upon Prosecuting the Conquest of Africk Tangier was first aimed at 1458. but this Resolution was changed for Alcaçer Alcazer on the Coast of Africk taken by King Alonso Twenty thousand Landmen were appointed for this Service who set sail from Setuval the 12th of October in Two hundred Sail of Ships They no sooner arrived than that they were Victorious and reduced that Place the Particulars of which Action are in the Portuguese Africk A Peace was now established with the Duke of Britany 1459. whose Subjects had taken many Portuguese Ships which was repaid them in the same kind 1460. The following Year died Prince Henry who first gave Encouragement and promoted the Discoveries on the Coast of Africk A Year after he was followed by Alonso Duke of Bragança Bastard-Son to King John the First 1461. The King being advertised That it would be easie to surprize Tangier Tangier taken set sail from Lisbon in November and tho he met with many difficulties he became Master of that Place The Catalonians rebelling against their lawful Sovereign King John of Aragâ—n sent to invite Peter Son to the Unfortunate Prince Peter to that Principality as being descended of the Ancient Earls of Barcelona He hasted thither from Ceuta but lived not long there and lies buried in the Cathedral King Alonso went over from Ceuta to Gibraltar to meet the King of Castile who craved Aid of him against his Nobility that not content with staining his Honour sought to deprive him of the Crown 1464. Here it was agreed King Alonso should marry Elizabeth Sister to the Castilian and his Son Prince John the Princess Joanna but all this took no effect 1466. Queen Joanna of Castile on whom those People cast all their Reproaches accusing her of Adultery only in malice to D. Beltran de la Cueva the King's Favourite whom she treated with Courtesie came to the City Guarda to crave Aid of the King her Brother against the Rebels who called her Daughter a Bastard and had opprobriously used a Statue they had erected to the King her Husband King Alonso intended to have succoured her but was prevented by the Death of Prince Alonso of Castile who had been proclaim'd King in opposition to the King his Brother whereupon ensued some tranquility in the Affairs of Castile King John of Aragon made great Interest that his Son Ferdinand might marry Elizabeth Sister to the King of Castile Our King Alonso also sent Embassadors to demand her according to the Articles concluded at Gibraltar But these Embassadors could not prevail for she was already engaged to Ferdinand and much more to those who advised that Match in opposition to her Brother that she might the better with their assistance deprive him of the Crown That Match was concluded in February 1469. 1469. This is that Elizabeth so much admired by the Spaniards for Sanctity and yet by this it appears she aimed to Usurp the Crown from her Brother and actually did it from his only Daughter CHAP. VI. The remaining Part of the Life and
Library in the Palace It was said of him That he was a better Man than a King and on the contrary of his Son That he was a better King than a Man He was Bountiful to Prodigality temperate in Eating and Sleeping and of such Continence that becoming a Widower at 〈◊〉 Years of Age he is said never after to have known Woman His Issue His Lawful Issue and he had no other was first John who died in his Infancy Secondly Joanna who being contracted to several Princes they all died before she could be marryed and she became a Dominican Nun at Aveyro Thirdly John who succeeded his Father 11. The Discoveries in this King's Reign were as follows Discoveries during his Reign Nunho Tristan and Antony Gonzalez sailed as far as Cape Blanco in 20 Degrees of North Latitude whence they brought some Moors and also Blacks then a Rarity in Spain Nunho returned and proceeded as far as the Islands of Arguin Lanzarote and Yanez found the Island of Garças whence they brought 200 Slaves Antony Gonzalez returning pierced as far as the Island Tider Alvaro Fernandez discovered Cape Matos and going 100 Leagues farther slew the Lord of that Country Gonzalo de Sintra at Angra lost six Men which was the first Loss sustained in these Discoveries Denis Fernandez reached as far as the River Sanaga in 16 Degrees of North Latitude and discovered the Islands of Cabo Verde Buenavista Santiago and S. Philip. Vincent de Lagos and Lewis Cadamusto a Genâ—ese found the Islands Terceras being Eleven in number The Islands of S. Thomas and Principe the Kingdom of Beni as far as Cape Catherine and Sierra Leona were also discovered John de Santarem and John de Escobar found the Couâ—try called Mina Ferdinand Po that which bears his Name The Islands Azores were now first known so called from the many Hawks seen there and are Nine in number lying due West of the Rock of Sintra In one of these on the top of a Mountain called Del Cuervo or of the Crow was found a Statue of a Man on Horseback his Head bare his Left Hand on the Horse's Main the Right pointing to the West It stood upon a stone Pedestal which together with the whole Statue was all of one piece and under it were certain Characters cut in the Rock but could never be understood CHAP. VII The First Part of the Life and Reign of John the Second of the Name and Thirteenth King of Portugal from the Year of our Lord 1455. till 1491. 1. IN the renowned City Lisbon Birth of King John the Second on the Third of May 1455. was born the most excellent Prince John the Second King of Portugal sirnamed the Perfect and the Great 1455. He was baptized in the Cathedral with the greatest pomp and solemnity that had till then been seen This Prince was educated and instructed in all Arts that can accomplish a Person of that Character This and his personal Worth moved King Henry the 4th of Castile to propose a Match between him and his only Daughter the Lady Joanna However the King his Father gave him to Wife the Lady Ellenor of Lancaster eldest Daughter to his Brother Ferdinand having obtained the Pope's Dispensation for it and they were accordingly married on the 22th of January 1470. 1470. Soon after his Marriage the King preparing for his Voyage into Africk the Prince asked and obtained leave of him to bear him company where he behaved himself with such bravery that his Father Knighted him in the Mâ—sque of Arzila then converted into a Christian Church on the 24th of August 1471. 147â— Alonso the Prince's only Son being born on the 18th of May at such time as King Alonso was marching into Castile to marry the Lady Joanna 1475. rightful Heiress of that Crown he ordained that in case he had Issue by her and his Son should die before him then his Grand-Son should be sworn his Heir which was done and Prince John was left to govern the Kingdom 1476. How he marched with Forces to the assistance of his Father then at Toro in Castile and how he behaved himself in the Battle between that Place and Zamora has been said in the Life of that King 1477. Upon his return into Portugal he recovered Alegretâ— taken by the Castilians Having been as was said in the last Chapter proclaimed King in his Father's life time and by his order upon his return out of France he restored to him the Regal Authority by the advice of the Duke of Bragança and yet he thought to have put that great Man to Death afterwards upon that same Account 2. King Alonso having revived the War with Castile 1478. Lope Vaz de Castel-Branco seized the Town of Moura and called himself Earl thereof The Prince resenting this Insolence sent Six Men who being admitted into his company slew him as he was Hunting which done the Prince secured the Town and gave it to the Princess Beatrix his Mother-in-Law to whom it property appertained The King lying on his Death Bed at Sintra the Prince hasted thither to see him and his Father dying on the Three and twentieth of August 1481. he was the second time proclaimed King the last Day of that Month. King John proclaimed Nunho Pereyra immediately upon the New King's Acession to the Crown presented him with a Note he had given him under his Hand in his Minority promising to make him an Earl whensoever he ascended the Throne The King considering he had obtained that Note in his Infancy when he had not judgment to know on whom he ought to bestow Honours tore it telling him it was a sufficient Favour he did not punish him for having used sinister means to obtain it He had resolved to build a Town and Fort on the Coast of Africk called Mina to this purpose he fitted out a Fleet commanded by James de Azambuja who had with him 500 fighting Men and 100 Masons with all materials for the Work so fitted that at their landing there was nothing to do but to put them together Azambuja landing caused Mass to be said on the Shoar under a Tree Fort of St. George on the Coast of Africâ—◠〈◊〉 whither the King called Caramansa came to him with a great Retinue and was converted The Fort was built and called S. George which done Azambuja sent home his Caraveâ—s with a great quantity of Gold 3. Before this Fleet sailed the Cortes or Parliament had met at Ebora where the Form of Obligation that Lords and Governours of Places were to enter into with the King was settled because till then the Nobility and Commanders exercised a despotick Power in their Juridiâ—cions independent of the Kings and by their tyrannied Proceedings were grown burdensome to the People and dangerous to the Sovereign who had little more left him but the Name King John being now at Peace abroad ordered that no Lord should exercise a judicial
up the Ghost on the 25th of October 〈…〉 Being sensible he must die he commanded the Plate furnished by the Churches for the late Wars to be restored He ordered Duke Emanuel should Succeed him having first used all possible means to leave the Crown to his Bastard-Son George which was the greatest Act of Injustice he was 〈…〉 indeed that could be Having 〈◊〉 the Queen Princess Beatrix and the Clergy in his Life time he now begged Pardon of them 4. Tho' the King earnestly desired to see Duke Emanuel before his Death he could not compass it some Persons perswading that Prince his Design was to kill him There was a small Box whereof he always kept the Key which was generally supposed to contain nothing but Poison 〈…〉 Saint But this Box being opened after his Death there was found in it a Book of Instructions for to make a good Confession a Hair-cloath and a Discipline stained with Blood Hence the People took occasion 〈◊〉 call him a Saint as many before accounted him a Tyrant In his Will the King ordered 3000 Masses should be said for his Soul that 41 Orphans should be marryed that the like number of Captives should be redeemed that the great â—ospital of Lisbon should be finished that half the Plate taken from Churches by his Father for the War against Castile should be restored that Duke Emanuel should Succeed him in the Throne that his Bastard-Son George should have the City Coimbra with all the Royalties wherewith Prince Peter had it before that in case Duke Emanuel died without Issue the aforesaid George should Inherit the Crown and that none of the Persons banished the Kingdom by him should be restored After his Death he had the Commendations of his very Enemies His Body was conducted with great State from the Cathedral of Silves to the Monastery of Batalla where it is said to have been found long after uncorrupted which increased the Opinion of his Sanctity He marryed his Cousin-German Ellenor Daughter to Prince Ferdinand Duke of Viseo and the Lady Beatrix Daughter to Prince John She was a Princess endued with singular Beauty Wit and Vertue and lies buried in the Monastery of the Mother of God at Lisbon founded by her self in the Cloister among the Nuns is her Grave without any distinction 5. Let us now give some Specimen of the many Vertues that adorned this King 〈◊〉 Vertues First for his great Zeal in Matters of Religion Pope Innocent VII publickly called him The Eldest Son of the Church Daily he performed several Devotions upon his bare Knees and in the Holy Week spent whole Nights in mourning before the Sepulchre He forbid the use of Mules and because the Clergy said they would have recourse to the Pope on that account he made it Death for any Body to 〈◊〉 them and so that Dispute 〈…〉 Justice was such that he rewarded some Judges before whom he was Cast in Law Suits and hearing a Man was condemned to Death who had been Fourteen Years in Prison he pardoned him saying They better deserved to die who had kept him so long to Condemn him at last Few ever exceeded him in Liberality and Gratitude for having borrowed 1500 Ducats of Peter Pantoja and kept them but five days he then sent him his Money and 250 Ducats for the Use of it Pantoja complaining that the Interest was too great he ordered him as much more and said He would do so as often as he complained James Fernandez Correa his Factor in Flanders having lent Maximilian the King of the Romans 30000 Ducats without his Order he sent him Thanks for so doing and gave him 1000 Crowns Edward del Casal a Man of Worth having employed another to beg some Favour for him the King seeing him said Since you have Hands to serve me with why have not you a Tongue to speak to me 6. There was nothing that daunted him More of his good Qualities in so much that others fearing to go aboard the Fleet because of the Plague he went himself and is said to have spoke unconcerned with the Ghost of a Gentleman that was dead and came to warn him of the Conspiracy of the Duke of Viseo Favourites he never had any and was such an Enemy to those sort of Ministers that the Cardinal George da Costa who had entire influence over his Father fled to Rome before his Accession to the Crown None that deserved well passed unrewarded for he carryed about him a Table-Book in which were the Names and Services of all those that merited of him All Men had access to him their Business was heard and answered Truth was so much admired by him that he made D. John de Meneses his Lord Steward only because he said He always spoke the Truth 〈◊〉 it were displeasing to him As for Learning he understood Philosophy was skilled in Mathematicks well versed in History and a great admirer of Poetry Tho' his Countenance represented much of Gravity and his Carriage had much of Majesty yet at times he was pleasant and facetious To conclude his Government was inferiour to none of the best Kings that preceded him and may be a Pattern to all those that come after him Scarce any excelled him in all sorts of Vertues and foâ— his Zeal to Religion he was the first that propagated it in the Torrid Zone In short he was a Father of his People Bountiful Just Merciful Generous Brave a lover of Truth and sure rewarder of Merit 7. King John had only one Lawfully Begotten Son His Issue which was Prince Alonso born at Lisbon in the Year 1475. and who died as has been said unfortunately by a Fall off his Horse in the Year 1491. being newly married to the Princess Elizabeth Daughter to King Ferdinand and Queen Elizabeth of Castile This King had also One Bastard-Son called George created Duke of Coimbra Marquis of Torres Novas Master of the Military Orders of Santiago and Avis and Lord of the Lands that had belonged to Prince Peter He had also the Town of Aveiro and of him are descended the Dukes of that Title who keep the sirname of Lancaster taken by them in Memory of Queen Philippa Daughter to the Duke of Lancaster King John at length fixed the Arms of the Kingdom in the manner they are used at this Day reducing the Castles in the Orle to the certain Number of Seven and setâ—ing the Five middle Escutcheons upright 8. Discoveries in the Reign of King John were as follow 〈…〉 James Cano sailed to the River and Kingdom of Manicongo James Alonso de Aveiro to that of Beni and brought thence the first Pepper that came from those Parts Bartâ—â—â—â—mew Diaz to the Cape of Good Hope and passed beyond it to the River called Del Infante Peter Covillam and Alonso de Paiva Men versed in many Languages went to Grand Cairo in Egypt then embarking on the Red Sea saw the City Adem where parting Paiva went into Ethiopia
the Fifth to offer him Elizabeth the King 's Eldest Sister in Marriage Yet of a sudden his Instructions were altered and he ordered only to Complement that Prince upon his happy Arrival in Spain The cause of this sudden change was this The Ship called the Victory the first that sailed round the World and the only one that escaped of those that discovered the Streights of Magellan arriving at the Islands of Cabo Verdâ— the Inhabitants understanding she came from the Molucco Islands designed to secure her but they on board having some Jealousie of it immediately set Sail leaving behind their long Boat with thirteen Men who were sent away Prisoners to Lisbon whilst the Ship made her Voyage and arrived safe at Sevil. The Emperor complained hereof to the King and he again that the Emperor's Ships invaded his Conquests demanding the Lading of the Ship Victory D. Lewis de Silveyra spent Eight Months in his Embassy at the Emperor's Court without dispatching any Business and then returning to Portugal found the King at Almeirin where at his first access forgetting or neglecting to kiss his Hand he found himself quite out of favour for D. Antony de Atayde making his Advantage of the others absence had quite worked him out of his Master's Affections Nevertheless D. Lewis continued at Court without ever expressing the least Resentment for his Fall 3. D. Antony de Atayde The Character of D. Antony de Atayde the King's Favourite now the only Favourite was a Person well deserving that high Honour for his singular Prudence and Moderation There are sufficient Testimonies of the former and I will bring one that may fully evince the latter The Lord of Azambuja Head of one of the ancientest Families in Portugal designed to sell that Town to supply his present wants The King told D. Antony it would be proper for him to buy it because it joyned to his Estate He answered It was more for his Highness's Reputation to supply the wants of so Ancient and Honourable a Family than to suffer it to fall to nothing by selling an Estate of that Antiquity The King took his Advice and so generously relieved that Gentleman that he was enabled to preserve his Patrimony This is a good Remark for those who to advance their own Fortunes are so far from regarding any Private Person that they stick not to ruin Kings and overturn Kingdoms It was now thought time that the King should Marry and James Duke of Bragança proposed to him Queen Ellenor his Mother-in-law as Wife to the late King who was vastly Rich. This Proposal being noised abroad was so well liked that the Council of Lisbon addressed him in behalf of themselves and the whole Kingdom praying he would condescend to it The King could not approve of Marrying his Father's Wife and was freed from their Importunities by the Emperor's desiring he would suffer his Sister to return to Castile which was accordingly performed 4. A March being proposed for the King with Katherine 15â—â— Sister to the Emperor Charles the Fifth King John Marries Katherine Sister to the Emperor Charles the Fifth Embassadors were sent to Burgos where that Prince then kept his Court to treat about it The Articles agreed upon were That the Bridegroom should pay the Charge of the Dispensation the Emperor should be at the Expence of her Journey That she should have 200000 Ducats down and 5000 a Year for her Portion besides Jewels and other Necessaries That the third part should be given to her at her Marriage and that her Joynture should be 10000 Ducats a Year with all the Lands and Towns the Queens used to possess The former Peace was confirmed and Supplies promised reciprocally in case of need About the end of the Year she was conducted to the Borders by the Bishop of Siguença and Duke of Vejar and there delivered to the Princes Lewis and Ferdinand sent to attend her The King received her at Crato and she proved one of the best Queens in the World She was happy in bringing forth many Children but unfortunate in the shortness of their Lives which gave occasion to the Multitude to say It was a Judgment of God on the King for the Familiarity he was suspected to have with the Queen his Mother-in-law 1525. At the beginning of the Year a motion was made of a Match betwixt the Emperor and our King's Sister The Emperor Charles the Fifth Marries Elizabeth Sister to King John the Princess Elizabeth Embassadors of the Emperor and the King's Commissioners meeting upon this Subject agreed That the Emperor should be at the Expence of the Dispensation and the King defray the Charge of her Journey as had been done in the Marriage of the Emperor's Sister but the Portion now given with this Princess far exceeded that for it amounted almost to a Million of Crowns In November the Emperor's Embassador was contracted for the Emperor to the Princess and the day after they set forward with the King and Princes 5. The Empress's Journey into Spain was delayed till the Dispensation came from Rome 1526. and then being attended to the Frontiers by many of the Nobility she was there delivered to the Spanish Noblemen sent to receive her She was conducted to Sevil and there received with Pomp suitable to so great a Princess Soon after came the Emperor and in March the Marriage was solemnized We must now pass over seven Years without mentioning any thing of the Affairs of this Kingdom because we find nothing Remarkable except that in the Year 1531. there happened a most terrible Earthquake 1531. which overthrew many Buildings A great Earthquake but chiefly at Lisbon and round about it where whole Towns were overwhelmed About this time also the Tribunal of the Inquisition was erected for suppressing of the Jews Muley Hazen 1534. expelled the Kingdom of Tunis by the Famous Pirate Hariaden Barbarossa fled to the Emperor Charles the Fifth for Succour The Emperor undertook his Protection and in order to it desired Assistance of King John particularly praying him to send an extraordinary Galeon then Famous for its greatness called the S. John 1535. The King sent him that and two others of great Bulk King John sends Succours to the Emperor besides 20 smaller ones loaded with store of Ammunition and bravely manned The Command of this Squadron was given to Antony de Saldana who had served well in India At Barcelona he joyned the Emperor and was by him Honourably received Prince Lewis stole away from Court to serve under the Emperor Charles the Fifth but of this we spoke at the time of his Birth in the Reign of King Emanuel The King sent him 100000 Crowns and the Emperor received him at Barcelona with all possible marks of Honour They set out with 400 Sail and made themselves Masters of Guletta and Tunis 6. From the Year 1535. we find nothing worthy of Memory till 1539. a Year
Fifth and Elizabeth Prince John Marries Joanna Daughter to Charles the Fifth the Prince's Aunt and her Portion settled at 360000 Ducats the Duke of Aveyro and the Bishop of Coimbra went with a numerous and splendid Retinue to receive her upon the Frontiers She came to Elvas about the end of November At Barreyro the King met and conducted her thence to Lisbon where a few days after she was marryed to the Prince to the general Joy of all the Kingdom hoping a numerous Issue from them But all Humane hopes are vain for the Prince died the Second of January following 1554. His Distemper was an inward consuming Fever Prince John dies which being supposed to proceed from too much use of his Wife she was removed from him to the Queen's Apartment There the Prince's Death was kept from her knowledge the King visiting her without Mourning The Princess was left with Child and on the 19th of January brought forth a Son The Princess delivered of a Son who was called Sebastian The Princess being out of danger was acquainted with the Death of the Prince and went into strict Mourning She would have cut off her Hair in token of Sorrow but the King would not permit it Being one Night in Bed with her Husband there appeared to her a Woman in Mourning who giving one blast vanished as if she had foretold all her Delights would vanish into Air. Other Nights she perceived the Lights in her Chamber put out without seeing any Body to do it Twice being at a Window with her Ladies she saw many Men cloathed after the Moorish Fashion with Torches in their Hands cast themselves into the River All these were looked upon as unhappy Omens of the Prince's Death and other Calamities that ensued 4. Prince Philip of Spain Brother to the Widow Princess being upon his Departure for England to marry Mary the Heiress of that Crown by his Embassadors desired of King John that he would suffer the Princess to return to Spain to Govern that Kingdom In May the Princess set forward from Lisbon The Princess Governs Spain attended by Prince Lewis as far as Arroyolos where he delivered her to the Duke of Bragança who conducted her to the Borders of the Kingdom and there gave her up to the Bishops of Osma and Badajoz and to D. Garcia de Toledo who was Lord Steward She Governed Spain with Discretion and Founded a Monastery and Hospital in Madrid This Summer sailed from Lisbon D. Peter da Cunha with Five Ships and Four Galleys to Guard the â—â—ast of Algarve Being in the Bay of Tavira An Engagement he discovered the famous Turkish Pirate Xaramet Arraez with Eight Galleys D. Peter gave orders to engage them but the Ships not being able to come up for want of Wind he engaged with only his Four Galleys The Admiral Galleys attacked one another and at first the Portuguese had the worst whereupon the Turks boarder her but were beaten out and Fortune changing D. Peter took the Turk The other Three Christian Galleys boarded as many of the Infidels whereof they took two and sunk the Third The remaining Turkish Galleys seeing these lost fled Of the the Turks 150 were killed and 100 taken 230 Christian Slaves were released and 40 Portuguese perished Two Portuguese left ashoar when the Galleys went out to meet the Enemy swam aboard with their Swords in their Mouths D. Peter returned Victorious to Lisbon where he maintained the Turk his Prisoner till he was exchanged for a Turk who turning Christian was called Peter Paul and had behaved himself so well that the Command of the Galley was given him but he being taken by the Infidels and carried to Mazagam had certainly been put to Death but was spared only upon Account of Xaramet for whom he was exchanged 5. On the the 27th of November 1555 1555. died Prince Lewis the Delight of Portugal Prince Lewis dies and a Person of singular Learning Judgment Courage Generosity and Piety He went twice into Castile once to agree with the Emperor about reducing the King of France to forbear trading in the Portuguese Conquests which he effected The Second time to Conclude a Peace betwixt the Emperor and King of France He built a stately Palace at Salvaterra but lived not to finish it The following Year the King settled the Rules of Precedency 1556. about which there had been great Contests ordering that all Titles should take place according to Seniority Now the Misfortunes of this Crown seem to be Compleat 1557. for the King died aged 55 Years The King dies when he was ripest for Government and left the Crown to Prince Sebastian then unfit for Rule as being but Three Years old He was suddenly snatched away yet not so but he had time to end his Life like a Christian He was of a mean Stature rather inclined to Fat than Leanness his Complexion ruddy his Eyes dark Blew but lively In matters of Justice he always inclined most to Mercy was a great lover of Peace made an excellent choice of Ministers and loved not to heap many Employments upon one Man In the Year 1553 he founded the University at Coimbra and afterwards with great charge brought Professors to it from Paris The Ancient Aqueduct built by Sertorius at Evora was by him repaired much was added by him to the Building of the Monastery of Belem by him also the Custome-House and Arsenals were erected as also the Churches of our Lady of Grace S. Francis and S. Rocque besides many other publick Works All the religious Orders were by him reduced to live up to the rigor of their Rules and Houses founded for all sorts of Women to retire to He instituted the Council of Conscience and that of the Military Orders No want ever prevailed with him to lay heavy Taxes on his Subjects Tho' he heard the Advice of many he always followed his own Opinion which was the Cause he often erred 6. To conclude King John proved an excellent Prince and singular Champion of the Catholick Religion His Children were as follows First Alonso who died a Child Secondly Mary First Wife to Philip the Second of Spain Thirdly Elizabeth Fourthly Beatrix Fifthly Emanuel Sixthly Philip. Seventhly Denis all which died young Eighthly John who married the Princess Joanna Daughter to the Emperor Charles the Fifth and died soon after Ninthly Antony who lived not out a Year His Bastard Issue was First Emanuel who died a Child Secondly Edward Archbishop of Braga a Prelate of Piety and Learning 7. In India Nunho da Cunha overthrew the King of Monbaça Actions abroad duing his Reign and slew him of Cambaya D. John de Castro with such wonderful Courage as rather seemed Rashness Engaging a vast Multitude at the Second Siege of Diu obtained one of the most wonderful Victories that raised the Renown of the Portuguese Valour Hector de Silveyra besides many other remarkable Actions subdued the King of
At length when least expected he suddenly set out in April 1619. bringing with him Prince Philip Philip the Third comes into Portugal and the Princesses Elizabeth and Mary and as his Father had done he made his Publick Entry into Lisbon on S. Peter's Day His Reception was the greatest that ever till then had been heard of for the Portuguese ravished with Affection and Joy to see their Prince among them erected such Fabricks on the Land and made such mighty Works on the River as seemed to fill up both those Elements of Land and Water and scarce left room for the admiring Multitude to behold him that all those Expences were made for His Reception It is impossible to describe the particulars of this most Glorious Entry The River Tagus was covered with an innumerable multitude of Vessels built in the shape of several Fishes and Sea-Monsters The King was brought in a Galley attended by many others built with such admirable Workmanship that the like was never before seen and it obliterated the Memory of the Famous one made by Ptolomy King of Egypt which at that time was the Wonder of the World Whilst this multitude of Vessels rowed down the River the thundring of the Cannon from the Vessels themselves and from the Castle shook the Earth and rent the Air. Being come on shoar the King proceeded to the Cathedral and thence to the Palace entertaining his Lyes with such prodigious Sights of Gold and Silver that the time falling short to view all he returned the next day to behold the lofty Fabricks which expressed the greatness of their Affection who received him Such was the Magnificence of the Piles erected such the Cost bestowed on them and such the solid Strength of them that they seemed as if designed for many Ages not for the use of one only day which was too short a space even to demolish them 3. The Majesty of these Works was so amazing that the King tho' used to Regal Entertainments said He never till that day thought himself a great King Hereby seeming to call Lisbon Felicitas Philippica as once Julius Caesar gave it the Name of Felicitas Julia. In the Palace he performed the two Solemn Acts of Swearing the Prince and holding the Cortes or Parliament He holds Parliament which met with extraordinary Joy and Satisfaction of all Men but 〈◊〉 the end disappointed them of their hopes First for that the King was scarce seen by his Subjects and next for the unsatisfactory Answer he gave to their Demands The Reason of it was that his coming to the Kingdom and calling the Parliament were Actions proceeding from his own Inclination but the disobliging of them was wholly the product of the ill Advice of his Ministers His Favourites fearing he should take an Affection to the Portuguese and perhaps continue among them were uneasie at the Splendor of his Entertainment and so much Influence had they over him that he gave more Credit to their Words than to those marks of Respect and Loyalty he saw with his Eyes This is the greatest Misfortune can befal a Prince to be so led away and infatuated by the Flatteries of Favourites who only attend their private Interest as to forfeit the Affections of their People This is the height of Tyranny in Ministers to covet all for themselves and allow nothing to others 4. Seven Months the King spent in his Journey to Portugal His stay and return to Madrid staying there and returning home Being come to Madrid he departed this Life the last day of March in the Year of Grace 1621. the 43d 1621. Year of his Age and 23d of his Reign His Death His Body lies buried with his Predecessors in the Royal Monastery of St. Lawrence commonly called the Escurial His Picture drawn as he appeared at the Cortes or Parliament held at Lisbon in his Robes with the Collar of the Golden Fleece and the Steptre in his Hand represents him of a pleasing Aspect yet full of Majesty Of Stature he was rather little but proportionable his Forehead high his Eyes blue his Lips thick his Complexion fair with a fresh Colour his Hair yellow his whole Countenance beautiful and representing much Grandeur He was a most Holy Prince and at his Death seemed to have only one thing to lament which was that he fulfilled what his Father had Prophetically foretold viz. That he suffered his Favourites to have so much the Ascendant over him Had he given less Ear to his Ministers who always mind their own Advantage tho' with the loss of their Master's and been more absolute in taking his own measure he had proved one of the greatest and most successful Princes in the World For he was so Fortunate that notwithstanding all the Miscarriages of those that governed him he still came off with Honour and Reputation adding new Conquests to his Dominions both in India and Africk 5. His only Wife was Margaret of Austria His Wife and Issue Daughter to the Arch-Duke Charles and his Dutchess Mary She was one of the most Renowned Queens this Kingdom ever had and it enjoyed many that deserve Immortal Fame After her Death the King in Continency imitated his Predecessor Alonso the Fifth for he never would Marry again and it is generally believed he never had to do with any Woman but his Queen His Issue was First Ann Mary Mauricia Wife to King Lewis XIII of France her Dowry 500000 Crowns in Gold Secondly Philip who succeeded him Thirdly Mary born at Valladolid the 18th of August 1606. afterwards Queen of Hungary Fourthly Charles born at Madrid the 14th of September 1607. Fifthly Ferdinand born at the Escurial May the 17th 1609. he was a Cardinal Archbishop of Toledo Prior of Crato and Abbot of Alcobaça Sixthly Margaret born at Lerma in May 1610. and died the 11th of March 1617. Seventhly Alonso born at the Escurial September the 22d 1611. and died the following Year His Mother also died in Childbed of him leaving her Subjects in unspeakable sorrow and want of her 6. In this King's Time the Plague raging in the City of Lisbon Prodigies was observed to cease immediately after the Image of the glorious Martyr S. Sebastian had been seen to sweat plentifully A Year before the King's Journey to Lisbon two Comets of a wonderful Magnitude appeared in the Signs of Virgo and Libra one of them so prodigiously great it renewed the Memory of that which appeared at the Birth of Mithridates that extended over one quarter of the Heaven After them ensued the Death of Popes and Kings the overturning of States and the fall of Great Ministers whose Ruin is by nothing more evidently foretold than by the unlawful means they use to rise and yet none takes warning by him that went before to avoid the Precipice At the City Baçaim in India there happened such a violent Storm as carryed away Churches Houses Trees and Mountains Several Apparitions were seen in
the Air representing Men Fires and Battles The Holy Man F. Bartholomew of the Martyrs Archbishop of Braga was beatified his Body is in the Town of Viana Margaret de Chaves now flourished in Sanctity and made a miraculous end CHAP. VI. The Reign of Philip the Fourth of Spain and Third of Portugal and the Twentieth King from the Year of our Lord 1605 till 1628. 1. KIng Philip the Third of Spain Birth of Philip the Fourth of Spain and Third of Portugal and Second of Portugal being at Valladolid with his Wife Queen Margaret their Son Philip the Fourth of Spain and Third of Portugal was born upon Good-Friday which fell then upon the 8th day of April in the Year 1605. His Birth was celebrated with the greatest Demonstrations of Joy and most of Expence 1625. that had ever till then been seen His Father dying he retired to the Royal Monastery of S. Hierome 1621. whence a few days after he returned to take Possession of his Crowns left him by his Ancestors his Magnificent Entry dispelling the Clouds of Sorrow that hung over the Heads of the Subjects and filling their Hearts with Joy He entred upon the Government giving ample Testimonies of a more pregnant Judgment than could have been expected at those tender Years His Accession to the Crown for he reformed the Councils established wholsom Laws punished evil Ministers and ordered that all those who were in Office should give in true Estimates of what they were worth that it might afterwards appear how their Estates were advanced in his Service K. Charles the First of England then Prince of Wales in Spain On the 16th of May Charles Prince of Wales afterwards King of England came incognito by the Post to Madrid and went to Lodge at the English Embassador's House and by him made known the design of his coming The Catholick King made a Publick Entry with him from the Escurial with that Solemnity that is only used at the Reception of the Spanish Kings giving him the Right Hand under the Canopy and attended by all his Court every Man thâ—â— day vying to out do the rest in Splendor and in testifying his Joy Afterwards several Sports were made to Entertain the Prince the King himself at the Riding used with Canes instead of Spears signalized his Dexterity The Match betwixt the Prince and Princess Mary being proposed learned Men were consulted and agreed upon the Conclusion but not the Formalities It was hoped it would have succeeded but Providence had ordered otherwise 2. The Arms of Spain were at this time employed in several Parts The Dutch in Brasil in all which many Portuguese served with singular Reputation The Rebel Hollanders having Intelligence of the evil Posture of Affairs in Brasil resolved to attempt the Conquest of that Country and to that effect moved several of the Northern Princes grown envious of the Power of Spain to assist them in the Enterprize They fitted out a Fleet in Holland and Zealand it consisting of 35 Sail under the Command of Admiral John Vandort and carryed 3000 chosen Men a good Train of Artillery with all other Necessaries The Design was kept very private In December the Fleet set Sail and having passed the Line in 6 Degrees of South Latitude according to the Orders given the Admiral opened his Instructions and found he was commanded to invade Baya de Todos Santos or the Bay of All-Saints This Bay is thought to be the greatest in the World and is the sort to the City S. Salvador seated on a rising Ground along that Mountainous Shoar extending out in length from North to South It has a Cathedral Church and had once a Court of Chancery which has been taken away with good cause for the greatest Injustice that can be in a State is to be pestered with too many Officers of Justice This City is the Metropolis of all that vast Province of Brasil in America and on the East side of that Continent stretching forth 1200 Leagues along the Coast being a Delightful Rich and Pleasant Soil 3. The Fleet entred this Bay and began to batter the Suburb next the Sea The Dutch Land and take the Capital City of all Brasil called Baia. where was begun a Fort in the Water in which Antony de Mendoza Son to the Governour James de Mendoza commanded but was forced to abandon it because in no condition then to withstand the fury of the Enemy's Cannon In the mean while 1000 Musqueteers landed and advanced towards the City without any Opposition They halted in the Suburb of S. Benedict Night came on and all the Inhabitants fled out of the City which the Enemy took Possession of in the Morning The Governour staid 〈◊〉 his House and was thence carried away aboard the Admiral All the People had forsaken their Houses leaving an inestimable Booty to the Rebels who polluted the Churches and committed all manner of Sacrilegious Outrages D. Mark Teyxeira the Bishop with his Clergy had offered to withstand the Enemy but none adhering to him he retired to a Village Mathias de Albuquerque who was next in Command to the Governour then a Prisoner was 100 Leagues off at Pernambuco He sent an Account of what had happened into Portugal where the Advice arrived in July The King writ to the Governours of Portugal a Letter with his own Hand in which he expressed how much he valued the Portuguese Loyalty and what returns he expected from them upon such an Exigency A Fleet sent against the Dutch The Portuguese to answer their King's Expectation speedily resorted from all Parts of the Kingdom to Lisbon and in the space of three Months fitted out a Fleet of 26 Sail in which was most of the Gentry of the Kingdom all at their own Cost without putting the King to any charge D. Emanuel de Moura Corte Real Marquess of Castel Rodrigo gave the Example to others raising a sightly Company of Musquetiers which he sent upon this Expedition at his own Expence This stirred up others to do the like for among the Portuguese Emulation is more prevalent than Vertue D. Alonso de Noronha tho' old that had been Governour of India listed himself and many Gentlemen of Quality followed his Example I shall not name them because among the Portuguese every one had rather his Name should be omitted than that his Neighbours should be inserted with him 4. The Portuguese not being a sufficient Power to recover Brasil a Spanish Fleet was at the same time fitting out but not so soon ready for the former stay'd a Month for the other in the Port of Lisbon and sailing thence in November expected it at the Island of Santiago the chief of those of Cabo Verde till February which delay proved not a little advantageous to the Enemy The Portuguese Squadron consisted of 26 Ships 1625. and in them 4000 Men in the Spanish were more Ships and 8000 Men the former commanded by D. Emanuel
the King 's farther entertaining of young Conti. He obeyed for a while or at least saw him but by stealth till at length impatient to be curbed he slighted their injunctions and fell again to his former familiarities with him The Queen and Count who had no power to constrain seeing their advice rejected were force to connive at this return of their Familiarity hoping that Time or some Accident would change the King's Inclination The King being of Age to be able to mount a Horse his Governour instructed him carefully in that manly Exercise as believing this might conduce to draw him from other less honourable Pastimes but it proved not as he expected For Alphonso took the advantage of the riding place to admit not only Conti but also many others of the meanest sort whom he delighted to see wrestle pitch the Bar and Fight not sparing at times to mix himself among them The Count not knowing what other course to take to break the King of that Company adventured one day to cast them all out of the Place in the King's sight reproaching and threatening them all but particularly Conti to whom he denounced Death if he were seen again with the King who though at that time he said nothing yet he highly resented it and afterwards was mindful of this Boldness of his Governor The absence of Conti lasted not long for the King's Mind being wholly bent upon him and some who thought to make their Fortunes by flattery representing this Separation as a Diminution of the Royal Authority he was soon recall'd Being to return to Court the more to terrifie his Enemies he endeavoured and that successfully to incline the King to mischievous Sports such as fighting of Mastives Bulls and Horses and to flinging of Stones with Slings which often flying at Rovers did harm to People at a distance These accidents were the cause that no Murther or other Mischief was committed in the City but what was improved by his Enemies as if Countenanced by Alphonso But now the Count de Odemira to draw him from these unseemly Exercises put him upon Fencing in which he made no great Improvement because he would not observe Rule but wholly put himself upon cutting and thrusting with all his Force in such sort as he often eluded Art it self Within the same Pallace with the King lived his Brother Peter The Queens Ambition and Differences betwixt the two Brothers and their Mother the Queen Regent a Woman not so zealous for her Children as careful to preserve the power she had got being used to rule and disdaining to part with it The Infante so all the Children of Kings are called except the Heir to the Crown who alone has the Title of Prince and his Brother were ever at Variance nor was it possible to reconcile them because the Elder looked upon it as a Presumption in the younger who blamed and condemned all his Actions and the younger being supported by his Mother and the great ones of his Party never ceased to give him fresh provocations Antony Conti perceiving the King was now at those Years that the Charms of Beauty began to work upon him lost not this opportunity of securing himself in his Favour but by all possible means endeavoured to heighten his Desire and promote his Pleasure The Queen Mother observing that her Son though he carried it with great Dissimulation in respect to her could not forbear casting many amorous glances upon her â—adies and fearing least the splendor of the Crown might induce some of them to submit to his Will sound no expedient to secure their Honour but by taking away all Opportunity To this purpose she appointed him a separate Retinue and a particular apartment in the Pallace which tho' he was of Age she had forbore doing before least he should wrest the Government she was so unwilling to part with out of her hands This sudden change for some time withheld Alphonso always beset with the great men of the Kingdom from the mean company he before took delight in But Conti fearing least if he took to a solid deportment his favour would soon decline never ceased till he drew him back from those grave formalities to the practice of his former violent and extravagant Exercises It is worth the observing that tho' in Portugal it be one of the things the Nobility and Gentry most value themselves upon to ride at a Bull with a spear and strike him therewith yet one of the great crimes objected against Alphonso is that as he was riding in the Plain beyond Tagus he ran with his spear at a Bull but so unfortunately that his Horse being gored he was cast to the ground and taken up for dead His delighting in unruly Horses his liking to fierce Dogs and many other such youthful excesses are urged against him and painted out as the blackest infamies Yet nothing has since been more improved to his disadvantage or then made a greater noise Slanders cast upon the King than his attacking alone three men in a dark Night whom for a considerable space he set very hard till Number prevailing he at length fell having received at their hands two wounds and was saved from farther perill by his servants comming in These very Actions alledged against him prove that he was not so Lamed with the Palsy as was pretended by his adversaries And as for the extravagancy of quarrelling in the street it is a fault so habitual to Youth in all parts that to object it to him as a crime unpardonable looks as if indeed there were none real to accuse him of But it is most certain that what in the unfortunate is accounted Vice in the fortunate passes for Virtue However after he was recovered of his wounds the Councel of State in the Name of the Kingdom made a remonstrance to him upbraiding him with things past and desiring him for the future to have more regard to the safety of his Person Indeed as it proved a course piece of Court-ship to pray their King to spare his Life that he might afterwards End it miserably in imprisonment This remonstrance had such effect upon the King that tho' he did not abandon Vice yet he changed those his fierce inclinations for others more soft and secure such as are the intriegnes of Love so that now his whole delight was in Feasting and Women He walked the streets of Lisbon at Night with a Train of bravoes ranging to lewd houses and sometimes those that accompanied him committed outrages upon such as they met Neither was this all for at length even by day he would slip out or suffer women to be brought to him to the Court. To divert him from these scandalous courses his Mother with some of the Nobility contrived to fill his mind with business giving him some part in the administration of publick Affairs yet so as that the supream Authority might still remain in her hands Thus Alphonso was brought to give
Forces 577. and invading the People called Rucones now Rieja subdued them Luiva was now King of the Goths and took for his Companion and Successor his Brother Leovigildus Which done he returned into France leaving Leovigildus in Spain to secure his former Conquests and add others to them He victoriously traversed the greatest part of Spain and at last enter'd Galicia Ariamirus in vain striving to put a Stop to his Progress who now perceiving how ineffectual Force proved thought better to try if Fair Means would prevail Therefore he sent Ambassadors to Leovigildus to put him in mind of the Peace and Alliance established betwixt their Predecessors and to desire the Renewing thereof Leovigildus content with this Submission curbed his aspiring Thoughts concluded a Peace and retired 3. Leovigildus had now two Sons Hermenegildus and Recaredus The first was married to Ingunda Daughter of Sigebert King of France and his Wife Brunechilde Upon this Marriage he lived apart from his Father and had the Stile of a King given him at Merida There by the Means of his Wife who was a Catholick and of his Uncle St. Leander Archbishop of Sevilâ— he embraced the Catholick Faith and in Baptism was called John Leovigildus the Goth Wars upon his Son Hermenegildus on Account of Religion His Father being an obstinate Arian was so offended at his Conversion that he deprived him of the Regal Dignity The Prince fled into Portugal and was there protected by King Ariamirus who was a Catholick Hermenegildus raised Forces but his Father coming speedily upon him he fled with 3000 Men to Ossela a Place thought impregnable But Leovigildus for all that enter'd it by Force put all to the Sword burnt the Town and carried away his Son Prisoner to Toledo From thence he made his Escape to Sevil where he fortified himself King Leovigildus laid Siege to that City being assisted by King Ariamirus of Portugal and having forced his Way into it carried away Hermenegildus to Tarragona where he was put to Death in the Year 586. Which Passage is here related to avoid interrupting the Narration 4. Our King Ariamirus died at that Siege 583. and his Son Eburicus then very young succeeded him in the Crown of Portugal under the Protection of Leovigildus the Goth. Endeca usurps the Crown of Portugal Endeca a Noble-man in great Power at the Portuguese Court taking Advantage of the King 's tender Years married Sisegunda the Queen-Dowager and with the Help of his Friends possessed himself of the Government upon pretence of managing it for the young King But having in Process of Time secured his Interest he usurped the Regal Title and put Eburious into Prison at first and soon after obliged him to take the Habit of a Monk that so he might forfeit his Pretensions to the Crown The Tyrant Endeca fearing Leovigildus the Goth who was Protector to the deposed King joined in League with Gunteranus the French King But the Goth whose Courage was not to be shocked sent his Son Recaredus against the French and himself invaded the usurping Suevian He is deposed and shorn a Monk by Leovigildus the Goth He soon took him Prisoner and obliged him to take the same Habit he had before forced upon the Rightful King and to enter into Holy Orders banishing him to the City Beja then possessed by the Goths Yet Leovigildus though he was thought to have conquered that Kingdom for Eluricus kept it for himself adding it to his other Dominions Thus ended the Kingdom of the Suevians after it had with various Turns of Fortune lasted about 180 Years 585. It expired in the Year 585. The People dissatisfied with Leovigildus rose up in Arms and proclaimed a Noble-man called Malaricus King but he being soon overthrown and taken Prisoner by the Forces of the Goth the Kingdom of the Lusitanians or Suevians was entirely brought under the Dominion of the Goths He persecutes the Catholicks but dies one himself The Lusitanians at this time continued firm in the Faith and Leovigildus ceased not to persecute the Professors thereof deposing the Catholick Prelates and filling their Places with Arians who perverted many of the People Leovigildus having raigned 18 Years died at Toledo a Catholick though he had lived an Arian His first Wife was Theodora Daughter of Severianus Governor of Cartagena and his Wife Theodora Daughter to Theodoricus King of the Ostrogoths in Italy and Sister to Isidorus and Leander Archbishops of Sevil and of Fulgentius of Cartagena By her he had Hermenegildus whom he put to death and Flavius Recaredus who succeeded him 5. Recaredus 586. born at Sevil in the Year 566 now in the 20th of his Age Recaredus succeeds inherited his Father's Throne He proved an excellent Prince and having embraced the Catholick Faith restored all those that his Father had expelled He becomes a Catholick His pious Intention of Assembling a National Synod was for some time obstructed by the Treasonable Conspiracies of the Hereticks The first Council was held at Merida under the Direction of Claudius who governed the small Remainder of the Roman Empire along the Sea-Coast of Lusitania Suna the Arian Archbishop being now compelled to resign that See to Mansona the Catholick before expelled by Leovigildus conspired with other Hereticks to murder him and Claudius Witericus who was afterwards King now one of the Conspirators laying his Hand upon his Sword to execute his Purpose he could not draw it whereat being moved he discovered the Treachery and was therefore pardon'd Suna the Heretical Archbishop was banished as were the other Accomplices and their Estates confiscated Amidst this Confusion Gunteranus King of France made War upon Recaredus sending against him an Army under the Command of his General Bossus Claudius a Man fortunate in War marched to oppose him and overthrew him near Carcassonne with a great Slaughter Some will have it that Claudius with only 300 Men defeated Bossus who had 60000 But let every one judge thereof as he pleases 6. Recaredus having thus subdued his Enemies both at home and abroad was at leisure to assemble the Council he had before designed at Toledo 589. Seventy two Prelates met together there A Synoâ— at Toledo St. Leander Archbishop of Sevil presiding The King himself made an Oration at the Opening of the Council Now the Arian Heresie was totally extinguished the Catholick Faith triumphed and Recaredus for his singular Piety had the Title of Catholick or Most Christian King conferred upon him 601. After triumphing over his which were the Enemies of Christ Recaredus dies our Religious King Recaredus died at Toledo He was born at Sevil in the Year 565 reigned 16 and lived 37. His Coin has been seen in our Age at several Places Some at Lisbon with this Inscription on the one side RECAREDUS REX and on the Reverse OLISIBONA PIUS Others at Evora with RECAREDUS REX and on the
it must be in the Reign of Aurelius who governed from the Year 768 till 774 and then Mauregatus did not institute but only continued to pay it Whensoever it began certain it is it continued till the Year 788 which was the last of Mauregatus's Reign 788. He died without Issue and was buried at Pravia 2. Bermudo Bermudo advanced to the Throne overthrows the Moors then in Deacon's Orders Grandson to the Catholick Alonso being Son either to Wimaranus or Fruela his Brother was promoted to the Crown after Mauregatus The first Action of this King was very honourable for Abderramen King of Cordova sending to demand of him the Tribute of the Maids he not only refused to pay it but with a small Number encountring an Army of his of 60000 Men under the Command of Muza overthrew it and so recovered the Honour of Spain delivering it from that heavy Imposition Bermudo though a Deacon was married to Ousenda or Vsenda by whom he had Ramiro afterwards King and a Daughter named Christina He had also a Bastard-Son called D. Nunho Though the Action we have spoken of was great 793. his last was incomparably beyond it He resigns the Crown for he not only resigned the Crown but having Children of his own gave it up to D. Alonso Son to King Fruela from whom it had been wrongfully taken by Mauregatus 795. This done he took the Habit of a Monk in the Monastery of Sahagun where he died and was buried but afterwards translated to Oviedo 3. D. Alonso who was restored to the Crown by Bermudo Alonso the Chaste was born in the Year 758. Though married to the French Lady Berta he had no issue having lived continently with her and therefore he was called The Chaste a Name rare among Princes This Name of Alonso as it was fortunate to Spain in general so was it also to Lisbon in particular 798. for its Recovery Restauration and Defence His Conquests This King took it from the Moors killing a great Number of them in the Assault and in several Battels he fought to come to it Some Authors will have it that Charlemaigne came over out of France in Person to his Assistance Others deny his Personal Presence But all agree his Army was so great that the Infidels could never make Head against it The following Year 799. the King took the Cities of Viseo Lamego Coimbra Braga and other Places about Porto Omar King of Merida with a great Power laid Siege to Benavente but he and the greatest part of his Army were put to the Sword by Bernard del Carpio commanding the Forces of King Alonso In the mean while Aliatan by the Way of Estremadura enter'd Portugal putting all to Fire and Sword with such Success that he took Lisbon the 8th Year after it had been gained by King Alonso Many other Places submitted to the Barbarian and he left Alchama King of Badajoz or Beja to command there This Alchama afterwards making an Expedition out of his Province was killed by Bernard del Carpio 812. at the City Zamora Aliatan to revenge this Loss raised great Forces in Barbary which he divided into two Bodies whereof the one enter'd Castile the other Portugal making great Havock in both Places Both these Armies were cut in pieces one in which Alahaban commanded by the King near the River Cefa the other conducted by Melich by Bernard 813. in the Plain of Narnon Abdalla Governor of Valencia and Mahomet of Merida rebelled at once against King Aliatan He marched against Abdalla but whilst he was there engaged Mahomet joined in League with King Alonso whereby he became powerful enough to conquer a good part of Portugal and Estremadura Aliatan returning with a mighty Army overthrew the Rebel and possessed himself of all which he had conquered betwixt Merida and Lisbon Mahomet thus expelled his Dominion fled with such as would follow him to King Alonso submitting himself to him as his Vassal The King sent him with one Raymund to subdue certain places then in Rebellion in Gallicia they easily overcame the Mutiniers and the King ordered Mahomet to reside in those parts hoping to make his advantage of him against the King of Cordova 814. as he did for some time But Mahomet finding himself powerful thought to recover what he had lost and therefore privately conspiring with Raymond they both Rebelled usurping great part of Galicia The King hasted thither with a considerable Army Raymond presently submitted himself and was not only Pardoned but Married the King's Kinswoman Mahomet though he had then 60000 Men durst not give Battle in open Field but retired to the strong Castle of St. Christina two Leagues from Lugo There the King Besieged and Hunger forced him to come out and give Battle in which his Army was entirely routed and he Slain About this time was found the Sepulcher of St. James the Apostle and Patron of Spain which had been hid almost 800 Years it was discovered by Theodemirus Bishop of Iria King Alonso removed it to Compostela which he made a Bishoprick erecting there a Church capable of so great a Relick Thus Crowned with Victories and loaded with Years for he lived Eighty Five 843. and Reigned Fifty Two he died at Oviedo Tryal by Ordeal in use and lies Buried in the Church of St. Mary de Recasto his own Foundation At this time the old Gothish Law of trying People by Fire was in use in Portugal as appears by the Tryal of Elosinda accused of Adultery by her Husband Ariovigildus she after this manner clearing her self and he being Condemned to be Burnt as she should have been if Convicted Pope Honorius the III. abolished this Custom yet afterwards another worse started up which was that the Woman accused should assign a Champion to fight the Accuser and that party which had the Victory was held innocent 5. King Bermudo by an incomparable Act of Justice had taken the Crown from his own Children to give it to Alonso to whom of right it appertained and God to reward this rare Equity ordained that Alonso should live Chast King Ramiro his Actions and restore it to Ramiro the Son of the same Bermudo Scarce was he seated on the Throne when Count Nepocianus rebelled in Austurias and usurped the regal Title The New King with all the speed he could marched against him and having defeated and taken him Prisoner put out his Eyes and thrust him into a Monastery Soon after he overthrew the Normans who destroyed the Coast of Galicia and the English who had laid Siege to Lisbon Returning to the River Duero he vanquished Mahomet Cid Atauf Lord of the Fort and Town of Gaya and also Muley Achim of Agueda more to the Southward Zuleyma Ibon Muza the tributary King of Lamego and Tarif Iben Rages of Viseo were admitted to grace upon their submission Alhamar King of Coimbra boldly standing upon his Defence was
deliverance and breaks his Faith and having provoked the King of Castile by the late overthrow given him to revenge the Affront that King marched with a Powerful Army and besieged Prince Alonso in the Town of Guimaraens There being no hope of relief nor possibility of holding out Egas Muniz was sent out by the Prince to treat of some accommodation with the King which Business he managed so Dexterously that the King upon Promise and Articles that Prince Alonso should hold that Country of him and do him homage for the same in a certain time prefixed raised his Siege and departed Prince Alonso delivered of that danger thought of nothing less than performing the Articles agreed upon Porteguese Authors will have it that Egas Muniz who managed this Treaty because it was not performed presented himself to the King of Castile with a Halter about his Neck for him to punish that breach of Faith and was pardoned by the King But this is as Romantick as what our Authors writes that the whole treaty was concluded without the privity of Prince Alonso as if the King could be so infatuated to treat with a private Man stolen out of a Town where his Prince was closely Besieged without seeing his Commission or to conclude Articles and depart upon his bare word without the Ratification of the principal Points These Chimerical Notions are better passed by than to interrupt the course of History with them however I would not wholly omit this wild imagination of the Author 4. Albucazan King of Badajoz did great harm in the Province of Beira 1131. and took the Town of Trancoso before Prince Alonso could come to relieve it War with the Moors However our Prince soon retook it and repulsed the Moor who came to have hindred him from fortifying of it In his return from this place Alonso was worsted by the Moors but recovering himself near the Town of Guimaraens he overthrew a great multitude of them and so entred that Town victorious 1135. where he hunged up the Colours taken in the Church Thâ—n with Castile The War broke out again betwixt Castile and Portugal in the Reign of Alonso VII of Castile called the Emperor and much harm was done on both sides though with no great advantage to either 1136. At last our Prince broke into Galicia where King Alonso meeting him was in Battle overthrown and the Earl D. Roderick Vela made Prisoner After this our Alonso valiantly defended Coimbra besieged by the Moor Eujuni so powerful a Prince that he is said to have covered all the plains about the City with an Army of 300000 fighting Men But a violent Plague raging among his Troops forced him to break up and depart much weaker than he came Our Prince thus delivered entred the Territory of Leyria which place tho' strong he took by Escalade putting most of the Defendants to the Sword This being the first of his notable Conquests he offered it up to God delivering it to Theotonius Prior of the Monastery of Santa Cruz whether after the taking of Torres Novas he returned to repose himself in order to prosecute greater Designs 5. Ismar or Ismael 1139. a powerful Moor was Sovereign of all the Country beyond the River Tagus A Fabuâ—ous Relation called Alentejo Our Prince passed that River and made great Havock in the Territories of those Infidels Ismael assembled twenty petty Princes subject to five little Kings who were all under his Dominion Each of those Kings led 80000 Men wherewith they covered all the plains With our Authors leave it is wholly incredible That such inconsiderable Princes as they must be whose Dominions extended not to above half the limits of Portugal should raise so prodigious a Multitude for it amounts to no less than 480000. This may perhaps be added to gain the greater Reputation to those strange miracles he talks of in the Sequel The Christians were not above 13000 and those wholly dismayed as well they might at the sight of such an Army as they could not be capable to number However Prince Alonso reposing his confidence in God ceased not to encourage and animate his fainting Forces They encouraged with his undaunted Contenance and resolute Expressions took heart and offered their ready service It was then Night when the Prince retiring to rest read the History of Gideon and fell asleep in a Dream there appeared to him a venerable Old Man promising him Victory and being awakened was told there was such an one pressed to speak with him being admitted he found it was the same Man he saw in his Dream and that he came to give him the same assurances At break of day he went out of his Tent and looking towards the East saw a mighty Brightness in the midst of which appeared our Saviour on the Cross surrounded with Angels who promised him Victory over the Infidels and commanded him to accept the Title of King if offered to him by his Army Soon after the Portuguese flocked about him Alonso saluted King demanding the signal of Battle and unanimously saluted him King He at first seemed to refuse that Title but it being the consequence of the Vision he had seen soon admitted it Let every one give that credit to this strange relation he shall think fit I have briefly set it down that I might not wholly cut off so extraordinary a passage in my Author yet would I not extend it to that length as he has done because I believe most Men will give as little credit to it as I do 6. Alonso thus encouraged drew up his Army into four Bodies the Enemy making twelve The charge was seconded by a most hideous cry raised by both Armies The Battle of Ourique an incredible clattering of Weapons and such showers of Darts and Arrows as seemed to darken the light of the Sun No Christian sought to save himself all their study was to kill the King encouraged all Men by his example and every Man sought to out-do another Six hours the fight lasted in which time the plain of Ourique where they engaged was all covered with dead Bodies which almost floated in a Pool of Blood At length the Victory fell to the Christians and was one of the greatest ever obtained against Infidels Reflections vpon this Battle It is very hard to reconcile the account of this Battle to any thing of probability for whereas the Author says but a little before there were five lesser Kings and one Sovereign of them all with each 80000 Men which amounts to 480000 now he says they were above 600000. Doubtless there must be willful mistakes in these Numbers to magnifie the Action which would seem great if not rendred incredible Besides he reckons six Kings which are those of Silves Merida Sevil Badajoz Lisbon and Algezira whereas all other Authors agree they were but five and give that for the reason that the Portuguese Arms contain five small Scutcheons within the
Herauld to Challenge him but he drew off by the way of Bragança Vinaes and Outeyro which Places he took Miranda was Surprized by certain Castillians who in Carriers Habit were admitted in Cedavin after a vigorous resistance was Betrayed by Vasco Estevez but his Treason tho' not discovered in time to prevent the Loss of the Place was so soon found that he was Hanged for it Henry having secured Bragança hasted to Castile for that the King of Granada was now acting with a great Power in Andaluzia 4. Ferdinand having missed of his Enemy Several Military Expeditions divided his Army under several Commanders Garrisoning all Places he was suspicious of He had recovered most of what was lost but the People not satisfied with his Proceedings complained he only knew the way betwixt Lisbon and Santarem because he often went from the one Place to the other whence it became a Proverb That the Fool goes and comes betwixt Lisbon and Santarem when they would express a Man often does the same thing to no purpose Giles Fernandez with 60 Horse and 400 Foot made an Incursion towards Medellin where he took so great a Booty that fearing to loose it if pursued he caused his Uncle Martin Yannez to feign himself to be Prince John and as such to discharge several Prisoners who reporting his being there with a greater Force than really was deterred the Enemy from following him Gonzalo Mendez being General took this Giles Fernandez with him to make an Inroad to Badajoz The Garrison issued out upon them and both sides fought with great Resolution In this Action a Butcher of Lisbon called Laurence killed several Castilians In the mean while Prince John forcing his way into the Suburbs of Badajoz Burnt them Gomez Lorenço de Avelar on the side of Cuidad Rodrigo took S. Felices Inojosa and Cerralvo Here John Roiz Portocarrero with only 23 Horse killed or took almost 80 of the Enemy from Ledesma This Year ended with a Fire at Lisbon which Burnt down all the then Smiths Street it is now the Confectioners 5. As the Last Year ended in Fire 1370. so this began with storms of Rain and Wind Great Storms which were so Violent that the Gate of the Cathedral tho' fastned with Iron Locks and Bolts was carried into the middle of the Church the Ships in the Harbour being drove from their Anchors were dashed into pieces but the Gallies escaped better by lying in the Mouth of the River Guadalquiâ—ir The great Rains and also the Moors who infested his Frontiers obliged King Henry to quit the Siege of Cuidad Rodrigo The Queen his Wife in Person had distressed Alonso Lopez de Tejada in Carmona so that he agreed to Surrender the Place it not releived by a Day prefixed and gave up his Two Sons as Hostages Misser Gregorio a Campomorâ—o with only 60 Men made his way through the Camp into the Town at the Day prefixed the Queen threatned to execute his Sons he bid her do so for he was able to get others and so he persisting Obstinate they were beheaded all Men calling that Barbarity which he thought would be accounted Magnanimity but it could not be such being a breach of Promise Thirty two Portuguese Galleys had been a Year upon the Coast under the Command of the Admiral Lancelot Pessano a Genoese The Castilians when this Fleet appeared before Barrameda scoffed at our Men for that having refused Aid to King Peter The Portuguese Fleet wastes the Island of Cadiz whilst living they now pretended to Defend him after he was Dead But they in Revenge destroyed the Island of Cadiz and the Shores of the Continent till the severity of the Winter and Diseases almost consumed them The Fleet of Castile coming out of Sevil took a Portuguese Ship that had Money and Provisions on Board and then shut up our Admiral Pessano in the River to oblige him to Fight in that narrow Place He fitted out Two Fireships which dispersed the Enemy and in that time he escaped having lost one Galley 6. Carmona still held out 1371. but fearing the Power of King Henry sent a Gentlemen to our King Ferdinand for Succour according to his promise This being refused the Town was obliged to Surrender There was in it a considerable Treasure of King Peter's and Two of his Bastard-Sons who were cast into Prison Pope Gregory the 11th sent Two Nuncio's to Mediate a Peace betwixt the Two Kings which was concluded at Alcoutin in Algarve upon these Conditions Peace concluded at the instance of the Pope That they should be obliged to assist one another That the Portuguese should be a Friend to Charles King of France that he should take to Wife Ellenor Henry's Daughter That he should have with her Cuidad Rodrigo Valencia de Alcantara Monte-Mayor Alhariz and a Summ of Money That a general Pardon should be granted on both sides Thus our King broke his Word with him of Aragon who in revenge kept all the Treasure that had been sent to his Daughter King Ferdinand finding his Treasures exhasted called in the Old Money and enhanced the Value of the New which did great Harm and much more when he endeavoured afterwards to rectifie that Error The Five Months allowed for the Princess Ellenor to come out of Castile were now expiring when the King falling in Love with the Lady Ellenor Tellez de Meneses forgot his Bride This Lady Ellenor Tellez was Wife to John Lorenço de Cunha Lord of Pombeyro He fell in Love with her at his Sister 's the Princess Beatrix where he was always so assiduous as gave occasion to suspect him guilty of a more than Brotherly Affection This Lady being about to return into the Country whence she came the King ordered her Sister who attended the Princess to stay her in Town for he would marry no other Woman The Sister objected that he was engaged to the Princess of Castile and her Sister Married The First he replyed might be easily put by and as for the latter he said she being Married to a Kinsman without Dispensation the Marriage was void All which gave the Lady Ellenor to understand the King's Affection was not at all Nice 7. Scarce had she consented when her Marriage being called in question The Lady Ellenor being divorced from her First Husband the King marries her and the Husband not opposing it Judgment was easily obtained for the K. Hereupon her Husband went away to Castile and there publickly wore a pair of Golden Horns In fine Ferdinand Married the Lady Ellenor The whole Kingdom was astonished at this Action but Lisbon shewed it self above all other Places Here a Taylor called Ferdinand Vasquez a bold well-spoken Fellow gathered 3000 of the People and with them went to the Pallace nothing being heard but Reproaches against the New Queen A great meeting at Lisbon on account of the Marriage To appease them the King protested he was not Married to her and
〈◊〉 Hâ— now understanding that his Son Michael born of 〈…〉 Queen had been sworn Heir of the Crowns of 〈◊〉 and Aragon resolvâ—d to have him sworn in like manner in Portugal To this purpose he assembled the 〈◊〉 or Parliament at Lisbon on the 7th of March where all the Representatives took an Oath to him as lawful Successor 〈◊〉 the King confirming his former Grant that no Castilians should at any time be admitted to Places of Honour and Trust in Portugal About the end of this Year which was the 4th of his Reign the King resolved to translate the Body of King John his Predecessor from Silves where he was buried to the stately Church of Batalla the burial Place of the Portuguese Princes He went in Person to Silves and found the Body whole as it was seen Fifteen Years after by the Cardinal Henry and others which confirmed the Opinion of Sanctity that was conceiv'd of him The Body was honourably conducted to the Church of Batalla and there laid in a Marble Tomb. This Year also the King dispersed several sorts of new Coins of Silver and Gold as he did again in the Years 1504 and 1517. He had before given large Revenues to George the late King's Bastard-Son and this Year 1500 gave him the City Coimbra with the Title of Duke made him Lord of Montemayor â—l Viejo and bestowed on him the Mastership of the Military Orders of Santiago and Avis Next he married him to the Lady Beatrix de Villena Daughter to D. Alvaro the Brother of Ferdinand Duke of Bragança Beheaded by King John 5. Now came the News that Prince Michael 〈…〉 King Emanuel's Son and sworn Heir of all the Kingdoms of Spain had departed this Life at Granada being not yet Two Years of Age. It was requisite the King should marry again 〈…〉 and a Match was accordingly concluded with Mary Daughter to King Ferdinand and Sister to King Emanuel's late Queen Her Portion was 200000 Crowns down and 10000 a Year settled upon the Revenue of Sevil. The Archbishop D. James Hurtado de Mâ—raâ—za conducted her to the Borders where the Duke of Bragança attended by several of the Nobility 〈◊〉 her The Marriage was solemnized at Alcacer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 on the 30th of October No sooner was the King married but he resolved to make an Expedition into 〈◊〉 in Person 〈…〉 and to that effect had assembled an Army of 26000 Men. The Venetians at this time hard 〈◊〉 by the Turks made use of the Pope's Mediation to obtain of our King to desist from the Enterpize he had in Hand and to employ his Forces in their Assistance The King consented and sent them Thirty Saâ—l under the Command of D. John de Meneses Son to the Earl 〈…〉 and for his Encouragement before his Departure he was created Earl of â—â—rouça In this Squadron were 3500 fighting Men. Another Squadron followed being designed for the Coast of Oran in order to attempt taking the Fort of Mazalquivir They sailed from Lisbon about the middle of June and having assaulted that Place in July with the loss of 20 Men and no prospect of Success the Squadron provided for that Expedition returned to Lisbon D. John de Meneses with his 30 Sail off of Tunez took 3 Genoese Ships full of Turks Moors and Jews the Genoese he set at liberty Near Corfu he was met by Twenty five Venetian Galleys and five Galleons where both Fleets saluted each other with great Joy The Turks understanding the Fleets were joyned retired to their Ports and the Portuguese Squadron returned home 6. The King had yet reaped no Advantage from India 〈…〉 but the bare Discovery of it by Vasco de Gama and yet as if the Treasures of that Empire had been brought him he in Thanksgiving laid the Foundation of that wonderful Structure of the Church and Monastery called Bâ—â—eâ— or Betâ—lem on the Banks of Tagus about a League from Lisbon This Fabrick is Magnificent for its Greatness and Workmanship but above all for the largeness of the Arch above the Chancel where after the manner of all Cathedrals it opens into a Cross which Arch tho vastly spacious has no Pillar to support it This Monastery was given to the Fryars of the Order of S. Hierome and is plentifully endowed Opposite to the Monastery in the very River the King erected a Fort which tho not large is Beautiful and Commands the River serving at the same time for a Rampart to the Church it is called the Fort of S. Vincent D. Jayme or James Duke of Bragança who was restored to that Honour by King Emanuel laboured under such a deep melancholy that he sometimes forbore taking his natural Sustenance Nevertheless through the King's Perswasions he married the Lady 〈◊〉 Daughter to D. John de Guzman third Duke of Mâ—diâ—â— Sidonia But no sooner was he married than he absented himself with only one Servant leaving a Letter for the King in which he begged of him to bestow all his Possessions upon his Brother Denis because he was resolved to spend his days at the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem Messengers were sent several ways with orders to bring him back Some of them found him at Calatayud in the Kingdom of Aragon and prevailed upon him to return Being brought back he had by his Wife a Son called Theodosius who succeeded him and a Daughter named Elizabeth married to Prince Edward Son to King Emanuel His first Wife dying he fell in Love with the Lady Joanna de Mendoza Daughter to the Governour of Mouram and having obtained leave of the King married her and by her had Four Sons and as many Daughters 7. Queen Mary 1502. second Wife to King Emanuel was delivered of her first Son on the 6th of June 1502. The Queen delivered of a Son At the time of his Birth happened a violent Storm of Rain and when he was Baptized a Fire broke out in the Palace we shall see in his Life what these Prodigies portended A Fleet sailed from Lisbon under the Command of George de Melo and Gaspar de Aguilar designing to take the City Targa on the Coast of Africk but returned having sustained Loss and effected nothing The King for the Success of his Fleet undertook a Pilgrimage to Santiago in Galicia presented that Church with a rich Silver Lamp made in the Form of a Castle and gave Bountiful Alms. In his return at Coimbra he resolved to erect a stately Tomb for Alonso the first King of Portugal whose Body lay there in a very mean Sepulchre At Porto he finished the Silver Shrine of S. Pantaleo 1503. Patron of that City The King had now a second time resolved to pass over into Africk A Famine in Portugal and had all things in readiness for the Expedition when he was again prevented being obliged to attend to the Relief of his own Kingdom labouring under a Famine He remedied this Evil by bringing in Plenty of Corn from all the
Reigns which were that of Sebastian of Henry of the Five Governours of Antony and now of Philip. For the easier dispatch of Business the King ordered there should be but Two prime Minister viz. Antony Pineyro Bishop of Leyria and D. Christopher de Moura the former because he had no Kindred and the latter because he made no Account of them for Moura was never known to prefer any of his tho' he had many Nunho Alvarez Pereyra was made Secretary and was equal in Power to them tho' not in Title The King had appointed to return to Castile in November but Prince James dying 〈◊〉 he was forced to call a Parliament to cause his Second So◠〈…〉 sworn Heir to the Crown 1583. The Parliament met the beginning of the New Year Another Parliament held and swore the Prince and among other things the King granted leave for wearing of Silks Mary the Empress Sister to King Philip and her Daughter Margaret came to meet the King at Lisbon The Portuguese expected the former would have been left to govern them Philip returns to Castile but the King made choise of her Son the Cardinal Albertus Archduke of Austria On the 11th of February the King set forward for Castile carrying with him the Lady Juliana de Lancastro Heiress of the Noble House of Aveiro 4. All Men began to observe how the Cardinal Albertus was qualified Cardinal Albertus Governour of Portugal and they found his Inclinations were good Only two things remarkable happened during the time of his Government One was the English Invasion under Antony the Grand Prior before spoken of The other the counterfeit Sanctity of a Nun. The Hipocrisie of a Nun. She pretended to live without eating and indeed had no other Sustenance but what she got out of artificial Candles she pretended to burn in her Oratory She also imprinted on her Body the Five Wounds of our Saviour so artificially that the cheat was scarce to be discerned even after she was discovered During the short time this Hypocritical Scene was acted she wrought some Miracles Being at last examined she was punished and from thenceforth led so Godly a Life as almost purchased her the Opinion of Sanctity she before endeavoured to gain by Hypocrisie The King tho' he left the Cardinal in Portugal governed the Kingdom himself with the assistance of his Portuguese Council composed of very worthy Persons in the choice of which he never erred The conceit some People entertained that King Sebastian was yet living 15â—â— gave Occasion to some Persons to take upon them his Name and Character 〈◊〉 Sebastian The Son of a Tiler born at Alcobaza who had been Apprentice to a small Turner of Heads in Lisbon and expelled the Order of Carmelites in his Noviceship went away and lived like a Hermit on the Borders of the Kingdom near Aâ—â—â—querque After some time the People censuring his course of Life he left it and putting on good Apparel he travelled about that Country well mounted Some presently gave out he was King Sebastian which he at first denied but finding them positive at last complied with their Humour and suffered two of his Followers to call themselves the one Christopher 〈…〉 and the other the Bishop of Guarda both which had been slain with the King in Africk Some few days they lived well among their Adherents and gathered Money but being apprehended by Order of the Arch-Duke Albertus the Counterfeit Sebastian after having been shewed at Lisbon was sent to the Galleys and his Companion the pretended Bishop hanged 5. Scarce was the last Impostor punished when another started up in his place This was one Gonzalo Alvarez the Son of a Mason who like the other became an Eremite and did much seeming Penance lashing himself and then crying out where he might be heard O unhappy Sebastian all thy Penance is but little in respect of thy Crimes A Rich Farmer called Peter Alfonso joyned with him and concealed him giving out Orders in his Name At length he gathered 800 Men calling himself Earl of Torresnovas Lord of Cascais and Governour of Lisbon None saw the pretended King but the Daughter of the false Earl she being designed Queen and also the Wife of Antony Simoens a Rich Man Whensoever this Pageant King was forced to appear abroad he wore a great pair of Spectacles which covered most part of his Face He sent a Son of Simoens to the Governour Albertus to Order him to quit the Palace for that he was coming to undeceive the People This Messenger being taken and then let go increased the Opinion of the People that it was King Sebastian because Antony Simoens having known him would not otherwise have suffered his Son to go on that Message The Judge of Torresvedras was ordered to Apprehend them but he attempting it was together with his Clerk cast headlong from a High Place and killed Gasper Pereira for reproving them was also murdered with his Son and Nephew and his House plundered Antony Fonseca an Alcalde de Corte went next with 400 Spaniards The false Sebastian executed commanded by Captain Calderon who after killing a few of the Mutiniers took the Upstart King At Lisbon he was hanged and quartered as was the false Earl Peter Alfonso with others Some were sent to the Galleys and the Towns of Ericeyra Carbonero and Mafra were left almost desolate the Inhabitants flying for fear of Punishment Yet after all this many thought King Sebastian must come out from the Desart and there was scarce any that lived an Eremitical Life in Portugal who was not imagined to be that King 6. Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth's Provocations and King Philip's Design against her Queen of England not regarding that she owed her Life to King Philip joyned with the Rebels of Holland against him She sent over to then Assistance Robert Earl of Leicester with 3000 Men. Sir Francis Drake also sailed from Plymouth in August and Landing at Bayona was beaten off thence Next he fell upon the Islands of Caboverde where he took a considerable Booty and all the Cannon of the Fortifications along the Sea-coast Thence he sailed to Sancto Domingo in the West-Indies 1586. which City he â—â—ok and plundered The same he did at Cartagena and then passed over to Florida About the beginning of this Year King Philip set out the Proclamation for regulating the Stile to be used in Letters which till then caused much Confusion every one aspiring to greater Titles than belonged to them King Philip provoked by the many Wrongs done him by Queen Elizabeth resolved upon the Conquest of England and to that purpose gathered a Mighty Fleet in the vast Port of Lisbon It contained 130 Sail most of them very large under the Command of D. Alonso Perez de Guzman Duke of Medina Sidonia and Generalissimo The Land Forces amounted to 20000 1588. the Mariners above 11000. They sailed from Lisbon the 27th of May and
K. John III. p. 332 K Charles I. of England then Prince of Wales in Spain p. 367 Chindasuindus possesses himself of the Kingdom by force p. 100 K. Chintila holds two Synods p. 100 Christian and Moorish Armies Engage p. 346 Christian Dominions in Spain divided betwixt the two Sons of K. Alonso p. 123 Church setled p. 80 Church of St. James the Apostle in Galicia Dedicated p. 123 Cincinnatus succeeds Caesar p. 60 City Braga founded by the Carthaginians p. 19 City Mirtiry built by the Tyrians p. 21 Civil Broils p. 132 Civil War in Portugal p. 282 Citadel taken from the Spaniards p. 397 Conspirators incense the People against the Spaniards p. 392 Resolve to put their designs in Execution p. 387 Meet and execute their design p. 395 Their Deputies confer with the Duke at Almada p. 388 Claudius and Aurelianus Emperors p. 80 Claudius and Nero Emperors p. 75 Clergy joyns in Rebellion with the Laity p. 189 Cneus and Sextus the two Sons of Pompey in Spain p. 62. Coimbra taken by the Advice and Assistance of the Monks of Lorvan p. 144 Columbus after discovering America arrives at Lisbon p. 308 Combat betwixt two Women p. 267 Common complaints when subjects will rebel p. 186 Complaints made to the Pope and all things adjusted p. 186 Condition of Portugal p. 381 Considerable losses of the Portuguese in India p. 485 Conspiracy against the King of Castile discovered p. 258 Against the Protector p. 261 Against the New King John p. 403 To seize Cartagena p. 416 Against King Alonso VI. p. 544 Constantine the Great p. 80 Conti seized by the faction and sent to Brazil p. 536 Is recalled from Brazil but Banished the Court privately Meets the King p. 543 Conversion of Lusitanians from Arianism p. 94 Corocoâ—a a famous Robber p. 71 Cortes meet and instead of settling Peace widen the breach p. 280 Meet again p. 415 436 and 563. First Council of Braga p. 83 Council and magistrates of Lisbon combine with the Infante p. 553 Counterfeits personate King Sebastian p. 348 and 367 Count S. Lorerco his Actions in Alentejo p. 452 Crassus destroys near 40000 Spaniards p. 61 Croisade brought into Portugal p. 287 Customs of the Inhabitants p. 17 D. DEath of Prince Philip the Empress and others p. 333 Debates about proclaiming the Protector p. 261 K. Denis his Birth and Succession to the Crown He marries Elizabeth Daughter of Peter King of Aragon p. 209 Has differences with his Brother Alonso p. 210 Enters Castile the second time p. 211 Is chosen mediator betwixt the King of Castile and the lawful Heir then banished p. 213 An unjust sentence given by him against the rightful Heir p. 214 He is at variance with his Son p. 215 His structure and other Works p. 217 His Wife and Issue p. 218 Denis Son to K. Peter enters Portugal with an Army p. 269 Design to murder K. John p. 441 Differences betwixt Castile and Portugal composed by the Pope p. 195 In the Cortes about ransoming Prince Ferdinand p. 278 Adjusted p. 568 Discoveries in North America p. 319 Dolabella again subdues the Lusitanians p. 44 Double Treachery p. 484 Duke de Alva with the Spanish Forces draws near to Lisbon He passes the River Tagus p. 358 The Forts upon the River taken by him p. 359 Duke of Braganza refuses to go into Castile Is made General p. 364 Duke of Lancaster invited by the Portuguese Lands in Galicia with 2000 Horse and 3000 Archers p. 269 He meets K. John P. Henry of Castile marries his Daughter p. 266 Duke of Medina Sidonia being suspected in Spain Challenges K. John p. 408 Dutch contrary to Faith given take several places in India p. 425 In Brazil receive succours p. 437 Beaten out of Angola in Africk p. 449 Prepare to make War upon Portugal p. 454 In Brazil p. 376 They take the Capital City called Baja. p. 377 Other Actions of theirs after taking Baja. p. 378 E. EArthquakes p. 57 and 332 Earthquakes Inundations and Storms for 8 years p. 178 Eclipse of the Sun p. 245 K. Edw. holds a Parliament His Expedition to Tangier p. 276 He dies of the Plague p. 278 His issue p. 279 P. Edward his Birth p. 274 P. Edw. contracted to Ellenor Sister to Alonso K. of Aragon p. 272 Edward Brother to K. John IV. p. 435 Effects of love p. 142 Egica King p. 106 Q. Elizabeth's provocations and K. Philip's design against her p. 369 Ellenor II. Daughter to King Alonso married to Peter King of Aragon p. 227 Q. Ellenor flies to Castile p. 256 Princess Ellenor contracted to the Emperor Frederick III. p. 286 Elvas and other places delivered to K. Philip. p. 356 K. Emanuel his Birth and descent He is proclaimed King p. 313 Marries Elizabeth Widow of the late Prince Alonso p. 315 Then Marries the Sister of his last Queen Sends succours to the Venetians against the Turks p. 316 Founds the Monastery of Belem p. 317 His Queen delivered of a Son p. 318 He receives the Order of the Garter from K. Henry VIII of England Punishes his Lord Steward for his Cruelty to a Servant p. 322 His Eighth Son Born p. 323 Birth of his Tenth Child and Death of his Queen p. 324 He Marries again p. 325 His Death His Structures and other Works p. 327 His Wives and Issue p. 328 Embassadors sent to all Courts of Europe p. 401 Embassadors of Castile sent away without Answer p. 281 Emerita Augusta now Merida Founded by Augustus p. 69 Endeavours used for obtaining of Bishops but in vain p. 470 Endeca Usurps the Crown of Portugal p. 96 He is Deposed and shorn a Monk by Leovigildus the Goth. p. 97 Engagements by Sea p. 172 and 337 English and Portugueses take Towns in Castile p. 248 Enterprizes on the Frontiers of Alentejo p. 462 C. Ericeira succeeds D. Roderick de Castro in the Government of Tangier p. 489 Ervigius succeeds Wamba p. 105 His Actions p. 106 Exploits in India p. 342 F. FAbius Maximus defeats the Spanish Army and kills Curius their General p 38 Fabulous's relation p. 161 Faction levelled against the Favourite p. 551 Faithless proceedings of the Dutch in Brazil p. 429 False Sebastian executed p. 368 Famine in Portugal p. 318 Famous Battle of Aljubarata p. 263 The Account given of it by the Spanish Historians p. 264 Favila succeeds Pelagius p. 114 K. Ferdinand of Navarre kills K. Bermudo and becomes sole Monarch of Castile Leon Portugal Galicia and Navarre p. 141 He is called the Great His Conquests over the Infidels p. 143 Dying divides his Dominions p. 145 Ferdinand King of Portugal his Birth He engages in War against Castile p. 236 Enters into League with the Moorish King of Granada p. 237 Marries the Lady Ellenor divorced from her Husband p. 241 Joyns in League with John of Gaunt against Castile p. 242 Enters into League with the King of Castile against him of Aragon p. 244 Underhand treats with the Dukes of