Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. I.djvu/215

MARRIAGE OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. 71 Toledo. These two personages exercised so im- chapter portant an influence over the destinies of Henry, as '■ — to deserve more particular notice. The former was of noble Portuguese extraction, and originally a page in the service of the constable Alvaro de Luna, by whom he had been introduced into the household of Prince Henry, during the lifetime of John the Second. His polished and plausible address soon acquired him a complete ascendency over the feeble mind of his master, who was guided by his perni- cious counsels, in his frequent dissensions with his father. His invention was ever busy in devising intrigues, which he recommended by his subtile, in- sinuating eloquence ; and he seemed to prefer the attainment of his purposes by a crooked rather than by a direct policy, even when the latter might equally well have answered. He sustained reverses with imperturbable composure ; and, when his schemes were most successful, he was willing to risk all for the excitement of a new revolution. Although naturally humane, and without violent or revengeful passions, his restless spirit was perpetu- ally involving his country in all the disasters of civil war. He was created marquis of Villena, by John the Second ; and his ample domains, lying on the confines of Toledo, Murcia, and Valencia, and em- bracing an immense extent of populous and well- fortified territory, made him the most powerful vas- sal in the kingdom. ^° ^oPulgar, Claros Varones, tit. torn. i. p. 328. — The ancient mar- 6. — Castillo, Cronica, cap. 15. — quisate of Villena, having been Slendoza, Monarquia de Espaila, incorporated into the crovra of