once proceeded to the palace attended by two or three esquires, who were obliged by etiquette to wait at the door of the king's chamber. The Infanie wore no sword, but only a poniard in his girdle. A few courtiers surrounded him, and as if in sport, examined his weapon and carried it away. All at once a chamberlain seized him by the arm, and at the same time a ballestero, named Juan Diente, one of those who had killed Don Fadrique, dealt him a heavy blow on the head from behind. Although stunned by the blow Don Juan broke loose, and staggering forward approached Hinestrosa, who presented the point of his sword and called out to him not to advance. Then the mace-bearers redoubled their blows, felled him to the earth and despatched him. The square in front of the palace was crowded with people. A window is opened, and the dead body of the Infante thrown into the midst of the crowd, a voice crying out, "Biscayans, behold him who pretended to be your lord." ""* And the crowd thought that the king had done no more than justice, and that he knew how to defend the liberties of Biscay.†

III.

Scarcely had the Infante breathed his last sigh, than Juan de Hinestrosa mounted his horse and set out for Roa, a town which the king, during his captivity at Toro, had ceded to his aunt, the Queen Dowager of Aragon. She was ignorant of her son Don Juan's death, and was living quietly with her daughter-in-law

*Catad y vuestro Señor de Vizcaza que vos demandaba. † Ayala, p. 244, and following.

Doña Isabel de Lara, when Hinestrosa, having demanded the keys of the town in the king's name, presented himself before her and secured her person. The next day, Don Pedro, who followed close upon Hinestrosa, arrived at Roa and issued orders that the two princesses should be removed to the castle of Castrojeriz, which he had given to Hinestrosa in fee. The devotion of the Castellan was a sufficient guarantee that the prisoners would not escape. From Roa the king repaired to Burgos where he remained some days, whilst from the north and south his ballesteros brought him, suspended from their saddle-bows, the heads of the knights whom he had proscribed before quitting Seville.* Don Tello alone had escaped his vengeance. It was not, however, yet sated and he was preparing to start for Valladolid, meditating fresh executions, when he learned that the Conde de Trastamara, upon receiving intelligence of his brother's death, had commenced hostilities in the province of Soria; † and on the other hand that the Infante Don Fernando, who occupied Alicante and Orihuela, was making incursions into the plains of Murcia. Despite the non-performance of the articles signed at Tudela, the truce between Castile and Aragon had not been declared at an end, nor had the taking of Jumilla by the Master of Santiago yet been followed by reprisals. The inroads of Don Fernando and Don Enrique, were made without the authority of Pedro IV. and were a kind of defiance hurled by them at the murderer of their brothers. Don Pedro hastily quitted + Ibid., p. 248. Ibid., ibid. Carbonell, p. 186, and following.

* Ayala, p. 247.

Burgos, and started for the Sorian frontier; but the Conde, after having burned a few villages, had retreated into Aragon at the first show of resistance. Don Fernando met with no better success in Murcia, and after a useless attack upon Cartagena, had retired with some booty, taking with him the Moors and Jews, who, when no ransom could be obtained for them, were sold for slaves. The king, after having written to Pedro IV. complaining of Don Enrique's invasion and breach of the truce,* left a few troops to guard the frontier and returned to Seville to complete the equipment of his fleet. He had, contrary to the diplomatic usages of the time, entrusted a simple archer of his guard with his letter to the King of Aragon, and this inattention to forms appears to have desperately offended that monarch. He replied by bitter recriminations, and sent the King of Castile a cartel, haughtily challenging him to combat in closed lists, twenty against twenty, or hundred against hundred, "For it is not meet," he said, "that kings should fight alone."+

According to Tomich, a very accurate Catalan author, Pedro IV., who was small of stature and weak in frame, feared the superior skill and muscular strength of Don Pedro, and would have commissioned Bernardo Galceran de Pinos, an Aragonese knight, renowned for his prowess, to defy his rival before the Pope. With such a second, Pedro IV. imagined himself invincible. Galceran then dwelt at Avignon, having been banished

* Arch. gen. de Arag. Autografos Almazan, 10th of July, Era 1396, (1358).

† Zurita, p. 289.

from Barcelona on account of some murder. Joyfully accepting this honourable mission, he hastened to the Holy Father, and several days afterwards proclaiming that his master accused the King of Castile of treason, challenged him to mortal combat, with such seconds as he might select.* Whatever might have been the form of the cartel, Don Pedro gave it no attention; it was at the head of a powerful army that he desired to meet his enemy.

* Zurita, p. 289, verso. The Memoirs of Pedro IV. (in Carbonell) do not mention this anecdote, to which Zurita appears to attach credence. It is related by Abarca, "Anales de Aragon," t. xxiv, cap. VII, §. II.

CHAPTER XII.

MARITIME EXPEDITION AGAINST ARAGON.

1358-1359.

I.

a

Ar the commencement of the summer of 1358, twelve Castilian gallies were in the Guadalquivir, ready for sea. With this little fleet, reinforced by six Genoese gallies in his pay, Don Pedro sailed for the coasts of Valencia, whilst a body of six hundred men-atarms advanced from Murcia to assist him in his operations. On arriving in sight of Guardamar,* town belonging to the Infante of Aragon, the king disembarked his men, and with his land forces, who were punctual at the place of meeting, vigorously commenced the assault. The besieged, driven from the outer walls by a shower of arrows, took refuge in the donjon, where they remained firm and unhurt. Whilst the king was preparing to follow up his advantage, and force the keep, a sudden tempest arose, and drove his ships upon the coast. The vessels, deprived of a part of their crew, and wanting men to work them properly, were stranded. Two gallies alone, one a Castilian, the

* This place owes its name to its site, being built at the mouth of the River Segura, towards the sea-T.