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Title: The Garotters

Author: William D. Howells

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CONTENTS.

I..........Of the Kingdom of Granada,
and the Tribute which it Paid
to the Castilian Crown.

II.........Of the Embassy of Don Juan de Vera
to Demand Arrears of Tribute from the Moorish Monarch.

III........Domestic Feuds in the Alhambra--Rival Sultanas--Predictions concerning Boabdil,
the Heir to the Throne--How Ferdinand Meditates War against Granada,
and how he is Anticipated.

IV.........Expedition of the Muley Abul Hassan against the Fortress of Zahara.

V..........Expedition of the Marques of Cadiz against Alhama.

VI.........How the People of Granada were Affected on Hearing of the Capture of the Alhama;
and how the Moorish King sallied forth
to Regain it.

VII........How the Duke of Medina Sidonia and the Chivalry of Andalusia Hastened
to the Relief of Alhama.

VIII.......Sequel of the Events at Alhama.

IX.........Events at Granada,
and Rise of the Moorish King,
Boabdil el Chico.

X..........Royal Expedition against Loxa.

XI.........How Muley Abul Hassan made a Foray into the Lands of Medina Sidonia,
and how he was Received.

XII........Foray of Spanish Cavaliers among the Mountains of Malaga.

XIII.......Effects of the Disasters among the Mountains of Malaga.

XIV........How King Boabdil el Chico Marched over the Border.

XV.........How the Count de Cabra sallied forth from his Castle in Quest of King Boabdil.

XVI........The Battle of Lucena.

XVII.......Lamentations of the Moors
for the Battle of Lucena.

XVIII......How Muley Abul Hassan Profited by the Misfortunes of his Son Boabdil.

XIX........Captivity of Boabdil el Chico.

XX.........Of the Treatment of Boabdil by the Castilian Sovereigns.

XXI........Return of Boabdil from Captivity.

XXII.......Foray of the Moorish Alcaydes,
and Battle of Lopera.

XXIII......Retreat of Hamet el Zegri,
Alcayde of Ronda.

XXIV.......Of the reception at Court of the Count de Cabra and the Alcayde de los Donceles.

XXV........How the Marques of Cadiz concerted
to Surprise Zahara,
and the Result of his Enterprise.

XXVI.......Of the Fortress of Alhama,
and how Wisely it was Governed by the Count de Tendilla.

XXVII......Foray of Christian Knights into the Territory of the Moors.

XXVIII.....Attempt of El Zagal
to Surprise Boabdil in Almeria.

XXIX.......How King Ferdinand Commenced another Campaign against the Moors,
and how he Laid Siege
to Coin and Cartama.

XXX........Siege of Ronda.

XXXI.......How the People of Granada invited El Zagal
to the Throne,
and how he Marched
to the Capital.

XXXII......How the Count de Cabra attempted
to Capture another King,
and how he Fared in his Attempt.

XXXIII.....Expedition against the Castles of Cambil and Albahar.

XXXIV......Enterprise of the Knights of Calatrava against Zalea.

XXXV.......Death of Muley Abul Hassan.

XXXVI......Of the Christian Army which Assembled at the City of Cordova.

XXXVII.....How Fresh Commotions broke out in Granada,
and how the People undertook
to Allay them.

XXXVIII....How King Ferdinand held a Council of War at the Rock of the Lovers.

XXXIX......How the Royal Army appeared Before the City of Loxa,
and how it was Received;
and of the Doughty Achievements of the English Earl.

XL.........Conclusion of the Siege of Loxa.

XLI........Capture of Illora.

XLII.......Of the Arrival of Queen Isabella at the Camp before Moclin;
and of the Pleasant Sayings of the English Earl.

XLIII......How King Ferdinand Attacked Moclin,
and of the Strange Events that attended its Capture.

XLIV.......How King Ferdinand Foraged the Vega;
and of the Battle of the Bridge of Pinos,
and the Fate of the two Moorish Brothers.

XLV........Attempt of El Zagal upon the Life of Boabdil,
and how the Latter was Roused
to Action.

XLVI.......How Boabdil returned Secretly
to Granada,
and how he was Received.--Second Embassy of Don Juan de Vera,
and his Perils in the Alhambra.

XLVII......How King Ferdinand laid Siege
to Velez Malaga.

XLVIII.....How King Ferdinand and his Army were Exposed
to Imminent Peril before Velez Malaga.

XLIX.......Result of the Stratagem of El Zagal
to Surprise King Ferdinand.

L..........How the People of Granada Rewarded the Valor of El Zagal.

LI.........Surrender of the Velez Malaga and Other Places.

LII........Of the City of Malaga and its Inhabitants.--Mission of Hernando del Pulgar.

LIII.......Advance of King Ferdinand against Malaga.

LIV........Siege of Malaga.

LV.........Siege of Malaga continued.--Obstinacy of Hamet el Zegri.

LVI........Attack of the Marques of Cadiz upon Gibralfaro.

LVII.......Siege of Malaga continued.--Stratagems of Various Kinds.

LVIII......Sufferings of the People of Malaga.

LIX........How a Moorish Santon Undertook
to Deliver the City of Malaga from the Power of its Enemies.

LX.........How Hamet el Zegri was Hardened in his Obstinacy by the Arts of a Moorish Astrologer.

LXI........Siege of Malaga continued.--Destruction of a Tower by Francisco Ramirez de Madrid.

LXII.......How the People of Malaga expostulated
with Hamet el Zegri.

LXIII......How Hamet el Zegri Sallied forth
with the Sacred Banner
to Attack the Christian Camp.

LXIV.......How the City of Malaga Capitulated.

LXV........Fulfilment of the Prophecy of the Dervise.--Fate of Hamet el Zegri.

LXVI.......How the Castilian Sovereigns took Possession of the City of Malaga,
and how King Ferdinand signalized himself by his Skill in Bargaining
with the Inhabitants
for their Ransom.

LXVII......How King Ferdinand prepared
to Carry the War into a Different Part of the Territories of the Moors.

LXVIII.....How King Ferdinand Invaded the Eastern Side of the Kingdom of Granada,
and how He was Received by El Zagal.

LXIX.......How the Moors made Various Enterprises against the Christians.

LXX........How King Ferdinand prepared
to Besiege the City of Baza,
and how the City prepared
for Defence.

LXXI.......The Battle of the Gardens before Baza.

LXXII......Siege of Baza.--Embarrassments of the Army.

LXXIII.....Siege of Baza continued.--How King Ferdinand completely Invested the City.

LXXIV......Exploit of Hernan Perez del Pulgar and Other Cavaliers.

LXXV.......Continuation of the Siege of Baza.

LXXVI......How Two Friars from the Holy Land arrived at the Camp.

LXXVII.....How Queen Isabella devised Means
to Supply the Army
with Provisions.

LXXVIII....Of the Disasters which Befell the Camp.

LXXIX......Encounters between the Christians and Moors before Baza,
and the Devotion of the Inhabitants
to the Defence of their City.

LXXX.......How Queen Isabella arrived at the Camp,
and the Consequences of her Arrival.

LXXXI......Surrender of Baza.

LXXXII.....Submission of El Zagal
to the Castilian Sovereigns.

LXXXIII....Events at Granada subsequent
to the Submission of El Zagal.

LXXXIV.....How King Ferdinand turned his Hostilities against the City of Granada.

LXXXV......The Fate of the Castle of Roma.

LXXXVI.....How Boabdil el Chico took the Field,
and his Expedition against Alhendin.

LXXXVII....Exploit of the Count de Tendilla.

LXXXVIII...Expedition of Boabdil el Chico against Salobrena.--Exploit of Hernan Perez del Pulgar.

LXXXIX.....How King Ferdinand Treated the People of Guadix,
and how El Zagal Finished his Regal Career.

XC.........Preparations of Granada
for a Desperate Defence.

XCI........How King Ferdinand conducted the Siege cautiously,
and how Queen Isabella arrived at the Camp.

XCII.......Of the Insolent Defiance of Tarfe the Moor,
and the Daring Exploit of Hernan Perez del Pulgar.

XCIII......How Queen Isabella took a View of the City of Granada,
and how her Curiosity cost the Lives of many Christians and Moors.

XCIV.......The Last Ravage before Granada.

XCV........Conflagration of the Christian Camp.--Building of Santa Fe.

XCVI.......Famine and Discord in the City.

XCVII......Capitulation of Granada.

XCVIII.....Commotions in Granada.

XCIX.......Surrender of Granada.

C..........How the Castilian Sovereigns took Possession of Granada.

Appendix.

INTRODUCTION.

Although the following Chronicle bears the name of the venerable Fray Antonio Agapida,
it is rather a superstructure reared upon the fragments which remain of his work.

It may be asked,
Who is this same Agapida,
who is cited
with such deference,
yet whose name is not
to be found in any of the catalogues of Spanish authors?

The question is hard
to answer.

He appears
to have been one of the many indefatigable authors of Spain who have filled the libraries of convents and cathedrals
with their tomes,
without ever dreaming of bringing their labors
to the press.

He evidently was deeply and accurately informed of the particulars of the wars between his countrymen and the Moors,
a tract of history but too much overgrown
with the weeds of fable.

His glowing zeal,
also,
in the cause of the Catholic faith entitles him
to be held up as a model of the good old orthodox chroniclers,
who recorded
with such pious exultation the united triumphs of the cross and the sword.

It is deeply
to be regretted,
therefore,
that his manuscripts,
deposited in the libraries of various convents,
have been dispersed during the late convulsions in Spain,
so that nothing is now
to be met of them but disjointed fragments.

These,
however,
are too precious
to be suffered
to fall into oblivion,
as they contain many curious facts not
to be found in any other historian.

In the following work,
therefore,
the manuscript of the worthy Fray Antonio will be adopted wherever it exists entire,
but will be filled up,
extended,
illustrated,
and corroborated by citations from various authors,
both Spanish and Arabian,
who have treated of the subject.

Those who may wish
to know how far the work is indebted
to the Chronicle of Fray Antonio Agapida may readily satisfy their curiosity by referring
to his manuscript fragments,
carefully preserved in the Library of the Escurial.

Before entering upon the history it may be as well
to notice the opinions of certain of the most learned and devout historiographers of former times relative
to this war.

Marinus Siculus,
historian
to Charles V.,
pronounces it a war
to avenge ancient injuries received by the Christians from the Moors,
to recover the kingdom of Granada,
and
to extend the name and honor of the Christian religion.* *Lucio Marino Siculo,
Cosas Memorabiles de Espana,
lib.

20.

Estevan de Garibay,
one of the most distinguished Spanish historians,
regards the war as a special act of divine clemency toward the Moors,
to the end that those barbarians and infidels,
who had dragged out so many centuries under the diabolical oppression of the absurd sect of Mahomet,
should at length be reduced
to the Christian faith.* *Garibay,
Compend.

Hist.

Espana,
lib.

18,
c.

22.

Padre Mariana,
also a venerable Jesuit and the most renowned historian of Spain,
considers the past domination of the Moors a scourge inflicted on the Spanish nation
for its iniquities,
but the conquest of Granada the reward of Heaven
for its great act of propitiation in establishing the glorious tribunal of the Inquisition! No sooner
(says the worthy father)
was this holy office opened in Spain than there shone forth a resplendent light.

Then it was that,
through divine favor,
the nation increased in power,
and became competent
to overthrow and trample down the Moorish domination.* *Mariana,
Hist.

Espana,
lib.

25,
c.

1.

Having thus cited high and venerable authority
for considering this war in the light of one of those pious enterprises denominated crusades,
we trust we have said enough
to engage the Christian reader
to follow us into the field and stand by us
to the very issue of the encounter.

NOTE
to THE REVISED EDITION.

The foregoing introduction,
prefixed
to the former editions of this work,
has been somewhat of a detriment
to it.

Fray Antonio Agapida was found
to be an imaginary personage,
and this threw a doubt over the credibility of his Chronicle,
which was increased by a vein of irony indulged here and there,
and by the occasional heightening of some of the incidents and the romantic coloring of some of the scenes.

A word or two explanatory may therefore be of service.* *Many of the observations in this note have already appeared in an explanatory article which at Mr. Murray's request,
the author furnished
to the London Quarterly Review.

The idea of the work was suggested while I was occupied at Madrid in writing the Life of Columbus.

In searching
for traces of his early life I was led among the scenes of the war of Granada,
he having followed the Spanish sovereigns in some of their campaigns,
and been present at the surrender of the Moorish capital.

I actually wove some of these scenes into the biography,
but found they occupied an undue space,
and stood out in romantic relief not in unison
with the general course of the narrative.

My mind,
however,
had become so excited by the stirring events and romantic achievements of this war that I could not return
with composure
to the sober biography I had in hand.

The idea then occurred,
as a means of allaying the excitement,
to throw off a rough draught of the history of this war,
to be revised and completed at future leisure.

It appeared
to me that its true course and character had never been fully illustrated.

The world had received a strangely perverted idea of it through Florian's romance of
"Gonsalvo of Cordova,"
or through the legend,
equally fabulous,
entitled
"The Civil Wars of Granada,"
by Ginez Perez de la Hita,
the pretended work of an Arabian contemporary,
but in reality a Spanish fabrication.

It had been woven over
with love-tales and scenes of sentimental gallantry totally opposite
to its real character;
for it was,
in truth,
one of the sternest of those iron conflicts sanctified by the title of
"holy wars."

In fact,
the genuine nature of the war placed it far above the need of any amatory embellishments.

It possessed sufficient interest in the striking contrast presented by the combatants of Oriental and European creeds,
costumes,
and manners,
and in the hardy and harebrained enterprises,
the romantic adventures,
the picturesque forays through mountain regions,
the daring assaults and surprisals of cliff-built castles and cragged fortresses,
which succeeded each other
with a variety and brilliancy beyond the scope of mere invention.

The time of the contest also contributed
to heighten the interest.

It was not long after the invention of gunpowder,
when firearms and artillery mingled the flash and smoke and thunder of modern warfare
with the steely splendor of ancient chivalry,
and gave an awful magnificence and terrible sublimity
to battle,
and when the old Moorish towers and castles,
that
for ages had frowned defiance
to the battering-rams and catapults of classic tactics,
were toppled down by the lombards of the Spanish engineers.

It was one of the cases in which history rises superior
to fiction.

The more I thought about the subject,
the more I was tempted
to undertake it,
and the facilities at hand at length determined me.

In the libraries of Madrid and in the private library of the American consul,
Mr. Rich,
I had access
to various chronicles and other works,
both printed and in manuscript,
written at the time by eyewitnesses,
and in some instances by persons who had actually mingled in the scenes recorded and gave descriptions of them from different points of view and
with different details.

These works were often diffuse and tedious,
and occasionally discolored by the bigotry,
superstition,
and fierce intolerance of the age;
but their pages were illumined at times
with scenes of high emprise,
of romantic generosity,
and heroic valor,
which flashed upon the reader
with additional splendor from the surrounding darkness.

I collated these various works,
some of which have never appeared in print,
drew from each facts relative
to the different enterprises,
arranged them in as clear and lucid order as I could command,
and endeavored
to give them somewhat of a graphic effect by connecting them
with the manners and customs of the age in which they occurred.

The rough draught being completed,
I laid the manuscript aside and proceeded
with the Life of Columbus.

After this was finished and sent
to the press I made a tour in Andalusia,
visited the ruins of the Moorish towns,
fortresses,
and castles,
and the wild mountain- passes and defiles which had been the scenes of the most remarkable events of the war,
and passed some time in the ancient palace of the Alhambra,
the once favorite abode of the Moorish monarchs.

Everywhere I took notes,
from the most advantageous points of view,
of whatever could serve
to give local verity and graphic effect
to the scenes described.

Having taken up my abode
for a time at Seville,
I then resumed my manuscript and rewrote it,
benefited by my travelling notes and the fresh and vivid impressions of my recent tour.

In constructing my chronicle I adopted the fiction of a Spanish monk as the chronicler.

Fray Antonio Agapida was intended as a personification of the monkish zealots who hovered about the sovereigns in their campaigns,
marring the chivalry of the camp by the bigotry of the cloister,
and chronicling in rapturous strains every act of intolerance toward the Moors.

In fact,
scarce a sally of the pretended friar when he bursts forth in rapturous eulogy of some great stroke of selfish policy on the part of Ferdinand,
or exults over some overwhelming disaster of the gallant and devoted Moslems,
but is taken almost word
for word from one or other of the orthodox chroniclers of Spain.

The ironical vein also was provoked by the mixture of kingcraft and priestcraft discernible throughout this great enterprise,
and the mistaken zeal and self-delusion of many of its most gallant and generous champions.

The romantic coloring seemed
to belong
to the nature of the subject,
and was in harmony
with what I had seen in my tour through the poetical and romantic regions in which the events had taken place.

With all these deductions the work,
in all its essential points,
was faithful
to historical fact and built upon substantial documents.

It was a great satisfaction
to me,
therefore,
after the doubts that had been expressed of the authenticity of my chronicle,
to find it repeatedly and largely used by Don Miguel Lafuente Alcantara of Granada in his recent learned and elaborate history of his native city,
he having had ample opportunity,
in his varied and indefatigable researches,
of judging how far it accorded
with documentary authority.

I have still more satisfaction in citing the following testimonial of Mr. Prescott,
whose researches
for his admirable history of Ferdinand and Isabella took him over the same ground I had trodden.

His testimonial is written in the liberal and courteous spirit characteristic of him,
but
with a degree of eulogium which would make me shrink from quoting it did I not feel the importance of his voucher
for the substantial accuracy of my work:

"Mr. Irving's late publication,
the
'Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada,'
has superseded all further necessity
for poetry and,
unfortunately
for me,
for history.

He has fully availed himself of all the picturesque and animating movement of this romantic era,
and the reader who will take the trouble
to compare his chronicle
with the present more prosaic and literal narrative will see how little he has been seduced from historic accuracy by the poetical aspect of his subject.

The fictitious and romantic dress of his work has enabled him
to make it the medium of reflecting more vividly the floating opinions and chimerical fancies of the age,
while he has illuminated the picture
with the dramatic brilliancy of coloring denied
to sober history."

* *Prescott's Ferdinand and Isabella,
vol.

ii.

c.

15.

In the present edition I have endeavored
to render the work more worthy of the generous encomium of Mr. Prescott.

Though I still retain the fiction of the monkish author Agapida,
I have brought my narrative more strictly within historical bounds,
have corrected and enriched it in various parts
with facts recently brought
to light by the researches of Alcantara and others,
and have sought
to render it a faithful and characteristic picture of the romantic portion of history
to which it relates.

W.

I.

Sunnyside,
1850.

A CHRONICLE OF THE CONQUEST OF GRANADA.

CHAPTER I.

OF THE KINGDOM OF GRANADA,
AND THE TRIBUTE WHICH IT PAID
to THE CASTILIAN CROWN.

The history of those bloody and disastrous wars which have caused the downfall of mighty empires
(observes Fray Antonio Agapida)
has ever been considered a study highly delectable and full of precious edification.

What,
then,
must be the history of a pious crusade waged by the most Catholic of sovereigns
to rescue from the power of the infidels one of the most beautiful but benighted regions of the globe?

Listen,
then,
while from the solitude of my cell I relate the events of the conquest of Granada,
where Christian knight and turbaned infidel disputed,
inch by inch,
the fair land of Andalusia,
until the Crescent,
that symbol of heathenish abomination,
was cast down,
and the blessed Cross,
the tree of our redemption,
erected in its stead.

Nearly eight hundred years were past and gone since the Arabian invaders had sealed the perdition of Spain by the defeat of Don Roderick,
the last of her Gothic kings.

Since that disastrous event one portion after another of the Peninsula had been gradually recovered by the Christian princes,
until the single but powerful and warlike territory of Granada alone remained under the domination of the Moors.

This renowned kingdom,
situated in the southern part of Spain and washed on one side by the Mediterranean Sea,
was traversed in every direction by sierras or chains of lofty and rugged mountains,
naked,
rocky,
and precipitous,
rendering it almost impregnable,
but locking up within their sterile embraces deep,
rich,
and verdant valleys of prodigal fertility.

In the centre of the kingdom lay its capital,
the beautiful city of Granada,
sheltered,
as it were,
in the lap of the Sierra Nevada,
or Snowy Mountains.

Its houses,
seventy thousand in number,
covered two lofty hills
with their declivities and a deep valley between them,
through which flowed the Darro.

The streets were narrow,
as is usual in Moorish and Arab cities,
but there were occasionally small squares and open places.

The houses had gardens and interior courts,
set out
with orange,
citron,
and pomegranate trees and refreshed by fountains,
so that as the edifices ranged above each other up the sides of the hills,
they presented a delightful appearance of mingled grove and city.

One of the hills was surmounted by the Alcazaba,
a strong fortress commanding all that part of the city;
the other by the Alhambra,
a royal palace and warrior castle,
capable of containing within its alcazar and towers a garrison of forty thousand men,
but possessing also its harem,
the voluptuous abode of the Moorish monarchs,
laid out
with courts and gardens,
fountains and baths,
and stately halls decorated in the most costly style of Oriental luxury.

According
to Moorish tradition,
the king who built this mighty and magnificent pile was skilled in the occult sciences,
and furnished himself
with the necessary funds by means of alchemy.* Such was its lavish splendor that even at the present day the stranger,
wandering through its silent courts and deserted halls,
gazes
with astonishment at gilded ceilings and fretted domes,
the brilliancy and beauty of which have survived the vicissitudes of war and the silent dilapidation of ages.

*Zurita,
lib.

20,
c.

42.

The city was surrounded by high walls,
three leagues in circuit,
furnished
with twelve gates and a thousand and thirty towers.

Its elevation above the sea and the neighborhood of the Sierra Nevada crowned
with perpetual snows tempered the fervid rays of summer,
so that while other cities were panting
with the sultry and stifling heat of the dog-days,
the most salubrious breezes played through the marble halls of Granada.

The glory of the city,
however,
was its Vega or plain,
which spread out
to a circumference of thirty-seven leagues,
surrounded by lofty mountains,
and was proudly compared
to the famous plain of Damascus.

It was a vast garden of delight,
refreshed by numerous fountains and by the silver windings of the Xenil.

The labor and ingenuity of the Moors had diverted the waters of this river into thousands of rills and streams,
and diffused them over the whole surface of the plain.

Indeed,
they had wrought up this happy region
to a degree of wonderful prosperity,
and took a pride in decorating it as if it had been a favorite mistress.

The hills were clothed
with orchards and vineyards,
the valleys embroidered
with gardens,
and the wide plains covered
with waving grain.

Here were seen in profusion the orange,
the citron,
the fig,
and the pomegranate,
with great plantations of mulberry trees,
from which was produced the finest silk.

The vine clambered from tree
to tree,
the grapes hung in rich clusters about the peasant's cottage,
and the groves were rejoiced by the perpetual song of the nightingale.

In a word,
so beautiful was the earth,
so pure the air,
and so serene the sky of this delicious region that the Moors imagined the paradise of their Prophet
to be situated in that part of the heaven which overhung the kingdom of Granada.

Within this favored realm,
so prodigally endowed and strongly fortified by nature,
the Moslem wealth,
valor,
and intelligence,
which had once shed such a lustre over Spain,
had gradually retired,
and here they made their final stand.

Granada had risen
to splendor on the ruin of other Moslem kingdoms,
but in so doing had become the sole object of Christian hostility,
and had
to maintain its very existence by the sword.

The Moorish capital accordingly presented a singular scene of Asiatic luxury and refinement,
mingled
with the glitter and the din of arMs. Letters were still cultivated,
philosophy and poetry had their schools and disciples,
and the language spoken was said
to be the most elegant Arabic.

A passion
for dress and ornament pervaded all ranks.

That of the princesses and ladies of high rank,
says Al Kattib,
one of their own writers,
was carried
to a height of luxury and magnificence that bordered on delirium.

They wore girdles and bracelets and anklets of gold and silver,
wrought
with exquisite art and delicacy and studded
with jacinths,
chrysolites,
emeralds,
and other precious stones.

They were fond of braiding and decorating their beautiful long tresses or confining them in knots sparkling
with jewels.

They were finely formed,
excessively fair,
graceful in their manners,
and fascinating in their conversation;
when they smiled,
says Al Kattib,
they displayed teeth of dazzling whiteness,
and their breath was as the perfume of flowers.

The Moorish cavaliers,
when not in armor,
delighted in dressing themselves in Persian style,
in garments of wool,
of silk,
or cotton of the finest texture,
beautifully wrought
with stripes of various colors.

In winter they wore,
as an outer garment,
the African cloak or Tunisian albornoz,
but in the heat of summer they arrayed themselves in linen of spotless whiteness.

The same luxury prevailed in their military equipments.

Their armor was inlaid and chased
with gold and silver.

The sheaths of their scimetars were richly labored and enamelled,
the blades were of Damascus bearing texts from the Koran or martial and amorous mottoes;
the belts were of golden filigree studded
with gems;
their poniards of Fez were wrought in the arabesque fashion;
their lances bore gay bandaroles;
their horses were sumptuously caparisoned
with housings of green and crimson velvet,
wrought
with silk and enamelled
with gold and silver.

All this warlike luxury of the youthful chivalry was encouraged by the Moorish kings,
who ordained that no tax should be imposed on the gold and silver employed in these embellishments;
and the same exxfxception was extended
to the bracelets and other ornaments worn by the fair dames of Granada.

Of the chivalrous gallantry which prevailed between the sexes in this romantic period of Moorish history we have traces in the thousand ballads which have come down
to our day,
and which have given a tone and coloring
to Spanish amatory literature and
to everything in Spain connected
with the tender passion.

War was the normal state of Granada and its inhabitants;
the common people were subject at any moment
to be summoned
to the field,
and all the upper class was a brilliant chivalry.

The Christian princes,
so successful in regaining the rest of the Peninsula,
found their triumphs checked at the mountain-boundaries of this kingdom.

Every peak had its atalaya,
or watch-tower,
ready
to make its fire by night or
to send up its column of smoke by day,
a signal of invasion at which the whole country was on the alert.

To penetrate the defiles of this perilous country,
to surprise a frontier fortress,
or
to make a foray into the Vega and a hasty ravage within sight of the very capital were among the most favorite and daring exploits of the Castilian chivalry.

But they never pretended
to hold the region thus ravaged;
it was sack,
burn,
plunder,
and away;
and these desolating inroads were retaliated in kind by the Moorish cavaliers,
whose greatest delight was a
"tala,"
or predatory incursion,
into the Christian territories beyond the mountains.

A partisan warfare of this kind had long existed between Granada and its most formidable antagonists,
the kingdoms of Castile and Leon.

It was one which called out the keen yet generous rivalry of Christian and Moslem cavaliers,
and gave rise
to individual acts of chivalrous gallantry and daring prowess;
but it was one which was gradually exhausting the resources and sapping the strength of Granada.

One of the latest of its kings,
therefore,
Aben Ismael by name,
disheartened by a foray which had laid waste the Vega,
and conscious that the balance of warfare was against his kingdom,
made a truce in 1457
with Henry IV.,
king of Castile and Leon,
stipulating
to pay him an annual tribute of twelve thousand doblas or pistoles of gold,
and
to liberate annually six hundred Christian captives,
or in default of captives
to give an equal number of Moors as hostages,--all
to be delivered at the city of Cordova.* *Garibay,
Compend.,
1.17,
c.

3.

The truce,
however,
was of a partial nature,
with singular reservations.

It did not include the Moorish frontier toward Jaen,
which was
to remain open
for the warlike enterprises of either nation;
neither did it prohibit sudden attacks upon towns and castles,
provided they were mere forays,
conducted furtively,
without sound of trumpet or display of banners or pitching of camps or regular investment,
and that they did not last above three days.* *Zurita,
Anales de Aragon,
1.

20,
c.

42;
Mariana,
Hist.

de Espana 1.

25,
c.

1;
Bleda,
Coron.

de los Moros,
l.

5,
c.

3.

Aben Ismael was faithful in observing the conditions of the truce,
but they were regarded
with impatience by his eldest son,
Muley Abul Hassan,
a prince of a fiery and belligerent spirit,
and fond of casing himself in armor and mounting his war-horse.

He had been present at Cordova at one of the payments of tribute,
and had witnessed the scoffs and taunts of the Christians,
and his blood boiled whenever he recalled the humiliating scene.

When he came
to the throne in 1465,
on the death of his father,
he ceased the payment of the tribute altogether,
and it was sufficient
to put him into a tempest of rage only
to mention it.

"He was a fierce and warlike infidel,"
says the pious Fray Antonio Agapida;
"his bitterness against the holy Christian faith had been signalized in battle during the lifetime of his father,
and the same diabolical spirit of hostility was apparent in his ceasing
to pay this most righteous tribute."

CHAPTER II.

OF THE EMBASSY OF DON JUAN DE VERA
to DEMAND ARREARS OF TRIBUTE FROM THE MOORISH MONARCH.

The flagrant want of faith of Muley Abul Hassan in fulfilling treaty stipulations passed unresented during the residue of the reign of Henry the Impotent,
and the truce was tacitly continued without the enforcement of tribute during the first three years of the reign of his successors,
Ferdinand and Isabella of glorious and happy memory,
who were too much engrossed by civil commotions in their own dominions,
and by a war of succession waged
with them by the king of Portugal,
to risk an additional conflict
with the Moorish sovereign.

When,
however,
at the expiration of the term of truce,
Muley Abul Hassan sought a renewal of it,
the pride and piety of the Castilian sovereigns were awakened
to the flagrant defalcation of the infidel king,
and they felt themselves called upon,
by their dignity as monarchs and their religious obligations as champions of the faith,
to make a formal demand
for the payment of arrearages.

In the year of grace 1478,
therefore,
Don Juan de Vera,
a zealous and devout knight,
full of ardor
for the faith and loyalty
to the Crown,
was sent as ambassador
for the purpose.

He was armed at all points,
gallantly mounted,
and followed by a moderate but well-appointed retinue:

in this way he crossed the Moorish frontier,
and passed slowly through the country,
looking round him
with the eyes of a practised warrior and carefully noting its military points and capabilities.

He saw that the Moor was well prepared
for possible hostilities.

Every town was strongly fortified.

The Vega was studded
with towers of refuge
for the peasantry:

every pass of the mountain had its castle of defence,
every lofty height its watch-tower.

As the Christian cavaliers passed under the walls of the fortresses,
lances and scimetars flashed from their battlements,
and the Moorish sentinels darted from their dark eyes glances of hatred and defiance.

It was evident that a war
with this kingdom must be a war of posts,
full of doughty peril and valiant enterprise,
where every step must be gained by toil and bloodshed,
and maintained
with the utmost difficulty.

The warrior spirit of the cavaliers kindled at the thoughts,
and they were impatient
for hostilities;
"not,"
says Antonio Agapida,
"from any thirst
for rapine and revenge,
but from that pure and holy indignation which every Spanish knight entertained at beholding this beautiful dominion of his ancestors defiled by the footsteps of infidel usurpers.

It was impossible,"
he adds,
"to contemplate this delicious country,
and not long
to see it restored
to the dominion of the true faith and the sway of the Christian monarchs."

Arrived at the gates of Granada,
Don Juan de Vera and his companions saw the same vigilant preparations on the part of the Moorish king.

His walls and towers were of vast strength,
in complete repair,
and mounted
with lombards and other heavy ordnance.

His magazines were well stored
with the munitions of war;
he had a mighty host of foot-soldiers,
together
with squadrons of cavalry,
ready
to scour the country and carry on either defensive or predatory warfare.

The Christian warriors noted these things without dismay;
their hearts rather glowed
with emulation at the thoughts of encountering so worthy a foe.

As they slowly pranced through the streets of Granada they looked round
with eagerness on the stately palaces and sumptuous mosques,
on its alcayceria or bazar,
crowded
with silks and cloth of silver and gold,
with jewels and precious stones,
and other rich merchandise,
the luxuries of every clime;
and they longed
for the time when all this wealth should be the spoil of the soldiers of the faith,
and when each tramp of their steeds might be fetlock deep in the blood and carnage of the infidels.

The Moorish inhabitants looked jealously at this small but proud array of Spanish chivalry,
as it paraded,
with that stateliness possessed only by Spanish cavaliers,
through the renowned gate of Elvira.

They were struck
with the stern and lofty demeanor of Don Juan de Vera and his sinewy frame,
which showed him formed
for hardy deeds of arms,
and they supposed he had come in search of distinction by defying the Moorish knights in open tourney or in the famous tilt
with reeds
for which they were so renowned,
for it was still the custom of the knights of either nation
to mingle in these courteous and chivalrous contests during the intervals of war.

When they learnt,
however,
that he was come
to demand the tribute so abhorrent
to the ears of the fiery monarch,
they observed that it well required a warrior of his apparent nerve
to execute such an embassy.

Muley Abul Hassan received the cavalier in state,
seated on a magnificent divan and surrounded by the officers of his court,
in the Hall of Ambassadors,
one of the most sumptuous apartments of the Alhambra.

When De Vera had delivered his message,
a haughty and bitter smile curled the lip of the fierce monarch.

"Tell your sovereigns,"
said he,
"that the kings of Granada,
who used
to pay tribute in money
to the Castilian crown,
are dead.

Our mint at present coins nothing but blades of scimetars and heads of lances."

* *Garibay,
1.

40,
c.

29;
Conde,
Hist.

Arab.,
p.

4,
c.

34.

The defiance couched in this proud reply was heard
with secret satisfaction by Don Juan de Vera,
for he was a bold soldier and a devout hater of the infidels,
and he saw iron war in the words of the Moorish monarch.

Being master,
however,
of all points of etiquette,
he retained an inflexible demeanor,
and retired from the apartment
with stately and ceremonious gravity.

His treatment was suited
to his rank and dignity:

a magnificent apartment in the Alhambra was assigned
to him,
and before his departure a scimetar was sent
to him by the king,
the blade of the finest Damascus steel,
the hilt of agate enriched
with precious stones,
and the guard of gold.

De Vera drew it,
and smiled grimly as he noticed the admirable temper of the blade.

"His Majesty has given me a trenchant weapon,"
said he:

"I trust a time will come when I may show him that I know how
to use his royal present."

The reply was considered a compliment,
of course:

the bystanders little knew the bitter hostility that lay couched beneath.

On his return
to Cordova,
Don Juan de Vera delivered the reply of the Moor,
but at the same time reported the state of his territories.

These had been strengthened and augmented during the weak reign of Henry IV.

and the recent troubles of Castile.

Many cities and strong places contiguous
to Granada,
but heretofore conquered by the Christians,
had renewed their allegiance
to Muley Abul Hassan,
so that his kingdom now contained fourteen cities,
ninety-seven fortified places,
besides numerous unwalled towns and villages defended by formidable castles,
while Granada towered in the centre as the citadel.

The wary Ferdinand,
as he listened
to the military report of Don Juan de Vera,
saw that the present was no time
for hostilities
with a warrior kingdom so bristled over
with means of defence.

The internal discords of Castile still continued,
as did the war
with Portugal:

under these circumstances he forbore
to insist upon the payment of tribute,
and tacitly permitted the truce
to continue;
but the defiance contained in the reply of Muley Abul Hassan remained rankling in his bosom as a future ground of war;
and De Vera's description of Granada as the centre of a system of strongholds and rock-built castles suggested
to him his plan of conquest--by taking town after town and fortress after fortress,
and gradually plucking away all the supports before he attempted the capital.

He expressed his resolution in a memorable pun or play upon the name of Granada,
which signifies a pomegranate.

"I will pick out the seeds of this pomegranate one by one,"
said the cool and crafty Ferdinand.

NOTE.--In the first edition of this work the author recounted a characteristic adventure of the stout Juan de Vera as happening on the occasion of this embassy;
a further consultation of historical authorities has induced him
to transfer it
to a second embassy of De Vera's,
which the reader will find related in a subsequent chapter.

CHAPTER III.

DOMESTIC FEUDS IN THE ALHAMBRA--RIVAL SULTANAS-- PREDICTIONS CONCERNING BOABDIL,
THE HEIR
to THE THRONE--HOW FERDINAND MEDITATES WAR AGAINST GRANADA,
AND HOW HE IS ANTICIPATED.

Though Muley Abul Hassan was at peace in his external relations,
a civil war raged in his harem,
which it is proper
to notice,
as it had a fatal effect upon the fortunes of the kingdom.

Though cruel by nature,
he was uxorious and somewhat prone
to be managed by his wives.

Early in life he had married his kinswoman,
Ayxa
(or Ayesha),
daughter of his great-uncle,
the sultan Mohammed VII.,
surnamed El Hayzari,
or the Left-handed.

She was a woman of almost masculine spirit and energy,
and of such immaculate and inaccessible virtue that she was generally called La Horra,
or the Chaste.

By her he had a son,
Abu Abdallah,
or,
as he is commonly named by historians,
Boabdil.

The court astrologers,
according
to custom,
cast the horoscope of the infant,
but were seized
with fear and trembling as they regarded it.

"Allah Akbar! God is great!"
exclaimed they;
"he alone controls the fate of empires.

It is written in the book of fate that this child will one day sit upon the throne,
but that the downfall of the kingdom will be accomplished during his reign."

From that time the prince had been regarded
with aversion by his father,
and the prediction which hung over him and the persecutions
to which he became subjected procured him the surname of El Zogoybi,
or the Unfortunate.

He grew up,
however,
under the protection of his valiant-hearted mother,
who by the energy of her character long maintained an undisputed sway in the harem,
until,
as her youth passed away and her beauty declined,
a formidable rival arose.

In one of the forays of the Moorish chivalry into the Christian territories they had surprised a frontier fortress commanded by Sancho Ximenes de Solis,
a noble and valiant cavalier,
who fell in bravely defending it.

Among the captives was his daughter Isabella,
then almost in her infancy,
who was brought
to Granada,
delicately raised,
and educated in the Moslem faith.* Her Moorish captors gave her the name of Fatima,
but as she grew up her surpassing beauty gained her the surname of Zoraya,
or the Morning Star,
by which she has become known in history.

Her charms at length attracted the notice of Muley Abul Hassan,
and she soon became a member of his harem.

Some have spoken of her as a Christian slave whom he had made his concubine;
but others,
with more truth,
represent her as one of his wives,
and ultimately his favorite sultana;
and indeed it was often the case that female captives of rank and beauty,
when converted
to the faith of Islam,
became united
to the proudest and loftiest of their captors.

*Cronica del Gran Cardinal,
cap.

71.

Zoraya soon acquired complete ascendancy over the mind of Muley Abul Hassan.

She was as ambitious as she was beautiful,
and,
having become the mother of two sons,
looked forward
to the possibility of one of them sitting on the throne of Granada.

These ambitious views were encouraged,
if not suggested,
by a faction which gathered round her inspired by kindred sympathies.

The king's vizier,
Abul Cacim Vanegas,
who had great influence over him,
was,
like Zoraya,
of Christian descent,
being of the noble house of Luque.

His father,
one of the Vanegas of Cordova,
had been captured in infancy and brought up as a Moslem.* From him sprang the vizier,
Abul Cacim Vanegas,
and his brother,
Reduan Vanegas,
likewise high in rank in the court of Muley Abul Hassan,
and they had about them numerous and powerful connections,
all basking in court favor.

Though Moslems in faith,
they were all drawn
to Zoraya by the tie of foreign and Christian descent,
and sought
to elevate her and her children
to the disparagement of Ayxa la Horra and her son Boabdil.

The latter,
on the other hand,
were supported by the noble and once-potent family of the Abencerrages and by Aben Comixa,
alcayde of the Alhambra;
and between these two factions,
headed by rival sultanas,
the harem of Muley Abul Hassan became the scene of inveterate jealousies and intrigues,
which in time,
as will be shown,
led
to popular commotions and civil wars.** *Cura de los Palacios,
Hist.

de los Reyes Catol.,
cap.

56.

**It is
to be noted that several historians have erroneously represented Zoraya as the mother of Boabdil,
instead of Ayxa la Horra,
and the Abencerrages as the opponents of Boabdil,
instead of his strenuous adherents.

The statement in the text is according
to the most reliable authorities.

While these female feuds were threatening Muley Abul Hassan
with trouble and disaster at home,
his evil genius prompted him
to an enterprise which involved him in tenfold danger from abroad.

The reader has already been apprised of a singular clause in the truce existing between the Christians and the Moors,
permitting hasty dashes into each other's territories and assaults of towns and fortresses,
provided they were carried on as mere forays and without the parade of regular warfare.

A long time had elapsed,
however,
without any incursion of the kind on the part of the Moors,
and the Christian towns on the frontiers had,
in consequence,
fallen into a state of the most negligent security.

In an unlucky moment Muley Abul Hassan was tempted
to one of these forays by learning that the fortress of Zahara,
on the frontier between Ronda and Medina Sidonia,
was but feebly garrisoned and scantily supplied,
and that its alcayde was careless of his charge.

This important post was built on the crest of a rocky mountain,
with a strong castle perched above it upon a cliff,
so high that it was said
to be above the flight of birds or drift of clouds.

The streets and many of the houses were mere excavations wrought out of the living rock.

The town had but one gate,
opening
to the west and defended by towers and bulwarks.

The only ascent
to this cragged fortress was by roads cut in the rock,
so rugged in many places as
to resemble broken stairs.

In a word,
the impregnable security of Zahara had become so proverbial throughout Spain that a woman of forbidding and inaccessible virtue was called a Zaharena.

But the strongest fortress and sternest virtue have weak points,
and require unremitting vigilance
to guard them:

let warrior and dame take warning from the fate of Zahara.

CHAPTER IV.

EXPEDITION OF MULEY ABUL HASSAN AGAINST THE FORTRESS OF ZAHARA.

In the year of our Lord one thousand four hundred and eighty- one,
and but a night or two after the festival of the most blessed Nativity,
the inhabitants of Zahara were sunk in profound sleep the very sentinel had deserted his post,
and sought shelter from a tempest which had raged
for three nights in succession,
for it appeared but little probable that an enemy would be abroad during such an uproar of the elements.

But evil spirits work best during a storm.

In the midst of the night an uproar rose within the walls of Zahara more awful than the raging of the storm.

A fearful alarm-cry,
"The Moor! the Moor!"
resounded through the streets,
mingled
with the clash of arms,
the shriek of anguish,
and the shout of victory.

Muley Abul Hassan,
at the head of a powerful force,
had hurried from Granada,
and passed unobserved through the mountains in the obscurity of the tempest.

While the storm pelted the sentinel from his post and bowled round tower and battlement,
the Moors had planted their scaling-ladders and mounted securely into both town and castle.

The garrison was unsuspicious of danger until battle and massacre burst forth within its very walls.

It seemed
to the affrighted inhabitants as if the fiends of the air had come upon the wings of the wind and possessed themselves of tower and turret.

The war-cry resounded on every side,
shout answering shout,
above,
below,
on the battlements of the castle,
in the streets of the town;
the foe was in all parts,
wrapped in obscurity,
but acting in concert by the aid of preconcerted signals.

Starting from sleep,
the soldiers were intercepted and cut down as they rushed from their quarters,
or if they escaped they knew not where
to assemble or where
to strike.

Wherever lights appeared the flashing scimetar was at its deadly work,
and all who attempted resistance fell beneath its edge.

In a little while the struggle was at an end.

Those who were not slain took refuge in the secret places of their houses or gave themselves up as captives.

The clash of arms ceased,
and the storm continued its howling,
mingled
with the occasional shout of the Moorish soldiery roaming in search of plunder.

While the inhabitants were trembling
for their fate,
a trumpet resounded through the streets summoning them all
to assemble,
unarmed,
in the public square.

Here they were surrounded by soldiery and strictly guarded until daybreak.

When the day dawned it was piteous
to behold this once-prosperous community,
who had laid down
to rest in peaceful security,
now crowded together without distinction of age or rank or sex,
and almost without raiment,
during the severity of a wintry storm.

The fierce Muley Abul Hassan turned a deaf ear
to all their prayers and remonstrances,
and ordered them
to be conducted captives
to Granada.

Leaving a strong garrison in both town and castle,
with orders
to put them in a complete state of defence,
he returned,
flushed
with victory,
to his capital,
entering it at the head of his troops,
laden
with spoil and bearing in triumph the banners and pennons taken at Zahara.

While preparations were making
for jousts and other festivities in honor of this victory over the Christians,
the captives of Zahara arrived--a wretched train of men,
women,
and children,
worn out
with fatigue and haggard
with despair,
and driven like cattle into the city gates by a detachment of Moorish soldiery.

Deep was the grief and indignation of the people of Granada at this cruel scene.

Old men,
who had experienced the calamities of warfare,
anticipated coming troubles.

Mothers clasped their infants
to their breasts as they beheld the hapless females of Zahara
with their children expiring in their arMs. On every side the accents of pity
for the sufferers were mingled
with execrations of the barbarity of the king.

The preparations
for festivity were neglected,
and the viands which were
to have feasted the conquerors were distributed among the captives.

The nobles and alfaquis,
however,
repaired
to the Alhambra
to congratulate the king;
for,
whatever storms may rage in the lower regions of society,
rarely do any clouds but clouds of incense rise
to the awful eminence of the throne.

In this instance,
however,
a voice rose from the midst of the obsequious crowd,
and burst like thunder upon the ears of Abul Hassan.

"Woe! woe! woe!
to Granada!"
exclaimed the voice;
"its hour of desolation approaches.

The ruins of Zahara will fall upon our heads;
my spirit tells me that the end of our empire is at hand."

All shrank back aghast,
and left the denouncer of woe standing alone in the centre of the hall.

He was an ancient and hoary man in the rude attire of a dervise.

Age had withered his form without quenching the fire of his spirit,
which glared in baleful lustre from his eyes.

He was
(say the Arabian historians)
one of those holy men termed santons who pass their lives in hermitages in fasting,
meditation,
and prayer until they attain
to the purity of saints and the foresight of prophets.

"He was,"
says the indignant Fray Antonio Agapida,
"a son of Belial,
one of those fanatic infidels possessed by the devil who are sometimes permitted
to predict the truth
to their followers,
but
with the proviso that their predictions shall be of no avail."

The voice of the santon resounded through the lofty hall of the Alhambra,
and struck silence and awe into the crowd of courtly sycophants.

Muley Abul Hassan alone was unmoved:

he eyed the hoary anchorite
with scorn as he stood dauntless before him,
and treated his predictions as the ravings of a maniac.

The santon rushed from the royal presence,
and,
descending into the city,
hurried through its streets and squares
with frantic gesticulations.

His voice was heard in every part in awful denunciation:

"The peace is broken! exterminating war is commenced.

Woe! woe! woe
to Granada! its fall is at hand! desolation will dwell in its palaces;
its strong men will fall beneath the sword,
its children and maidens be led into captivity.

Zahara is but a type of Granada!"
Terror seized upon the populace,
for they considered these ravings as the inspirations of prophecy.

Some hid themselves in their dwellings as in a time of general mourning,
while some gathered together in knots in the streets and squares,
alarming each other
with dismal forebodings and cursing the rashness and cruelty of the king.

The Moorish monarch heeded not their murmurs.

Knowing that his exploit must draw upon him the vengeance of the Christians,
he now threw off all reserve,
and made attempts
to surprise Castellan and Elvira,
though without success.

He sent alfaquis also
to the Barbary powers,
informing them that the sword was drawn,
and inviting the African princes
to aid him
with men and supplies in maintaining the kingdom of Granada and the religion of Mahomet against the violence of unbelievers.

While discontent exhaled itself in murmurs among the common people,
however,
it fomented in dangerous conspiracies among the nobles,
and Muley Abul Hassan was startled by information of a design
to depose him and place his son Boabdil upon the throne.

His first measure was
to confine the prince and his mother in the Tower of Comares;
then,
calling
to mind the prediction of the astrologers,
that the youth would one day sit on the throne of Granada,
he impiously set the stars at defiance.

"The sword of the executioner,"
said he,
"shall prove the fallacy of those lying horoscopes,
and shall silence the ambition of Boabdil."

The sultana Ayxa,
apprised of the imminent danger of her son,
concerted a plan
for his escape.

At the dead of the night she gained access
to his prison,
and,
tying together the shawls and scarfs of herself and her female attendants,
lowered him down from a balcony of the Alhambra
to the steep rocky hillside which sweeps down
to the Darro.

Here some of her devoted adherents were waiting
to receive him,
who,
mounting him on a swift horse,
spirited him away
to the city of Guadix,
in the Alpuxarras.

CHAPTER V.

EXPEDITION OF THE MARQUES OF CADIZ AGAINST ALHAMA.

Great was the indignation of King Ferdinand when he heard of the storming of Zahara,
though the outrage of the Moor happened most opportunely.

The war between Castile and Portugal had come
to a close;
the factions of Spanish nobles were
for the most part quelled.

The Castilian monarchs had now,
therefore,
turned their thoughts
to the cherished object of their ambition,
the conquest of Granada.

The pious heart of Isabella yearned
to behold the entire Peninsula redeemed from the domination of the infidel,
while Ferdinand,
in whom religious zeal was mingled
with temporal policy,
looked
with a craving eye
to the rich territory of the Moor,
studded
with wealthy towns and cities.

Muley Abul Hassan had rashly or unwarily thrown the brand that was
to produce the wide conflagration.

Ferdinand was not the one
to quench the flames.

He immediately issued orders
to all the adelantados and alcaydes of the frontiers
to maintain the utmost vigilance at their several posts,
and
to prepare
to carry fire and sword into the territories of the Moors.

Among the many valiant cavaliers who rallied round the throne of Ferdinand and Isabella,
one of the most eminent in rank and renowned in arms was Don Roderigo Ponce de Leon,
marques of Cadiz.

As he was the distinguished champion of this holy war,
and commanded in most of its enterprises and battles,
it is meet that some particular account should be given of him.

He was born in 1443 of the valiant lineage of the Ponces,
and from his earliest youth had rendered himself illustrious in the field.

He was of the middle stature,
with a muscular and powerful frame,
capable of great exertion and fatigue.

His hair and beard were red and curled,
his countenance was open and magnanimous,
of a ruddy complexion and slightly marked
with the small- pox.

He was temperate,
chaste,
valiant,
vigilant;
a just and generous master
to his vassals;
frank and noble in his deportment toward his equals;
loving and faithful
to his friends;
fierce and terrible,
yet magnanimous,
to his enemies.

He was considered the mirror of chivalry of his times,
and compared by contemporary historians
to the immortal Cid.

The marques of Cadiz had vast possessions in the most fertile parts of Andalusia,
including many towns and castles,
and could lead forth an army into the field from his own vassals and dependants.

On receiving the orders of the king he burned
to signalize himself by some sudden incursion into the kingdom of Granada that should give a brilliant commencement
to the war,
and should console the sovereigns
for the insult they had received in the capture of Zahara.

As his estates lay near
to the Moorish frontiers and were subject
to sudden inroads,
he had always in his pay numbers of adalides,
or scouts and guides,
many of them converted Moors.

These he sent out in all directions
to watch the movements of the enemy and
to procure all kinds of information important
to the security of the frontier.

One of these spies came
to him one day in his town of Marchena,
and informed him that the Moorish town of Alhama was slightly garrisoned and negligently guarded,
and might be taken by surprise.

This was a large,
wealthy,
and populous place within a few leagues of Granada.

It was situated on a rocky height,
nearly surrounded by a river,
and defended by a fortress
to which there was no access but by a steep and cragged ascent.

The strength of its situation and its being embosomed in the centre of the kingdom had produced the careless security which now invited attack.

To ascertain fully the state of the fortress the marques despatched secretly a veteran soldier who was highly in his confidence.

His name was Ortega de Prado,
a man of great activity,
shrewdness,
and valor,
and captain of escaladors
(soldiers employed
to scale the walls of fortresses in time of attack).

Ortega approached Alhama one moonless night,
and paced along its walls
with noiseless step,
laying his ear occasionally
to the ground or
to the wall.

Every time he distinguished the measured tread of a sentinel,
and now and then the challenge of the night-watch going its rounds.

Finding the town thus guarded,
he clambered
to the castle:

there all was silent.

As he ranged its lofty battlements between him and the sky he saw no sentinel on duty.

He noticed certain places where the wall might be ascended by scaling-ladders,
and,
having marked the hour of relieving guard and made all necessary observations,
he retired without being discovered.

Ortega returned
to Marchena,
and assured the marques of Cadiz of the practicability of scaling the castle of Alhama and taking it by surprise.

The marques had a secret conference
with Don Pedro Enriques,
adelantado of Andalusia,
Don Diego de Merlo,
commander of Seville,
Sancho de Avila,
alcayde of Carmona,
and others,
who all agreed
to aid him
with their forces.

On an appointed day the several commanders assembled at Marchena
with their troops and retainers.

None but the leaders knew the object or destination of the enterprise,
but it was enough
to rouse the Andalusian spirit
to know that a foray was intended into the country of their old enemies,
the Moors.

Secrecy and celerity were necessary
for success.

They set out promptly
with three thousand genetes or light cavalry and four thousand infantry.

They chose a route but little travelled,
by the way of Antiquera,
passing
with great labor through rugged and solitary defiles of the sierra or chain of mountains of Arrecife,
and left all their baggage on the banks of the river Yeguas,
to be brought after them.

This march was principally in the night;
all day they remained quiet;
no noise was suffered in their camp,
and no fires were made,
lest the smoke should betray them.

On the third day they resumed their march as the evening darkened,
and,
forcing themselves forward at as quick a pace as the rugged and dangerous mountain-roads would permit,
they descended toward midnight into a small deep valley only half a league from Alhama.

Here they made a halt,
fatigued by this forced march,
during a long dark evening toward the end of February.

The marques of Cadiz now explained
to the troops the object of the expedition.

He told them it was
for the glory of the most holy faith and
to avenge the wrongs of their countrymen at Zahara,
and that the town of Alhama,
full of wealthy spoil,
was the place
to be attacked.

The troops were roused
to new ardor by these words,
and desired
to be led forthwith
to the assault.

They arrived close
to Alhama about two hours before daybreak.

Here the army remained in ambush,
while three hundred men were despatched
to scale the walls and get possession of the castle.

They were picked men,
many of them alcaydes and officers,
men who preferred death
to dishonor.

This gallant band was guided by the escalador Ortega de Prado at the head of thirty men
with scaling-ladders.

They clambered the ascent
to the castle in silence,
and arrived under the dark shadow of its towers without being discovered.

Not a light was
to be seen,
not a sound
to be heard;
the whole place was wrapped in profound repose.

Fixing their ladders,
they ascended cautiously and
with noiseless steps.

Ortega was the first that mounted upon the battlements,
followed by one Martin Galindo,
a youthful esquire full of spirit and eager
for distinction.

Moving stealthily along the parapet
to the portal of the citadel,
they came upon the sentinel by surprise.

Ortega seized him by the throat,
brandished a dagger before his eyes,
and ordered him
to point the way
to the guard-room.

The infidel obeyed,
and was instantly despatched,
to prevent his giving an alarm.

The guard-room was a scene rather of massacre than combat.

Some of the soldiery were killed while sleeping,
others were cut down almost without resistance,
bewildered by so unexpected an assault:

all were despatched,
for the scaling party was too small
to make prisoners or
to spare.

The alarm spread throughout the castle,
but by this time the three hundred picked men had mounted the battlements.

The garrison,
startled from sleep,
found the enemy already masters of the towers.

Some of the Moors were cut down at once,
others fought desperately from room
to room,
and the whole castle resounded
with the clash of arms,
the cries of the combatants,
and the groans of the wounded.

The army in ambush,
finding by the uproar that the castle was surprised,
now rushed from their concealment,
and approached the walls
with loud shouts and sound of kettle-drums and trumpets
to increase the confusion and dismay of the garrison.

A violent conflict took place in the court of the castle,
where several of the scaling party sought
to throw open the gates
to admit their countrymen.

Here fell two valiant alcaydes,
Nicholas de Roja and Sancho de Avila,
but they fell honorably,
upon a heap of slain.

At length Ortega de Prado succeeded in throwing open a postern through which the marques of Cadiz,
the adelantado of Andalusia,
and Don Diego de Merlo entered
with a host of followers,
and the citadel remained in full possession of the Christians.

As the Spanish cavaliers were ranging from room
to room,
the marques of Cadiz,
entering an apartment of superior richness
to the rest,
beheld,
by the light of a silver lamp,
a beautiful Moorish female,
the wife of the alcayde of the castle,
whose husband was absent attending a wedding-feast at Velez Malaga.

She would have fled at the sight of a Christian warrior in her apartment,
but,
entangled in the covering of the bed,
she fell at the feet of the marques,
imploring mercy.

That Christian cavalier,
who had a soul full of honor and courtesy toward the sex,
raised her from the floor and endeavored
to allay her fears;
but they were increased at the sight of her female attendants pursued into the room by the Spanish soldiery.

The marques reproached his soldiers
with unmanly conduct,
and reminded them that they made war upon men,
not on defenceless women.

Having soothed the terrors of the females by the promise of honorable protection,
he appointed a trusty guard
to watch over the security of their apartment.

The castle was now taken,
but the town below it was in arMs. It was broad day,
and the people,
recovered from their panic,
were enabled
to see and estimate the force of the enemy.

The inhabitants were chiefly merchants and tradespeople,
but the Moors all possessed a knowledge of the use of weapons and were of brave and warlike spirit.

They confided in the strength of their walls and the certainty of speedy relief from Granada,
which was but about eight leagues distant.

Manning the battlements and towers,
they discharged showers of stones and arrows whenever the part of the Christian army without the walls attempted
to approach.

They barricadoed the entrances of their streets also which opened toward the castle,
stationing men expert at the crossbow and arquebuse.

These kept up a constant fire upon the gate of the castle,
so that no one could sally forth without being instantly shot down.

Two valiant cavaliers who attempted
to lead forth a party in defiance of this fatal tempest were shot dead at the very portal.

The Christians now found themselves in a situation of great peril.

Reinforcements must soon arrive
to the enemy from Granada:

unless,
therefore,
they gained possession of the town in the course of the day,
they were likely
to be surrounded and beleaguered,
without provisions,
in the castle.

Some observed that even if they took the town they should not be able
to maintain possession of it.

They proposed,
therefore,
to make booty of everything valuable,
to sack the castle,
set it on fire,
and make good their retreat
to Seville.

The marques of Cadiz was of different counsel.

"God has given the citadel into Christian hands,"
said he;
"he will no doubt strengthen them
to maintain it.

We have gained the place
with difficulty and bloodshed;
it would be a stain upon our honor
to abandon it through fear of imaginary dangers."

The adelantado and Don Diego de Merlo joined in his opinion,
but without their earnest and united remonstrances the place would have been abandoned,
so exhausted were the troops by forced marches and hard fighting,
and so apprehensive of the approach of the Moors of Granada.

The strength and spirits of the party within the castle were in some degree restored by the provisions which they found.

The Christian army beneath the town,
being also refreshed by a morning's repast,
advanced vigorously
to the attack of the walls.

They planted their scaling-ladders,
and,
swarming up,
sword in hand,
fought fiercely
with the Moorish soldiery upon the ramparts.

In the mean time,
the marques of Cadiz,
seeing that the gate of the castle,
which opened toward the city,
was completely commanded by the artillery of the enemy,
ordered a large breach
to be made in the wall,
through which he might lead his troops
to the attack,
animating them in this perilous moment by assuring them that the place should be given up
to plunder and its inhabitants made captives.

The breach being made,
the marques put himself at the head of his troops,
and entered sword in hand.

A simultaneous attack was make by the Christians in every part--by the ramparts,
by the gate,
by the roofs and walls which connected the castle
with the town.

The Moors fought valiantly in their streets,
from their windows,
and from the tops of their houses.

They were not equal
to the Christians in bodily strength,
for they were
for the most part peaceful men,
of industrious callings,
and enervated by the frequent use of the warm bath;
but they were superior in number and unconquerable in spirit;
old and young,
strong and weak,
fought
with the same desperation.

The Moors fought
for property,
for liberty,
for life.

They fought at their thresholds and their hearths,
with the shrieks of their wives and children ringing in their ears,
and they fought in the hope that each moment would bring aid from Granada.

They regarded neither their own wounds nor the death of their companions,
but continued fighting until they fell,
and seemed as if,
when they could no longer contend,
they would block up the thresholds of their beloved homes
with their mangled bodies.

The Christians fought
for glory,
for revenge,
for the holy faith,
and
for the spoil of these wealthy infidels.

Success would place a rich town at their mercy;
failure would deliver them into the hands of the tyrant of Granada.

The contest raged from morning until night,
when the Moors began
to yield.

Retreating
to a large mosque near the walls,
they kept up so galling a fire from it
with lances,
crossbows,
and arquebuses that
for some time the Christians dared not approach.

Covering themselves,
at length,
with bucklers and mantelets*
to protect them from the deadly shower,
the latter made their way
to the mosque and set fire
to the doors.

When the smoke and flames rolled in upon them the Moors gave up all as lost.

Many rushed forth desperately upon the enemy,
but were immediately slain;
the rest surrendered themselves captives.

*Mantelet--a movable parapet,
made of thick planks,
to protect troops when advancing
to sap or assault a walled place.

The struggle was now at an end:

the town remained at the mercy of the Christians;
and the inhabitants,
both male and female,
became the slaves of those who made them prisoners.

Some few escaped by a mine or subterranean way which led
to the river,
and concealed themselves,
their wives and children,
in caves and secret places,
but in three or four days were compelled
to surrender themselves through hunger.

The town was given up
to plunder,
and the booty was immense.

There were found prodigious quantities of gold and silver,
and jewels and rich silks and costly stuffs of all kinds,
together
with horses and beeves,
and abundance of grain and oil and honey,
and all other productions of this fruitful kingdom;
for in Alhama were collected the royal rents and tributes of the surrounding country:

it was the richest town in the Moorish territory,
and from its great strength and its peculiar situation was called the key
to Granada.

Great waste and devastation were committed by the Spanish soldiery;
for,
thinking it would be impossible
to keep possession of the place,
they began
to destroy whatever they could not take away.

Immense jars of oil were broken,
costly furniture shattered
to pieces,
and magazines of grain broken open and their contents scattered
to the winds.

Many Christian captives who had been taken at Zahara were found buried in a Moorish dungeon,
and were triumphantly restored
to light and liberty;
and a renegado Spaniard,
who had often served as guide
to the Moors in their incursions into the Christian territories,
was hanged on the highest part of the battlements
for the edification of the army.

CHAPTER VI.

HOW THE PEOPLE OF GRANADA WERE AFFECTED ON HEARING OF THE CAPTURE OF ALHAMA,
AND HOW THE MOORISH KING SALLIED FORTH
to REGAIN IT.

A moorish horseman had spurred across the Vega,
nor reined his panting steed until he alighted at the gate of the Alhambra.

He brought tidings
to Muley Abul Hassan of the attack upon Alhama.

"The Christians,"
said he,
"are in the land.

They came upon us,
we know not whence or how,
and scaled the walls of the castle in the night.

There have been dreadful fighting and carnage in its towers and courts;
and when I spurred my steed from the gate of Alhama the castle was in possession of the unbelievers."

Muley Abul Hassan felt
for a moment as if swift retribution had come upon him
for the woes he had inflicted upon Zahara.

Still,
he flattered himself that this had only been some transient inroad of a party of marauders intent upon plunder,
and that a little succor thrown into the town would be sufficient
to expel them from the castle and drive them from the land.

He ordered out,
therefore,
a thousand of his chosen cavalry,
and sent them in all speed
to the assistance of Alhama.

They arrived before its walls the morning after its capture:

the Christian standards floated upon its towers,
and a body of cavalry poured forth from its gates and came wheeling down into the plain
to receive them.

The Moorish horsemen turned the reins of their steeds and galloped back
for Granada.

They entered its gates in tumultuous confusion,
spreading terror and lamentation by their tidings.

"Alhama is fallen! Alhama is fallen!"
exclaimed they;
"the Christians garrison its walls;
the key of Granada is in the hands of the enemy!"
When the people heard these words they remembered the denunciation of the santon.

His prediction seemed still
to resound in every ear,
and its fulfilment
to be at hand.

Nothing was heard throughout the city but sighs and wailings.

"Woe is me,
Alhama!"
was in every mouth;
and this ejaculation of deep sorrow and doleful foreboding came
to be the burden of a plaintive ballad which remains until the present day.* *The mournful little Spanish romance of
"Ay de mi Alhama!"
is supposed
to be of Moorish origin,
and
to embody the grief of the people of Granada on this occasion.

Many aged men,
who had taken refuge in Granada from other Moorish dominions which had fallen into the power of the Christians,
now groaned in despair at the thoughts that war was
to follow them into this last retreat,
to lay waste this pleasant land,
and
to bring trouble and sorrow upon their declining years.

The women were more loud and vehement in their grief,
for they beheld the evils impending over their children,
and what can restrain the agony of a mother's heart?

Many of them made their way through the halls of the Alhambra into the presence of the king,
weeping,
and wailing,
and tearing their hair.

"Accursed be the day,"
cried they,
"that thou hast lit the flame of war in our land! May the holy Prophet bear witness before Allah that we and our children are innocent of this act! Upon thy head,
and upon the heads of thy posterity,
until the end of the world,
rest the sin of the desolation of Zahara!* *Garibay,
lib.

40,
c.

29.

Muley Abul Hassan remained unmoved amidst all this storm;
his heart was hardened
(observes Fray Antonio Agapida)
like that of Pharaoh,
to the end that through his blind violence and rage he might produce the deliverance of the land from its heathen bondage.

In fact,
he was a bold and fearless warrior,
and trusted soon
to make this blow recoil upon the head of the enemy.

He had ascertained that the captors of Alhama were but a handful:

they were in the centre of his dominions,
within a short distance of his capital.

They were deficient in munitions of war and provisions
for sustaining a siege.

By a rapid movement he might surround them
with a powerful army,
cut off all aid from their countrymen,
and entrap them in the fortress they had taken.

To think was
to act
with Muley Abul Hassan,
but he was prone
to act
with too much precipitation.

He immediately set forth in person
with three thousand horse and fifty thousand foot,
and in his eagerness
to arrive at the scene of action would not wait
to provide artillery and the various engines required in a siege.

"The multitude of my forces,"
said he,
confidently,
"will be sufficient
to overwhelm the enemy."

The marques of Cadiz,
who thus held possession of Alhama,
had a chosen friend and faithful companion-in-arms,
among the most distinguished of the Christian chivalry.

This was Don Alonso de Cordova,
senior and lord of the house of Aguilar,
and brother of Gonsalvo of Cordova,
afterward renowned as grand captain of Spain.

As yet,
Alonso de Aguilar was the glory of his name and race,
for his brother was but young in arMs. He was one of the most hardy,
valiant,
and enterprising of the Spanish knights,
and foremost in all service of a perilous and adventurous nature.

He had not been at hand
to accompany his friend Ponce de Leon,
marques of Cadiz,
in his inroad into the Moorish territory,
but he hastily assembled a number of retainers,
horse and foot,
and pressed forward
to join the enterprise.

Arriving at the river Yeguas,
he found the baggage of the army still upon its banks,
and took charge of it
to carry it
to Alhama.

The marques of Cadiz heard of the approach of his friend,
whose march was slow in consequence of being encumbered by the baggage.

He was within but a few leagues of Alhama when scouts came hurrying into the place
with intelligence that the Moorish king was at hand
with a powerful army.

The marques of Cadiz was filled
with alarm lest De Aguilar should fall into the hands of the enemy.

Forgetting his own danger and thinking only of that of his friend,
he despatched a well-mounted messenger
to ride full speed and warn him not
to approach.

The first determination of Alonso de Aguilar when he heard that the Moorish king was at hand was
to take a strong position in the mountains and await his coming.

The madness of an attempt
with his handful of men
to oppose an immense army was represented
to him
with such force as
to induce him
to abandon the idea;
he then thought of throwing himself into Alhama
to share the fortunes of his friend;
but it was now too late.

The Moor would infallibly intercept him,
and he should only give the marques the additional distress of beholding him captured beneath his walls.

It was even urged upon him that he had no time
for delay if he would consult his own safety,
which could only be ensured by an immediate retreat into the Christian territory.

This last opinion was confirmed by the return of scouts,
who brought information that Muley Abul Hassan had received notice of his movements,
and was rapidly advancing in quest of him.

It was
with infinite reluctance that Don Alonso de Aguilar yielded
to these united and powerful reasons.

Proudly and sullenly he drew off his forces,
laden
with the baggage of the army,
and made an unwilling retreat toward Antiquera.

Muley Abul Hassan pursued him
for some distance through the mountains,
but soon gave up the chase and turned
with his forces upon Alhama.

As the army approached the town they beheld the fields strewn
with the dead bodies of their countrymen,
who had fallen in defence of the place,
and had been cast forth and left unburied by the Christians.

There they lay,
mangled and exposed
to every indignity,
while droves of half-famished dogs were preying upon them and fighting and howling over their hideous repast.* Furious at the sight,
the Moors,
in the first transports of their rage,
attacked those ravenous animals:

their next measure was
to vent their fury upon the Christians.

They rushed like madmen
to the walls,
applied scaling-ladders in all parts without waiting
for the necessary mantelets and other protections-- thinking by attacking suddenly and at various points
to distract the enemy and overcome them by the force of numbers.

*Pulgar,
Cronica.

The marques of Cadiz,
with his confederate commanders,
distributed themselves along the walls
to direct and animate their men in the defence.

The Moors in their blind fury often assailed the most difficult and dangerous places.

Darts,
stones,
and all kinds of missiles were hurled down upon their defenceless heads.

As fast as they mounted they were cut down or dashed from the battlements,
their ladders overturned,
and all who were on them precipitated headlong below.

Muley Abul Hassan stormed
with passion at the sight:

he sent detachment after detachment
to scale the walls,
but in vain;
they were like waves rushing upon a rock,
only
to dash themselves
to pieces.

The Moors lay in heaps beneath the wall,
and among them many of the bravest cavaliers of Granada.

The Christians also sallied frequently from the gates,
and made great havoc in the irregular multitude of assailants.

Muley Abul Hassan now became sensible of his error in hurrying from Granada without the proper engines
for a siege.

Destitute of all means
to batter the fortifications,
the town remained uninjured,
defying the mighty army which raged and roamed before it.

Incensed at being thus foiled,
Muley Abul Hassan gave orders
to undermine the walls.

The Moors advanced
with shouts
to the attempt.

They were received
with a deadly fire from the ramparts,
which drove them from their works.

Repeatedly were they repulsed,
and repeatedly did they return
to the charge.

The Christians not merely galled them from the battlements,
but issued forth and cut them down in the excavations they were attempting
to form.

The contest lasted throughout a whole day,
and by evening two thousand Moors were either killed or wounded.

Muley Abul Hassan now abandoned all hope of carrying the place by assault,
and attempted
to distress it into terms by turning the channel of the river which runs by its walls.

On this stream the inhabitants depended
for their supply of water,
the place being destitute of fountains and cisterns,
from which circumstance it is called Alhama
"la seca,"
or
"the dry."

A desperate conflict ensued on the banks of the river,
the Moors endeavoring
to plant palisades in its bed
to divert the stream,
and the Christians striving
to prevent them.

The Spanish commanders exposed themselves
to the utmost danger
to animate their men,
who were repeatedly driven back into the town.

The marques of Cadiz was often up
to his knees in the stream fighting hand
to hand
with the Moors.

The water ran red
with blood,
and was encumbered
with dead bodies.

At length the overwhelming numbers of the Moors gave them the advantage,
and they succeeded in diverting the greater part of the water.

The Christians had
to struggle severely
to supply themselves from the feeble rill which remained.

They sallied
to the river by a subterraneous passage,
but the Moorish crossbowmen stationed themselves on the opposite bank,
keeping up a heavy fire upon the Christians whenever they attempted
to fill their vessels from the scanty and turbid stream.

One party of the Christians had,
therefore,
to fight while another drew water.

At all hours of the day and night this deadly strife was maintained,
until it seemed as if every drop of water were purchased
with a drop of blood.

In the mean time the sufferings of the town became intense.

None but the soldiery and their horses were allowed the precious beverage so dearly earned,
and even that in quantities that only tantalized their wants.

The wounded,
who could not sally
to procure it,
were almost destitute,
while the unhappy prisoners shut up in the mosques were reduced
to frightful extremities.

Many perished raving mad,
fancying themselves swimming in boundless seas,
yet unable
to assuage their thirst.

Many of the soldiers lay parched and panting along the battlements,
no longer able
to draw a bowstring or hurl a stone;
while above five thousand Moors,
stationed upon a rocky height which overlooked part of the town,
kept up a galling fire into it
with slings and crossbows,
so that the marques of Cadiz was obliged
to heighten the battlements by using the doors from the private dwellings.

The Christian cavaliers,
exposed
to this extreme peril and in imminent danger of falling into the hands of the enemy,
despatched fleet messengers
to Seville and Cordova,
entreating the chivalry of Andalusia
to hasten
to their aid.

They sent likewise,
imploring assistance from the king and queen,
who at that time held their court in Medina del Campo.

In the midst of their distress a tank or cistern of water was fortunately discovered in the city,
which gave temporary relief
to their sufferings.

CHAPTER VII.

HOW THE DUKE OF MEDINA SIDONIA AND THE CHIVALRY OF ANDALUSIA HASTENED
to THE RELIEF OF ALHAMA.

The perilous situation of the Christian cavaliers,
pent up and beleaguered within the walls of the Alhama,
spread terror among their friends and anxiety throughout all Andalusia.

Nothing,
however,
could equal the anguish of the marchioness of Cadiz,
the wife of the gallant Roderigo Ponce de Leon.

In her deep distress she looked round
for some powerful noble who had the means of rousing the country
to the assistance of her husband.

No one appeared more competent
for the purpose than Don Juan de Guzman,
the duke of Medina Sidonia.

He was one of the most wealthy and puissant grandees of Spain;
his possessions extended over some of the most fertile parts of Andalusia,
embracing towns and seaports and numerous villages.

Here he reigned in feudal state like a petty sovereign,
and could at any time bring into the field an immense force of vassals and retainers.

The duke of Medina Sidonia and the marques of Cadiz,
however,
were at this time deadly foes.

An hereditary feud existed between them,
which had often risen
to bloodshed and open war;
for as yet the fierce contests between the proud and puissant Spanish nobles had not been completely quelled by the power of the Crown,
and in this respect they exerted a right of sovereignty in leading their vassals against each other in open field.

The duke of Medina Sidonia would have appeared,
to many,
the very last person
to whom
to apply
for aid of the marques of Cadiz;
but the marchioness judged of him by the standard of her own high and generous mind.

She knew him
to be a gallant and courteous knight,
and had already experienced the magnanimity of his spirit,
having been relieved by him when besieged by the Moors in her husband's fortress of Arcos.

To the duke,
therefore,
she applied in this moment of sudden calamity,
imploring him
to furnish succor
to her husband.

The event showed how well noble spirits understand each other.

No sooner did the duke receive this appeal from the wife of his enemy than he generously forgot all feeling of animosity and determined
to go in person
to his succor.

He immediately despatched a courteous letter
to the marchioness,
assuring her that in consideration of the request of so honorable and estimable a lady,
and
to rescue from peril so valiant a cavalier as her husband,
whose loss would be great,
not only
to Spain,
but
to all Christendom,
he would forego the recollection of all past grievances,
and hasten
to his relief
with all the forces he could raise.

The duke wrote at the same time
to the alcaydes of his towns and fortresses,
ordering them
to join him forthwith at Seville
with all the forces they could spare from their garrisons.

He called on all the chivalry of Andalusia
to make a common cause in the rescue of those Christian cavaliers,
and he offered large pay
to all volunteers who would resort
to him
with horses,
armor,
and provisions.

Thus all who could be incited by honor,
religion,
patriotism,
or thirst of gain were induced
to hasten
to his standard,
and he took the field
with an army of five thousand horse and fifty thousand foot.* Many cavaliers of distinguished name accompanied him in this generous enterprise.

Among these was the redoubtable Alonso de Aguilar,
the chosen friend of the marques of Cadiz,
and
with him his younger brother,
Gonsalvo Fernandez de Cordova,
afterward renowned as the grand captain;
Don Roderigo Giron also,
master of the order of Calatrava,
together
with Martin Alonso de Montemayor and the marques de Villena,
esteemed the best lance in Spain.

It was a gallant and splendid army,
comprising the flower of Spanish chivalry,
and poured forth in brilliant array from the gates of Seville bearing the great standard of that ancient and renowned city.

*Cronica de los Duques de Medina Sidonia,
por Pedro de Medina,
MS. Ferdinand and Isabella were at Medina del Campo when tidings came of the capture of Alhama.

The king was at mass when he received the news,
and ordered
"Te Deum"
to be chanted
for this signal triumph of the holy faith.

When the first flush of triumph had subsided,
and the king learnt the imminent peril of the valorous Ponce de Leon and his companions,
and the great danger that this stronghold might again be wrested from their grasp,
he resolved
to hurry in person
to the scene of action.

So pressing appeared
to him the emergency that he barely gave himself time
to take a hasty repast while horses were providing,
and then departed at furious speed
for Andalusia,
leaving a request
for the queen
to follow him.* He was attended by Don Beltram de la Cueva,
duke of Albuquerque,
Don Inigo Lopez de Mendoza,
count of Tendilla,
and Don Pedro Mauriques,
count of Trevino,
with a few more cavaliers of prowess and distinction.

He travelled by forced journeys,
frequently changing his jaded horses,
being eager
to arrive in time
to take command of the Andalusian chivalry.

When he arrived within five leagues of Cordova the duke of Albuquerque remonstrated
with him upon entering
with such incautious haste into the enemies'
country.

He represented
to him that there were troops enough assembled
to succor Alhama,
and that it was not
for him
to venture his royal person in doing what could be done by his subjects,
especially as he had such valiant and experienced captains
to act
for him.

"Besides,
sire,"
added the duke,
"Your Majesty should bethink you that the troops about
to take the field are mere men of Andalusia,
whereas your illustrious predecessors never made an inroad into the territory of the Moors without being accompanied by a powerful force of the stanch and iron warriors of Old Castile."

*Illescas,
Hist.

Pontifical.

"Duke,"
replied the king,
"your counsel might have been good had I not departed from Medina
with the avowed determination of succoring these cavaliers in person.

I am now near the end of my journey,
and it would be beneath my dignity
to change my intention before even I had met
with an impediment.

I shall take the troops of this country who are assembled,
without waiting
for those of Castile,
and
with the aid of God shall prosecute my journey."

* *Pulgar,
Cronica,
p.

3,
cap.

3.

As King Ferdinand approached Cordova the principal inhabitants came forth
to receive him.

Learning,
however,
that the duke of Medina Sidonia was already on the march and pressing forward into the territory of the Moors,
the king was all on fire
to overtake him and
to lead in person the succor
to Alhama.

Without entering Cordova,
therefore,
he exchanged his weary horses
for those of the inhabitants who had come forth
to meet him,
and pressed forward
for the army.

He despatched fleet couriers in advance,
requesting the duke of Medina Sidonia
to await his coming,
that he might take command of the forces.

Neither the duke nor his companions-in-arms,
however,
felt inclined
to pause in their generous expedition and gratify the inclinations of the king.

They sent back missives representing that they were far within the enemies'
frontier,
and it was dangerous either
to pause or turn back.

They had likewise received pressing entreaties from the besieged
to hasten their speed,
setting forth their great sufferings and their hourly peril of being overwhelmed by the enemy.

The king was at Ponton del Maestre when he received these missives.

So inflamed was he
with zeal
for the success of this enterprise that he would have penetrated into the kingdom of Granada
with the handful of cavaliers who accompanied him,
but they represented the rashness of such a journey through the mountainous defiles of a hostile country thickly beset
with towns and castles.

With some difficulty,
therefore,
he was dissuaded from his inclination,
and prevailed upon
to await tidings from the army in the frontier city of Antiquera.

CHAPTER VIII.

SEQUEL OF THE EVENTS AT ALHAMA.

While all Andalusia was thus in arms and pouring its chivalry through the mountain-passes of the Moorish frontiers,
the garrison of Alhama was reduced
to great extremity and in danger of sinking under its sufferings before the promised succor could arrive.

The intolerable thirst that prevailed in consequence of the scarcity of water,
the incessant watch that had
to be maintained over the vast force of enemies without and the great number of prisoners within,
and the wounds which almost every soldier had received in the incessant skirmishes and assaults,
had worn grievously both flesh and spirit.

The noble Ponce de Leon,
marques of Cadiz,
still animated the soldiery,
however,
by word and example,
sharing every hardship and being foremost in every danger,
exemplifying that a good commander is the vital spirit of an army.

When Muley Abul Hassan heard of the vast force that was approaching under the command of the duke of Medina Sidonia,
and that Ferdinand was coming in person
with additional troops,
he perceived that no time was
to be lost:

Alhama must be carried by one powerful attack or abandoned entirely
to the Christians.

A number of Moorish cavaliers,
some of the bravest youth of Granada,
knowing the wishes of the king,
proposed
to undertake a desperate enterprise which,
if successful,
must put Alhama in his power.

Early one morning,
when it was scarcely the gray of the dawn,
about the time of changing the watch,
these cavaliers approached the town at a place considered inaccessible from the steepness of the rocks on which the wall was founded,
which,
it was supposed,
elevated the battlements beyond the reach of the longest scaling-ladder.

The Moorish knights,
aided by a number of the strongest and most active escaladors,
mounted these rocks and applied the ladders without being discovered,
for
to divert attention from them Muley Abul Hassan made a false attack upon the town in another quarter.

The scaling party mounted
with difficulty and in small numbers;
the sentinel was killed at his post,
and seventy of the Moors made their way into the streets before an alarm was given.

The guards rushed
to the walls
to stop the hostile throng that was still pouring in.

A sharp conflict,
hand
to hand and man
to man,
took place on the battlements,
and many on both sides fell.

The Moors,
whether wounded or slain,
were thrown headlong without the walls,
the scaling-ladders were overturned,
and those who were mounting were dashed upon the rocks,
and from thence tumbled upon the plain.

Thus in a little while the ramparts were cleared by Christian prowess,
led on by that valiant knight Don Alonzo Ponce,
the uncle,
and that brave esquire Pedro Pineda,
nephew,
of the marques of Cadiz.

The walls being cleared,
these two kindred cavaliers now hastened
with their forces in pursuit of the seventy Moors who had gained an entrance into the town.

The main party of the garrison being engaged at a distance resisting the feigned attack of the Moorish king,
this fierce band of infidels had ranged the streets almost without opposition,
and were making their way
to the gates
to throw them open
to the army.* They were chosen men from among the Moorish forces,
several of them gallant knights of the proudest families of Granada.

Their footsteps through the city were in a manner printed in blood,
and they were tracked by the bodies of those they had killed and wounded.

They had attained the gate;
most of the guard had fallen beneath their scimetars;
a moment more and Alhama would have been thrown open
to the enemy.

*Zurita,
lib.

20,
c.

43.

Just at this juncture Don Alonzo Ponce and Pedro de Pineda reached the spot
with their forces.

The Moors had the enemy in front and rear;
they placed themselves back
to back,
with their banner in the centre.

In this way they fought
with desperate and deadly determination,
making a rampart around them
with the slain.

More Christian troops arrived and hemmed them in,
but still they fought,
without asking
for quarter.

As their number decreased they serried their circle still closer,
defending their banner from assault,
and the last Moor died at his post grasping the standard of the Prophet.

This standard was displayed from the walls,
and the turbaned heads of the Moors were thrown down
to the besiegers.* *Pedro de Pineda received the honor of knighthood from the hand of King Ferdinand
for his valor on this occasion
(Alonzo Ponce was already knight.)--See Zuniga,
Annales of Seville,
lib.

12,
an.

1482.

Muley Abul Hassan tore his beard
with rage at the failure of this attempt and at the death of so many of his chosen cavaliers.

He saw that all further effort was in vain;
his scouts brought word that they had seen from the heights the long columns and flaunting banners of the Christian army approaching through the mountains.

To linger would be
to place himself between two bodies of the enemy.

Breaking up his camp,
therefore,
in all haste,
he gave up the siege of Alhama and hastened back
to Granada;
and the last clash of his cymbals scarce died upon the ear from the distant hills before the standard of the Duke of Medina Sidonia was seen emerging in another direction from the defiles of the mountains.

When the Christians in Alhama beheld their enemies retreating on one side and their friends advancing on the other,
they uttered shouts of joy and hymns of thanksgiving,
for it was as a sudden relief from present death.

Harassed by several weeks of incessant vigil and fighting,
suffering from scarcity of provisions and almost continual thirst,
they resembled skeletons rather than living men.

It was a noble and gracious spectacle--the meeting of those hitherto inveterate foes,
the duke of Medina Sidonia and the marques of Cadiz.

At sight of his magnanimous deliverer the marques melted into tears:

all past animosities only gave the greater poignancy
to present feelings of gratitude and admiration.

The late deadly rivals clasped each other in their arms,
and from that time forward were true and cordial friends.

While this generous scene took place between the commanders a sordid contest arose among their troops.

The soldiers who had come
to the rescue claimed a portion of the spoils of Alhama,
and so violent was the dispute that both parties seized their arMs. The duke of Medina Sidonia interfered,
and settled the question
with his characteristic magnanimity.

He declared that the spoil belonged
to those who had captured the city.

"We have taken the field,"
said he,
"only
for honor,
for religion,
and
for the rescue of our countrymen and fellow-Christians,
and the success of our enterprise is a sufficient and a glorious reward.

If we desire booty,
there are sufficient Moorish cities yet
to be taken
to enrich us all."

The soldiers were convinced by the frank and chivalrous reasoning of the duke;
they replied
to his speech by acclamations,
and the transient broil was happily appeased.

The marchioness of Cadiz,
with the forethought of a loving wife,
had despatched her major-domo
with the army
with a large supply of provisions.

Tables were immediately spread beneath the tents,
where the marques gave a banquet
to the duke and the cavaliers who had accompanied him,
and nothing but hilarity prevailed in this late scene of suffering and death.

A garrison of fresh troops was left in Alhama,
and the veterans who had so valiantly captured and maintained it returned
to their homes burdened
with precious booty.

The marques and duke,
with their confederate cavaliers,
repaired
to Antiquera,
where they were received
with great distinction by the king,
who honored the marques of Cadiz
with signal marks of favor.

The duke then accompanied his late enemy,
but now most zealous and grateful friend,
the marques of Cadiz,
to his town of Marchena,
where he received the reward of his generous conduct in the thanks and blessings of the marchioness.

The marques celebrated a sumptuous feast in honor of his guest;
for a day and night his palace was thrown open and was the scene of continual revel and festivity.

When the duke departed
for his estates at St. Lucar the marques attended him
for some distance on his journey,
and when they separated it was as the parting scene of brothers.

Such was the noble spectacle exhibited
to the chivalry of Spain by these two illustrious rivals.

Each reaped universal renown from the part he had performed in the campaign--the marques from having surprised and captured one of the most important and formidable fortresses of the kingdom of Granada,
and the duke from having subdued his deadliest foe by a great act of magnanimity.

CHAPTER IX.

EVENTS AT GRANADA,
AND RISE OF THE MOORISH KING,
BOABDIL EL CHICO.

The Moorish king,
Abul Hassan,
returned,
baffled and disappointed,
from before the walls of Alhama,
and was received
with groans and smothered execrations by the people of Granada.

The prediction of the santon was in every mouth,
and appeared
to be rap