A. D. 1348. 



539 



Peter the Cruel*. [Fadera, V. ^,pp. 334, 383,410, 414,422, 423, 425, 

 426, 428, 434, 461, 476, 638.] 



In the courfe of this negotiation many civiUtics pafTcd between the 

 two courts ; and Alfonl'o, underftanding that Edward had given orders 

 to purchafe a Spanifh genet horfe for him, prevented the purchafe, and 

 fent him a pair as a prefent. 



It was probably alfo during this negotiation (for, though the fad is 

 unqueftionable, the year is not known) and perhaps in compenfation 

 for the (hips fent to the fiege of Calais, or in part of payment of the 

 marriage portion, that Alfonfo received a flock of fheep from England, 

 of the number of which we can only judge from more than one vefTel 

 of the large kind, called carracks, being employed to carry them over. 

 Of their importance in the eye of their new mafter we may judge by 

 his appointment of a man of i-ank to be judge over the fliepherds em- 

 ployed in the care of the royal flocks. And thus, by a great and lignal 

 breach of the law, or order, againft their exportation, was the breed of 

 Englifh fheep naturahzed in Spain, which has fince become the market 

 for the fineft wool in Europe f . 



The manufadurers of worfled fluffs in Norfolk were put under the 

 infpedion of an ulnator, or meafurer, foon after they obtained the king's 



* He had three wives living at once. See 

 Dillon's Hift. of Peter the Cruel, V. i\, p. 124. 



f That Spain received fheep from England in 

 the fifteenth century, has been nflfcrted by Holin- 

 (hed, \_Cbronkk, p. 221, f</. 1586] (who, however, 

 knew nothing of this cargo) and by others, ap- 

 parently following him ; but it has been more ge- 

 nerally dilbelieved. It is indeed certain, that the 

 Spaniards had a very excellent breed of fheep in 

 the time of Strabo, and probably long before and 

 after his time. (See above, p. 128.) It is alfo 

 certain, that fome Spanifli wool was imported into 

 England in the reign of Henry II, but it is not 

 iafy to guefs for what purpofe, as the quality of it 

 was evidently inferior to that of Englifh wool ; 

 and England was fo far from needing to import 

 wool, that that article then, and during many fuc- 

 ceeding ages, compofed the chief part of the ex- 

 ports of the country. (See above, pp. 345, 347, 

 &c. &c.) But that the Spaniards were defirpus 

 of obtaining fheep of the Englilh breed, and aclu- 

 ally did obtain a confiderable number of tliem, is 

 now certain, beyond a poffibility of doubt, from a 

 mofl curious Spanifli letter, of which the follow- 

 ing is an extratl. 



* Pedro Lafo faid, in the king's prefence, that 

 ' Gomez Carillo was fon to one of the king's 

 ' gentlemen or pages, and grandfon to King Don 

 • Enrique's chief cup-bearer, who was fon of 

 ' Lope Carillo, gentleman and chief huntfman to 

 « Don Juan the Firfl, and that he v/as not fon of 

 ' ajud^e o-vcrjhepherds. This was faid as a fneer, 



for Juan Sanchez dc Tovar is defcended from 

 Fernan Sanchez de Tovar jtuige of the royal_flocls 

 offlieep and folds. Fernan Sanchez de Berlanga 

 anfwered, in the king's prefence, that he undcr- 

 flood the farcafm, but that it was ill aimed, and 

 might be retorted upon hinifelf ; for that Fer- 

 nan Sanchez, whom he reproached as a judge 

 over fhcpherds, was his equal ; and that the of- 

 fice of judge and alcayde of the royal flocks 

 was always held by gentlemen of rank. That 

 King Alfonfo, 'when he firji brought fljeep from- 

 England in great Jloips, (' in naves carracas') ap- 

 pointed Inigo Lopez de Orozco to be the firfl 

 pcrfon to exercife that office, from whom Pedro 

 Lafo himfelf was dsfcended on the part of his- 

 mother, and now, being informed that himfelf 

 was defcended from a judge over fhcpherds, he 

 might mock at his pleaiure. Written from Me- 

 dina del Campo, A. D. 1437.' \_EpijloL de 

 Ctbdareal, p. 126, a book feemingly almofl entire- 

 ly unknown in this country.] For this mod im- 

 portant extract, we are indebted to tlie elaborate 

 and benevolent refearch of Sir Frederic Eden. 

 See his State of the Puor, F. \, p. 88. 



Alfonfo XI became king of Callile in the year 

 1312, when he was only thirteen months old, and 

 he died on the 29'" of March 1350. As Edward 

 II was dead long before he came of age, we need 

 not hefilate to afcribe tlie exportation of the fheep, 

 to Edward III ; and one or other of the occaCions 

 mentioned in the text may be afTumed for tiiing- 

 the date with a tolerable approach to certainty. 



^ Y2 



