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87 - Concerning the other arguments which the bishop added on the duke's behalf
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 January 2024
Summary
Having replied to these two envoys as you have heard, the bishop advanced these arguments in response to the doctor:
Doctor, you say in your lord's name that King Sancho deposed his father King Alfonso, and that for this reason his father did not give him his blessing nor bequeath anything to him in his will, with the result that none of his descendants can inherit the kingdoms of Castile, since King Sancho himself did not inherit them. My liege lord the king, here present, answers this by saying that, to the best of his knowledge, King Sancho committed no such wrong against his father as you assert; for King Sancho never called himself king while the king his father was alive. However, when the noblemen of Castile and León realised how prodigal and wasteful King Alfonso was, how badly he administered the realm's resources, and how poorly he meted out justice, they took from him the governance and administration of the said kingdoms and conferred them on Prince Sancho, who became king after his father's death.
It is said that, though King Alfonso found out that agreement had not been reached concerning his election as Holy Roman Emperor, with only a few votes being cast in his favour, he was still anxious to become emperor and [to that end] levied huge taxes on his kingdom. Accompanied by many supporters and at great expense, he went to Avignon, where the pope then was, requesting to be crowned emperor. When the pope refused to do this, he went back to his kingdom, which he had left so ruinously bereft. Furthermore, he married an illegitimate daughter, Beatriz by name, to King Afonso [III] of Portugal, the former Count of Boulogne. Because of this marriage he gave him certain townships now in that realm, and which Castile possessed, and waived the feudal dues which the King of Portugal was expected to pay for them.
King Alfonso also failed to deliver justice when, without allowing them their right to be heard, he ordered the execution of his legitimate brother, Don Fadrique, of Don Simón [Ruíz] de los Cameros, a great nobleman, and of other nobles. For that reason, Don Nuño, who was the Lord of Lara, Don Fernán Ruiz de Saldaña and other great lords and noblemen left the kingdom and went to join the Emir of Granada.
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- The Chronicles of Fernão LopesVolume 4. The Chronicle of King João i of Portugal, Part II, pp. 212 - 215Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2023