Freiburger historische Bestände - digital

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John made his last will and testament at Alcacovas on
September 29, 1495, only a month before his death, he
named D. Manuel as his successor, for it had no doubt
been pointed out to him by his advisers that his doing
otherwise would in all probability lead to civil war, and
he was reminded of the motto, chosen by himself: "Pela
Lei e Pela Grei."

As to a "mission" being sent to D. Jorge, Mendo
Trigozo (loc. cit. p. 383) already points out that this
prince is not known ever to have visited Flanders. As a
matter of fact, whilst Behaim was in Flanders, the young
prince, at that time a lad of thirteen, was quietly living
at the King's Court, in charge of his tutor Cataldo de
Aquila, and there, in November 1494, Dr. Monetarius
met him.1

Maximilian, the King of the Romans, and his son Philip.

Mendo Trigozo,2 whom I have just now referred to,
is of opinion that the mission was intended for Maximilian
, King of the Romans, and that it was the object
of the mission to secure Maximilian's influence in favour
of King John's desire to legitimate his son D. Jorge.
King John certainly had some claim upon the gratitude
and good services of this prince. In 1488, when news
arrived in Portugal that the citizens of Brugge had made
a prisoner of Maximilian, and even threatened his life, the
court not only went into mourning, but Duarte Galvao, of
the King's council, was at once despatched and authorised
to expend 100,000 cruzados on his behalf.3 A few years
afterwards, about 1492, the King's factor at Antwerp,
Diogo Fernandez Correa, without first having obtained
the authority of the King, handed to Maximilian 30,000
cruzados more, to enable him to pay his soldiery. The
King, on being informed, not only approved of this act, but
awarded his factor a thousand cruzados for having acted
so promptly. The ever impecunious King of the Romans
certainly enjoyed the favours of his Portuguese relations.

We should do Maximilian an injustice if we assumed
that he would not have promptly responded to any
reasonable request of his benefactor and cousin, and
looked upon a request that he should assent to the
legitimation of D. Jorge as immoderate. Such an act
would certainly have diminished Maximilian's chance of
ever wearing the crown of Portugal, but that chance was
small, for although D. Manuel, the legal heir, and himself
were both grandsons of King D. Duarte,4 he was so only
in the female line, whilst the crown descended through

1 D. Jorge was born in 1481 ; he was created Duke of Coimbra in
1500, and married D. Beatriz de Vilhena, a granddaughter of D. Rodrigo
de Mello, Conde de Olivenca (Goes,' Chronicle Rei D. Emanuel I.,' c. 45).

2 S. Gunther, p. 45, shares Trigozo's view, whilst Ghillany, p. 74,
suggests Philip, the son of Maximilian.

3 Ruy de Pina, c. 32; Resende, c. 72.

4 Maximilian's mother, the wife of the Emperor Frederick III., was
D. Leonor, the only daughter of King D. Duarte; D. Manuel was the
son of D. Ferdinand, the grandson of D. Duarte.

the male line. I have already stated that Maximilian was
not in Flanders when Behaim arrived at Antwerp and
only reached Mechlin five months after Behaim had
started on his journey home. Nor can Maximilian be
described as the " King's son," for his father, the Emperor
Frederick III., was already dead.

That title, however, belongs rightly to Philip, the son
of Maximilian, and it may have been this prince to whom
Behaim was sent by King John. Ghillany and others point
out that Behaim's selection, as a German, was peculiarly
suitable, as he was personally known to Maximilian, who
had seen him at Nuremberg, in 1491, and had resided for
several years in the Low Countries. But be this as it
may, the time for such a mission was certainly ill-chosen,
for Maximilian was still far away, whilst Philip, a mere
boy,5 had not as yet assumed, even nominally, the
government of the Low Countries.

Conclusion.

There can be no doubt, as far as I can see, that the
principal if not only object of Behaim's visit to the Low
Countries, was to collect the money due to his father-in-
law for sugar.6 The King, hearing of his proposed journey,
may have asked him to communicate to him, on his
return, information on the condition of the Low Countries
likely to interest him. He may thus have been desirous
of learning something about Perkin Warbeck, who lived
at the Court of Burgundy, whose claims were supported
by the Dowager Duchess not only, but also by Maximilian,
and whom Behaim actually refers to as the " young King
of England." Can we suppose that the sympathies of
John II. were with the House of York, as had been those
of his father, Affonso V. ?7 Behaim's sudden return to
Portugal may, of course, have been due to King John
having changed his mind with reference to D. Jorge, but
all this is mere conjecture, and until a document shall
be discovered to prove the contrary I shall refuse to
believe that King John employed on a delicate diplomatic
mission a commercial agent engaged in collecting debts
owing to his principal.8

5 He was born in 1477.

6 Romboudt de Doppere's Chronicle of Bruges for the year 1494,
quoted by Dr. Mees, bears this out, for he tells us that Hurter of Bruges
was the first to cultivate Madeira, which he called New Flanders, and the
first to import the wines of that island, as also sugar, to Bruges. The old
Chronicler mistakes Fayal, or New Flanders, for Madeira, which alone
yielded sugar and wine, and where Hurter's wife had an estate.

' In 1482 King John had sent Ruy de Sousa, Dr. Joao of Elvas and
FernSo de Pina, a secretary, as an embassy to the Yorkist King
Edward IV. of England to renew the old bonds of friendship (Ruy de
Pina, c. 7).

8 Ghillany, p. 75, suggests that Behaim left immediately after the
arrival of Maximilian in the Netherlands with an errand for King John.
But Maximilian only arrived in August, months after Behaim must have
reached Lisbon, where he proposed to stay until Whitsuntide, or May 13.
General Wauverman's astounding views as to the object of Behaim's
mission (' Histoirede l'ecole cartographique Beige,'Brussels, 1895, L, p. 209)
are as follows. King John consulted Behaim on the best method of