HENRY IV., King of Castile, was the son of John IL, and was born in 1425. His youth was distinguished by dissipation and profli gacy, but on his father's death, in 1454, few princes had ascended the throne with fairer prospects. His father had made himself respected by all his neighbours, and had left him the realm in profound peace ; but he suffered himself to be governed by favourites, who made a rapacious use of his authority, provoked discontent among the people, and one of them, Beltran de in Cuevas, was ucensed of dishonouring his bed; the Cortes refusing to acknowledge the infanta as heiress to the crown in consequence of their belief of her illegitimacy. The Cortes next proceeded, in 1465, to depose him, and proclaimed his brother Alfonso king. Henry however was not deficient in courage or talent : he assembled an army, and a civil war commenced, which lasted till 1468, when the sudden death of Alfonso brought it to a close ; for Isabella, tho sister, then only seventeen years of age, whom Alfonso's party sought to set up in his place, absolutely refused to rob her brother Henry of his rightful crown. Henry, in return for this
refusal, consented to the divorce of his queen for infidelity, the disin heriting of his daughter Joanna, and the nomination of Isabella as heiress of Castile. Tranquillity thus restored, Henry wished to marry Isabella to a brother of the King of France ; but Isabella chose for herself Ferdinand, the son of the King of Aragon, to whom she was married in 1469. Henry at first threatened to disinherit her, and to declare his daughter again his heir, but was ultimately reconciled to Isabella and Ferdinand. lu 1455 Henry had solicited Pope Calixtus 111. to proclaim a crusade against the Moors of Granada. The war had been prosecuted with few events of importance on either side; but in 1474 ho had assembled a large army at Segovia in order to prosecute it with more vigour, when he was taken suddenly ill, and died on the 20th of December 1474.