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212 Spain, Castile, Navarre, Portugal ing on the bank of a river which produced fruits shaped like ducks. When these were nearly ripe, they dropped down of their own accord , some onto the earth, and some into the water. Those that landed on the earth rotted away, but those that sank into the water instantly came to life, swam out from below the water, and immediately flew off into the air, equipped with feathers and wings. When I eagerly investigated this matter, I learned that miracles always recede further into the distance and that the famous tree was to be found not in Scotland but in the Orkney islands. Nevertheless, I did witness the following wonder in Scotland. I noticed that semi-naked paupers who were begging outside churches went away happily after receiving stones as alms. This kind of stone, which is loaded with sulfur or some other rich substance, is burned for fuel instead of wood, which the region lacks altogether. 168. I ought now to deal with Ireland, which is divided from Britain by a narrow strait. Part of it is independent and enjoys friendship and alliance with the Scots, whereas part is subject to English rule. However, since I have heard of nothing memorable that was done during the era with which this treatise is concerned, I hasten on to the affairs of Spain. 47 SPAIN, CASTILE, NAVARRE, PORTUGAL 169. THE HUGE expanse of Spain, a land powerful in men and arms which bears comparison with the very best, is distributed among five kings at the present time. They call the king of Castile the first and greatest of these; next to him, the king of Aragon; in third place, the king of Portugal; in fourth, the king of Navarre; the king of Granada, because it rejects548 the Gospel of Christ, is placed last. 548. Or “which rejects” (understanding quod [regnum]). Either interpretation involves a grammatical difficulty. Spain, Castile, Navarre, Portugal 213 170. In Castile, a renowned kingdom with far-flung dominions, whose kings spring from the blood of the Goths and have never varied their stock,549 Álvaro de Luna, an Aragonese by race and a man of noble birth, though born out of wedlock, once wormed his way so deeply into the favor of King Juan that he alone seemed to wield power over the kingdom and the king.550 When King Juan of Navarre and Enrique, master of the Military Order of Santiago ,551 tried to impose their own power and govern the kingdom, Álvaro forcibly drove them off. Later, however, when the queen552 turned against him, they returned and gained control over the king. Álvaro was expelled from the court and lived for some time as a private individual on his estates—a fortunate man, if only he had known how to enjoy the leisure afforded him! But there is no peace for those deposed from power. And so, in an attempt to win back his lofty position, from which he would be hurled again with even greater ruin, he secretly persuaded the king to come out to the woodlands near his home on the pretext of hunting. He said that he would come to meet him with a powerful force and that beyond doubt the nobles of the kingdom would assert the king’s freedom. It was not hard to persuade him. The king went out with a few men, inadequately guarded because the name of Álvaro had been almost forgotten, and came to the place of ambush, where Álvaro, raising 549. Aeneas makes this same assertion about Alfonso of Aragon in para. 275. It is noteworthy given Aeneas’s harsh comments about the Goths as pillagers of Rome in other writings. Perhaps his recent familiarity with Jordanes’s History of the Goths had improved his opinion of them; see R. J. Mitchell, The Laurels and the Tiara: Pope Pius II 1458–64 (London: Harvill Press, 1962), 264. 550. King Juan II of Castile-León (r. 1406–54). Luna (c. 1390–1453) was a court favorite who proved an able administrator and exercised great influence over Juan from a young age. 551. Juan and Enrique were sons of Ferdinand I of Aragon (and brothers of Alfonso V). Juan married Blanca of Navarre and became king–consort in 1425; he became king of Aragon on Alfonso’s death, ruling as Juan II (1458–79). Enrique (d. 1445) was master of the Order of Santiago (de Compostela). Juan was a strong guiding...

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