316 THE HISTORY OE THE ORDER OF [book iii.

January, in 1377. 1 His election in the next springor summer at Rhodes made him instantly set out;for until then he had been a resident at the PapalCourt as the order’s ambassador, and Governor ofAvignon and the contiguous country for the Pope.Also he went on extraordinary embassies to France,England, Spain, his native country; but howeverfrequent, his usual residence was Rome. 2 If itwere to convert an able dangerous opponent into azealous friend, it was surely wise policy; since,though a knight of the order, he was at all timesready to sacrifice its interest to that of the Court heserved ; which being the central point of Christen-dom at that time, and he its prime minister, he hadacquired the personal esteem of nearly every notedstatesman in Europe; and having added greatopulence to his elevated birth and mental qualifi-cations, he was considered a personage of extremedistinction. The misfortunes of his latter yearsnotwithstanding, the Knights of Rhodes chose well,and he will for ever be cited as one of the best andmost worthy of their noble grand masters. Thathis brother was Grand Justiciary of Arragon, andtheir ancestry of the most illustrious of Spanishgrandees, is little to what he was himself. Before

1 Platina: iii. 251.—Muratori : Note D.

2 Bosio : par. ii., lib. iii., anno 1376.