Donna Maria had formerly
endeavoured
to
dissuade her sister from the adulterous marriage with the king.
dissuade her sister from the adulterous marriage with the king.
Camoes - Lusiades
_--No circumstance has
ever been more ridiculed by the ancient and modern pedants than
Alexander's pretensions to divinity. Some of his courtiers expostulating
with him one day on the absurdity of such claim, he replied, "I know the
truth of what you say, but these," (pointing to a crowd of Persians)
"these know no better. " The report that the Grecian army was commanded
by a son of Jupiter spread terror through the East, and greatly
facilitated the operations of the conqueror. The miraculous speech of
the infant, attested by a few monks, was adapted to the superstition of
the age of John I. and, as he was illegitimate, was of infinite service
to his cause. The pretended fact, however, is differently related.
[277] Lisbon, or Ulyssipolis, supposed to be founded by Ulysses. --_Ed. _
[278] _The mitred head. _--Don Martin, bishop of Lisbon, a man of
exemplary life. He was by birth a Castilian, which was esteemed a
sufficient reason to murder him, as of the queen's party. He was thrown
from the tower of his own cathedral, whither he had fled to avoid the
popular fury.
[279] _The queen beheld her power, her honours lost. _--Possessed of
great beauty and great abilities, this bad woman was a disgrace to her
sex, and a curse to the age and country which gave her birth. Her
sister, Donna Maria, a lady of unblemished virtue, had been secretly
married to the infant, Don Juan, the king's brother, who was
passionately attached to her.
Donna Maria had formerly endeavoured to
dissuade her sister from the adulterous marriage with the king. In
revenge of this, the queen, Leonora, persuaded Don Juan that her sister
was unfaithful to his bed. The enraged husband hastened to his wife,
and, without enquiry or expostulation, says Mariana, dispatched her with
two strokes of his dagger. He was afterwards convinced of her innocence.
Having sacrificed her honour, and her first husband, to a king, (says
Faria), Leonora soon sacrificed that king to a wicked gallant, a
Castilian nobleman, named Don Juan Fernandez de Andeyro. An unjust war
with Castile, wherein the Portuguese were defeated by sea and land, was
the first fruits of the policy of the new favourite. Andeyro one day
being in a great perspiration, by some military exercise, the queen tore
her veil, and publicly gave it him to wipe his face. The grand master of
Avis, the king's illegitimate brother, afterwards John I. , and some
others, expostulated with her on the indecency of this behaviour. She
dissembled her resentment, but, soon after, they were seized and
committed to the castle of Evora, where a forged order for their
execution was sent; but the governor suspecting some fraud, showed it to
the king. Yet, such was her ascendancy over Fernando, that though
convinced of her guilt, he ordered his brother to kiss the queen's hand,
and thank her for his life. Soon after, Fernando died, but not till he
was fully convinced of the queen's conjugal infidelity, and had given an
order for the assassination of the gallant. Not long after the death of
the king, the favourite Andeyro was stabbed in the palace by the
grandmaster of Avis, and Don Ruy de Pereyra. The queen expressed all the
transport of grief and rage, and declared she would undergo the
trial-ordeal in vindication of his, and her, innocence. But this she
never performed: in her vows of revenge, however, she was more punctual.
Don Juan, king of Castile, who had married her only daughter and
heiress, at her earnest entreaties invaded Portugal, and was proclaimed
king.
ever been more ridiculed by the ancient and modern pedants than
Alexander's pretensions to divinity. Some of his courtiers expostulating
with him one day on the absurdity of such claim, he replied, "I know the
truth of what you say, but these," (pointing to a crowd of Persians)
"these know no better. " The report that the Grecian army was commanded
by a son of Jupiter spread terror through the East, and greatly
facilitated the operations of the conqueror. The miraculous speech of
the infant, attested by a few monks, was adapted to the superstition of
the age of John I. and, as he was illegitimate, was of infinite service
to his cause. The pretended fact, however, is differently related.
[277] Lisbon, or Ulyssipolis, supposed to be founded by Ulysses. --_Ed. _
[278] _The mitred head. _--Don Martin, bishop of Lisbon, a man of
exemplary life. He was by birth a Castilian, which was esteemed a
sufficient reason to murder him, as of the queen's party. He was thrown
from the tower of his own cathedral, whither he had fled to avoid the
popular fury.
[279] _The queen beheld her power, her honours lost. _--Possessed of
great beauty and great abilities, this bad woman was a disgrace to her
sex, and a curse to the age and country which gave her birth. Her
sister, Donna Maria, a lady of unblemished virtue, had been secretly
married to the infant, Don Juan, the king's brother, who was
passionately attached to her.
Donna Maria had formerly endeavoured to
dissuade her sister from the adulterous marriage with the king. In
revenge of this, the queen, Leonora, persuaded Don Juan that her sister
was unfaithful to his bed. The enraged husband hastened to his wife,
and, without enquiry or expostulation, says Mariana, dispatched her with
two strokes of his dagger. He was afterwards convinced of her innocence.
Having sacrificed her honour, and her first husband, to a king, (says
Faria), Leonora soon sacrificed that king to a wicked gallant, a
Castilian nobleman, named Don Juan Fernandez de Andeyro. An unjust war
with Castile, wherein the Portuguese were defeated by sea and land, was
the first fruits of the policy of the new favourite. Andeyro one day
being in a great perspiration, by some military exercise, the queen tore
her veil, and publicly gave it him to wipe his face. The grand master of
Avis, the king's illegitimate brother, afterwards John I. , and some
others, expostulated with her on the indecency of this behaviour. She
dissembled her resentment, but, soon after, they were seized and
committed to the castle of Evora, where a forged order for their
execution was sent; but the governor suspecting some fraud, showed it to
the king. Yet, such was her ascendancy over Fernando, that though
convinced of her guilt, he ordered his brother to kiss the queen's hand,
and thank her for his life. Soon after, Fernando died, but not till he
was fully convinced of the queen's conjugal infidelity, and had given an
order for the assassination of the gallant. Not long after the death of
the king, the favourite Andeyro was stabbed in the palace by the
grandmaster of Avis, and Don Ruy de Pereyra. The queen expressed all the
transport of grief and rage, and declared she would undergo the
trial-ordeal in vindication of his, and her, innocence. But this she
never performed: in her vows of revenge, however, she was more punctual.
Don Juan, king of Castile, who had married her only daughter and
heiress, at her earnest entreaties invaded Portugal, and was proclaimed
king.
