It was the Portuguese Orders which made the most use of science. King João, once Master of Aviz, procured the Knights of Christ's mestrat for his third son, Dom Enrique, that of Aviz for his youngest, Dom Fernando.* In 1414 Enrique persuaded his father to revive the Holy War, and the following year, in July, an expedition sailed for Ceuta; incredibly, this strong seaport, which had so often menaced the Reconquista, fell within five hours, the young Mestre fighting throughout in full armour beneath the terrible sun with unflagging determination. The chronicler Zurara wrote that Enrique the Navigator's object was 'to extend the Holy Faith of Jesus Christ and bring it to all souls who wish to find salvation'. The Master was not concerned with the expansion of Europe but with the expansion of Christendom.* To this end he sought for 'a Christian kingdom that for love of Our Lord Jesus Christ would help in that war'. His whole life shows that the military vocation was still a living ideal; like a Carthusian, he wore a hair shirt and his devotions were almost excessive. However, he exploited every modern method. At Sagres his staff included geographers, shipwrights, linguists, Jewish cartographers and Moorish pilots. The team studied map-making and how to improve navigational instruments, the astrolabe and compass. Islam had conquered the Spains; Christianity would conquer Africa, then Asia. By 1425 his brethren had colonized Madeira and the Canaries. In 1445 they settled the Azores. The systematic exploitation of the west African coast began in 1434, made possible by the new caravels, the most seaworthy ships of their day. Rigged with many small sails instead of one or two huge spreads of canvas as hitherto, these new ships were much easier to handle – a smaller crew made provisions last longer.
Juan II of Castile reached his majority in 1419 but for most of his reign the real ruler would be his favourite, Álvaro de Luna. Poor, a bastard of a great family and greedy for possessions, he was a brilliant statesman. First he had to overthrow Enric, Master of Santiago, Don Fernando of Antequerra's son. This wild adventurer had abducted Doña Catarina, Juan's sister, with 300 troops, forcibly married her, then seized the king who gave him the lands that had once been Enrique de Villena's. In 1422 Álvaro persuaded Juan to escape and imprisoned the Master for three years until his brothers, Alfons, King of Aragon, and Juan, King of Navarre, obtained his release. The Constable of Castile made the grand gesture of invading Granada in 1421. The Orders went with him, including Frey Luís de Guzman, and a base was set up in the Sierra Elvira, whence the Castilian army raided the vega outside the Nasrid capital. The incensed Muhammad VII attacked them, but was heavily defeated in a memorable battle at Higuerela, after which a young commander of Santiago, Rodrigo Manrique, took the town of Huéscar, where no Christians save captives had entered for seven centuries. The glory was saddened by an ambush in which fifteen commanders of Alcántara and many caballeros were slaughtered.
In 1437 the Orders of Christ and Aviz sent an expedition against Tangier, led by the latter brotherhood's Master, Dom Fernando. It landed in August and was quickly surrounded by the Moors. The Mestre surrendered, yielding his banner of Our Lady carrying the Order's green cross. Dom Enrique went to the Sultan of Fez, offering Ceuta for his brother, but the 'infante santo' died in captivity. Enrique returned to his ships. Lagos was reached, serving as a base for further explorations. Soon African gold, Negro slaves, ivory, monkeys, parrots and strange animals filled Lisbon's markets and swelled the Order's coffers. Trading posts were established, defended by brethren, while the Templar's red cross continued to sail south. In 1452 an Ethiopian ambassador visited Portugal. The Order of Christ grew steadily richer. Dom Enrique obtained the Cape Verde Islands, and his brethren introduced sugar cane to their Madeira estates. In 1460 Afonso V granted them a levy of 5 per cent on all merchandise from the new African discoveries. If Knights of Christ were busy overseas, at home São Thiago proved no less politically minded than Castilian Santiago; in 1449 its Mestre, the Count of Ourem, was largely responsible for the battle of Alfarrobeira, when his supporters killed the Regent, Dom Pedro.
Castilian Orders were as fractious as ever. Luís de Guzmán, growing old, virtually abdicated his responsibilities in 1442, whereupon the Order's Grand Commander, Frey Juan Ramírez de Guzmán, advanced on Calatrava with 500 horsemen and 1,200 foot. The Clavero, Fernando de Padilla, acting on the Master's instructions, met the attacking force at Barajas with 1,200 cavalry and 800 infantry, and inflicted a complete rout, taking Frey Juan prisoner. When Luís died, shortly afterwards, the brethren chose Frey Fernando, but the constable wished to instal Don Alfons of Aragon, and so the Master-elect withdrew from Almagro to Calatrava where, besieged by the royal army, he was killed by a missile thrown by one of his own supporters. However, the constable turned against Prince Alfons in 1445 and Calatrava now had three aspiring superiors: Alfons in Aragon, Juan Ramirez de Guzmán supported by the Andalusian commanderies and, at the mother house itself, a new contender, Pedro Girón.21 Then Enric of Santiago returned to Castile with his nephew, Alfons of Calatrava, hoping to make the maestrazgo of Santiago into a hereditary duchy, but was crushed by the constable at Olmedo. Enric was mortally wounded though Alfons escaped. The Trezes elected Rodrigo Manrique, commander of Segura, but Luna took this greatest of masterships for himself; a contemporary portrait shows 'Frey Álvaro' at prayer in his white cloak and gilt armour. Meanwhile Pedro Girón made good his claim to Calatrava, Juan Ramirez yielding while Alfons remained helpless at Alcañiz. In 1450 the latter raided Castile with 300 cavalry, only to retreat hastily before the formidable Frey Pedro, who crossed the Aragonese border, burning and slaying.
Don Álvaro's arrogance had made him many enemies including Juan Pacheco, Marqués de Villena, and his brother, Pedro Girón. Suddenly they united and seized the constable in the summer of 1453, executing him on a charge of bewitching the king. Pacheco now became the strongest magnate in Castile, and his power grew even greater when the remorseful Juan II died the next year. He had been young Enrique IV's tutor and remained his friend and favourite. El Impotente was weak, stupid and unstable. The monarch was probably not a homosexual (a smear intended for Pacheco) for he slept with ladies of the court despite his supposed impotence.22 His time was spent shambling after favourites through the Alcazar of Segovia with its silver walls, marble floors and gilded statues or at his beloved, obscure mudéjar Madrid, or on endless hunting parties. Dressed like a Nasrid emir and wearing the Granadine fez, Enrique received audiences, cross-legged on a carpet ringed by Moorish crossbowmen. Soon Pacheco filled Álvaro de Luna's position, supported by a clique which comprised his Calatravan brother, his uncle Alonso Carillo, Archbishop of Toledo, and three young men: Juan de Valenzuela, later Castilian Prior of St John; Gómez de Cáceres and the Andalusian Beltrán de la Cueva – the last two future Maestres. Although the king's brother, Alfonso, was appointed Master of Santiago, Pacheco increased his strength, remorselessly extracting huge grants from the crown.
In 1462 the queen gave birth to a daughter, Juana. In view of the king's impotence this was something of a surprise, and so, as the queen doted on Beltrán de la Cueva, the child was popularly named la Beltraneja. Yet Don Beltrán became royal favourite. An armed opposition, among them Frey Pedro Girón, demanded full recognition of the king's brother as heir to the throne. But the infante's deprivation of Santiago, which was given to Beltrán, made even Pacheco join the rebels. Enrique compromised, restoring Alfonso to his maestrazgo, Don Beltrán being compensated with a duchy, but the revolt continued. Frey Pedro Girón occupied Toledo, whence he ravaged the royal lands. The monarch was universally execrated, not least on account of his Granadine arbalestier guards who 'forced married women and violated maidens and men against nature'. In 1465 at Ávila de los Caballeros Enrique's crowned effigy was enthroned outside the walls, then solemnly stripped of its regalia by a group of nobles and hurled to the muddy ground amid the vilest abuse.23 The Master of Al-cantara, Gómez de Cáceres y Solís, a former favourite, had a prominent role in the macabre ceremony. The infante Alfonso, Master of Santiago, was proclaimed king. Deadlock ensue
d until Pacheco made a surprising offer which the king eagerly accepted. Pedro Girón was to be dispensed from his vow as a frey-caballero and given Alfonso's sister, the Infanta Isabella, as wife. In return he and Pacheco would kidnap Alfonso, join the royal army and break the revolt.
The Master of Calatrava had few qualms about marriage; his reputation for womanizing was well earned – on one occasion he had tried to seduce Isabella's mother. The future Isabella the Catholic, sixteen years old, was so appalled by the news that she spent a day and a night in prayer. But once the papal dispensation arrived, the former Frey Pedro set out from the magistral palace at Almagro, escorted by a strong troop of his former brethren. The wedding was to be in Madrid. However, the bridegroom was alarmed on his journey by a strange omen: an uncanny flock of white storks hovering over a castle where he was to rest. Next day he took to his bed with a quinsy and three days later he was dead.24
The Master seems to have made a pious and resigned end, dictating a will full of admirably devout sentiment. He had built a splendid chapel at Calatrava for his tomb, which bore a proud but simple inscription.25 Indeed the last twelve years of his life had been spent mainly in battle against the Moors. The Granadine wars of Enrique IV were discredited by the king's antics, particularly by the ludicrous promenade militaire of 1457 when the queen and her disreputable ladies dressed as 'soldiers'. Yet Pedro and his brethren took part in serious expeditions every year from 1455 to 1457 and from 1460 to 1463, six raids being launched between 1455 and 1457 alone, while in 1462 the Master captured Archidona, though this success was eclipsed by the Duke of Medina Sidonia retaking Gibraltar the same month. Pedro was succeeded as Master by his bastard son, Rodrigo Téllez Girón, only eight years old, Morimond stipulating that the Order must be ruled by four guardians until the boy came of age. These had little power, as Pacheco became coadjutor in 1468 but, even so, Abbot Guillaume III took the opportunity to revise the freyles' statutes, issuing definitive constitutions in 1467 and conducting a visitation the following year.
In 1458 Afonso V, 'the African', of Portugal revived the Holy War in North Africa. Landing 25,000 men with contingents from all Orders, the king quickly captured the little town of Alcacer-Sehgir, a valuable base for further operations. Tangier was attacked three times in 1463 and 1464, while Portuguese troops even raided mountain villages. When the Marinids of Fez finally collapsed in 1471, Afonso brought up 30,000 men to storm Arzila and, at last, Tangier itself. Triumphantly he proclaimed himself 'King of Portugal and the Algarves on this side and beyond the sea in Africa'.
The second bloody battle of Olmedo in 1467, when the Clavero of Galatrava commanded a rebel division, did little to resolve Castilian strife, but in the following summer 'Alfonso XII' died. Pacheco then reconciled the two factions. For himself, this brilliant schemer obtained the maestrazgo of Santiago, remaining virtual dictator of Castile for the rest of his life. The remainder of King Enrique's sad reign was distracted by the freyles' noisy quarrels. In 1472 the Maestre of Alcántara, Gómez de Cáceres, insulted his Clavero, Alfonso de Monroy, at a wedding breakfast. The infuriated brother struck his Master, who promptly imprisoned him. Frey Alfonso managed to escape, gather supporters and seize Alcántara.26 Gómez speedily returned to retrieve his headquarters, accompanied by 1,500 horse and 2,500 infantry, but was ambushed and killed. Monroy was elected to the maestrazgo, though he still had to contend with the late Master's supporters, led by his nephew, Francisco de Solís, who held the priory-fortress of Magazella. The latter eventually agreed to surrender the great commandery. Unwisely Frey Alfonso came to take possession with an inadeqate bodyguard and was arrested at dinner, whereupon Francisco proclaimed himself Maestre.27 Then the Duchess of Plasencia set up her son, Juan de Zúñiga, as a rival candidate.28 In 1474 Alfonso de Monroy escaped from captivity – after breaking his leg in a previous attempt – and there was war between the three contenders, an unedifying conflict which continued for the rest of the decade. Juan Pacheco died in the same year; the Master of Santiago and coadjutor of Calatrava had used his two Orders to dominate the Castilian state, the climax of the freyles' political influence. Three brethren now claimed Santiago: young Diego Pacheco, Alonso de Cárdenas, chosen by San Marcos, and the valiant old warrior, Rodrigo Manrique, elected at Uclés. The third and certainly the worthiest candidate soon became undisputed Master. Enrique IV expired in December 1474, to be succeeded by Isabella the Catholic who, with her husband, Prince Ferdinand of Aragon, was to unite Spain. However, Alfonso of Portugal was betrothed to his niece, la Beltraneja, and claimed the Castilian throne. Among those who recognized Juana as queen was the young and popular Frey Rodrigo Téllez Girón. His Clavero, Frey Garci López de Padilla, stood with Isabella, as did Rodrigo Manrique of Santiago and Francisco de Solis of Alcántara. In February 1476 the decisive battle was fought at Toro, when the Portuguese were annihilated. Isabella was firmly established and Ferdinand became King of Aragon in 1479.
When the veteran, Rodrigo Manrique, died in 1476, his succession was disputed between the Conde de Paredes and the Grand Commander of León, Alonso de Cardenas. Paredes, however, died suddenly, and Frey Alonso marched on Uclés. The Trecenazgo assembled for his election. Isabella, hearing the news at Valladolid, 150 miles away, rode to Uclés, scarcely leaving the saddle for three days, and burst in upon the astounded Treces, beseeching them to leave the choice to her husband. They consented, but Ferdinand allowed them to elect Cárdenas. Juan de Zúñiga became undisputed Master of Alcántara in 1487. Francisco de Solis had been murdered during the Portuguese wars; lying wounded on the battlefield, he was recognized by a former servant of his old rival, Monroy, who promptly cut his throat. Frey Juan proved the most intellectual of all Maestres, a keen humanist who attended lectures at Valladolid. The revival of classical Latin in Castile was inaugurated by Antonio de Nebrija, whom Juan installed in his palace at Zalamea, while a Jewish scientist, Abraham Zacuto, was employed to teach the Master astronomy and advise him on the less reputable science of astrology, as Juan was writing a treatise on the subject for the guidance of Alcántara's physicians. Though Calatrava's schism lasted until the end of the Portuguese wars, Rodrigo Téllez Girón, who possessed all his family's charm and ability, was then confirmed in the maestrazgo by Ferdinand and Isabella, and reconciled with his Clavero, Frey Garci López. He served the crown loyally for the remainder of his short life.
Something of the Castilian brethren's mentality may be learnt from the elegy which Jorge Manrique wrote on the death of his father, the Master of Santiago, 'tanto famoso y tan valiente'. In 1474 Frey Jorge, commander of Montízon, had himself become one of the trecenazgos, or great officers of the Order, because of his prowess and bravery. His melancholy and haunting poem is one of the best loved in all Spanish literature:
What became of the King, Don Juan?
And the Infantes of Aragon,
what became of them?
What became of the gallants all?
What became of the feats and deeds
that were done by them?
The jousts and the tournaments,
the trappings, the broideries,
and the plumes,
were they vanity alone,
no more than springtime leaves
of the gardens?
He speaks of 'la dignidad dela grand cavalleria del Espada' and, significantly, of how lasting joy can be obtained by monks only through prayer and weeping or by knights through hardship and battle against the Moors. The tone is one of aristocratic pessimism:
Nuestras vidas son los rios
Que van a dar enla mar
que es el morir . . .29
Three years later, in March 1479, Frey Jorge, fighting for Queen Isabella against la Beltraneja, was mortally wounded in a skirmish before the fort of Garc-Muñoz. He was buried at Uclés. One would like to think that he resembled his brother knight in religion, el Doncel, killed in battle against the Moors in 1486, of whom there is a striking effigy in the cathedral at Siguenza.
; The military orders had reached their ultimate political development during Enrique IV's reign, but even under Ferdinand and Isabella they at first retained their dominant position, possessing armies far beyond royal resources. During all the decades of weak central government they had acquired a stranglehold over the administration which was consciously exploited by ambitious politicians. Since Álvaro de Luna's day, Santiago was a perquisite of the chief minister, dispensations by-passing the novitiate; and a determined faction could even appropriate the celibate master-ships of the other Orders.
1. The Castle of Krak-des-Chevaliers in Palestine. A stronghold of the Hospitallers from 1144 to 1271. (Photo: Sonia Halliday)
2. The Marienburg in West Prussia, headquarters of the Teutonic Order and residence of the Hochmeister from 1309 to 1466. Now called Malbork, and in Poland, it was severely damaged during the Russian invasion in 1945 but has since been restored. Photo: Polish Cultural Institute)
3. The minnesinger Tannhäuser the original of Wagner's hero – in the habit of a Teutonic knight c. 1300. from the Manessa Codex at Heidelberg University. (Photo: AKG London)
4. Frey Don Álvaro de Luna. Master of Santiago (1445–53) kneeling at prayer with St Francis. Over the gilded armour a Master. Frey Alvaro. wears the Order's habit a white mantle with the red espada and a red bonnet. From the relablo by Sancho de Zamora in the chapel of Santiago at Toledo Cathedral. (Photo: MAS)
5. Frey Don Luís de Guzmán, Master of Calatrava (1414–43). This miniature, c. 1430. shows the Master scaled on the magistral throne and holding the sword of Calatrava. He wears the Order's white mantle and red cross. Beneath him. seven of his brethren arc depicted fulfilling the seven basic duties of a Christian, while the others applaud a new translation of the Bible. All wear the black or grey tunics with the red cross. From the Alba Bible. (Photo: MAS)
The Monks of War Page 17