It seemed likely that the opening years of the reign of Juan II (1406-1454) would witness a fresh period of civil struggle, since the king was not yet two years old. That this was not the case was due to the appearance of a man who was both able and faithful to his trust, the regent, Ferdinand of Antequera, an uncle of Juan II. In 1412, however, he left Castile to become king of Aragon, and a few years later Juan’s majority was declared at fourteen years of age. Juan II was the first truly weak king of Castile. In the history of Spanish literature he occupies a prominent place, and he was fond of games of chivalry, but he lacked the decision and will-power to govern. Fortunately he had a favorite in the person of Álvaro de Luna who governed for him. On several occasions in the reign Álvaro de Luna was able to win successes against Granada, but the fruits of victory were lost because of civil discord in Castile. During most of the reign the nobles were in revolt against Álvaro de Luna, and the weak king occasionally listened to their complaints, banishing the favorite, but he could not manage affairs without him, and Álvaro de Luna would be brought back to resume his place at the head of the state. By 1445 the position of Álvaro de Luna seemed secure, when a blow fell from an unexpected quarter. He had procured a Portuguese princess as the second wife of Juan II, but she requited him by turning against him. She persuaded Juan to give an order for his arrest, and, since there was no cause for more serious charges, he was accused of having bewitched the king, and was put to death in 1453. This time Juan could not call him back; so he followed him to the grave within a year.
[Sidenote: Henry “the Impotent” and Juana “La Beltraneja.”]
The evil of internal disorder which for so many years had been hanging over the Castilian monarchy came to a head in the reign of Henry IV “the Impotent” (1454-1474). If Juan II had been weak, Henry IV was weaker still, and he had no Álvaro de Luna to lean upon. He commenced his reign with an act of characteristic flaccidity which was to serve as one of the pretexts for the insurrections against him. War was declared upon Granada, and the Castilian army reached the gates of the Moslem capital, when the king developed a humanitarianism which hardly fitted the times, declining to engage in a decisive battle lest it prove to be bloody. A more important pretext for rebellion arose out of a dynastic question. Failing to have issue by his first wife, Henry procured a divorce and married again. For six years there were no children by this marriage, wherefore the derisive name “the Impotent” was popularly applied to the king, but at length a daughter appeared, and was given the name Juana. Public opinion, especially as voiced by the nobles, proclaimed that the father was the king’s favorite, Beltrán de la Cueva, on which account the young Juana became known vulgarly as “La Beltraneja.” The _Cortes_ acknowledged Juana, and she was also recognized as heir to the throne by the king’s brothers and by his sister, Isabella, but the nobles formed a league on the basis of her supposed illegitimacy with the object of killing the favorite. They directed an insulting letter to the king, demanding that his brother, Alfonso, should be named heir. Instead of presenting a bold front against these demands, Henry was weak enough to consent to them.