VI., and called _the Old_, in
consequence of his succeeding at a somewhat advanced period of life.

Mohammed the Red, a scion of the Alhamar race, drove his cousin,
Mohammed the Old, from the throne, A.D. 1360, Heg. 762, and retained it
for some years, through the protection of the King of Aragon.

{156}

Peter the Cruel, then king of Castile, espoused the cause of the
banished Farady, supported his claims by warlike arguments, and so
closely pressed Mohammed the Alhamar, that he adopted the resolution of
repairing to Seville, and abandoning himself to the magnanimity of his
royal foe.

Mohammed arrived at the court of Seville accompanied by a suite
composed of his most faithful friends, and bearing with him vast
treasures. He presented himself with noble confidence in the presence
of the monarch. "King of Castile!" said he to Peter, "the blood alike
of Christian and Moor has too long flowed in my contest with the
Farady. You protect my rival; yet it is you whom I select to adjudge
our quarrel. Examine my claims and those of my enemy, and pronounce
who shall be the sovereign of Grenada. If you decide in favour of the
Farady, I demand only to be conducted to Africa; if you accord the
preference to me, receive the homage that I have come to render you for
my crown!"

The astonished Peter lavished honours upon the Mussulman king, and
caused him to be seated at his side during the magnificent feast by
{157} which he signalized the occasion. But, when the Alhamar retired
from the entertainment, he was seized and thrown into prison. From
thence he was afterward conducted through the streets of the city,
seated, half naked, upon an ass, and led to a field termed the
_Tablada_, where thirty-seven of his devoted followers were deprived of
their heads in his presence. The execrable Peter, envying the
executioner the pleasure of shedding his blood, then thrust through the
unfortunate King of Grenada with his own lance. The dying sovereign
uttered only these words as he expired, "Oh Peter, Peter, what a deed
for a cavalier!"

By a very extraordinary fatality, every throne in Spain was at this
period occupied by princes whose characters were blackened by the most
atrocious crimes. Peter the Cruel, the Nero of Castile, assassinated
the kings who confided themselves to his protection, put to death his
wife Blanche of Bourbon, and, in short, daily imbrued his hands in the
blood of his relatives or friends. Peter IV.