171 CHAPTER VII. RECONCILIATION OF DON PEDRO WITH HIS BROTHERS— 1353 to 1354. I. UNTIL now we have seen Don Pedro with no other will than that of his minister; the time was approaching when this indolent acquiescence was to cease. Alburquerque and the queen-mother, having determined upon marrying the young prince, had looked towards the royal house of France for the desired alliance.* During the session of the Cortes of Valladolid, ambassadors had journeyed to Paris, charged in the name of Don Pedro, to demand the hand of Blanche, then scarcely fifteen years of age, the niece of King John, and daughter of the Duke of Bourbon. Her beauty, gentleness, and simple grace, were extolled everywhere. The princess had already been solemnly betrothed to the King of Castile, and had only deferred her journey into Spain until the termination of the troubles which obliged Don Pedro to traverse his provinces at the head of an army. At the same time that the minister was * Don Pedro had been affianced, when very young, to a daughter of Edward III.; the young princess, however, died at Bayonne, on her way to Castile. The treaty for a matrimonial alliance between Alfonso XI's. son and Edward III's daughter, may be seen in Ryder's "Fædera."-T. treating for this illustrious alliance, he did not blush. to engage secretly in a less honourable negociation, the success of which, however, according to his views, would insure him the continuance of his influence over the royal mind. Already had the haughty temper of the young king been exhibited at different times by flashes of independence, evanescent as lightning, but alarming to an old politician accustomed to read his master's thoughts. He perceived that in order to divert him from the inclination to govern alone, he must provide attractions more potent than the pleasures of the chase. The reign of Don Alfonso had proved the powerful influence of a mistress, and the politic minister would not leave to chance the choice of a woman destined to play so important a part. Instead of a rival, he would fain have an ally, or rather a slave. Accordingly he chose for the king, and was miserably disappointed. He imagined he had discovered in Doña Maria de Padilla, a young girl brought up in the house of his wife, Doña Isabel de Meneses, the fittest person to assist him in his designs. She was an orphan, descended from an illustrious family, which had been formerly attached to the Lara faction, and ruined in the late civil wars. * Her brother and uncle, who were *"Cron. de Don Alfonso XI., p. 299."-Argote de Molina "Nobleza de Andalucia," p. 93. The house of Padilla is mentioned in a grant dated 1033. Maria de Padilla was descended from Diego Nuñez de Padilla or Padiella, one of those Ricos Hombres who witnessed the privilege granted in 1033, to the church of Ona, by Sancho el Mayor, first King of Castile. In 1166, Nuñez Gutier de Padilla founded the convent of St. Michael de Villemayor, of the Premonstratensian Order. The Padillas bore for coat-armour, in a field azure, three spades, (in Spanish, Padilla) both poor and ambitious, are said to have lent themselves to this shameful transaction. Imagining that Doña Maria, having been brought up in his house, would always look upon him as her master, Alburquerque drew Don Pedro's attention towards her, and contrived their first interview, which took place during the expedition to the Asturias.* Doña Maria de Padilla was small in stature, like the majority of Spanish women; pretty, lively, full of that voluptuous grace peculiar to the women of the south, and which our language has no word adequately to express.† As yet she was only distinguished by the sprightliness of her wit, which amused the noble lady with whom she argent, with nine crescents of the same. See Dillon's "Peter the Cruel," vol. 1., p. 256 and following.-T. * Ayala, p. 77. Compare with the "Sumario de los reges de España," p. 60. Zurita, in a note to Ayala, states that the king first met Doña Maria in the city of Leon, at the house of a cavallero named Diego Fernandez de Quiñones, who was a relative of the young lady. The king fell in love at first sight of the youthful beauty, "who was," adds the Aragonese secretary, "the handsomest damsel in the world." "Cronica del rey Don Pedro," p. 77.-T. † Ayala, p. 332. The Castilian tongue is rich in words characterising grace among women. Spain is, in fact, the country where this quality most prevails. I will cite only a few expressions which indicate distinctive shades easier to understand than to translate. Garbo, signifies grace united with nobility; donayre, an elegant deportment, a joyous spirit; salero, voluptuous and fascinating grace; zandunga, a species of grace peculiar to the Andalucians, a happy mixture of easy nonchalance and entire freedom from care. A Spaniard would praise the garbo or donayre of a duchess, the salero of an actress, the zandunga of a gitana of Jerez. lived in a capacity almost servile. Being older than the king, she possessed the advantage of having already studied mankind; and while mingling with the crowd of attendants, had observed all that had passed at court. She soon proved herself worthy to reign. It is pleasant to believe that this young girl, in bestowing her affections upon Don Pedro, did not yield to the impulses of ambition alone. The king was only eighteen years of age, he was well formed, high spirited, generous, and undeniably in love. Doubtless, his passion was sufficient of itself to win Doña Maria, even though it had not been rendered yet more seductive by the fascinations of a crown. Both her protectors and her family conspired to overcome her scruples, and succeeded. Probably a promise of marriage had been given her by the king, or, as some authors have supposed, the marriage ceremonies were actually performed. If this, however, were really the case, the most profound secresy* must have been observed, and all Spain kept in ignorance of the fact, for Doña Maria was only regarded as the king's mistress. Her uncle, Juan Fernandez de Hinestrosa, himself, conducted her to San Fagund, where Don Pedro halted on his return from the Asturias; and placed her, so to speak, in the king's arms.† This complaisance was * This qestion will be hereafter examined. See Ch., XVI. 1. This was probably the time that Hinestrosa received from the king the appointment of Alcalde de los fidalgos, the title that he bears in the treaty of Atienza, to which his name is affixed as one of the witnesses for Castile.-Arch. gen. de Arag., Record No. 1737. royally compensated. Hinestrosa and the other relatives of the favourite, suddenly emerging from their obscurity, appeared at court, and began to assist in the counsels of the young prince. Immediately after the taking of Aguilar, Don Pedro, who had during the siege been separated from his mistress, hastened to rejoin her at Cordova. She had just presented him with a daughter,* whose birth was celebrated by magnificent fêtes. The greater part of Alonso Coronel's domains served the infant for an apanage; the remainder was distributed amongst the officers of the king's household. It was remarked that this time, Don Juan de Alburquerque had no share in the spoils of his enemy. The king, though still keeping up appearances, began to treat his minister with coldness. His young mistress secretly instigated him to throw off a tutorage which had become irksome, and to take the reins of government into his own hands. Flattered by the praises of a woman so ardently beloved, encouraged by the counsels of the Padillas,‡ * Doña Beatriz, who afterwards died at Bayona de Inglaterra. Abrev. quoted in Señor de Llaguno's edition of "Ayala," p. 83. The Spanish writers generally designate the English provinces in France as "Inglaterra."―T. + The principal sharers in the spoils of Coronel were Pero Suarez de Toledo, the king's young Repostero Mayor, Dia Gomez, also a member of the great Toledo family, and Inigo Lopez de Orozco, whom the reader will meet for the last time at Navarrete. "Cronica del Rey Don Pedro," p. 85.-T. "Already," writes Ayala, "Juan Fernandez de Hinestrosa, uncleto Doña Maria, Diego Garcia de Padilla, her brother, and Juan Tenorio, who, about this time, had been appointed Repostero Mayor in the stead of Pero Suarez de Toledo, were pri |