ish cam paign continued. CHAPTER VIII. CONCLUSION OF THE SPANISH WAR; DECLINE OF ENGLISH RULE IN A.D. 1367. BEFORE returning to the domestic history of England, The Span- it is necessary to continue that of the Castilian revolutions and counter-revolutions, until their consistent end in the brutally savage murder of one brother by the other; and then to pursue that of the Black Prince for a few short years, until his return to England, broken in health, and deeply mortified by defeat. Prospec tive view of the con Edward's reign. A melancholy period in English annals now begins. It becomes necessary to relate events whose history clusion of is a record of the treachery of the tyrant, whom the Black Prince unwisely helped back to a throne, and of the disastrous consequences of his interference; of the illness of the Prince; of the failure of his energies, and of his untimely death; of old and noble warriors and counsellors dying, or retiring from their sphere of action; of jealousies among the commanders, and want of rapid decision in their movements; of a threatened invasion of England; of the loss of Aquitaine ; of the death of the excellent Queen; and, last of all, of the death of the King himself, tarnished in fame by the unworthy termination of an eventful reign. This anticipatory glance presents to view, a sad contrast to the retrospect of forty years; especially if the events are regarded from the usual point of CHAP. VIII. CONSEQUENCES OF THE VICTORY. 135 trast to view, which attributes glory to military success and A.D. 1367. gallant courage alone, and takes no account, on the one Sad conhand, of the misery inflicted by constant warfare, nor, on the other, of the progressive civilisation, general happiness, and prosperity which usually characterise a period of peace. From this last point of view, England's loss of her French possessions was indeed a mighty gain; from the former, it appears as a clouded spot on her history. quences of rete. sperity pay his After the victory of Navarrete, Burgos opened its Consegates to Pedro, who entered that city within two days the victory after the battle, and the Prince of Wales followed of Navarhim almost immediately. For three weeks, the Prince held tournaments and passed his time in rejoicings, but at last, finding that Pedro never troubled himself Pedro in about the payment of the money, for which the Prince his prohad made himself responsible, he reminded him of neglects to his engagements. Pedro, on whom such obligations debts. sat lightly, made excuses, saying, that if the Prince would go to Valladolid, he would go to Seville, to collect the necessary funds. The Prince unfortu. nately consented, and allowed the faithless monarch to place himself at such a distance, that all power over him was lost. Months passed away without a The Engflorin being repaid. Sickness broke out in the from sickEnglish camp, and the mortality was so great that mess. hardly one-fifth of the army survived.1 The Prince himself fell ill, and it was even suspected that he had been poisoned; but, whether this crime was attempted or not, it is certain that he suffered to such an extent, that he never recovered his health during the remainder of his life." Remonstrances At last, on hearing with Pedro were utterly vain. 1 Knighton, col. 2629. 2 Walsingham, p. 305. lish suffer and the army return to A.D. 1367. from his wife that Henry of Trastamare had invaded Aquitaine,1 the Prince yielded to the advice of his companions in arms, and determined to return to his The Prince duchy. He accordingly marched towards the frontiers of Navarre and Aragon, where he waited a Aquitaine. month, for leave from the King of Aragon to cross the passes. At length, wearied with this vexatious delay, he sent messengers to the King, and they negotiated so well, that they not only obtained leave for the passage of Edward and the greater part of his troops, but brought about a treaty of alliance between the King and Pedro. On hearing this, the King of Navarre gave the Prince, his brother the Duke of Lancaster, and his chief companions, leave to cross by Roncesvalles. This was a more convenient route than that through Aragon, and the offer therefore was accepted; but the main body of the troops went by the latter way.2 In the course of a few days, the Prince reached Bordeaux in safety, though in ruined health. There he remained, but his brother the Duke of Lancaster, who had come back from Spain with him, returned at once to England. Trasta mare ravages Aquitaine in the Prince's absence, In the meantime, Henry of Trastamare had fled from Spain to Toulouse. From thence he proceeded to Montpellier, in order to meet and concert measures with the Duke of Anjou, whose hatred of the English never slept. Disregarding the conditions of the treaty of Bretigni, the Duke entered into engagements with Henry, which were directed as much against the English as against Pedro, and were barely consistent with the conditions of peace between England and France. By these means Henry was enabled to Sismondi, vol. ii. p. 79. 2 Buchon's Froissart, vol. i. p. 544. 3 lbid. vol. i. p. 542, note. CHAP. VIII. HENRY RETURNS TO SPAIN. 137 to 1369. collect together about 300 men at the castle of A.D. 1367 Roquemaure, on the frontiers of Aquitaine, and to ravage the district of Montauban. When the Princess of Wales heard of this, she not only wrote to her husband, as already related, but appealed to the King of France, who, being most anxious to preserve the appearance of friendship with the English, until it suited him to throw off the mask, at once ordered Henry to desist. But Henry knew too well what were the King's real wishes, and, disregarding his orders, continued his advance into Aquitaine. to Spain Prince comes On the Prince of Wales coming back to Aquitaine, but returns Henry returned to Spain at the head of 3,000 horse when the and 6,000 foot soldiers, and found the Spaniards so disgusted with Pedro's cruelties, that all who dared back, to do so at once opened the gates of their cities to him.1 Burgos received him gladly, and in the spring A.D. 1368. of 1368 he laid siege to Leon, and took it on the 30th of April. Henry then marched on Toledo, received, which, however, held out for Pedro, because he had marches in his hand hostages for its fidelity. Early in 1369 Henry was joined by Du Guesclin, who had been ransomed at the end of 1367 for the sum of 100,000 francs, and had been engaged with the Duke of Anjou, in the spring of 1368, in the invasion of Provence.2 Du Guesclin brought with him about 2,000 soldiers, enlisted, at the request of the Duke of Anjou, from the Companies in Languedoc ; he was also accompanied by a number of French knights and squires, who were restless when not engaged in fighting. When Pedro heard of Henry's entry into Spain, He is well and on Toledo. Trasta mare A.D. 1369. and of the general defection of his subjects, he turned for advice to the Moor Benahatin, grand astrologer or philosopher, and adviser of the King of Granada.1 By his assistance he was enabled, in March 1369, to put himself at the head of 20,000 Moors, and of about the same number of Spaniards, whom he had raised in Andalusia. This was the only part of his dominions where he retained any influence. With this army he marched to raise the siege of Toledo. His troops, however, consisted almost entirely of foot-soldiers, only 3,000 being cavalry. Henry was well informed of Pedro's movements, although the latter knew nothing of his, and, after a consultation with Du Guesclin, determined to march out and give him battle, rather than wait his attack. He therefore left a part of his troops to continue the siege, and advanced towards Seville. On the 14th of March, Henry met Pedro near the castle of Montiel, with his army marching in utter disorder, and instantly attacked him with great fury. Henry's soldiers believed that Pedro's army consisted of nothing but Jews and Mahometans, against whom they felt a bitter hatred; Pedro's, on their part, were equally furious against the Christians. Pedro's troops came March 14, up in succession, and each body was defeated, in its turn, before its support could come to its aid. Pedro himself fought for a time with the desperate courage of a wild beast at bay; but at length his army was utterly routed, and, yielding therefore to the advice of the faithful Fernand de Castro, who had remained his constant and almost only friend, he fled from the field. He escaped to the castle of Battle of Montiel, 1369. Defeat of 1 Buchon's Froissart, vol. i. p. 550, note 1. 2 Ibid. p. 552, note. |