Excerpt from The Romance of History, Vol. 3 of 3: Spain
A.d. 1407. John was scarcely two years old, when, by the premature death of his father, Henry the Third, he mounted the throne of Castile. By the late King's will, the Queen and the Infant Don Ferdinand were appointed regents of the kingdom during the minority of John. His mother, who loved him to excess, had been indefatigable in the cultivation of his mind - hence he possessed a degree of erudition, which at that age passed for great learning. John became very fond of letters, and he left several compositions, both in prose and verse, not destitute of merit._but these advantages were attended with a lamentable evil. John, wholly devoted to his favourite pursuit, neglected the study of public affairs, and acquired habits which, however honourable in a private gentleman, were not suitable to a king, especially at that tur bulent age. Hence that incapacity for directing the helm of state, which led to the selection of a person capable of the task and hence, also, the extraordinary favouritism of Don Alvaro de Luna. The unprecedented degree of power to which this individual rose, his eventful life and tragic death, form the most prominent features in the reign of John the Second. The grandees of the land soon cherished a rancorous jealousy against the favourite, whose singular bravery and high capabilities they justly dreaded. From this moment began those internal dissensions which caused so many cala mities in the state.
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