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MARTIN BEHAIM had hardly returned to Portugal with all his "goods" when he went forth again to Flanders, chiefly no doubt for the purpose of collecting the money which was owing to his father-in-law for sugar, but also, as he asserts, on a secret mission to the "King's son" which King John had confided to him. All we know about this mission we learn from a poorly indited letter which Behaim wrote to his cousin Michael (Appendix X.). No Portuguese author refers to such a mission, and no document referring to it has ever been discovered, but such a mission might well have been confided to this foreigner if King John in a letter written by his own hand had really told him " quia perspecta nobis iam diu integritas tua nos inducit ad credendum, quod ubi tu es est persona nostra" - that is, "We are induced to trust thee because we have been aware for a long time of thy well-known integrity, and where thou art, there is our own person!" Murr (p. 114) quotes this passage merely as a "family tradition," and thinks it incredible that the King should have written in this strain, and I quite agree with him.
At the time of this supposed "mission" Archduke Philip, son of Maximilian, the King of the Romans, resided at Mechlin. He was then only sixteen years of age, and government was carried on by a Council of State, influenced not only by Maximilian, but also by the Duchess Margareta of York, a sister of the Yorkist King Edward IV. of England, and since 1477 widow of Duke Charles of Burgundy, both of whom were intensely hostile to Henry VII. of the House of Tudor; Maximilian because he felt that Henry VII., his former ally, had faithlessly deserted him by signing a separate treaty of peace with Charles VIII. of France at Étaples on November 3, 1493; Margaret as the staunch supporter of Perkin Warbeck, who claimed to be a son of Edward IV. falsely reported to have been murdered in the Tower by his uncle Richard III., and therefore the legitimate King of England. When this impostor, the "Young King of England," as Behaim calls him, was expelled from France in November 1492, he found a refuge with this Dowager Duchess of Burgundy, who hailed him as the "White" (Yorkist) rose of England, and embraced him as if he were really her nephew. Maximilian, who first saw Perkin at Vienna in the autumn of 1493, countenanced this imposture and trusted to his promise that, once seated upon the throne of England, he would stand by him in his wars with France. Perkin returned to Flanders with Maximilian in the summer of 1494, and was present at the festivities held at Mechlin on August 21, and subsequently at Antwerp and elsewhere, in celebration of his son's accession to the throne of Burgundy. Henry VII., in July 1493, not unnaturally remonstrated against the countenance given to this impostor at the court of Burgundy, and when Philip's council declined to interfere, he, in November, expelled all Flemings from England. Upon this Philip retaliated by expelling the English, and all trade between the two countries was stopped until April 1496, when Perkin was disavowed by Philip..(1)
It will thus be seen that at the time of Behaim's supposed mission there were present in Flanders only the young Archduke Philip and Margaret, Dowager Duchess of Burgundy. Maximilian had left Flanders immediately after the signing of the Treaty of Senlis (May 23, 1493), and only returned in August 1494, after his marriage with Blanca Maria Sforza, which was celebrated at Innsbruck on March 16, 1494. Perkin Warbeck, the "Young King of England," was absent likewise and only returned with Maximilian. All this must have been perfectly well known at Lisbon, for Diogo Fernandes Correa, the King's factor at Antwerp and a cavalier of his household, was a trusted servant whose reports were forwarded at regular intervals.
I now turn to Behaim's own account of his "mission." He left Lisbon towards the close of 1493, and when on the high sea his vessel was captured, as a suspected blockade-runner, by an English cruiser, and he was carried to England. There he fell ill with fever, and twice he held a lighted taper in his hand, in the expectation of death. After his recovery and a detention of three months, he bribed a French "sea-robber" to carry him into France, and ultimately, in March 1494, he arrived at Antwerp. In the letter which he wrote there, on March 11, 1494, to his cousin Michael he mentions "the King's son" (Archduke Philip), the young King of England (Perkin Warbeck), and "the King of the Romans" (Maximilian). One of the objects of his journey, he tells us, was to collect the money owing for sugar to his father-in-law, but about his "mission" he leaves us in complete ignorance.
In a postscript we are told that he was obliged to hurry back to Portugal, where he arrived safely, and tells his friends that they would hear more about him from Doctor Jeronimus (Monetarius or Müntzer). As Monetarius was still at Nuremberg at that time (he only arrived at Lisbon at the end of November 1494), Dr. Scheppig suggests to me that Behaim refers to a letter which he had written to that learned physician, a letter long since lost.
Can we wonder that a meagre account such as this, not supported by a single historian, has led to numerous conjectures?
Cardinal Saraiva(2) declares that it is most unlikely that Behaim was entrusted with such a mission, and that this is only "one of his impostures, so that in his native country he might be looked upon not only as a great discoverer but also as a wise diplomat, enjoying the thorough confidence of the King of Portugal."
Murr (p. 119) identified the "King's son" mentioned by Behaim with Don Jorge, the illegitimate son of King John.
In 1491 the King lost his only legitimate son, Affonso, who was thrown by his horse and killed only a few months after his nuptials with Princess Isabel of Castile had been celebrated with great splendour at Santarem. In consequence of this sad accident D. Manuel (born 1469), the brother of Queen Lianor(3) and of D. Diogo, Duke of Viseu, whom King John had killed with his own hand at Setubal, on August 28, 1484, as the head of an aristocratic conspiracy which aimed at the life of the popular monarch, became heir-apparent. King John, after this act of justice, is reported to have shown much affection toward young D. Manuel (whom he created Duke of Beja), but it was well known that, having no children by his unloved consort, he would have preferred to have been succeeded on the throne by his illegitimate son D. Jorge, born in 1481 by D. Anna de Mendonça, a lady of noble birth and exceptional beauty. This youth had been placed in charge of the infanta Joanna,(4) the King's maiden sister, and when this lady died, in 1490, he was brought to the Royal court, with the Queen's consent, and brought up as his son. In 1492, notwithstanding his youth, he was with the Pope's consent installed master of the Order of Santiago and d'Aviz, D. Diogo d'Almeida, a nobleman of high standing, was appointed his Governor (aio) and Controller of the Household (governador da casa), whilst Cataldo de Aquila, a learned Sicilian whose `Epistola' were printed at Lisbon in 1500, became his tutor.
The King was much attached to his illegitimate offsping, and desired to have him legitimised and appointed his successor. The Queen, however, strongly objected to a proposal which would have deprived her own brother of his birthright. She was deaf to her husband's entreaties, and even his threats failed to move her.(5)
The Pope, Alexander VI., a Spaniard, one of the most infamous wearers of the tiara, proved equally obdurate. King Affonso in 1475 had been permitted to marry his niece; King Manuel subsequently married his deceased wife's sister; Louis XII. was divorced in order that he might marry the widow of Charles VIII. and heiress of Brittany, but the legitimation asked for would have given offence to Queen Isabella of Castile, and this was sufficient reason for refusing a dispensation. When King John made his last will and testament at Alcaçovas 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. (6)
Mendo Trigozo,(7) 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 Brügge had made a prisoner of Maximilian, and even threatened his life, the court not only went into mourning, but Duarte Galvão, of the King's council, was at once despatched and authorised to expend 100,000 cruzados on his behalf(8). 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,(9) he was so only in the female line, whilst the crown descended through 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,(10) had not as yet assumed, even nominally, the government of the Low Countries.
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.(11) 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.?(12) 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.(13) foodnotes
(1) Perkin Warbeck, aided financially by Maximilian, first invaded England and Ireland in 1496. He was hanged at Tyburn in 1499 (J. Gairdner, `The Houses of Lancaster and York,' London, 1887). back
(2) `Obras completas' (Lisbon, 1875), V., p. 194. back
(3) Queen Lianor was a daughter of D. Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu. back
(4) Joanna, the infanta, was born in 1454, was betrothed to Henry I V. of Castile, but died in a convent at Aveiro in 1490.. back
(5) See Ruy de Pina, c. 51; Resende, c. 133. Peter Martyr, `Opus Epistolarum,' refers to the disputes between the King and his Queen, and so does D. Augustin Manuel y Vasconcelos, `Vida y acciones de Rey D. Juan II.' (Madrid, 1639), but they do not mention Behaim, as has bee n asserted. back
(6) D. Jorge was born in 1481; he was created Duke of Coimbra in 1500, and married D. Beatriz de Vilhena, a granddaughter of D. Rodri go de Mello, Conde de Olivença (Goes, `Chronicle Rei D. Emanuel I..' c. 45). back
(7) S. Günther, p. 45, shares Trigozo's view, whilst Ghillany, p. 7 4, suggests Philip, the son of Maximilian. back
(8) Ruy de Pina, c. 32; Resende, c. 72. back
(9) Maximilian's mother, the wife of the Emperor Frederick III., wa s D. Leonor, the only daughter of King D. Duarte; D. Manuel was the son of D. Ferdinand, the grandson of D. Duarte. back
(10) He was born in 1477. back
(11) 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 B ruges was the first to cultivate Madeira, which he called New Flanders, an d 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. back
(12) In 1482 King John had sent Ruy de Sousa, Dr. João of Elvas and Fernão 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). back
(13) Ghillany, p. 75, suggests that Behaim left immediately after t he arrival of Maximilian in the Netherlands with an errand for King Joh n. 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 (`Histoire de l'école cartographique Belge,' Brussels, 1895, I., p. 209) are as follows. King John consulted Behaim on the best method of disposing of the spices and other products of the countries he had discovered, and which had hitherto been distributed by Venice. Behaim had first visited D. Jorge, who was then in England, came to Antwerp and Brügge, and recognising the advantages of the former, advised th e King to establish a factory there, which was actually done in 1503. back
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