ALPHONSO VI. Don Enriquez, king of Portugal, ascended the throne when only a child of thirteen years of age. It is not easy to conceive a kingdom in a more perilous situation than this at the death of Don John. The young king was remarkable for weakness of body and imbecility of mind; the regency in the hands of a woman, and that woman a Castilian; the nation involved in war, and this respecting the title to the crown; many of the nobility engaged in feuds and contentions with each other, and some of them secretly disaffected to the reigning family; so that the queen scarcely knew to whom she could trust, or by whom she was to be obeyed. A very indecent joy was manifested by the people on the king's death, as if his death was the dissolution of government; but the great abilities of the queen, and the vigorous mea-
Alonso'sures which she adopted, soon changed the face of affairs. For her own safety, and the prosperity of the kingdom, she appointed Don Francisco de Faro, count of Odemira, of the house of Braganza, governor to the king, and one of her principal ministers of state; and she made choice of Don Antonio de Meneses, count de Castanhedo, to be his coadjutor. The former was a person in high repute among the nobility, in great favour with the people, entirely devoted to the interests of the queen, possessed of a large estate, and far advanced in years; the latter was also an aged man of great talents, and equally capable to preside in the cabinet and to command in the field. As might naturally be expected, these men sometimes differed in opinion; but this difference never hurt the cause of the queen. Seconded, protected, and counselled by such able men, the nation began to feel the effects of the queen's firmness and superior talents.
The first important exertion of the queen was, to send express orders to the count de San Lorenzo, who commanded on the frontiers, to act offensively; but the measure, though prudent in itself, was not attended with the desired success. About this time, however, the duke de St Germain, an Italian officer in the service of Spain, entered Portugal, and besieged and took Olivenza and the castle of Moran. In consequence of this, the general was dismissed, and his place was filled by Juan Mendez Vasconcelles, a man in great favour with the troops, and universally popular. He engaged to act also upon the offensive; but being unsuccessful, he was only saved from punishment by his simple and candid defence, in which he says, "that he had undertaken the siege in obedience to the order of the queen, and for the honour of the nation; and that he had raised it without orders, for the preservation of the army; that he knew the hazard he ran when he did it, but that it gave him pleasure to think, that at the hazard, or even the loss, of his reputation and life, the troops of Portugal had been saved." He was declared innocent, and worthy of the queen's favour, by the council of war who presided. Don Sancho Manuel, who commanded in Elvas, and defended it with equal bravery and conduct, showed himself to be an officer of considerable judgment, by his hazarding nothing more when he had performed his service, upon which the very being of the state depended; but it was the count de Castanhedo who raised that siege, and forced the army of Spain in their lines. After some other political measures, the queen regent finished in a manner her administration with the marriage of her only daughter, the princess Catherine, once intended for Louis XIV., with Charles II. king of Great Britain, one of the most fortunate events that ever happened for Portugal, since it immediately procured them the protection of the English fleets, besides adding much reputation to their affairs throughout Europe; which was the reason that the Spanish court opposed it with so much heat, or rather passion. By the vigorous exertions and fortunate victories of Montesclaros, the war was soon terminated to the honour of Portugal. The sixth and last victory in the course of 28 years was obtained by the marquis de Marialva, which was chiefly owing to unforeseen accidents, to the determined courage of foreign troops, and to the great abilities of Schomberg. This victory determined the fate of the kingdom, though not of the sovereign; and it was easy to be seen by the more intelligent people in Portugal, that the king would sooner or later be deposed.
Alphonso being struck with the palsy while a child, it became necessary to treat him with indulgence, on account of his weak state of health; consequently, as he rose to maturity, his want of parts, and the defects in his
education, were very perceptible. It is alleged that a greater affection was shown by the queen his mother to the infant Don Pedro, and that she endeavoured, at the time of their father's decease, to insinuate into the nobles an idea of preferring him; but they universally declined to make a breach in the succession, declaring it was difficult to make an estimate of the powers of a king who was then only a child. The queen yielded, and endeavoured by every proper means to make him worthy of a crown, which, by birth, he was entitled to wear. The count de Odemira, who was charged with his education, found it a very difficult task to manage the young prince, who, forgetful of his birth and destination, was prone only to those amusements which the youth of his age were accustomed to. His guardian and preceptor struggled with this disposition, and even ventured to take some pretty severe measures; but, to his great mortification, it proved entirely abortive. A variety of facts that might be mentioned are sufficient evidence that his natural dispositions were weak, wild, refractory, and unteachable; and that although he was born to reign, yet he was destitute of the qualities absolutely necessary in a prince. The direful consequences of this having been for some time experienced by the nation, the nobles were at last driven to the resolution of deposing the king, and exalting Don Pedro to the regency. In the morning of the next day after the determination, the marquis de Cascaes, at the head of the council, went to the palace to propose the resignation to the king. The king was in bed and fast asleep; the marquis ordered him to be awakened, and knocked violently at the door for that purpose; and when he obtained admission, he is said to have upbraided him in very coarse terms for his laziness and inattention to public affairs at so critical a conjuncture; adding, that since he must be sensible of his want of abilities to govern a kingdom, the wisest method he could adopt was, to resign it in favour of his brother. The king absolutely refused to consent; but not long after, Don Pedro coming to the palace, ordered him to be confined in his apartment, where one of his favourites persuaded him, in the hope of being set at liberty, to make a short renunciation of the crown in favour of his brother Don Pedro and his lawful issue, reserving the house of Braganza and its dependencies, together with 100,000 crowns out of the revenue of the crown. Nor was this deemed sufficient; for a paper was presented to him, making him avow, that for want of consummation his marriage was null. This he at first declined; but, by the advice of some divines, he was prevailed on to subscribe the deed. The unfortunate Don Alphonso died, after he had been a prisoner near fifteen years, when he had borne the title of king almost twenty-seven, and had lived about forty.
ALPHONSO III., surnamed the Great, king of Asturias, was born in 847, and succeeded his father Ordoño in 865. In consequence of the rebellion of Don Froila, not long after his accession to the throne, he was forced to leave his kingdom; but that usurper being assassinated, with universal applause he returned to his throne. In many successful enterprises against the Moors, in which he greatly enlarged his territories, he soon displayed the talents of a warlike and able prince. He formed a powerful alliance against the Moors, by marrying Ximene or Chimene, descended from the house of Navarre, which paved the way for a long series of victories. The great attention which he paid to the comfort and welfare of the common people greatly disgusted his haughty nobles, which excited them to revolt against him in the advanced part of his life. Enjoying a small interval of tranquillity from the distraction and tumults of war, he called a ge-
Alphonso, general council of the clergy and nobility, enacted some useful regulations, and directed their attention to several other subjects, which contributed to the honour and happiness of his kingdom. Whilst he was busily occupied in repairing some of those towns which he had taken from the Moors, he was suddenly interrupted by them, and was under the necessity of defending himself with a considerable army, which he did with such success, that they were defeated with great loss. The unnatural rebellion of his son Don Garcias, at this time, greatly disturbed his government; but by the diligence of the father, this unnatural rebellion was soon quelled. The confinement of Garcias, and the new imposition of taxes, produced general murmurs among the people; which induced Alphonso, now worn out with years and incessant contentions, to assemble the states, and resign the reins of government into the hands of his son Don Garcias. He gave to his other son Don Ordogno the province of Galicia. The ambitious and military spirit which Don Garcias discovered in his father's reign soon displayed itself in an attack on the Moors. By the advice of his father, to which he prudently listened, he was taught that these new conquests tended more to enrich the soldiers than to promote the interest of the crown. Alphonso, though far advanced in years, took upon himself the command of the army raised for new operations, and returned to Zamora loaded with spoils, and with increased reputation and fame, in the year 912. He died on the 20th of December 912, two years after his abdication, 46 years from the time of his being associated with his father in the government, and when he was about 64 or 65 years of age. His great learning, and the patronage he gave to literature, his distinguished piety and virtue, and other princely qualities, raised this king high in the estimation of mankind. Some writers affirm that he composed a chronicle of the Spanish affairs, from the death of Recesuinho to that of his own father Don Ordogno, which has been incorrectly published by Sandoval, and the later editions have sustained considerable injury.
ALPHONSO X., surnamed the Wise, king of Leon and Castile, succeeded his father Ferdinand in the year 1252. He obtained the appellation of wise, not for his political knowledge as a king, but his erudition as a philosopher. In consequence of the general opinion of his princely qualities, and his uncommon generosity, he ascended the throne with universal approbation. The ill-concerted projects of his ambition, however, disturbed the prosperity of his reign. Pretending a better right than Henry III. of England to that territory, he directed his first attempt against Gascony. The arms of England, however, proved too formidable; and he was compelled to renounce his claim, on condition that Henry's son, afterwards King Edward I., should marry his sister Eleonora. At an expense which drained his treasures, and obliged him to debase his coin, he prepared for an expedition against the Moors in Barbary; but his maternal right to the duchy of Suabia, which he was called to defend, diverted him from it. Thus he formed a connection with the German princes, and became a competitor, with Richard earl of Cornwall, for the imperial crown, in quest of which they both expended immense sums of money. The claims of several of the princes of the blood gave exercise to his military talents, and he was successful both in opposing and defeating them. He formed the romantic design of visiting Italy in the year 1268; but the states firmly remonstrating, he was obliged to relinquish it. But although he abandoned the design, yet it produced such discontents among the common people, and conspiracy among the nobles, that it required considerable exertion before the king could allay the ferment. Alphonso being still
desirous to ascend the imperial throne, attempted it after the death of Richard earl of Cornwall, and even after Rodolph of Hapsburg was actually elected emperor of Germany; and for that purpose took a journey to Beaucaire, to obtain an interview with the pope, in order to prevent him from confirming the election. The Moors, ever ready to draw the sword against him, took this opportunity of entering his dominions for the purpose of ravaging them. This ambitious journey, undertaken at so vast an expense, and productive of so much confusion in his kingdom, proved unsuccessful; for the pope would not realize his claim, or alter the former election. But his excessive ambition was soon punished by domestic calamity; for his eldest son died in this interval, and his second son Don Sanchez, having obtained great reputation in opposing the infidels, to the prejudice of his brother's children, laid claim to the crown. This claim was admitted by the states of the kingdom; but Philip king of France, supporting the cause of the children, whose mother was his sister Blanche of France, involved Alphonso in a war; and it occasioned the retreat of his own queen Yolande or Violante to the court of her father, the king of Arragon. While thus harassed with dissensions, he proclaimed war against France, and by the authority of the pope he renewed the war with the Moors, which proved so unfortunate, that he reluctantly concluded a truce with them, and engaged in a contest with the king of Granada. These various measures exhausted his treasure; taxes were multiplied, and the affairs of the kingdom were in such confusion, that he was under the disagreeable necessity of calling an assembly of the states, which was held at Seville in the year 1281, where, on the king's proposal, the states consented to give a currency to copper money. In consequence of the intrigues of Don Sanchez, his son, another assembly of the states was held at Valladolid, A. D. 1282, which deprived Alphonso of the regality, and appointed Sanchez regent. Reduced to almost insurmountable difficulties, Alphonso solemnly cursed and disinherited his son, and by his last will, in the year 1283, confirmed the act of exclusion, and appointed for the succession the infants de la Cerda, and, upon the failure of their heirs, the kings of France; and at the same time supplicated the assistance of the king of Morocco against the power of his son. At the commencement of the next year, when Alphonso received information from Salamanca that Sanchez was dangerously ill, his heart relented. He pardoned his son, revoked his curses, and then died, on the 4th of April 1284, in the 81st year of his age. His remains were interred in the cathedral of Seville; and he left behind him the character of a learned man, but a weak king. Alphonso has been charged with irreligion and impiety, chiefly on account of a well-known but differently interpreted saying of his, viz. "if he had been of God's privy council when he created the world, he could have advised him better."
He was an eminent proficient in science, and a patron of literature. He concluded that book of laws known by the title of Las Partidas, which his father had begun; and in it displayed the abilities of a politician as well as of a legislator. By obliging his subjects to use their own language, he redressed the confusion in law proceedings occasioned by intermixing Latin with the vulgar tongue. Under his patronage a general history of Spain was composed, which he took great pains in polishing; he also corrected many errors in the statutes of the university of Salamanca. Astronomy being his favourite study, he chiefly directed his attention to the improvement of that science; so that, even during the life of his father, he assembled at Toledo a number of the most celebrated as-
tronomers of his time, Christians, Jews, and Arabians, from all parts of Europe, for the purpose of examining the astronomical tables of Ptolemy, and correcting their errors. These tables, after employing them about four years, were completed in 1252, the first year of Alphonso's reign, and were called Alphonsine Tables, from the name of this prince, who, by his unbounded liberality, encouraged the construction of them. It is reported that 400,000 ducats were expended on them, or, according to others, 40,000. A book entitled The Treasure is also ascribed to him, containing treatises of rational philosophy, physics, and ethics. He is likewise said to have been well acquainted with astrology and chemistry, and in the latter science to have compiled two volumes in cipher, which are still extant, and to be found in his Catholic majesty's library.