CHAPTER II. How King Ferdinand laid siege to Velez Malaga.
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Hitherto, the events of this renowned war have
been little else than a succession of brilliant but brief
exploits, such as sudden forays and wild skirmishes
among the mountains, or the surprisals of castles,
fortresses, and frontier towns. We approach now
to more important and prolonged operations, in
which ancient and mighty cities, the bulwarks of
Granada, were invested by powerful armies, subdued
by slow and regular sieges, and thus the capital left
naked and alone.
The glorious triumphs of the Catholic sovereigns
(says Fray Antonio Agapida) had resounded throughout
the east, and filled all heathenesse with alarm.
The Grand-Turk Bajazet II. and his deadly foe the
grand soldan of Egypt, suspending for a time their
bloody feuds, entered into a league to protect the
religion of Mahomet and the kingdom of Granada
from the hostilities of the christians. It was concerted
between them, that Bajazet should send a powerful
armada against the island of Sicily, then appertaining
to the Spanish crown, for the purpose of
distracting the attention of the Castilian sovereigns;
while, at the same time, great bodies of troops should
be poured into Granada, from the opposite coast of
Africa.
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Ferdinand and Isabella received timely intelligence
of these designs. They resolved at once to carry the
war into the seaboard of Granada, to possess themselves
of its ports, and thus, as it were, to bar the
gates of the kingdom against all external aid. Malaga
was to be the main object of attack: it was the
principal sea-port of the kingdom, and almost necessary
to its existence. It had long been the seat of
opulent commerce, sending many ships to the coasts
of Syria and Egypt. It was also the great channel
of communication with Africa, through which were
introduced supplies of money, troops, arms, and
steeds, from Tunis, Tripoli, Fez, Tremezan, and
other Barbary powers. It was emphatically called,
therefore, “the hand and mouth of Granada.” Before
laying siege to this redoubtable city, however,
it was deemed necessary to secure the neighboring
city of Velez Malaga and its dependent places, which
might otherwise harass the besieging army.
For this important campaign, the nobles of the
kingdom were again summoned to take the field with
their forces, in the spring of 1487. The menaced
invasion of the infidel powers of the east, had
awakened new ardor in the bosoms of all true christian
knights; and so zealously did they respond to
the summons of the sovereigns, that an army of
twenty thousand cavalry and fifty thousand foot, the
flower of Spanish warriors, led by the bravest of
Spanish cavaliers, thronged the renowned city of
Cordova, at the appointed time.
On the night before this mighty host set forth
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upon its march, an earthquake shook the city. The
inhabitants, awakened by the shaking of the walls
and rocking of the towers, fled to the courts and
squares, fearing to be overwhelmed by the ruins of
their dwellings. The earthquake was most violent
in the quarter of the royal residence, the site of the
ancient palace of the Moorish kings. Many looked
upon this as an omen of some impending evil; but
Fray Antonio Agapida, in that infallible spirit of
divination which succeeds an event, plainly reads in
it a presage that the empire of the Moors was about
to be shaken to its centre.
It was on Saturday, the eve of the Sunday of
Palms, (says a worthy and loyal chronicler of the
time,) that the most Catholic monarch departed with
his army, to render service to Heaven, and make war
upon the Moors.[2] Heavy rains had swelled all the
streams, and rendered the roads deep and difficult.
The king, therefore, divided his host into two bodies.
In one he put all the artillery, guarded by a strong
body of horse, and commanded by the Master of
Alcantara and Martin Alonzo, Senior of Montemayor.
This division was to proceed by the road
through the valleys, where pasturage abounded for
the oxen which drew the ordnance.
The main body of the army was led by the king
in person. It was divided into numerous battalions,
each commanded by some distinguished cavalier.
The king took the rough and perilous road of the
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mountains, and few mountains are more rugged and
difficult than those of Andalusia. The roads are
mere mule-paths, straggling amidst rocks and along
the verge of precipices, clambering vast craggy
heights, or descending into frightful chasms and
ravines, with scanty and uncertain foothold for either
man or steed. Four thousand pioneers were sent in
advance, under the alcayde de los Donzeles, to conquer,
in some degree, the asperities of the road.
Some had pickaxes and crowbars to break the rocks,
others had implements to construct bridges over the
mountain torrents, while it was the duty of others to
lay stepping-stones in the smaller streams. As the
country was inhabited by fierce Moorish mountaineers,
Don Diego de Castrillo was dispatched, with a
body of horse and foot, to take possession of the
heights and passes. Notwithstanding every precaution,
the royal army suffered excessively on its march.
At one time, there was no place to encamp, for five
leagues of the most toilsome and mountainous country;
and many of the beasts of burden sunk down,
and perished on the road.
It was with the greatest joy, therefore, that the
royal army emerged from these stern and frightful
defiles, and came to where they looked down upon
the vega of Velez Malaga. The region before them
was one of the most delectable to the eye, that ever
was ravaged by an army. Sheltered from every rude
blast by a screen of mountains, and sloping and expanding
to the south, this lovely valley was quickened
by the most generous sunshine, watered by the
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silver meanderings of the Velez, and refreshed by
cooling breezes from the Mediterranean. The sloping
hills were covered with vineyards and olivetrees;
the distant fields waved with grain, or were
verdant with pasturage; while around the city were
delightful gardens, the favorite retreats of the Moors,
where their white pavilions gleamed among groves
of oranges, citrons and pomegranates, and were surmounted
by stately palms—those plants of southern
growth, bespeaking a generous climate and a cloudless
sky.
In the upper part of this delightful valley, the city
of Velez Malaga reared its warrior battlements in
stern contrast to the landscape. It was built on the
declivity of a steep and insulated hill, and strongly
fortified by walls and towers. The crest of the hill
rose high above the town, into a mere crag, inaccessible
on every other side, and crowned by a powerful
castle, which domineered over the surrounding country.
Two suburbs swept down into the valley, from
the skirts of the town, and were defended by bulwarks
and deep ditches. The vast ranges of gray
mountains, often capped with clouds, which rose to
the north, were inhabited by a hardy and warlike
race, whose strong fortresses of Comares, Camillas,
Competa, and Benemarhorga, frowned down from
cragged heights.
At the time that the christian host arrived in sight
of this valley, a squadron was hovering on the
smooth sea before it, displaying the banner of Castile.
This was commanded by the count of
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Trevento, and consisted of four armed galleys, conveying
a number of caravels, laden with supplies for
the army.
After surveying the ground, king Ferdinand encamped
on the side of a mountain which advanced
close to the city, and which was the last of a rugged
sierra, or chain of heights, that extended quite to
Granada. On the summit of this mountain, and
overlooking the camp, was a Moorish town, powerfully
fortified, called Bentomiz, and which, from its
vicinity, had been considered capable of yielding
great assistance to Velez Malaga. Several of the
generals remonstrated with the king, for choosing a
post so exposed to assaults from the mountaineers.
Ferdinand replied, that he should thus cut off all communication
between the town and the city; and that
as to the danger, his soldiers must keep the more
vigilant guard against surprise.
King Ferdinand rode forth, attended by several
cavaliers and a small number of cuirassiers, appointing
the various stations of the camp. While a body
of foot-soldiers were taking possession, as an advanced
guard, of an important height which overlooked
the city, the king retired to a tent to take
refreshment. While at table, he was startled by a
sudden uproar, and, looking forth, beheld his soldiers
flying before a superior force of the enemy. The king
had on no other armor but a cuirass; seizing a lance,
however, he sprang upon his horse and galloped to
protect the fugitives, followed by his handful of
knights and cuirassiers. When the Spaniards saw
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the king hastening to their aid, they turned upon
their pursuers. Ferdinand, in his eagerness, threw
himself into the midst of the foe. One of his
grooms was killed beside him; but, before the Moor
who slew him could escape, the king transfixed him
with his lance. He then sought to draw his sword,
which hung at his saddle-bow—but in vain. Never
had he been exposed to such peril;—he was surrounded
by the enemy, without a weapon wherewith
to defend himself.
In this moment of awful jeopardy, the marques of
Cadiz, the count de Cabra, the adelantado of Murcia,
with two other cavaliers, named Garcilasso de
la Vega and Diego de Atayde, came galloping to the
scene of action, and, surrounding the king, made a
loyal rampart of their bodies against the assaults of
the Moors. The horse of the marques was pierced
by an arrow, and that worthy cavalier exposed to
imminent danger; but, with the aid of his valorous
companions, he quickly put the enemy to flight, and
pursued them, with slaughter, to the very gates of
the city.
When those loyal warriors returned from the pursuit,
they remonstrated with the king for exposing
his life in personal conflict, seeing that he had so
many valiant captains whose business it was to fight.
They reminded him that the life of a prince was the
life of his people, and that many a brave army was
lost by the loss of its commander. They enacted
him, therefore, in future, to protect them with the
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force of his mind in the cabinet, rather than of his
arm in the field.
Ferdinand acknowledged the wisdom of their advice,
but declared that he could not see his people in
peril without venturing his person to assist them:—
a reply (says the old chroniclers) which delighted
the whole army, inasmuch as they saw that he not
only governed them as a good king, but protected
them as a valiant captain. Ferdinand, however, was
conscious of the extreme peril to which he had been
exposed, and made a vow never again to venture into
battle without having his sword girt to his side.[3]
When this achievement of the king was related to
Isabella, she trembled amidst her joy at his safety;
and afterwards, in memorial of the event, she granted
to Velez Malaga, as the arms of the city, the figure
of the king on horseback, with a groom lying dead
at his feet, and the Moors flying.†
The camp was formed, but the artillery was yet
on the road, advancing with infinite labor, at the
rate of merely a league a day; for heavy rains had
converted the streams of the valleys into raging
torrents, and completely broken up the roads. In
the mean time, king Ferdinand ordered an assault on
the suburbs of the city. They were carried, after a
sanguinary conflict of six hours, in which many
christian cavaliers were killed and wounded, and,
among the latter, Don Alvaro of Portugal, son of the
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duke of Braganza. The suburbs were then fortified
towards the city, with trenches and palisades, and
garrisoned by a chosen force, under Don Fadrique
de Toledo. Other trenches were digged round the
city, and from the suburbs to the royal camp, so as
to cut off all communication with the surrounding
country.
Bodies of troops were also sent to take possession
of the mountain passes, by which the supplies for
the army had to be brought. The mountains, however,
were so steep and rugged, and so full of defiles
and lurking-places, that the Moors could sally forth
and retreat in perfect security; frequently swooping
down upon christian convoys, and bearing off both
booty and prisoners to their strong-holds. Sometimes
the Moors would light fires at night, on the sides of
the mountains, which would be answered by fires
from the watch-towers and fortresses. By these
signals, they would concert assaults upon the christian
camp, which, in consequence, was obliged to be
continually on the alert, and ready to fly to arms.
King Ferdinand flattered himself that the manifestation
of his force had struck sufficient terror into
the city, and that by offers of clemency it might be
induced to capitulate. He wrote a letter, therefore,
to the commanders, promising, in case of immediate
surrender, that all the inhabitants should be permitted
to depart with their effects; but threatening them
with fire and sword, if they persisted in defence.
This letter was dispatched by a cavalier named
Carvagal, who, putting it on the end of a lance gave
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it to the Moors who were on the walls of the city.
The commanders replied, that the king was too noble
and magnanimous to put such a threat in execution,
and that they should not surrender, as they knew the
artillery could not be brought to the camp, and they
were promised succor by the king of Granada.
At the same time that he received this reply, the
king learnt that at the strong town of Comares, upon
a height about two leagues distant from the camp, a
large number of warriors had assembled from the
Axarquia, the same mountains in which the christian
cavaliers had been massacred in the beginning
of the war; others were daily expected, for this
rugged sierra was capable of furnishing fifteen thousand
fighting men.
King Ferdinand felt that his army, thus disjointed,
and inclosed in an enemy's country, was in a perilous
situation, and that the utmost discipline and vigilance
were necessary. He put the camp under the
strictest regulations, forbidding all gaming, blasphemy,
or brawl, and expelling all loose women and
their attendant bully ruffians, the usual fomenters of
riot and contention among soldiery. He ordered
that none should sally forth to skirmish, without permission
from their commanders; that none should
set fire to the woods on the neighboring mountains;
and that all word of security given to Moorish places
or individuals, should be inviolably observed. These
regulations were enforced by severe penalties, and
had such salutary effect, that, though a vast host of
various people was collected together, not an
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opprobrious epithet was heard, nor a weapon drawn in
quarrel.
In the mean time, the cloud of war went on,
gathering about the summits of the mountains; multitudes
of the fierce warriors of the sierra descended
to the lower heights of Bentomiz, which overhung
the camp, intending to force their way to the city.
A detachment was sent against them, which, after
sharp fighting, drove them to the higher cliffs of the
mountain, where it was impossible to pursue them.
Ten days had elapsed since the encampment of
the army, yet still the artillery had not arrived. The
lombards and other heavy ordnance were left in
despair, at Antiquera; the rest came groaning slowly
through the narrow valleys, which were filled with
long trains of artillery, and cars laden with munitions.
At length part of the smaller ordnance arrived within
half a league of the camp, and the christians were
animated with the hopes of soon being able to make
a regular attack upon the fortifications of the city.
eaf218v2.n2[2] Pulgar. Cronica de los Reyes Catholicos.
eaf218v2.n3[3] Illescas, Hist. Pontif. lib. 6. c. 20. Wedmar, Hist. Velez Malaga.
eaf218v2.dag1† Idem.
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CHAPTER III. How King Ferdinand and his army were exposed to imminent peril, before Velez Malaga.
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While the standard of the cross waved on the
hills before Velez Malaga, and every height and cliff
bristled with hostile arms, the civil war between the
factions of the Alhambra and the Albaycin, or rather
between El Zagal and El Chico, continued to convulse
the city of Granada. The tidings of the investment
of Velez Malaga at length roused the attention
of the old men and the alfaquis, whose heads were
not heated by the daily broils. They spread themselves
through the city, and endeavored to arouse
the people to a sense of their common danger.
“Why,” said they, “continue these brawls between
brethren and kindred? what battles are these,
where even triumph is ignominious, and the victor
blushes and conceals his scars? Behold the christians
ravaging the land won by the valor and blood of
your forefathers; dwelling in the houses they have
built, sitting under the trees they have planted, while
your brethren wander about, houseless and desolate.
Do you wish to seek your real foe?—he is encamped
on the mountain of Bentomiz. Do you want a field
for the display of your valor?—you will find it before
the walls of Velez Malaga.”
When they had roused the spirit of the people,
they made their way to the rival kings, and
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addressed them with like remonstrances. Hamet Aben
Zarrax, the inspired santon, reproached El Zagal
with his blind and senseless ambition: “You are
striving to be king,” said he, bitterly, “yet suffer the
kingdom to be lost!”
El Zagal found himself in a perplexing dilemma.
He had a double war to wage,—with the enemy
without, and the enemy within. Should the christians
gain possession of the sea-coast, it would be
ruinous to the kingdom; should he leave Granada
to oppose them, his vacant throne might be seized
on by his nephew. He made a merit of necessity,
and, pretending to yield to the remonstrances of the
alfaquis, endeavored to compromise with Boabdil.
He expressed deep concern at the daily losses of the
country, caused by the dissensions of the capital; an
opportunity now presented to retrieve all by a blow.
The christians had in a manner put themselves in a
tomb between the mountains—nothing remained but
to throw the earth upon them. He offered to resign
the title of king, to submit to the government of his
nephew, and fight under his standard; all he desired
was to hasten to the relief of Velez Malaga, and to
take full vengeance on the christians.
Boabdil spurned his proposition, as the artifice of
a hypocrite and a traitor. “How shall I trust a
man,” said he, “who has murdered my father and
my kindred by treachery, and has repeatedly sought
my own life, both by violence and stratagem?”
El Zagal boiled with rage and vexation—but there
was no time to be lost. He was beset by the alfaquis
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and the nobles of his court; the youthful cavaliers
were hot for action, the common people loud in their
complaints that the richest cities were abandoned to
the mercy of the enemy. The old warrior was
naturally fond of fighting; he saw also that to remain
inactive would endanger both crown and kingdom,
whereas a successful blow would secure his popularity
in Granada. He had a much more powerful
force than his nephew, having lately received reinforcements
from Baza, Guadix, and Almeria; he
could march with a large force, therefore, to the relief
of Velez Malaga, and yet leave a strong garrison
in the Alhambra. He took his measures accordingly,
and departed suddenly in the night, at the head of
one thousand horse and twenty thousand foot. He
took the most unfrequented roads, along the chain
of mountains extending from Granada to the height
of Bentomiz, and proceeded with such rapidity, as
to arrive there before king Ferdinand had notice of
his approach.
The christians were alarmed one evening by the
sudden blazing of great fires on the mountains about
the fortress of Bentomiz. By the ruddy light, they
beheld the flash of weapons and the array of troops,
and they heard the distant sound of Moorish drums
and trumpets. The fires of Bentomiz were answered
by fires on the towers of Velez Malaga. The shouts
of “El Zagal! El Zagal!” echoed along the cliffs,
and resounded from the city; and the christians
found that the old warrior king of Granada was on
the mountain above their camp.
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The spirits of the Moors were suddenly raised to
a pitch of the greatest exultation, while the christians
were astonished to see this storm of war ready to
burst upon their heads. The count de Cabra, with
his accustomed eagerness when there was a king in
the field, would fain have scaled the heights, and
attacked El Zagal before he had time to form his
camp; but Ferdinand, who was more cool and wary,
restrained him. To attack the height, would be to
abandon the siege. He ordered every one, therefore,
to keep vigilant watch at his post, and to stand
ready to defend it to the utmost, but on no account
to sally forth and attack the enemy.
All night the signal-fires kept blazing along the
mountains, rousing and animating the whole country.
The morning sun rose over the lofty summit of Bentomiz
on a scene of martial splendor. As its rays
glanced down the mountain, they lighted up the
white tents of the christian cavaliers, cresting its
lower prominences, their pennons and ensigns fluttering
in the morning breeze. The sumptuous pavilions
of the king, with the holy standard of the
cross and the royal banners of Castile and Arragon,
dominated the encampment. Beyond lay the city,
its lofty castle and numerous towers glistening with
arms; while above all, and just on the profile of the
height, in the full blaze of the rising sun, were descried
the tents of the Moor, his turbaned troops
clustering about them, and his infidel banners floating
against the sky. Columns of smoke rose where
the night-fires had blazed, and the clash of the
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Moorish cymbal, the bray of trumpet, and the neigh of
steed, were faintly heard from the airy heights. So
pure and transparent is the atmosphere in this region,
that every object can be distinctly seen at a great
distance; and the christians were able to behold the
formidable hosts of foes that were gathering on the
summits of the surrounding mountains.
One of the first measures of the Moorish king, was
to detach a large force, under Rodovan de Vanegas,
alcayde of Granada, to fall upon the convoy of ordnance,
which stretched, for a great distance, through
the mountain defiles. Ferdinand had anticipated
this attempt, and sent the commander of Leon, with
a body of horse and foot, to reinforce the Master
of Alcantara. El Zagal, from his mountain height,
beheld the detachment issue from the camp, and
immediately recalled Rodovan de Vanegas. The
armies now remained quiet for a time, the Moor
looking grimly down upon the christian camp, like a
tiger meditating a bound upon his prey. The christians
were in fearful jeopardy—a hostile city below
them, a powerful army above them, and on every
side mountains filled with implacable foes.
After El Zagal had maturely considered the situation
of the christian camp, and informed himself of
all the passes of the mountain, he conceived a plan
to surprise the enemy, which he flattered himself
would insure their ruin, and perhaps the capture of
king Ferdinand. He wrote a letter to the alcayde
of the city, commanding him, in the dead of the night,
on a signal-fire being made from the mountain, to
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sally forth with all his troops, and fall furiously upon
the christian camp. The king would, at the same
time, rush down with his army from the mountain,
and assail it on the opposite side; thus overwhelming
it, at the hour of deep repose. This letter he
dispatched by a renegado christian, who knew all
the secret roads of the country, and, if taken, could
pass himself for a christian who had escaped from
captivity.
The fierce El Zagal, confident in his stratagem,
looked down upon the christians as his devoted victims.
As the sun went down, and the long shadows
of the mountains stretched across the vega, he pointed
with exultation to the camp below, apparently unconscious
of the impending danger. “Alla Acbar!”
exclaimed he, “God is great! Behold the unbelievers
are delivered into our hands; their king and choicest
chivalry will soon be at our mercy. Now is the
time to show the courage of men, and, by one glorious
victory, retrieve all that we have lost. Happy
he who falls fighting in the cause of the Prophet! he
will at once be transported to the paradise of the
faithful, and surrounded by immortal houris. Happy
he who shall survive victorious! he will behold
Granada,—an earthly paradise!—once more delivered
from its foes, and restored to all its glory.” The
words of El Zagal were received with acclamations
by his troops, who waited impatiently for the appointed
hour, to pour down from their mountain-hold
upon the christians.
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CHAPTER IV. Result of the stratagem of El Zagal to surprise King Ferdinand.
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Queen Isabella and her court had remained at
Cordova, in great anxiety for the result of the royal
expedition. Every day brought tidings of the difficulties
which attended the transportation of the ordnance
and munitions, and of the critical state of the
army.
While in this state of anxious suspense, couriers
arrived with all speed from the frontiers, bringing
tidings of the sudden sally of El Zagal from Granada,
to surprise the camp. All Cordova was in consternation.
The destruction of the Andalusian chivalry,
among the mountains of this very neighborhood, was
called to mind; it was feared that similar ruin was
about to burst forth, from rocks and precipices, upon
Ferdinand and his army.
Queen Isabella shared in the public alarm, but it
served to rouse all the energies of her heroic mind.
Instead of uttering idle apprehensions, she sought
only how to avert the danger. She called upon all
the men of Andalusia, under the age of seventy, to
arm and hasten to the relief of their sovereign; and
she prepared to set out with the first levies. The
grand cardinal of Spain, old Pedro Gonzalez de
Mendoza, in whom the piety of the saint and the
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wisdom of the counsellor were mingled with the fire
of the cavalier, offered high pay to all horsemen who
would follow him to aid their king and the christian
cause; and, buckling on armor, prepared to lead
them to the scene of danger.
The summons of the queen roused the quick Andalusian
spirit. Warriors who had long since given
up fighting, and had sent their sons to battle, now
seized the sword and lance that were rusting on the
wall, and marshalled forth their gray-headed domestics
and their grandchildren for the field. The great
dread was, that all aid would arrive too late: El
Zagal and his host had passed like a storm through
the mountains, and it was feared the tempest had
already burst upon the christian camp.
In the mean time, the night had closed which had
been appointed by El Zagal for the execution of his
plan. He had watched the last light of day expire,
and all the Spanish camp remained tranquil. As the
hours wore away, the camp-fires were gradually
extinguished. No drum or trumpet sounded from
below. Nothing was heard, but now and then the
dull heavy tread of troops, or the echoing tramp
of horses—the usual patrols of the camp, and the
changes of the guards. El Zagal restrained his own
impatience, and that of his troops, until the night
should be advanced, and the camp sunk in that
heavy sleep from which men are with difficulty
awakened; and, when awakened, so prone to be
bewildered and dismayed.
At length, the appointed hour arrived. By order
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of the Moorish king, a bright flame sprung up from
the height of Bentomiz; but El Zagal looked in vain
for the responding light from the city. His impatience
would brook no longer delay; he ordered the
advance of the army, to descend the mountain defile
and attack the camp. The defile was narrow, and
overhung by rocks: as the troops proceeded, they
came suddenly, in a shadowy hollow, upon a dark
mass of christian warriors. A loud shout burst forth,
and the christians rushed to assail them; the Moors,
surprised and disconcerted, retreated in confusion to
the height. When El Zagal heard there was a christian
force posted in the defile, he doubted some
counter-plan of the enemy. He gave orders to light
the mountain fires. On a signal given, bright flames
sprung out on every height, from great pyres of
wood, prepared for the purpose: cliff blazed out
after cliff, until the whole atmosphere was in a glow
of furnace light. The ruddy glare lit up the glens
and passes of the mountain, and fell strongly upon
the christian camp, revealing all its tents and every
post and bulwark. Wherever El Zagal turned his
eyes, he beheld the light of his fires flashed back
from cuirass, and helm, and sparkling lance; he beheld
a grove of spears planted in every pass, every
assailable point bristling with arms, and squadrons
of horse and foot in battle array, awaiting his attack.
In fact, the letter of El Zagal to the alcayde of
Velez Malaga had been intercepted by the vigilant
Ferdinand; the renegado messenger hanged; and
secret measures taken, after the night had closed in,
-- 032 --
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to give the enemy a warm reception. El Zagal saw
that his plan of surprise was discovered and foiled;
furious with disappointment, he ordered his troops
forward to the attack. They rushed down the defile,
but were again encountered by the mass of
christian warriors, being the advance guard of the
army, commanded by Don Hurtado de Mendoza,
brother of the grand cardinal. The Moors were
again repulsed, and retreated up the height. Don
Hurtado would have followed them, but the ascent
was steep and rugged, and easily defended by the
Moors. A sharp action was kept up, through the
night, with cross-bows, darts, and arquebusses. The
cliffs echoed with deafening uproar, while the fires
blazing upon the mountains threw a lurid and uncertain
light upon the scene.
When the day dawned, and the Moors saw that
there was no co-operation from the city, they began
to slacken in their ardor: they beheld also every
pass of the mountain filled with christian troops, and
began to apprehend an assault in return. Just then
king Ferdinand sent the marques of Cadiz, with
horse and foot, to seize upon a height occupied by a
battalion of the enemy. The marques assailed the
Moors with his usual intrepidity, and soon put them
to flight. The others, who were above, seeing their
comrades flying, were seized with a sudden alarm:
they threw down their arms, and retreated. One of
those unaccountable panics, which now and then
seize upon great bodies of people, and to which the
light-spirited Moors were very prone, now spread
-- 033 --
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throughout the camp. They were terrified, they
knew not why, or at what. They threw away
swords, lances, breast-plates, cross-bows, every thing
that could burthen or impede their flight; and,
spreading themselves wildly over the mountains,
fled headlong down the defiles. They fled without
pursuers—from the glimpse of each other's arms,
from the sound of each other's footsteps. Rodovan
de Vanegas, the brave alcayde of Granada, alone
succeeded in collecting a body of the fugitives; he
made a circuit with them through the passes of the
mountain, and forcing his way across a weak part of
the christian lines, galloped towards Velez Malaga.
The rest of the Moorish host was completely scattered.
In vain did El Zagal and his knights attempt
to rally them; they were left almost alone, and had
to consult their own security by flight.
The marques of Cadiz, finding no opposition, ascended
from height to height, cautiously reconnoitring,
and fearful of some stratagem or ambush. All,
however, was quiet. He reached with his men the
place which the Moorish army had occupied: the
heights were abandoned, and strewed with cuirasses,
scimitars, cross-bows, and other weapons. His force
was too small to pursue the enemy, but returned to
the royal camp, laden with the spoils.
King Ferdinand, at first, could not credit so signal
and miraculous a defeat: he suspected some lurking
stratagem. He ordered, therefore, that a strict watch
should be maintained throughout the camp, and every
one be ready for instant action. The following night,
-- 034 --
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a thousand cavaliers and hidalgos kept guard about
the royal tent, as they had done for several preceding
nights; nor did the king relax this vigilance, until he
received certain intelligence that the enemy was
completely scattered, and El Zagal flying in confusion.
The tidings of this rout, and of the safety of the
christian army, arrived at Cordova just as reinforcements
were on the point of setting out. The anxiety
and alarm of the queen and the public, were turned
to transports of joy and gratitude. The forces were
disbanded, solemn processions were made, and te
deums chanted in the churches, for so signal a victory.
-- 035 -- p218-366
CHAPTER V. How the people of Granada rewarded the valor of El Zagal.
[figure description] Page 035.[end figure description]
The daring spirit of the old warrior, Muley Abdalla
El Zagal, in sallying forth to defend his territories,
while he left an armed rival in his capital,
had struck the people of Granada with admiration.
They recalled his former exploits, and again anticipated
some hardy achievement from his furious valor.
Couriers from the army reported its formidable position
on the height of Bentomiz. For a time, there
was a pause in the bloody commotions of the city;
all attention was turned to the blow about to be
struck at the christian camp. The same considerations
which diffused anxiety and terror through Cordova,
swelled every bosom with exulting confidence
in Granada. The Moors expected to hear of another
massacre, like that in the mountains of Malaga. “El
Zagal has again entrapped the enemy!” was the cry.
“The power of the unbelievers is about to be struck
to the heart. We shall soon see the christian king
led captive to the capital.” Thus the name of El
Zagal was on every tongue. He was extolled as the
savior of the country; the only one worthy of wearing
the Moorish crown. Boabdil was reviled as
basely remaining passive while his country was invaded;
and, so violent became the clamor of the
populace, that his adherents trembled for his safety.
-- 036 --
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While the people of Granada were impatiently
looking out for tidings of the anticipated victory,
scattered horsemen came spurring across the vega.
They were fugitives from the Moorish army, and
brought the first incoherent account of its defeat.
Every one who attempted to tell the tale of this unaccountable
panic and dispersion, was as if bewildered
by the broken recollection of some frightful
dream. He knew not how or why it came to pass.
He talked of a battle in the night, among rocks and
precipices, by the glare of bale-fires; of multitudes
of armed foes in every pass, seen by gleams and
flashes; of the sudden horror that seized upon the
army at daybreak; its headlong flight, and total dispersion.
Hour after hour, the arrival of other fugitives
confirmed the story of ruin and disgrace.
In proportion to their recent vaunting, was the
humiliation that now fell upon the people of Granada.
There was a universal burst, not of grief, but
indignation. They confounded the leader with the
army—the deserted, with those who had abandoned
him; and El Zagal, from being their idol, became
suddenly the object of their execration. He had
sacrificed the army; he had disgraced the nation;
he had betrayed the country. He was a dastard, a
traitor; he was unworthy to reign!
On a sudden, one among the multitude shouted,
“Long live Boabdil el Chico!” the cry was echoed
on all sides, and every one shouted, “Long live Boabdil
el Chico! long live the legitimate king of
Granada! and death to all usurpers!” In the
-- 037 --
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excitement of the moment, they thronged to the Albaycin;
and those who had lately besieged Boabdil
with arms, now surrounded his palace with acclamations.
The keys of the city, and of all the fortresses,
were laid at his feet; he was borne in state to the
Alhambra, and once more seated, with all due ceremony,
on the throne of his ancestors.
Boabdil had by this time become so accustomed
to be crowned and uncrowned by the multitude,
that he put no great faith in the duration of their
loyalty. He knew that he was surrounded by hollow
hearts, and that most of the courtiers of the Alhambra
were secretly devoted to his uncle. He ascended
the throne as the rightful sovereign, who had been
dispossessed of it by usurpation; and he ordered the
heads of four of the principal nobles to be struck off,
who had been most zealous in support of the usurper.
Executions of the kind were matters of course, on
any change in Moorish government; and Boabdil
was lauded for his moderation and humanity, in being
content with so small a sacrifice. The factions
were awed into obedience; the populace, delighted
with any change, extolled Boabdil to the skies; and
the name of Muley Abdalla El Zagal was for a time
a by-word of scorn and opprobrium, throughout the
city.
Never was any commander more astonished and
confounded by a sudden reverse of fortune, than El
Zagal. The evening had seen him with a powerful
army at his command, his enemy within his grasp,
and victory about to cover him with glory, and to
-- 038 --
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consolidate his power:—the morning beheld him a
fugitive among the mountains, his army, his prosperity,
his power, all dispelled, he knew not how—
gone like a dream of the night. In vain had he tried
to stem the headlong flight of the army. He saw his
squadrons breaking and dispersing among the cliffs
of the mountains, until, of all his host, only a handful
of cavaliers remained faithful to him. With these he
made a gloomy retreat towards Granada, but with a
heart full of foreboding. When he drew near to the
city, he paused on the banks of the Xenel, and sent
forth scouts to collect intelligence. They returned
with dejected countenances: “The gates of Granada,”
said they, “are closed against you. The banner
of Boabdil floats on the tower of the Alhambra.”
El Zagal turned his steed, and departed in silence.
He retreated to the town of Almunecar, and from
thence to Almeria, which places still remained faithful
to him. Restless and uneasy at being so distant
from the capital, he again changed his abode, and
repaired to the city of Guadix, within a few leagues
of Granada. Here he remained, endeavoring to
rally his forces, and preparing to avail himself of
any sudden change in the fluctuating politics of the
metropolis.
-- 039 -- p218-370
CHAPTER VI. Surrender of Velez Malaga and other places.
[figure description] Page 039.[end figure description]
The people of Velez Malaga had beheld the camp
of Muley Abdalla El Zagal, covering the summit of
Bentomiz, and glittering in the last rays of the setting
sun. During the night, they had been alarmed and
perplexed by signal-fires on the mountain, and by the
sound of distant battle. When the morning broke,
the Moorish army had vanished as if by enchantment.
While the inhabitants were lost in wonder and conjecture,
a body of cavalry, the fragment of the army
saved by Rodovan de Vanegas, the brave alcayde of
Granada, came galloping to the gates. The tidings
of the strange discomfiture of the host, filled the city
with consternation; but Rodovan exhorted the people
to continue their resistance. He was devoted to El
Zagal, and confident in his skill and prowess; and
felt assured that he would soon collect his scattered
forces, and return with fresh troops from Granada.
The people were comforted by the words, and encouraged
by the presence, of Rodovan; and they
had still a lingering hope that the heavy artillery of
the christians might be locked up in the impassable
defiles of the mountains. This hope was soon at an
end. The very next day, they beheld long laborious
lines of ordnance slowly moving into the Spanish
camp, lombards, ribadoquines, catapultas, and cars
-- 040 --
[figure description] Page 040.[end figure description]
laden with munitions,—while the escort, under the
brave Master of Alcantara, wheeled in great battalions
into the camp, to augment the force of the
besiegers.
The intelligence that Granada had shut its gates
against El Zagal, and that no reinforcements were
to be expected, completed the despair of the inhabitants;
even Rodovan himself lost confidence, and
advised capitulation.
The terms were arranged between the alcayde
and the noble count de Cifuentes; the latter had
been prisoner of Rodovan at Granada, who had
treated him with chivalrous courtesy. They had
conceived a mutual esteem for each other, and met
as ancient friends.
Ferdinand granted favorable conditions, for he
was eager to proceed against Malaga. The inhabitants
were permitted to depart with their effects,
except their arms, and to reside, if they chose it, in
Spain, in any place distant from the sea. One hundred
and twenty christians, of both sexes, were rescued
from captivity by the surrender of Velez Malaga,
and were sent to Cordova, where they were received
with great tenderness by the queen and her
daughter the Infanta Isabella, in the famous cathedral,
in the midst of public rejoicings for the victory.
The capture of Velez Malaga was followed by the
surrender of Bentomiz, Comares, and all the towns
and fortresses of the Axarquia, which were strongly
garrisoned, and discreet and valiant cavaliers appointed
as their alcaydes. The inhabitants of nearly forty
-- 041 --
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towns of the Alpaxarra mountains, also, sent deputations
to the Castilian sovereigns, taking the oath of
allegiance as Mudehares, or Moslem vassals.
About the same time came letters from Boabdil el
Chico, announcing to the sovereigns the revolution
of Granada in his favor. He solicited kindness and
protection for the inhabitants who had returned to
their allegiance, and for those of all other places
which should renounce adherence to his uncle. By
this means (he observed) the whole kingdom of Granada
would soon be induced to acknowledge his
sway, and would be held by him in faithful vassalage
to the Castilian crown.
The Catholic sovereigns complied with his request.
Protection was immediately extended to the inhabitants
of Granada, permitting them to cultivate their
fields in peace, and to trade with the christian territories
in all articles excepting arms; being provided
with letters of surety, from some christian captain or
alcayde. The same favor was promised to all other
places, which, within six months, should renounce
El Zagal and come under allegiance to the younger
king. Should they not do so within that time, the
sovereigns threatened to make war upon them, and
conquer them for themselves. This measure had a
great effect, in inducing many to return to the standard
of Boabdil.
Having made every necessary arrangement for the
government and security of the newly conquered
territory, Ferdinand turned his attention to the great
object of his campaign, the reduction of Malaga.
-- 042 -- p218-373
CHAPTER VII. Of the city of Malaga, and its inhabitants.
[figure description] Page 042.[end figure description]
The city of Malaga lies in the lap of a fertile valley,
surrounded by mountains, excepting on the part
which lies open to the sea. As it was one of the
most important, so it was one of the strongest, cities
of the Moorish kingdom. It was fortified by walls
of prodigious strength, studded with a great number
of huge towers. On the land side, it was protected
by a natural barrier of mountains; and on the other,
the waves of the Mediterranean beat against the
foundations of its massive bulwarks.
At one end of the city, near the sea, on a high
mound, stood the Alcazaba or citadel,—a fortress of
great strength. Immediately above this, rose a steep
and rocky mount, on the top of which, in old times,
had been a Pharo or light-house, from which the
height derived its name of Gibralfaro.[4] It was at
present crowned by an immense castle, which, from
its lofty and cragged situation, its vast walls and
mighty towers, was deemed impregnable. It communicated
with the Alcazaba by a covered way, six
paces broad, leading down between two walls, along
the profile or ridge of the rock. The castle of Gibralfaro
commanded both citadel and city, and was
-- 043 --
[figure description] Page 043.[end figure description]
capable, if both were taken, of maintaining a siege. Two
large suburbs adjoined the city: in the one towards
the sea, were the dwelling-houses of the most opulent
inhabitants, adorned with hanging gardens; the other,
on the land side, was thickly peopled, and surrounded
by strong walls and towers.
Malaga possessed a brave and numerous garrison,
and the common people were active, hardy, and
resolute; but the city was rich and commercial, and
under the habitual control of numerous opulent merchants,
who dreaded the ruinous consequences of a
siege. They were little zealous for the warlike renown
of their city, and longed rather to participate
in the enviable security of property, and the lucrative
privileges of safe traffic with the christian territories,
granted to all places which declared for Boabdil.
At the head of these gainful citizens was Ali Dordux,
a mighty merchant of uncounted wealth, whose ships
traded to every part of the Levant, and whose word
was as a law in Malaga. Ali Dordux assembled the
most opulent and important of his commercial brethren,
and they repaired in a body to the Alcazaba,
where they were received by the alcayde, Albozen
Connixa, with that deference generally shown to men
of their great local dignity and power of purse. Ali
Dordux was ample and stately in his form, and fluent
and emphatic in his discourse; his eloquence had an
effect therefore upon the alcayde, as he represented
the hopelessness of a defence of Malaga, the misery
that must attend a siege, and the ruin that must follow
a capture by force of arms. On the other hand,
-- 044 --
[figure description] Page 044.[end figure description]
he set forth the grace that might be obtained from
the Castilian sovereigns, by an early and voluntary
acknowledgment of Boabdil as king; the peaceful
possession of their property, and the profitable commerce
with the christian ports, that would be allowed
them. He was seconded by his weighty and important
coadjutors; and the alcayde, accustomed to
regard them as the arbiters of the affairs of the place,
yielded to their united counsels. He departed, therefore,
with all speed, to the christian camp, empowered
to arrange a capitulation with the Castilian monarch;
and in the mean time, his brother remained in
command of the Alcazaba.
There was at this time, as alcayde, in the old cragbuilt
castle of Gibralfaro, a warlike and fiery Moor,
an implacable enemy of the christians. This was no
other than Hamet Zeli, surnamed El Zegri, the once
formidable alcayde of Ronda, and the terror of its
mountains. He had never forgiven the capture of
his favorite fortress, and panted for vengeance on
the christians. Notwithstanding his reverses, he had
retained the favor of El Zagal, who knew how to
appreciate a bold warrior of the kind, and had
placed him in command of this important fortress
of Gibralfaro.
Hamet el Zegri had gathered round him the remnant
of his band of Gomeres, with others of the same
tribe. These fierce warriors were nestled, like so
many war-hawks, about their lofty cliff. They looked
down with martial contempt upon the commercial
city of Malaga, which they were placed to protect;
-- 045 --
[figure description] Page 045.[end figure description]
or rather, they esteemed it only for its military importance,
and its capability of defence. They held
no communion with its trading, gainful inhabitants,
and even considered the garrison of the Alcazaba as
their inferiors. War was their pursuit and passion;
they rejoiced in its turbulent and perilous scenes;
and, confident in the strength of the city, and, above
all, of their castle, they set at defiance the menace
of christian invasion. There were among them, also,
many apostate Moors, who had once embraced christianity,
but had since recanted, and had fled from the
vengeance of the Inquisition. These were desperadoes,
who had no mercy to expect, should they again
fall into the hands of the enemy.
Such were the fierce elements of the garrison of
Gibralfaro; and its rage may easily be conceived, at
hearing that Malaga was to be given up without a
blow; that they were to sink into christian vassals,
under the intermediate sway of Boabdil el Chico;
and that the alcayde of the Alcazaba had departed,
to arrange the terms of capitulation.
Hamet el Zegri determined to avert, by desperate
means, the threatened degradation. He knew that
there was a large party in the city faithful to El
Zagal, being composed of warlike men, who had
taken refuge from the various mountain towns which
had been captured: their feelings were desperate as
their fortunes, and, like Hamet, they panted for revenge
upon the christians. With these he had a
secret conference, and received assurances of their
-- 046 --
[figure description] Page 046.[end figure description]
adherence to him in any measures of defence. As
to the counsel of the peaceful inhabitants, he considered
it unworthy the consideration of a soldier;
and he spurned at the interference of the wealthy
merchant Ali Dordux, in matters of warfare.
“Still,” said Hamet el Zegri, “let us proceed
regularly.” So he descended with his Gomeres to
the citadel, entered it suddenly, put to death the
brother of the alcayde, and such of the garrison as
made any demur, and then summoned the principal
inhabitants of Malaga, to deliberate on measures for
the welfare of the city.[5] The wealthy merchants
again mounted to the citadel, excepting Ali Dordux,
who refused to obey the summons. They entered
with hearts filled with awe, for they found Hamet
surrounded by his grim African guard, and all the
stern array of military power, and they beheld the
bloody traces of the recent massacre.
Hamet el Zegri rolled a dark and searching eye
upon the assembly. “Who,” said he, “is loyal and
devoted to Muley Abdalla el Zagal?” Every one
present asserted his loyalty. “Good!” said Hamet;
“and who is ready to prove his devotion to his sovereign,
by defending this his important city to the last
extremity?” Every one present declared his readiness.
“Enough!” observed Hamet; “the alcayde
Albozen Connixa has proved himself a traitor to his
sovereign, and to you all; for he has conspired to
-- 047 --
[figure description] Page 047.[end figure description]
deliver the place to the christians. It behoves you
to choose some other commander, capable of defending
your city against the approaching enemy.” The
assembly declared unanimously, that there was no
one so worthy of the command as himself. So
Hamet el Zegri was appointed alcayde of Malaga,
and immediately proceeded to man the forts and
towers with his partisans, and to make every preparation
for a desperate resistance.
Intelligence of these occurrences put an end to
the negotiations between king Ferdinand and the
superseded alcayde Albozen Connixa, and it was
supposed there was no alternative but to lay siege to
the place. The marques of Cadiz, however, found
at Velez a Moorish cavalier of some note, a native
of Malaga, who offered to tamper with Hamet el
Zegri for the surrender of the city, or at least of the
castle of Gibralfaro. The marques communicated
this to the king: “I put this business, and the key
of my treasury, into your hands,” said Ferdinand;
“act, stipulate, and disburse, in my name, as you
think proper.”
The marques armed the Moor with his own lance,
cuirass, and target, and mounted him on one of his
own horses. He equipped in similar style, also,
another Moor, his companion and relation. They
bore secret letters to Hamet from the marques, offering
him the town of Coin in perpetual inheritance,
and four thousand doblas in gold, if he would deliver
up Gibralfaro; together with large sums, to be distributed
among his officers and soldiers: and he of
-- 048 --
[figure description] Page 048.[end figure description]
fered unlimited rewards for the surrender of the
city.[6]
Hamet had a warrior's admiration of the marques
of Cadiz, and received his messengers with courtesy
in his fortress of Gibralfaro. He even listened to
their propositions with patience, and dismissed them
in safety, though with an absolute refusal. The marques
thought his reply was not so peremptory as to
discourage another effort. The emissaries were dispatched,
therefore, a second time, with further propositions.
They approached Malaga in the night, but
found the guards doubled, patrols abroad, and the
whole place on the alert. They were discovered,
pursued, and only saved themselves by the fleetness
of their steeds, and their knowledge of the passes of
the mountains.
Finding all attempts to tamper with the faith of
Hamet el Zegri utterly futile, king Ferdinand publicly
summoned the city to surrender, offering the
most favorable terms in case of immediate compliance;
but threatening captivity to all the inhabitants,
in case of resistance.
The message was delivered in presence of the
principal inhabitants, who, however, were too much
in awe of the stern alcayde to utter a word. Hamet
el Zegri then rose haughtily, and replied, that the
city of Malaga had not been confided to him to be
surrendered, but defended; and the king should witness
how he acquitted himself of his charge.†
-- 049 --
[figure description] Page 049.[end figure description]
The messengers returned with formidable accounts
of the force of the garrison, the strength of the fortifications,
and the determined spirit of the commander
and his men. The king immediately sent orders to
have the heavy artillery forwarded from Antiquera;
and, on the 7th of May, marched with his army towards
Malaga.
eaf218v2.n4[4] A corruption of Gibel-faro; the hill of the light-house.
eaf218v2.n5[5] Cura de los Palacios, c. 82.
eaf218v2.n6[6] Cura de los Palacios, c. 82.
eaf218v2.dag2† Pulgar, part 3, cap. 74.
-- 050 -- p218-381
CHAPTER VIII. Advance of King Ferdinand against Malaga.
[figure description] Page 050.[end figure description]
The army of Ferdinand advanced in lengthened
line, glittering along the foot of the mountains which
border the Mediterranean; while a fleet of vessels,
freighted with heavy artillery and warlike munitions,
kept pace with it at a short distance from the land,
covering the sea with a thousand gleaming sails.
When Hamet el Zegri saw this force approaching,
he set fire to the houses of the suburbs which adjoined
the walls, and sent forth three battalions to
encounter the advance guard of the enemy.
The christian army drew near to the city, at that
end where the castle and rocky height of Gibralfaro
defend the seaboard. Immediately opposite, at
about two bow-shots' distance, stood the castle; and
between it and the high chain of mountains, was a
steep and rocky hill, commanding a pass through
which the christians must march to penetrate to the
vega and surround the city. Hamet el Zegri ordered
the three battalions to take their stations, one on this
hill, another in the pass near the castle, and a third
on the side of the mountain near the sea.
A body of Spanish foot-soldiers, of the advance
guard, sturdy mountaineers of Gallicia, sprang forward
to climb the side of the height next the sea;
at the same time, a number of cavaliers and hidalgos
-- 051 --
[figure description] Page 051.[end figure description]
of the royal household, attacked the Moors who
guarded the pass below. The Moors defended their
posts with obstinate valor. The Gallicians were repeatedly
overpowered and driven down the hill, but
as often rallied, and being reinforced by the hidalgos
and cavaliers, returned to the assault. This obstinate
struggle lasted for six hours: the strife was of a deadly
kind, not merely with cross-bows and arquebusses,
but hand to hand, with swords and daggers; no
quarter was claimed or given, on either side—they
fought not to make captives, but to slay. It was but
the advance of the christian army, that was engaged;
so narrow was the pass along the coast, that the army
could proceed only in file: horse and foot, and beasts
of burden, were crowded one upon another, impeding
each other, and blocking up the narrow and rugged
defile. The soldiers heard the uproar of the
battle, the sound of trumpets, and the war-cries of
the Moors—but tried in vain to press forward to
the assistance of their companions.
At length a body of foot-soldiers of the Holy
Brotherhood climbed, with great difficulty, the steep
side of the mountain which overhung the pass, and
advanced with seven banners displayed. The Moors,
seeing this force above them, abandoned the pass in
despair. The battle was still raging on the height;
the Gallicians, though supported by Castilian troops
under Don Hurtado de Mendoza and Garcilasso de
la Vega, were severely pressed and roughly handled
by the Moors; at length a brave standard-bearer,
Luys Mazedo by name, threw himself into the midst
-- 052 --
[figure description] Page 052.[end figure description]
of the enemy, and planted his banner on the summit.
The Gallicians and Castilians, stimulated by this
noble self-devotion, followed him fighting desperately,
and the Moors were at length driven to their
castle of Gibralfaro.[7]
This important height being taken, the pass lay
open to the army; but by this time evening was advancing,
and the host was too weary and exhausted
to seek proper situations for the encampment. The
king, attended by several grandees and cavaliers,
went the rounds at night, stationing outposts towards
the city, and guards and patrols to give the alarm
on the least movement of the enemy. All night the
christians lay upon their arms, lest there should be
some attempt to sally forth and attack them.
When the morning dawned, the king gazed with
admiration at this city, which he hoped soon to add
to his dominions. It was surrounded on one side by
vineyards, gardens, and orchards, which covered the
hills with verdure; on the other side, its walls were
bathed by the smooth and tranquil sea. Its vast and
lofty towers and prodigious castles, hoary with age,
yet unimpaired in strength, showed the labors of
magnanimous men in former times to protect their
favorite abode. Hanging gardens, groves of oranges,
citrons, and pomegranates, with tall cedars and
stately palms, were mingled with the stern battlements
and towers—bespeaking the opulence and
luxury that reigned within.
-- 053 --
[figure description] Page 053.[end figure description]
In the mean time, the christian army poured
through the pass, and, throwing out its columns and
extending its lines, took possession of every vantage-ground
around the city. King Ferdinand surveyed
the ground, and appointed the stations of the different
commanders.
The important mount which had cost so violent a
struggle, and faced the powerful fortress of Gibralfaro,
was given in charge to Roderigo Ponce de
Leon, marques of Cadiz, who, in all sieges, claimed
the post of danger. He had several noble cavaliers
with their retainers in his encampment, which consisted
of fifteen hundred horse and fourteen thousand
foot; and extended from the summit of the mount
to the margin of the sea, completely blocking up the
approach to the city on that side. From this post,
a line of encampments extended quite round the city
to the seaboard, fortified by bulwarks and deep
ditches; while a fleet of armed ships and galleys
stretched before the harbor; so that the place was
completely invested, by sea and land. The various
parts of the valley now resounded with the din of
preparation, and were filled with artificers preparing
warlike engines and munitions: armorers and smiths,
with glowing forges and deafening hammers; carpenters
and engineers, constructing machines wherewith
to assail the walls; stone-cutters, shaping stone balls
for the ordnance; and burners of charcoal, preparing
fuel for the furnaces and forges.
When the encampment was formed, the heavy
ordnance was landed from the ships, and mounted
-- 054 --
[figure description] Page 054.[end figure description]
in various parts of the camp. Five huge lombards
were placed on the mount commanded by the marques
of Cadiz, so as to bear upon the castle of Gibralfaro.
The Moors made strenuous efforts to impede
these preparations. They kept up a heavy fire from
their ordnance, upon the men employed in digging
trenches or constructing batteries, so that the latter
had to work principally in the night. The royal
tents had been stationed conspicuously, and within
reach of the Moorish batteries; but were so warmly
assailed, that they had to be removed behind a hill.
When the works were completed, the christian
batteries opened in return, and kept up a tremendous
cannonade; while the fleet, approaching the land,
assailed the city vigorously on the opposite side.
“It was a glorious and delectable sight,” observes
Fray Antonio Agapida, “to behold this infidel city
thus surrounded by sea and land, by a mighty christian
force. Every mound in its circuit was, as it
were, a little city of tents, bearing the standard of
some renowned Catholic warrior. Beside the warlike
ships and galleys which lay before the place, the
sea was covered with innumerable sails, passing and
repassing, appearing and disappearing, being engaged
in bringing supplies for the subsistence of the army.
It seemed a vast spectacle contrived to recreate the
eye, did not the vollying bursts of flame and smoke
from the ships, which seemed to lie asleep on the
quiet sea, and the thunder of ordnance from camp
-- 055 --
[figure description] Page 055.[end figure description]
and city, from tower and battlement, tell the deadly
warfare that was waging.
“At night, the scene was far more direful than in
the day. The cheerful light of the sun was gone;
there was nothing but the flashes of artillery, or the
baleful gleams of combustibles thrown into the city,
and the conflagration of the houses. The fire kept
up from the christian batteries was incessant; there
were seven great lombards in particular, called The
Seven Sisters of Ximenes, which did tremendous
execution. The Moorish ordnance replied in thunder
from the walls; Gibralfaro was wrapped in
volumes of smoke, rolling about its base; and Hamet
el Zegri and his Gomeres looked out with triumph
upon the tempest of war they had awakened. Truly
they were so many demons incarnate,” concludes
the pious Fray Antonio Agapida, “who were permitted
by Heaven to enter into and possess this infidel
city, for its perdition.”
eaf218v2.n7[7] Pulgar. Cronica.
-- 056 -- p218-387
CHAPTER IX. Siege of Malaga.
[figure description] Page 056.[end figure description]
The attack on Malaga, by sea and land, was kept
up for several days with tremendous violence, but
without producing any great impression, so strong
were the ancient bulwarks of the city. The count
de Cifuentes was the first to signalize himself by any
noted achievement. A main tower of the suburb had
been shattered by the ordnance, and the battlements
demolished, so as to yield no shelter to its defenders.
Seeing this, the count assembled a gallant band of
cavaliers of the royal household, and advanced to
take it by storm. They applied scaling-ladders, and
mounted, sword in hand. The Moors, having no
longer battlements to protect them, descended to a
lower floor, and made furious resistance from the
windows and loop-holes. They poured down boiling
pitch and rosin, and hurled stones and darts and
arrows on the assailants. Many of the christians
were slain, their ladders were destroyed by flaming
combustibles, and the count was obliged to retreat
from before the tower. On the following day he
renewed the attack with superior force, and, after a
severe combat, succeeded in planting his victorious
banner on the tower.
The Moors now assailed the tower in their turn.
They undermined the part towards the city, placed
-- 057 --
[figure description] Page 057.[end figure description]
props of wood under the foundation, and, setting
fire to them, drew off to a distance. In a little while
the props gave way, the foundation sunk, and the
tower was rent; part of its wall fell, with a tremendous
noise; many of the christians were thrown out
headlong, and the rest were laid open to the missiles
of the enemy.
By this time, however, a breach had been made in
the wall adjoining the tower, and troops poured in to
the assistance of their comrades. A continued battle
was kept up, for two days and a night, by reinforcements
from camp and city. The parties fought backwards
and forwards through the breach of the wall,
with alternate success; and the vicinity of the tower
was strewn with the dead and wounded. At length
the Moors gradually gave way, disputing every inch
of ground, until they were driven into the city; and
the christians remained masters of the greater part
of the suburb.
This partial success, though gained with great toil
and bloodshed, gave temporary animation to the
christians; they soon found, however, that the attack
on the main works of the city was a much more
arduous task. The garrison contained veterans who
had served in many of the towns captured by the
christians. They were no longer confounded and
dismayed by the battering ordnance and other strange
engines of foreign invention, and had become expert
in parrying their effects, in repairing breaches, and
erecting counter-works.
The christians, accustomed of late to speedy
-- 058 --
[figure description] Page 058.[end figure description]
conquests of Moorish fortresses, became impatient of
the slow progress of the siege. Many were apprehensive
of a scarcity of provisions, from the difficulty
of subsisting so numerous a host in the heart
of the enemy's country, where it was necessary to
transport supplies across rugged and hostile mountains,
or subjected to the uncertainties of the sea.
Many also were alarmed at a pestilence which broke
out in the neighboring villages; and some were so
overcome by these apprehensions, as to abandon the
camp and return to their homes.
Several of the loose and worthless hangers-on that
infest all great armies, hearing these murmurs, thought
that the siege would soon be raised, and deserted to
the enemy, hoping to make their fortunes. They
gave exaggerated accounts of the alarms and discontents
of the army, and represented the troops as
daily returning home in bands. Above all, they declared
that the gunpowder was nearly exhausted, so
that the artillery would soon be useless. They assured
the Moors, therefore, that if they persisted a
little longer in their defence, the king would be
obliged to draw off his forces and abandon the siege.
The reports of these renegadoes gave fresh courage
to the garrison; they made vigorous sallies upon
the camp, harassing it by night and day, and obliging
every part to be guarded with the most painful vigilance.
They fortified the weak parts of their walls
with ditches and palisadoes, and gave every manifestation
of a determined and unyielding spirit.
Ferdinand soon received intelligence of the
-- 059 --
[figure description] Page 059.[end figure description]
reports which had been carried to the Moors; he understood
that they had been informed, likewise, that
the queen was alarmed for the safety of the camp,
and had written repeatedly urging him to abandon
the siege. As the best means of disproving all these
falsehoods, and of destroying the vain hopes of the
enemy, Ferdinand wrote to the queen, entreating her
to come and take up her residence in the camp.
-- 060 -- p218-391
CHAPTER X. Siege of Malaga continued—obstinacy of Hamet el Zegri.
[figure description] Page 060.[end figure description]
Great was the enthusiasm of the army, when they
beheld their patriot queen advancing in state, to
share the toils and dangers of her people. Isabella
entered the camp, attended by the dignitaries and
the whole retinue of her court, to manifest that this
was no temporary visit. On one side of her was her
daughter, the Infanta; on the other, the grand cardinal
of Spain, Hernando de Talavera, the prior of
Prado, confessor to the queen, followed, with a great
train of prelates, courtiers, cavaliers, and ladies of
distinction. The cavalcade moved in calm and
stately order through the camp, softening the iron
aspect of war by this array of courtly grace and
female beauty.
Isabella had commanded, that on her coming to
the camp, the horrors of war should be suspended,
and fresh offers of peace made to the enemy. On
her arrival, therefore, there had been a general cessation
of firing throughout the camp. A messenger
was, at the same time, dispatched to the besieged,
informing them of her being in the camp, and of the
determination of the sovereigns to make it their settled
residence until the city should be taken. The
same terms were offered, in case of immediate
-- 061 --
[figure description] Page 061.[end figure description]
surrender, that had been granted to Velez Malaga; but
the inhabitants were threatened with captivity and
the sword, should they persist in their defence.
Hamet el Zegri received this message with haughty
contempt, and dismissed the messenger without
deigning a reply. “The christian sovereigns,” said
he, “have made this offer in consequence of their
despair. The silence of their batteries proves the
truth of what has been told us, that their powder is
exhausted. They have no longer the means of demolishing
our walls; and if they remain much longer,
the autumnal rains will interrupt their convoys,
and fill their camp with famine and disease. The
first storm will disperse their fleet, which has no
neighboring port of shelter: Africa will then be
open to us, to procure reinforcements and supplies.”
The words of Hamet el Zegri were hailed as
oracular, by his adherents. Many of the peaceful
part of the community, however, ventured to remonstrate,
and to implore him to accept the proffered
mercy. The stern Hamet silenced them with a
terrific threat: he declared, that whoever should talk
of capitulating, or should hold any communication
with the christians, should be put to death. The
fierce Gomeres, like true men of the sword, acted
upon the menace of their chieftain as upon a written
law, and having detected several of the inhabitants
in secret correspondence with the enemy, they set
upon and slew them, and then confiscated their effects.
This struck such terror into the citizens, that
those who had been loudest in their murmurs became
-- 062 --
[figure description] Page 062.[end figure description]
suddenly mute, and were remarked as evincing the
greatest bustle and alacrity in the defence of the city.
When the messenger returned to the camp, and
reported the contemptuous reception of the royal
message, king Ferdinand was exceedingly indignant.
Finding the cessation of firing, on the queen's arrival,
had encouraged a belief among the enemy that
there was a scarcity of powder in the camp, he ordered
a general discharge from all the batteries.
The sudden burst of war from every quarter soon
convinced the Moors of their error, and completed
the confusion of the citizens, who knew not which
most to dread, their assailants or their defenders,
the christians or the Gomeres.
That evening the sovereigns visited the encampment
of the marques of Cadiz, which commanded
a view over a great part of the city and the camp.
The tent of the marques was of great magnitude,
furnished with hangings of rich brocade and French
cloth of the rarest texture. It was in the oriental
style; and, as it crowned the height, with the surrounding
tents of other cavaliers, all sumptuously
furnished, presented a gay and silken contrast to the
opposite towers of Gibralfaro. Here a splendid collation
was served up to the sovereigns; and the
courtly revel that prevailed in this chivalrous encampment,
the glitter of pageantry, and the bursts
of festive music, made more striking the gloom and
silence that reigned over the Moorish castle.
The marques of Cadiz, while it was yet light,
conducted his royal visiters to every point that com
-- 063 --
[figure description] Page 063.[end figure description]
manded a view of the warlike scene below. He
caused the heavy lombards also to be discharged, that
the queen and ladies of the court might witness the
effect of those tremendous engines. The fair dames
were filled with awe and admiration, as the mountain
shook beneath their feet with the thunder of the
artillery, and they beheld great fragments of the
Moorish walls tumbling down the rocks and precipices.
While the good marques was displaying these
things to his royal guests, he lifted up his eyes, and
to his astonishment beheld his own banner hanging
out from the nearest tower of Gibralfaro. The blood
mantled in his cheek, for it was a banner which he
had lost at the time of the memorable massacre of
the heights of Malaga.[8] To make this taunt more
evident, several of the Gomeres displayed themselves
upon the battlements, arrayed in the helmets and
cuirasses of some of the cavaliers slain or captured
on that occasion. The marques of Cadiz restrained
his indignation, and held his peace; but several of
his cavaliers vowed loudly to revenge this cruel bravado,
on the ferocious garrison of Gibralfaro.
eaf218v2.n8[8] Diego de Valera. Cronica, MS.
-- 064 -- p218-395
CHAPTER XI. Attack of the Marques of Cadiz upon Gibralfaro.
[figure description] Page 064.[end figure description]
The marques of Cadiz was not a cavalier that
readily forgave an injury or an insult. On the morning
after the royal banquet, his batteries opened a
tremendous fire upon Gibralfaro. All day, the encampment
was wrapped in wreaths of smoke; nor
did the assault cease with the day—but, throughout
the night, there was an incessant flashing and thundering
of the lombards, and, the following morning,
the assault rather increased than slackened in fury.
The Moorish bulwarks were no proof against those
formidable engines. In a few days, the lofty tower
on which the taunting banner had been displayed,
was shattered; a smaller tower in its vicinity reduced
to ruins, and a great breach made in the intervening
walls.
Several of the hot-spirited cavaliers were eager
for storming the breach, sword in hand; others, more
cool and wary, pointed out the rashness of such an
attempt; for the Moors had worked indefatigably in
the night; they had digged a deep ditch within the
breach, and had fortified it with palisadoes and a
high breastwork. All, however, agreed that the
camp might safely be advanced near to the ruined
walls, and that it ought to be done so, in return for
the insolent defiance of the enemy.
-- 065 --
[figure description] Page 065.[end figure description]
The marques of Cadiz felt the temerity of the
measure, but he was unwilling to dampen the zeal
of these high-spirited cavaliers; and having chosen
the post of danger in the camp, it did not become
him to decline any service, merely because it might
appear perilous. He ordered his outposts, therefore,
to be advanced within a stone's-throw of the breach,
but exhorted the soldiers to maintain the utmost
vigilance.
The thunder of the batteries had ceased; the
troops, exhausted by two nights' fatigue and watchfulness,
and apprehending no danger from the dismantled
walls, were half of them asleep; the rest
were scattered about in negligent security. On a
sudden, upwards of two thousand Moors sallied forth
from the castle, led on by Alrahan Zenete, the principal
captain under Hamet. They fell with fearful
havoc upon the advanced guard, slaying many of
them in their sleep, and putting the rest to headlong
flight.
The marques was in his tent, about a bow-shot distance,
when he heard the tumult of the onset, and
beheld his men flying in confusion. He rushed forth,
followed by his standard-bearer. “Turn again, cavaliers!”
exclaimed he; “I am here, Ponce de Leon!
to the foe! to the foe!” The flying troops stopped
at hearing his well-known voice, rallied under his
banner, and turned upon the enemy. The encampment,
by this time, was roused; several cavaliers
from the adjoining stations had hastened to the scene
of action, with a number of Gallicians and soldiers
-- 066 --
[figure description] Page 066.[end figure description]
of the Holy Brotherhood. An obstinate and bloody
contest ensued; the ruggedness of the place, the
rocks, chasms, and declivities, broke it into numerous
combats: christian and Moor fought hand to
hand, with swords and daggers; and often, grappling
and struggling, rolled together down the precipices.
The banner of the marques was in danger of being
taken: he hastened to its rescue, followed by
some of his bravest cavaliers. They were surrounded
by the enemy, and several of them cut down. Don
Diego Ponce de Leon, brother to the marques, was
wounded by an arrow; and his son-in-law, Luis
Ponce, was likewise wounded: they succeeded, however,
in rescuing the banner, and bearing it off in
safety. The battle lasted for an hour; the height
was covered with killed and wounded, and the blood
flowed in streams down the rocks; at length, Alrahan
Zenete being disabled by the thrust of a lance,
the Moors gave way and retreated to the castle.
They now opened a galling fire from their battlements
and towers, approaching the breaches so as to
discharge their cross-bows and arquebusses into the
advanced guard of the encampment. The marques
was singled out; the shot fell thick about him, and
one passed through his buckler, and struck upon his
cuirass, but without doing him any injury. Every
one now saw the danger and inutility of approaching
the camp thus near to the castle; and those who had
counselled it, were now urgent that it should be
withdrawn. It was accordingly removed back to its
original ground, from which the marques had most
-- 067 --
[figure description] Page 067.[end figure description]
reluctantly advanced it. Nothing but his valor and
timely aid had prevented this attack on his outpost
from ending in a total rout of all that part of the
army.
Many cavaliers of distinction fell in this contest;
but the loss of none was felt more deeply than that
of Ortega de Prado, captain of escaladors. He was
one of the bravest men in the service; the same who
had devised the first successful blow of the war, the
storming of Alhama, where he was the first to plant
and mount the scaling-ladders. He had always been
high in the favor and confidence of the noble Ponce
de Leon, who knew how to appreciate and avail
himself of the merits of all able and valiant men.[9]
eaf218v2.n9[9] Zurita. Mariana. Abarca.
-- 068 -- p218-399
CHAPTER XII. Siege of Malaga continued. —Stratagems of various kinds.
[figure description] Page 068.[end figure description]
Great were the exertions now made, both by the
besiegers and the besieged, to carry on this contest
with the utmost vigor. Hamet el Zegri went the
rounds of the walls and towers, doubling the guards,
and putting every thing in the best posture of defence.
The garrison was divided into parties of a hundred,
to each of which a captain was appointed. Some
were to patrol, others to sally forth and skirmish with
the enemy, and others to hold themselves armed and
in reserve. Six albatozas, or floating batteries, were
manned and armed with pieces of artillery, to attack
the fleet.
On the other hand, the Castilian sovereigns kept
open a communication by sea with various parts of
Spain, from which they received provisions of all
kinds; they ordered supplies of powder also from
Valencia, Barcelona, Sicily, and Portugal. They
made great preparations also for storming the city.
Towers of wood were constructed, to move on
wheels, each capable of holding one hundred men;
they were furnished with ladders, to be thrown from
their summits to the tops of the walls; and within
those ladders, others were encased, to be let down
for the descent of the troops into the city. There
-- 069 --
[figure description] Page 069.[end figure description]
were gallipagos or tortoises, also, being great wooden
shields, covered with hides, to protect the assailants,
and those who undermined the walls.
Secret mines were commenced, in various places;
some were intended to reach to the foundations of
the walls, which were to be propped up with wood,
ready to be set on fire; others were to pass under
the walls, and remain ready to be broken open so as
to give entrance to the besiegers. At these mines the
army worked day and night; and during these secret
preparations, the ordnance kept up a fire upon the
city, to divert the attention of the besieged.
In the mean time, Hamet el Zegri displayed wonderful
vigor and ingenuity in defending the city, and
in repairing or fortifying, by deep ditches, the breaches
made by the enemy. He noted, also, every place
where the camp might be assailed with advantage,
and gave the besieging army no repose night or day.
While his troops sallied on the land, his floating batteries
attacked the besiegers on the sea; so that there
was incessant skirmishing. The tents called the
Queen's Hospital were crowded with wounded, and
the whole army suffered from constant watchfulness
and fatigue. To guard against the sudden assaults
of the Moors, the trenches were deepened, and palisadoes
erected in front of the camp; and in that part
facing Gibralfaro, where the rocky heights did not
admit of such defences, a high rampart of earth was
thrown up. The cavaliers Garcilasso de la Vega,
Juan de Zuñiga, and Diego de Atayde, were
-- 070 --
[figure description] Page 070.[end figure description]
appointed to go the rounds, and keep vigilant watch that
these fortifications were maintained in good order.
In a little while, Hamet discovered the mines secretly
commenced by the christians: he immediately
ordered counter-mines. The soldiers mutually worked
until they met, and fought hand to hand, in these
subterranean passages. The christians were driven
out of one of their mines; fire was set to the wooden
framework, and the mine destroyed. Encouraged
by this success, the Moors attempted a general attack
upon the camp, the mines, and the besieging fleet.
The battle lasted for six hours, on land and water,
above and below ground, on bulwark, and in trench
and mine; the Moors displayed wonderful intrepidity,
but were finally repulsed at all points, and obliged
to retire into the city, where they were closely invested,
without the means of receiving any assistance
from abroad.
The horrors of famine were now added to the
other miseries of Malaga. Hamet el Zegri, with the
spirit of a man bred up to war, considered every
thing as subservient to the wants of the soldier, and
ordered all the grain in the city to be gathered and
garnered up for the sole use of those who fought.
Even this was dealt out sparingly, and each soldier
received four ounces of bread in the morning, and
two in the evening, for his daily allowance.
The wealthy inhabitants, and all those peacefully
inclined, mourned over a resistance which brought
destruction upon their houses, death into their
-- 071 --
[figure description] Page 071.[end figure description]
families, and which they saw must end in their ruin and
captivity: still none of them dared to speak openly
of capitulation, or even to manifest their grief, lest
they should awaken the wrath of their fierce defenders.
They surrounded their civic champion, Ali
Dordux, the great and opulent merchant, who had
buckled on shield and cuirass, and taken spear in
hand, for the defence of his native city, and, with a
large body of the braver citizens, had charge of one
of the gates and a considerable portion of the walls.
Drawing Ali Dordux aside, they poured forth their
griefs to him in secret. “Why,” said they, “should
we suffer our native city to be made a mere bulwark
and fighting-place for foreign barbarians and desperate
men? They have no families to care for, no
property to lose, no love for the soil, and no value
for their lives. They fight to gratify a thirst for
blood or a desire for revenge, and will fight on until
Malaga become a ruin and its people slaves. Let us
think and act for ourselves, our wives and our children.
Let us make private terms with the christians
before it is too late, and save ourselves from destruction.”
The bowels of Ali Dordux yearned towards his
fellow-citizens; he bethought him also of the sweet
security of peace, and the bloodless yet gratifying
triumphs of gainful traffic. The idea also of a secret
negotiation or bargain with the Castilian sovereigns,
for the redemption of his native city, was more conformable
to his accustomed habits than this violent
appeal to arms; for though he had for a time
-- 072 --
[figure description] Page 072.[end figure description]
assumed the warrior, he had not forgotten the merchant.
Ali Dordux communed, therefore, with the citizen-soldiers
under his command, and they readily conformed
to his opinion. Concerting together, they
wrote a proposition to the Castilian sovereigns, offering
to admit the army into the part of the city
intrusted to their care, on receiving assurance of
protection for the lives and properties of the inhabitants.
This writing they delivered to a trusty emissary
to take to the christian camp, appointing the
hour and place of his return, that they might be ready
to admit him unperceived.
The Moor made his way in safety to the camp,
and was admitted to the presence of the sovereigns.
Eager to gain the city without further cost of blood
or treasure, they gave a written promise to grant the
conditions; and the Moor set out joyfully on his return.
As he approached the walls where Ali Dordux
and his confederates were waiting to receive
him, he was descried by a patrolling band of Gomeres,
and considered a spy coming from the camp
of the besiegers. They issued forth and seized him,
in sight of his employers, who gave themselves up
for lost. The Gomeres had conducted him nearly
to the gate, when he escaped from their grasp and
fled. They endeavored to overtake him, but were
encumbered with armor; he was lightly clad, and
he fled for his life. One of the Gomeres paused,
and, levelling his cross-bow, let fly a bolt, which
pierced the fugitive between the shoulders; he fell,
and was nearly within their grasp, but rose again
-- 073 --
[figure description] Page 073.[end figure description]
and with a desperate effort attained the christian
camp. The Gomeres gave over the pursuit, and
the citizens returned thanks to Allah for their deliverance
from this fearful peril. As to the faithful
messenger, he died of his wound shortly after reaching
the camp, consoled with the idea that he had
preserved the secret and the lives of his employers.
-- 074 -- p218-405
CHAPTER XIII. Sufferings of the people of Malaga.
[figure description] Page 074.[end figure description]
The sufferings of Malaga spread sorrow and anxiety
among the Moors; and they dreaded lest this
beautiful city, once the bulwark of the kingdom,
should fall into the hands of the unbelievers. The
old warrior king, Abdalla el Zagal, was still sheltered
in Guadix, where he was slowly gathering together
his shattered forces. When the people of Guadix
heard of the danger and distress of Malaga, they
urged to be led to its relief; and the alfaquis admonished
El Zagal not to desert so righteous and loyal a
city, in its extremity. His own warlike nature made
him feel a sympathy for a place that made so gallant
a resistance; and he dispatched as powerful a reinforcement
as he could spare, under conduct of a
chosen captain, with orders to throw themselves into
the city.
Intelligence of this reinforcement reached Boabdil
el Chico, in his royal palace of the Alhambra. Filled
with hostility against his uncle, and desirous of proving
his loyalty to the Castilian sovereigns, he immediately
sent forth a superior force of horse and foot,
under an able commander, to intercept the detachment.
A sharp conflict ensued; the troops of El
Zagal were routed with great loss, and fled back in
confusion to Guadix.
-- 075 --
[figure description] Page 075.[end figure description]
Boabdil, not being accustomed to victories, was
flushed with this melancholy triumph. He sent
tidings of it to the Castilian sovereigns, accompanied
with rich silks, boxes of Arabian perfume, a cup of
gold, richly wrought, and a female captive of Ubeda,
as presents to the queen; and four Arabian steeds
magnificently caparisoned, a sword and dagger richly
mounted, and several albornozes and other robes
sumptuously embroidered, for the king. He entreated
them, at the same time, always to look upon him
with favor as their devoted vassal.
Boabdil was fated to be unfortunate even in his
victories. His defeat of the forces of his uncle, destined
to the relief of unhappy Malaga, shocked the
feelings and cooled the loyalty of many of his best
adherents. The mere men of traffic might rejoice
in their golden interval of peace; but the chivalrous
spirits of Granada spurned a security purchased by
such sacrifices of pride and affection. The people
at large, having gratified their love of change, began
to question whether they had acted generously by
their old fighting monarch. “El Zagal,” said they,
“was fierce and bloody, but then he was true to his
country; he was an usurper, it is true, but then he
maintained the glory of the crown which he usurped.
If his sceptre was a rod of iron to his subjects, it
was a sword of steel against their enemies. This
Boabdil sacrifices religion, friends, country, every
thing, to a mere shadow of royalty, and is content
to hold a rush for a sceptre.”
These factious murmurs soon reached the ears of
-- 076 --
[figure description] Page 076.[end figure description]
Boabdil, and he apprehended another of his customary
reverses. He sent in all haste to the Castilian
sovereigns, beseeching military aid to keep him on
his throne. Ferdinand graciously complied with a
request so much in unison with his policy. A detachment
of one thousand cavalry, and two thousand
infantry, was sent, under the command of Don Fernandez
Gonsalvo of Cordova, subsequently renowned
as the grand captain. With this succor, Boabdil
expelled from the city all those who were hostile to
him, and in favor of his uncle. He felt secure in
these troops, from their being distinct in manners,
language, and religion, from his subjects; and compromised
with his pride, in thus exhibiting that most
unnatural and humiliating of all regal spectacles, a
monarch supported on his throne by foreign weapons,
and by soldiers hostile to his people.
Nor was Boabdil el Chico the only Moorish sovereign
that sought protection from Ferdinand and
Isabella. A splendid galley, with latine sails, and
several banks of oars, displaying the standard of the
crescent, but likewise a white flag in sign of amity,
came one day into the harbor. An ambassador landed
from it, within the christian lines. He came from
the king of Tremezan, and brought presents similar to
those of Boabdil, consisting of Arabian coursers, with
bits, stirrups, and other furniture of gold, together
with costly Moorish mantles: for the queen, there
were sumptuous shawls, robes, and silken stuffs, ornaments
of gold, and exquisite oriental perfumes.
The king of Tremezan had been alarmed at the
-- 077 --
[figure description] Page 077.[end figure description]
rapid conquests of the Spanish arms, and startled by
the descent of several Spanish cruisers on the coast of
Africa. He craved to be considered a vassal to the
Castilian sovereigns, and that they would extend such
favor and security to his ships and subjects as had
been shown to other Moors who had submitted to
their sway. He requested a painting of their arms,
that he and his subjects might recognise and respect
their standard, whenever they encountered it. At the
same time he implored their clemency towards unhappy
Malaga, and that its inhabitants might experience
the same favor that had been shown towards
the Moors of other captured cities.
The embassy was graciously received by the christian
sovereigns. They granted the protection required;
ordering their commanders to respect the
flag of Tremezan, unless it should be found rendering
assistance to the enemy. They sent also to the
Barbary monarch their royal arms, moulded in
escutcheons of gold, a hand's-breadth in size.[10]
While thus the chances of assistance from without
daily decreased, famine raged in the city. The inhabitants
were compelled to eat the flesh of horses,
and many died of hunger. What made the sufferings
of the citizens the more intolerable, was, to behold
the sea covered with ships, daily arriving with provisions
for the besiegers. Day after day, also, they
saw herds of fat cattle, and flocks of sheep, driven
-- 078 --
[figure description] Page 078.[end figure description]
into the camp. Wheat and flour were piled in huge
mounds in the centre of the encampments, glaring
in the sunshine, and tantalizing the wretched citizens,
who, while they and their children were perishing
with hunger, beheld prodigal abundance reigning
within a bow-shot of their walls.
eaf218v2.n10[10] Cura de los Palacios, c. 84. Pulgar, part 3, c. 86.
-- 079 -- p218-410
CHAPTER XIV. How a Moorish santon undertook to deliver the city of Malaga from the power of its enemies.
[figure description] Page 079.[end figure description]
There lived at this time, in a hamlet in the neighborhood
of Guadix, an ancient Moor, of the name of
Abrahin Algerbi. He was a native of Guerba, in the
kingdom of Tunis, and had for several years led the
life of a santon or hermit. The hot sun of Africa
had dried his blood, and rendered him of an exalted
yet melancholy temperament. He passed most of
his time in meditation, prayer, and rigorous abstinence,
until his body was wasted and his mind bewildered,
and he fancied himself favored with divine
revelations. The Moors, who have a great reverence
for all enthusiasts of the kind, looked upon him
as inspired, listened to all his ravings as veritable
prophecies, and denominated him el santo, or the
saint.
The woes of the kingdom of Granada had long exasperated
the gloomy spirit of this man, and he had
beheld with indignation this beautiful country wrested
from the dominion of the faithful, and becoming
a prey to the unbelievers. He had implored the
blessings of Allah on the troops which issued forth
from Guadix for the relief of Malaga; but when he
saw them return, routed and scattered by their own
countrymen, he retired to his cell, shut himself up
-- 080 --
[figure description] Page 080.[end figure description]
from the world, and was plunged for a time in the
blackest melancholy.
On a sudden, he made his appearance again in
the streets of Guadix, his face haggard, his form
emaciated, but his eye beaming with fire. He said
that Allah had sent an angel to him in the solitude
of his cell, revealing to him a mode of delivering
Malaga from its perils, and striking horror and confusion
into the camp of the unbelievers. The Moors
listened with eager credulity to his words: four hundred
of them offered to follow him even to the death,
and to obey implicitly his commands. Of this number
many were Gomeres, anxious to relieve their
countrymen, who formed part of the garrison of
Malaga.
They traversed the kingdom by the wild and lonely
passes of the mountains, concealing themselves in
the day and travelling only in the night, to elude the
christian scouts. At length they arrived at the mountains
which tower above Malaga, and, looking down,
beheld the city completely invested; a chain of encampments
extending round it from shore to shore,
and a line of ships blockading it by sea; while the
continual thunder of artillery, and the smoke rising
in various parts, showed that the siege was pressed
with great activity. The hermit scanned the encampments
warily, from his lofty height. He saw
that the part of the encampment of the marques of
Cadiz which was at the foot of the height, and on
the margin of the sea, was most assailable, the rocky
soil not admitting ditches or palisadoes. Remaining
-- 081 --
[figure description] Page 081.[end figure description]
concealed all day, he descended with his followers
at night to the sea-coast, and approached silently to
the outworks. He had given them their instructions;
they were to rush suddenly upon the camp, fight
their way through, and throw themselves into the
city.
It was just at the gray of the dawning, when objects
are obscurely visible, that they made this desperate
attempt. Some sprang suddenly upon the
sentinels, others rushed into the sea and got round
the works, others clambered over the breastworks.
There was sharp skirmishing; a great part of the
Moors were cut to pieces, but about two hundred
succeeded in getting into the gates of Malaga.
The santon took no part in the conflict, nor did
he endeavor to enter the city. His plans were of a
different nature. Drawing apart from the battle, he
threw himself on his knees on a rising ground, and,
lifting his hands to Heaven, appeared to be absorbed
in prayer. The christians, as they were searching
for fugitives in the clefts of the rocks, found him at
his devotions. He stirred not at their approach, but
remained fixed as a statue, without changing color
or moving a muscle. Filled with surprise, not unmingled
with awe, they took him to the marques of
Cadiz. He was wrapped in a coarse albornoz, or
Moorish mantle; his beard was long and grizzled,
and there was something wild and melancholy in his
look, that inspired curiosity. On being examined, he
gave himself out as a saint to whom Allah had revealed
the events that were to take place in that siege.
-- 082 --
[figure description] Page 082.[end figure description]
The marques demanded when and how Malaga was
to be taken. He replied that he knew full well, but
he was forbidden to reveal those important secrets
except to the king and queen. The good marques
was not more given to superstitious fancies than
other commanders of his time, yet there seemed
something singular and mysterious about this man;
he might have some important intelligence to communicate;
so he was persuaded to send him to the
king and queen. He was conducted to the royal
tent, surrounded by a curious multitude, exclaiming
“El Moro Santo!” for the news had spread through
the camp, that they had taken a Moorish prophet.
The king, having dined, was taking his siesta, or
afternoon's sleep, in his tent; and the queen, though
curious to see this singular man, yet, from a natural
delicacy and reserve, delayed until the king should
be present. He was taken therefore to an adjoining
tent, in which were Doña Beatrix de Bovadilla, marchioness
of Moya, and Don Alvaro of Portugal, son
of the duke of Braganza, with two or three attendants.
The Moor, ignorant of the Spanish tongue,
had not understood the conversation of the guards,
and supposed, from the magnificence of the furniture
and the silken hangings, that this was the royal tent.
From the respect paid by the attendants to Don Alvaro
and the marchioness, he concluded that they
were the king and queen.
He now asked for a draught of water; a jar was
brought to him, and the guard released his arm to
enable him to drink. The marchioness perceived a
-- 083 --
[figure description] Page 083.[end figure description]
sudden change in his countenance, and something
sinister in the expression of his eye, and shifted her
position to a more remote part of the tent. Pretending
to raise the water to his lips, the Moor unfolded
his albornoz, so as to grasp a scimitar which he wore
concealed beneath; then, dashing down the jar, he
drew his weapon, and gave Don Alvaro a blow on
the head, that struck him to the earth and nearly deprived
him of life. Turning then upon the marchioness,
he made a violent blow at her; but in his
eagerness and agitation, his scimitar caught in the
drapery of the tent; the force of the blow was
broken, and the weapon struck harmless upon some
golden ornaments of her head-dress.[11]
Ruy Lopez de Toledo, treasurer to the queen, and
Juan de Belalcazar, a sturdy friar, who were present,
grappled and struggled with the desperado; and immediately
the guards, who had conducted him from
the marques de Cadiz, fell upon him and cut him to
pieces.†
The king and queen, brought out of their tents by
the noise, were filled with horror when they learned
the imminent peril from which they had escaped.
The mangled body of the Moor was taken by the
people to the camp, and thrown into the city from a
catapult. The Gomeres gathered up the body with
deep reverence, as the remains of a saint; they washed
and perfumed it, and buried it with great honor
and loud lamentations. In revenge of his death, they
-- 084 --
[figure description] Page 084.[end figure description]
slew one of their principal christian captives, and,
having tied his body upon an ass, they drove the animal
forth into the camp.
From this time, there was appointed an additional
guard around the tents of the king and queen, composed
of twelve hundred cavaliers of rank, of the
kingdoms of Castile and Arragon. No person was
admitted to the royal presence armed; no Moor was
allowed to enter the camp, without a previous knowledge
of his character and business; and on no account
was any Moor to be introduced into the presence
of the sovereigns.
An act of treachery of such ferocious nature, gave
rise to a train of gloomy apprehensions. There were
many cabins and sheds about the camp, constructed
of branches of trees which had become dry and combustible;
and fears were entertained that they might
be set on fire by the Mudexares or Moorish vassals,
who visited the army. Some even dreaded that attempts
might be made to poison the wells and fountains.
To quiet these dismal alarms, all Mudexares
were ordered to leave the camp; and all loose idle
loiterers, who could not give a good account of themselves,
were taken into custody.
eaf218v2.n11[11] Pietro Martyr, Epist. 62.
eaf218v2.dag3† Cura de los Palacios.
-- 085 -- p218-416
CHAPTER XV. How Hamet et Zegri was hardened in his obstinacy, by the arts of a Moorish astrologer.
[figure description] Page 085.[end figure description]
Among those followers of the santon that had effected
their entrance into the city, was a dark African
of the tribe of the Gomeres, who was likewise
a hermit or dervise, and passed among the Moors for
a holy and inspired man. No sooner were the mangled
remains of his predecessor buried with the honors
of martyrdom, than this dervise elevated himself
in his place, and professed to be gifted with the spirit
of prophecy. He displayed a white banner, which,
he assured the Moors, was sacred; that he had retained
it for twenty years for some signal purpose,
and that Allah had revealed to him that under that
banner the inhabitants of Malaga should sally forth
upon the camp of the unbelievers, put it to utter
rout, and banquet upon the provisions in which it
abounded.[12] The hungry and credulous Moors were
elated at this prediction, and cried out to be led forth
at once to the attack; but the dervise told them the
time was not yet arrived, for every event had its allotted
day in the decrees of fate; they must wait
patiently, therefore, until the appointed time should
be revealed to him by Heaven. Hamet el Zegri
-- 086 --
[figure description] Page 086.[end figure description]
listened to the dervise with profound reverence, and
his example had great effect in increasing the awe
and deference of his followers. He took the holy
man up into his strong-hold of Gibralfaro, consulted
him on all occasions, and hung out his white banner
on the loftiest tower, as a signal of encouragement
to the people of the city.
In the mean time, the prime chivalry of Spain was
gradually assembling before the walls of Malaga.
The army which had commenced the siege had been
worn out by extreme hardships, having had to construct
immense works, to dig trenches and mines, to
mount guard by sea and land, to patrol the mountains,
and to sustain incessant conflicts. The sovereigns
were obliged therefore to call upon various
distant cities, for reinforcements of horse and foot.
Many nobles, also, assembled their vassals, and repaired,
of their own accord, to the royal camp.
Every little while, some stately galley or gallant
caravel would stand into the harbor, displaying the
well-known banner of some Spanish cavalier, and
thundering from its artillery a salutation to the sovereigns
and a defiance to the Moors. On the land
side also, reinforcements would be seen, winding
down from the mountains to the sound of drum and
trumpet, and marching into the camp with glistening
arms, as yet unsullied by the toils of war.
One morning, the whole sea was whitened by the
sails and vexed by the oars of ships and galleys bearing
towards the port. One hundred vessels of various
kinds and sizes arrived, some armed for warlike
-- 087 --
[figure description] Page 087.[end figure description]
service, others deep freighted with provisions. At the
same time, the clangor of drum and trumpet bespoke
the arrival of a powerful force by land, which came
pouring in lengthening columns into the camp. This
mighty reinforcement was furnished by the duke of
Medina Sidona, who reigned like a pettymonarch over
his vast possessions. He came with this princely
force, a volunteer to the royal standard, not having
been summoned by the sovereigns; and he brought,
moreover, a loan of twenty thousand doblas of gold.
When the camp was thus powerfully reinforced,
Isabella advised that new offers of an indulgent kind
should be made to the inhabitants; for she was anxious
to prevent the miseries of a protracted siege,
or the effusion of blood that must attend a general
attack. A fresh summons was therefore sent for the
city to surrender, with a promise of life, liberty, and
property, in case of immediate compliance; but denouncing
all the horrors of war, if the defence were
obstinately continued.
Hamet el Zegri again rejected the offer with
scorn. His main fortifications as yet were but little
impaired, and were capable of holding out much
longer; he trusted to the thousand evils and accidents
that beset a besieging army, and to the inclemencies
of the approaching season; and it is said that
he, as well as his followers, had an infatuated belief
in the predictions of the dervise.
The worthy Fray Antonio Agapida does not scruple
to affirm, that the pretended prophet of the city
was an arch nigromancer, or Moorish magician, “of
-- 088 --
[figure description] Page 088.[end figure description]
which there be countless many,” says he, “in the
filthy sect of Mahomet;” and that he was leagued
with the prince of the powers of the air, to endeavor
to work the confusion and defeat of the christian
army. The worthy father asserts, also, that Hamet
employed him in a high tower of the Gibralfaro,
which commanded a wide view over sea and land,
where he wrought spells and incantations with astrolabes
and other diabolical instruments, to defeat the
christian ships and forces, whenever they were engaged
with the Moors.
To the potent spells of this sorcerer, he ascribes
the perils and losses sustained by a party of cavaliers
of the royal household, in a desperate combat to
gain two towers of the suburb, near the gate of the
city called la Puerto de Granada. The christians,
led on by Ruy Lopez de Toledo, the valiant treasurer
of the queen, took, and lost, and retook the
towers, which were finally set on fire by the Moors,
and abandoned to the flames by both parties. To the
same malignant influence he attributes the damage
done to the christian fleet, which was so vigorously
assailed by the albatozas, or floating batteries of the
Moors, that one ship, belonging to the duke of Medina
Sidonia, was sunk, and the rest were obliged to
retire.
“Hamet el Zegri,” says Fray Antonio Agapida,
“stood on the top of the high tower of Gibralfaro,
and beheld this injury wrought upon the christian
force; and his proud heart was puffed up. And the
Moorish nigromancer stood beside him. And he
-- 089 --
[figure description] Page 089.[end figure description]
pointed out to him the christian host below, encamped
on every eminence around the city, and
covering its fertile valley, and the many ships floating
upon the tranquil sea; and he bade him be strong of
heart, for that in a few days all this mighty fleet
would be scattered by the winds of Heaven; and
that he should sally forth, under guidance of the
sacred banner, and attack this host and utterly defeat
it, and make spoil of those sumptuous tents; and
Malaga should be triumphantly revenged upon her
assailants. So the heart of Hamet was hardened
like that of Pharaoh, and he persisted in setting at
defiance the Catholic sovereigns and their army of
saintly warriors.
eaf218v2.n12[12] Cura de los Palacios.
-- 090 -- p218-421
CHAPTER XVI. Siege of Malaga continued. —Destruction of a tower, by Francisco Ramirez de Madrid.
[figure description] Page 090.[end figure description]
Seeing the infatuated obstinacy of the besieged,
the christians now approached their works to the
walls, gaining one position after another, preparatory
to a general assault. Near the barrier of the city
was a bridge with four arches, defended at each end
by a strong and lofty tower, by which a part of the
army would have to pass in making an attack. The
commander-in-chief of the artillery, Francisco Ramirez
de Madrid, was ordered to take possession of
this bridge. The approach to it was perilous in the
extreme, from the exposed situation of the assailants,
and the number of Moors that garrisoned the twoers.
Francisco Ramirez, therefore, secretly excavated
a mine leading beneath the first tower, and
placed a piece of ordnance with its mouth upwards,
immediately under the foundation, with a train of
powder to produce an explosion at the necessary
moment.
When this was arranged, he advanced slowly
with his forces in face of the towers, erecting bulwarks
at every step, and gradually gaining ground,
until he arrived near to the bridge. He then planted
several pieces of artillery in his works, and began to
-- 091 --
[figure description] Page 091.[end figure description]
batter the tower. The Moors replied bravely from
their battlements; but, in the heat of the combat,
the piece of ordnance under the foundation was discharged.
The earth was rent open, a part of the
tower overthrown, and several of the Moors torn to
pieces; the rest took to flight, overwhelmed with
terror at this thundering explosion bursting beneath
their feet, and at beholding the earth vomiting flames
and smoke; for never before had they witnessed
such a stratagem in warfare. The christians rushed
forward and took possession of the abandoned post,
and immediately commenced an attack upon the
other tower at the opposite end of the bridge, to
which the Moors had retired. An incessant fire of
cross-bows and arquebusses was kept up between
the rival towers, volleys of stones were discharged,
and no one dared to venture upon the intermediate
bridge.
Francisco de Ramirez at length renewed his former
mode of approach, making bulwarks step by
step, while the Moors, stationed at the other end,
swept the bridge with their artillery. The combat
was long and bloody,—furious on the part of the
Moors, patient and persevering on the part of the
christians. By slow degrees, they accomplished their
advance across the bridge, drove the enemy before
them, and remained masters of this important pass.
For this valiant and skilful achievement, king
Ferdinand, after the surrender of the city, conferred
the dignity of knighthood upon Francisco Ramirez,
-- 092 --
[figure description] Page 092.[end figure description]
in the tower which he had so gloriously gained.[13]
The worthy padre Fray Antonio Agapida indulges
in more than a page of extravagant eulogy, upon
this invention of blowing up the foundation of the
tower by a piece of ordnance, which he affirms to
be the first instance on record of gunpowder being
used in a mine.
eaf218v2.n13[13] Pulgar, part 3, c. 91.
-- 093 -- p218-424
CHAPTER XVII. How the people of Malaga expostulated with Hamet el Zegri.
[figure description] Page 093.[end figure description]
While the dervise was deluding the garrison of
Malaga with vain hopes, the famine increased to a
terrible degree. The Gomeres ranged about the
city as though it had been a conquered place, taking
by force whatever they found eatable in the houses
of the peaceful citizens; and breaking open vaults
and cellars, and demolishing walls, wherever they
thought provisions might be concealed.
The wretched inhabitants had no longer bread to
eat; the horse-flesh also now failed them, and they
were fain to devour skins and hides toasted at the
fire, and to assuage the hunger of their children with
vine-leaves cut up and fried in oil. Many perished
of famine, or of the unwholesome food with which
they endeavored to relieve it; and many took refuge
in the christian camp, preferring captivity to the
horrors which surrounded them.
At length the sufferings of the inhabitants became
so great, as to conquer even their fears of Hamet and
his Gomeres. They assembled before the house of
Ali Dordux, the wealthy merchant, whose stately
mansion was at the foot of the hill of the Alcazaba,
and they urged him to stand forth as their leader,
and to intercede with Hamet el Zegri for a surrender.
-- 094 --
[figure description] Page 094.[end figure description]
Ali Dordux was a man of courage, as well as policy;
he perceived also that hunger was giving boldness to
the citizens, while he trusted it was subduing the
fierceness of the soldiery. He armed himself, therefore,
cap-a-pie, and undertook this dangerous parley
with the alcayde. He associated with him an alfaqui
named Abrahen Alharis, and an important inhabitant
named Amar ben Amar; and they ascended to the
fortress of Gibralfaro, followed by several of the
trembling merchants.
They found Hamet el Zegri, not, as before, surrounded
by ferocious guards and all the implements
of war; but in a chamber of one of the lofty towers,
at a table of stone, covered with scrolls traced with
strange characters and mystic diagrams; while instruments
of singular and unknown form lay about the
room. Beside Hamet el Zegri stood the prophetic
dervise, who appeared to have been explaining to
him the mysterious inscriptions of the scrolls. His
presence filled the citizens with awe, for even Ali
Dordux considered him a man inspired.
The alfaqui Abrahen Alharis, whose sacred character
gave him boldness to speak, now lifted up his
voice, and addressed Hamet el Zegri. “We implore
you,” said he, solemnly, “in the name of the most
powerful God, no longer to persist in a vain resistance,
which must end in our destruction, but deliver
up the city while clemency is yet to be obtained.
Think how many of our warriors have fallen by the
sword; do not suffer those who survive to perish by
famine. Our wives and children cry to us for bread,
-- 095 --
[figure description] Page 095.[end figure description]
and we have none to give them. We see them expire
in lingering agony before our eyes, while the
enemy mocks our misery by displaying the abundance
of his camp. Of what avail is our defence? Are our
walls peradventure more strong than the walls of
Ronda? Are our warriors more brave than the defenders
of Loxa? The walls of Ronda were thrown
down, and the warriors of Loxa had to surrender.
Do we hope for succor?—from whence are we to
receive it? The time for hope is gone by. Granada
has lost its power; it no longer possesses chivalry,
commanders, or a king. Boabdil sits a vassal in the
degraded halls of the Alhambra; El Zagal is a fugitive,
shut up within the walls of Guadix. The kingdom
is divided against itself,—its strength is gone, its
pride fallen, its very existence at an end. In the
name of Allah, we conjure thee, who art our captain,
be not our direst enemy; but surrender these ruins
of our once happy Malaga, and deliver us from these
overwhelming horrors.”
Such was the supplication forced from the inhabitants
by the extremity of their sufferings. Hamet
el Zegri listened to the alfaqui without anger, for he
respected the sanctity of his office. His heart, too,
was at that moment lifted up with a vain confidence.
“Yet a few days of patience,” said he, “and all these
evils will suddenly have an end. I have been conferring
with this holy man, and find that the time of
our deliverance is at hand. The decrees of fate are
inevitable; it is written in the book of destiny, that
we shall sally forth and destroy the camp of the
-- 096 --
[figure description] Page 096.[end figure description]
unbelievers, and banquet upon those mountains of grain
which are piled up in the midst of it. So Allah hath
promised, by the mouth of this his prophet. Allah
Acbar! God is great. Let no man oppose the decrees
of Heaven!”
The citizens bowed with profound reverence, for
no true Moslem pretends to struggle against whatever
is written in the book of fate. Ali Dordux, who had
come prepared to champion the city and to brave
the ire of Hamet, humbled himself before this holy
man, and gave faith to his prophecies as the revelations
of Allah. So the deputies returned to the citizens,
and exhorted them to be of good cheer: “A few
days longer,” said they, “and our sufferings are to
terminate. When the white banner is removed from
the tower, then look out for deliverance; for the hour
of sallying forth will have arrived.” The people retired
to their homes, with sorrowful hearts; they
tried in vain to quiet the cries of their famishing
children; and day by day, and hour by hour, their
anxious eyes were turned to the sacred banner, which
still continued to wave on the tower of Gibralfaro.
-- 097 -- p218-428
CHAPTER XVIII. How Hamet el Zegri sallied forth with the sacred banner, to attack the Christian camp.
[figure description] Page 097.[end figure description]
“The Moorish nigromancer,” observes the worthy
Fray Antonio Agapida, “remained shut up in a tower
of the Gibralfaro, devising devilish means to work
mischief and discomfiture upon the christians. He
was daily consulted by Hamet el Zegri, who had
great faith in those black and magic arts, which he
had brought with him from the bosom of heathen
Africa.”
From the account given of this dervise and his
incantations by the worthy father, it would appear
that he was an astrologer, and was studying the stars,
and endeavoring to calculate the day and hour when
a successful attack might be made upon the christian
camp.
Famine had now increased to such a degree as to
distress even the garrison of Gibralfaro, although the
Gomeres had seized upon all the provisions they
could find in the city. Their passions were sharpened
by hunger, and they became restless and turbulent,
and impatient for action.
Hamet el Zegri was one day in council with his
captains, perplexed by the pressure of events, when
the dervise entered among them. “The hour of victory,”
exclaimed he, “is at hand. Allah has
-- 098 --
[figure description] Page 098.[end figure description]
commanded that to-morrow morning ye shall sally forth
to the fight. I will bear before you the sacred banner,
and deliver your enemies into your hands. Remember,
however, that ye are but instruments in
the hands of Allah, to take vengeance on the enemies
of the faith. Go into battle, therefore, with
pure hearts, forgiving each other all past offences;
for those who are charitable towards each other,
will be victorious over the foe.” The words of the
dervise were received with rapture: all Gibralfaro
and the Alcazaba resounded immediately with the
din of arms; and Hamet sent throughout the towers
and fortifications of the city, and selected the choicest
troops and most distinguished captains for this
eventful combat.
In the morning early, the rumor went throughout
the city that the sacred banner had disappeared from
the tower of Gibralfaro, and all Malaga was roused
to witness the sally that was to destroy the unbelievers.
Hamet descended from his strong-hold, accompanied
by his principal captain, Abrahen Zenete,
and followed by his Gomeres. The dervise led the
way, displaying the white banner, the sacred pledge
of victory. The multitude shouted “Allah Acbar!”
and prostrated themselves before the banner as it
passed. Even the dreaded Hamet was hailed with
praises; for in their hopes of speedy relief through
the prowess of his arm, the populace forgot every
thing but his bravery. Every bosom in Malaga was
agitated by hope and fear—the old men, the women
and children, and all who went not forth to battle,
-- 099 --
[figure description] Page 099.[end figure description]
mounted on tower and battlement and roof, to watch
a combat that was to decide their fate.
Before sallying forth from the city, the dervise addressed
the troops, reminding them of the holy nature
of this enterprise, and warning them not to forfeit
the protection of the sacred banner by any
unworthy act. They were not to pause to make
spoil nor to take prisoners: they were to press forward,
fighting valiantly, and granting no quarter.
The gate was then thrown open, and the dervise
issued forth, followed by the army. They directed
their assaults upon the encampments of the Master
of Santiago and the Master of Alcantara, and came
upon them so suddenly that they killed and wounded
several of the guards. Abrahen Zenete made his
way into one of the tents, where he beheld several
chrisfian striplings just starting from their slumber.
The heart of the Moor was suddenly touched with
pity for their youth, or perhaps he scorned the weakness
of the foe. He smote them with the flat, instead
of the edge of his sword. “Away, imps,” cried he,
“away to your mothers.” The fanatic dervise reproached
him with his clemency—“I did not kill
them,” replied Zenete, “because I saw no beards!”[14]
The alarm was given in the camp, and the christians
rushed from all quarters to defend the gates of
the bulwarks. Don Pedro Puerto Carrero, Senior
of Moguer, and his brother Don Alonzo Pacheco,
planted themselves, with their followers, in the
-- 100 --
[figure description] Page 100.[end figure description]
gateway of the encampment of the Master of Santiago,
and bore the whole brunt of battle until they were
reinforced. The gate of the encampment of the
Master of Calatrava was in like manner defended
by Lorenzo Saurez de Mendoza. Hamet el Zegri
was furious at being thus checked, where he had
expected a miraculous victory. He led his troops
repeatedly to the attack, hoping to force the gates
before succor should arrive: they fought with vehement
ardor, but were as often repulsed; and every
time they returned to the assault, they found their
enemies doubled in number. The christians opened
a cross-fire of all kinds of missiles, from their bulwarks;
the Moors could effect but little damage upon
a foe thus protected behind their works, while they
themselves were exposed from head to foot. The
christians singled out the most conspicuous cavaliers,
the greater part of whom were either slain or wounded.
Still the Moors, infatuated by the predictions of
the prophet, fought desperately and devotedly, and
they were furious to revenge the slaughter of their
leaders. They rushed upon certain death, endeavoring
madly to scale the bulwarks or force the gates,
and fell amidst showers of darts and lances, filling
the ditches with their mangled bodies.
Hamet el Zegri raged along the front of the bulwarks,
seeking an opening for attack. He gnashed
his teeth with fury, as he saw so many of his chosen
warriors slain around him. He seemed to have a
charmed life; for, though constantly in the hottest
of the fight, amidst showers of missiles, he still es
-- 101 --
[figure description] Page 101.[end figure description]
caped uninjured. Blindly confiding in the prophecy
of victory, he continued to urge on his devoted
troops. The dervise, too, ran like a maniac through
the ranks, waving his white banner, and inciting the
Moors by howlings rather than by shouts. In the
midst of his frenzy, a stone from a catapult struck
him on the head, and dashed out his bewildered
brains.[15]
When the Moors beheld their prophet slain, and
his banner in the dust, they were seized with despair,
and fled in confusion to the city. Hamet el Zegri
made some effort to rally them, but was himself
confounded by the fall of the dervise. He covered
the flight of his broken forces, turning repeatedly
upon their pursuers, and slowly making his retreat
into the city.
The inhabitants of Malaga witnessed from their
walls, with trembling anxiety, the whole of this disastrous
conflict. At the first onset, when they beheld
the guards of the camp put to flight, they exclaimed,
“Allah has given us the victory!” and they
sent up shouts of triumph. Their exultation, however,
was soon turned into doubt, when they beheld
their troops repulsed in repeated attacks. They
could see, from time to time, some distinguished warrior
laid low, and others brought back bleeding to
the city. When at length the sacred banner fell, and
the routed troops came flying to the gates, pursued
-- 102 --
[figure description] Page 102.[end figure description]
and cut down by the foe, horror and despair seized
upon the populace.
As Hamet el Zegri entered the gates, he heard
nothing but loud lamentations: mothers, whose sons
had been slain, shrieked curses after him as he passed;
some, in the anguish of their hearts, threw down
their famishing babes before him, exclaiming, “Trample
on them with thy horse's feet; for we have no
food to give them, and we cannot endure their cries.”
All heaped execrations on his head, as the cause of
the woes of Malaga.
The warlike part of the citizens also, and many
warriors, who, with their wives and children, had
taken refuge in Malaga from the mountain fortresses,
now joined in the popular clamor, for their hearts
were overcome by the sufferings of their families.
Hamet el Zegri found it impossible to withstand
this torrent of lamentations, curses, and reproaches.
His military ascendancy was at an end; for most of
his officers, and the prime warriors of his African
band, had fallen in this disastrous sally. Turning his
back, therefore, upon the city, and abandoning it to
its own councils, he retired with the remnant of his
Gomeres to his strong-hold in the Gibralfaro.
eaf218v2.n14[14] Cura de los Palacios, c. 84.
eaf218v2.n15[15] Garibay, lib. 18. c. 33.
-- 103 -- p218-434
CHAPTER XIX. How the city of Malaga capitulated.
[figure description] Page 103.[end figure description]
The people of Malaga, being no longer overawed
by Hamet el Zegri and his Gomeres, turned to Ali
Dordux, the magnanimous merchant, and put the fate
of the city into his hands. He had already gained
the alcaydes of the castle of the Genoese, and of the
citadel, into his party, and in the late confusion had
gained the sway over those important fortresses. He
now associated himself with the alfaqui Abrahen
Alhariz and four of the principal inhabitants, and,
forming a provisional junta, they sent heralds to the
christian sovereigns, offering to surrender the city on
certain terms, protecting the persons and property
of the inhabitants, permitting them to reside as Mudexares
or tributary vassals, either in Malaga or
elsewhere.
When the heralds arrived at the camp, and made
known their mission to king Ferdinand, his anger
was kindled. “Return to your fellow-citizens,” said
he, “and tell them that the day of grace is gone by.
They have persisted in a fruitless defence, until they
are driven by necessity to capitulate; they must surrender
unconditionally, and abide the fate of the vanquished.
Those who merit death shall suffer death:
those who merit captivity shall be made captives.”
-- 104 --
[figure description] Page 104.[end figure description]
This stern reply spread consternation among the
people of Malaga; but Ali Dordux comforted them,
and undertook to go in person, and pray for favorable
terms. When the people beheld this great and
wealthy merchant, who was so eminent in their city,
departing with his associates on this mission, they
plucked up heart; for they said, “Surely the christian
king will not turn a deaf ear to such a man as
Ali Dordux!”
Ferdinand, however, would not even admit the
ambassadors to his presence. “Send them to the
devil!” said he, in a great passion, to the commander
of Leon; “I'll not see them. Let them get back to
their city. They shall all surrender to my mercy,
as vanquished enemies.”[16]
To give emphasis to this reply, he ordered a general
discharge from all the artillery and batteries;
and there was a great shout throughout the camp,
and all the lombards and catapults, and other engines
of war, thundered furiously upon the city, doing
great damage.
Ali Dordux and his companions returned to the
city with downcast countenances, and could scarce
make the reply of the christian sovereign be heard,
for the roaring of the artillery, the tumbling of the
walls, and the cries of women and children. The
citizens were greatly astonished and dismayed, when
they found the little respect paid to their most eminent
man; but the warriors who were in the city
-- 105 --
[figure description] Page 105.[end figure description]
exclaimed, “What has this merchant to do with questions
between men of battle? Let us not address the
enemy as abject suppliants who have no power to injure,
but as valiant men, who have weapons in their
hands.”
So they dispatched another message to the christian
sovereigns, offering to yield up the city and all
their effects, on condition of being secured in their
personal liberty. Should this be denied, they declared
they would hang from the battlements fifteen
hundred christian captives, male and female; that
they would put all their old men, their women and
children into the citadel, set fire to the city, and sally
forth sword in hand, to fight until the last gasp. “In
this way,” said they, “the Spanish sovereigns shall
gain a bloody victory, and the fall of Malaga be renowned
while the world endures.”
To this fierce and swelling message, Ferdinand
replied, that if a single christian captive were injured,
not a Moor in Malaga but should be put to the
edge of the sword.
A great conflict of counsels now arose in Malaga.
The warriors were for following up their menace by
some desperate act of vengeance or of self-devotion.
Those who had families looked with anguish upon
their wives and daughters, and thought it better to
die than live to see them captives. By degrees, however,
the transports of passion and despair subsided,
the love of life resumed its sway, and they turned
once more to Ali Dordux, as the man most prudent
in council and able in negotiation. By his advice,
-- 106 --
[figure description] Page 106.[end figure description]
fourteen of the principal inhabitants were chosen
from the fourteen districts of the city, and sent to the
camp, bearing a long letter, couched in terms of the
most humble supplication.
Various debates now took place in the christian
camp. Many of the cavaliers were exasperated
against Malaga for its long resistance, which had
caused the death of many of their relations and
favorite companions. It had long been a strong-hold
also for Moorish depredators, and the mart where
most of the warriors captured in the Axarquia had
been exposed in triumph and sold to slavery. They
represented, moreover, that there were many Moorish
cities yet to be besieged; and that an example
ought to be made of Malaga, to prevent all obstinate
resistance thereafter. They advised, therefore, that
all the inhabitants should be put to the sword![17]
The humane heart of Isabella revolted at such
sanguinary counsels: she insisted that their triumph
should not be disgraced by cruelty. Ferdinand, however,
was inflexible in refusing to grant any preliminary
terms, insisting on an unconditional surrender.
The people of Malaga now abandoned themselves
to paroxysms of despair; on the one side they saw
famine and death, on the other slavery and chains.
The mere men of the sword, who had no families to
protect, were loud for signalizing their fall by some
illustrious action. “Let us sacrifice our christian
captives, and then destroy ourselves,” cried some.
-- 107 --
[figure description] Page 107.[end figure description]
“Let us put all the women and children to death,
set fire to the city, fall on the christian camp, and die
sword in hand,” cried others.
Ali Dordux gradually made his voice be heard,
amidst the general clamor. He addressed himself to
the principal inhabitants, and to those who had children.
“Let those who live by the sword, die by the
sword,” cried he; “but let us not follow their desperate
counsels. Who knows what sparks of pity
may be awakened in the bosoms of the christian
sovereigns, when they behold our unoffending wives
and daughters, and our helpless little ones! The
christian queen, they say, is full of mercy.”
At these words, the hearts of the unhappy people
of Malaga yearned over their families, and they empowered
Ali Dordux to deliver up their city to the
mercy of the Castilian sovereigns.
The merchant now went to and fro, and had several
communications with Ferdinand and Isabella,
and interested several principal cavaliers in his
cause; and he sent rich presents to the king and
queen, of oriental merchandise, and silks and stuffs of
gold, and jewels and precious stones, and spices and
perfumes, and many other sumptuous things, which
he had accumulated in his great tradings with the
east; and he gradually found favor in the eyes of the
sovereigns.[18] Finding that there was nothing to be
obtained for the city, he now, like a prudent man
and able merchant, began to negotiate for himself
-- 108 --
[figure description] Page 108.[end figure description]
and his immediate friends. He represented that
from the first they had been desirous of yielding up
the city, but had been prevented by warlike and
high-handed men, who had threatened their lives:
he entreated, therefore, that mercy might be extended
to them, and that they might not be confounded
with the guilty.
The sovereigns had accepted the presents of Ali
Dordux—how could they then turn a deaf ear to his
petition? So they granted a pardon to him, and to
forty families which he named; and it was agreed
that they should be protected in their liberties and
property, and permitted to reside in Malaga as Mudexares
or Moslem vassals, and to follow their customary
pursuits.[19] All this being arranged, Ali Dordux
delivered up twenty of the principal inhabitants,
to remain as hostages, until the whole city should be
placed in the possession of the christians.
Don Gutiere de Cardenas, senior commander of
Leon, now entered the city, armed cap-a-pie, on
horseback, and took possession in the name of the
Castilian sovereigns. He was followed by his retainers,
and by the captains and cavaliers of the
army; and in a little while, the standards of the
cross and of the blessed Santiago, and of the Catholic
sovereigns, were elevated on the principal tower of
the Alcazaba. When these standards were beheld
from the camp, the queen and the princess and the
ladies of the court, and all the royal retinue, knelt
-- 109 --
[figure description] Page 109.[end figure description]
down and gave thanks and praises to the holy virgin
and to Santiago, for this great triumph of the faith;
and the bishops and other clergy who were present,
and the choristers of the royal chapel, chanted “Te
Deum Laudamus,” and “Gloria in Excelsis.”
eaf218v2.n16[16] Cura de los Palacios, cap. 84.
eaf218v2.n17[17] Pulgar.
eaf218v2.n18[18] MS. Chron. of Valera.
eaf218v2.n19[19] Cura de los Palacios.
-- 110 -- p218-441
CHAPTER XX. Fufilment of the prophecy of the dervise. —Fate of Hamet el Zegri.
[figure description] Page 110.[end figure description]
No sooner was the city delivered up, than the
wretched inhabitants implored permission to purchase
bread for themselves and their children, from
the heaps of grain which they had so often gazed at
wistfully from their walls. Their prayer was granted,
and they issued forth with the famished eagerness
of starving men. It was piteous to behold the struggles
of those unhappy people, as they contended who
first should have their necessities relieved.
“Thus,” says the pious Fray Antonio Agapida,
“thus are the predictions of false prophets sometimes
permitted to be verified, but always to the
confusion of those who trust in them: for the words
of the Moorish nigromancer came to pass, that the
people of Malaga should eat of those heaps of bread;
but they ate in humiliation and defeat, and with sorrow
and bitterness of heart.”
Dark and fierce were the feelings of Hamet el
Zegri, as he looked down from the castle of Gibralfaro,
and beheld the christian legions pouring into
the city, and the standard of the cross supplanting
the crescent on the citadel. “The people of Malaga,”
said he, “have trusted to a man of trade, and he has
trafficked them away; but let us not suffer ourselves
-- 111 --
[figure description] Page 111.[end figure description]
to be bound hand and foot, and delivered up as part
of his bargain. We have yet strong walls around us,
and trusty weapons in our hands. Let us fight until
buried beneath the last tumbling tower of Gibralfaro,
or, rushing down from among its ruins, carry
havoc among the unbelievers, as they throng the
streets of Malaga!”
The fierceness of the Gomeres, however, was
broken. They could have died in the breach, had
their castle been assailed; but the slow advances of
famine subdued their strength without rousing their
passions, and sapped the force both of soul and body.
They were almost unanimous for a surrender.
It was a hard struggle for the proud spirit of
Hamet, to bow itself to ask for terms. Still he trusted
that the valor of his defence would gain him respect
in the eyes of a chivalrous foe. “Ali,” said he,
“has negotiated like a merchant; I will capitulate
as a soldier.” He sent a herald, therefore, to Ferdinand,
offering to yield up his castle, but demanding
a separate treaty.[20] The Castilian sovereign made a
laconic and stern reply: “He shall receive no terms
but such as have been granted to the community of
Malaga.”
For two days Hamet el Zegri remained brooding
in his castle, after the city was in possession of the
christians; at length, the clamors of his followers
compelled him to surrender. When the broken
remnant of this fierce African garrison descended
-- 112 --
[figure description] Page 112.[end figure description]
from their cragged fortress, they were so worn by
watchfulness, famine, and battle, yet carried such a
lurking fury in their eyes, that they looked more like
fiends than men. They were all condemned to slavery,
excepting Abrahen Zenete. The instance of
clemency which he had shown in refraining to harm
the Spanish striplings, on the last sally from Malaga,
won him favorable terms. It was cited as a magnanimous
act by the Spanish cavaliers, and all admitted,
that though a Moor in blood, he possessed the christian
heart of a Castilian hidalgo.[21]
As to Hamet el Zegri, on being asked what moved
him to such hardened obstinacy, he replied, “When I
undertook my command, I pledged myself to fight in
defence of my faith, my city, and my sovereign, until
slain or made prisoner; and depend upon it, had I
had men to stand by me, I should have died fighting,
instead of thus tamely surrendering myself without a
weapon in my hand.”
“Such,” says the pious Fray Antonio Agapida,
“was the diabolical hatred and stiff-necked opposition
of this infidel to our holy cause. But he was
justly served by our most Catholic and high-minded
sovereign, for his pertinacious defence of the city;
for Ferdinand ordered that he should be loaded with
chains, and thrown into a dungeon.Ӡ
eaf218v2.n20[20] Cura de los Palacios.
eaf218v2.n21[21] Cura de los Palacios, cap. 84.
eaf218v2.dag4† Pulgar. Cronica.
-- 113 -- p218-444
CHAPTER XXI. 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.
[figure description] Page 113.[end figure description]
One of the first cares of the conquerors, on entering
Malaga, was to search for christian captives.
Nearly sixteen hundred men and women were found,
and among them were persons of distinction. Some
of them had been ten, fifteen, and twenty years in
captivity. Many had been servants to the Moors, or
laborers on public works, and some had passed their
time in chains and dungeons. Preparations were
made to celebrate their deliverance as a christian
triumph. A tent was erected not far from the city,
and furnished with an altar and all the solemn decorations
of a chapel. Here the king and queen waited
to receive the christian captives. They were assembled
in the city, and marshalled forth in piteous procession.
Many of them had still the chains and
shackles on their legs; they were wasted with famine,
their hair and beards overgrown and matted, and
their faces pale and haggard from long confinement.
When they beheld themselves restored to liberty,
and surrounded by their countrymen, some stared
wildly about as if in a dream, others gave way to
frantic transports, but most of them wept for joy.
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All present were moved to tears, by so touching a
spectacle. When the procession arrived at what is
called the Gate of Granada, it was met by a great
concourse from the camp, with crosses and pennons,
who turned and followed the captives, singing hymns
of praise and thanksgiving. When they came in
presence of the king and queen, they threw themselves
on their knees and would have kissed their
feet, as their saviors and deliverers; but the sovereigns
prevented such humiliation, and graciously
extended to them their hands. They then prostrated
themselves before the altar, and all present joined
them in giving thanks to God for their liberation
from this cruel bondage. By orders of the king and
queen, their chains were then taken off, and they were
clad in decent raiment, and food was set before them.
After they had ate and drunk, and were refreshed
and invigorated, they were provided with money
and all things necessary for their journey, and were
sent joyfully to their homes.
While the old chroniclers dwell with becoming
enthusiasm on this pure and affecting triumph of
humanity, they go on, in a strain of equal eulogy, to
describe a spectacle of a far different nature. It so
happened, that there were found in the city twelve
of those renegado christians who had deserted to the
Moors, and conveyed false intelligence, during the
siege: a barbarous species of punishment was inflicted
upon them, borrowed, it is said, from the Moors,
and peculiar to these wars. They were tied to stakes
in a public place, and horsemen exercised their skill
-- 115 --
[figure description] Page 115.[end figure description]
in transpiercing them with pointed reeds, hurled at
them while careering at full speed, until the miserable
victims expired beneath their wounds. Several
apostate Moors, also, who, having embraced christianity,
had afterwards relapsed into their early faith,
and had taken refuge in Malaga from the vengeance
of the Inquisition, were publicly burnt. “These,”
says an old Jesuit historian, exultingly, “these were
the tilts of reeds and the illuminations most pleasing
for this victorious festival, and for the Catholic piety
of our sovereigns!”[22]
When the city was cleansed from the impurities
and offensive odors which had collected during the
siege, the bishops and other clergy who accompanied
the court, and the choir of the royal chapel, walked
in procession to the principal mosque, which was
consecrated, and entitled Santa Maria de la Incarnacion.
This done, the king and queen entered the
city, accompanied by the grand cardinal of Spain,
and the pricipal nobles and cavaliers of the army,
and heard a solemn mass. The church was then
elevated into a cathedral, and Malaga was made a
bishopric, and many of the neighboring towns were
comprehended in its diocese. The queen took up
her residence in the Alcazaba, in the apartments of
her valiant treasurer, Ruy Lopez, from whence she
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had a view of the whole city; but the king established
his quarters in the warrior castle of Gibralfaro.
And now came to be considered the disposition
of the Moorish prisoners. All those who were strangers
in the city, and had either taken refuge there, or
had entered to defend it, were at once considered
slaves. They were divided into three lots: one was
set apart for the service of God, in redeeming christian
captives from bondage, either in the kingdom of
Granada or in Africa; the second lot was divided
among those who had aided either in field or cabinet,
in the present siege, according to their rank; the third
was appropriated to defray, by their sale, the great
expenses incurred in the reduction of the place. A
hundred of the Gomeres were sent as presents to
Pope Innocent VIII., and were led in triumph
through the streets of Rome, and afterwards converted
to christianity. Fifty Moorish maidens were
sent to the queen Joanna of Naples, sister to king
Ferdinand, and thirty to the queen of Portugal. Isabella
made presents of others to the ladies of her
household, and of the noble families of Spain.
Among the inhabitants of Malaga were four hundred
and fifty Moorish Jews, for the most part
women, speaking the Arabic language, and dressed
in the Moresco fashion. These were ransomed by
a wealthy Jew of Castile, farmer-general of the royal
revenues derived from the Jews of Spain. He agreed
to make up, within a certain time, the sum of twenty
thousand doblas, or pistoles of gold; all the money
and jewels of the captives being taken in part
-- 117 --
[figure description] Page 117.[end figure description]
payment. They were sent to Castile, in two armed
galleys.
As to the great mass of Moorish inhabitants, they
implored that they might not be scattered and sold
into captivity, but might be permitted to ransom
themselves by an amount paid within a certain time.
Upon this, king Ferdinand took the advice of certain
of his ablest counsellors: they said to him, “If you
hold out a prospect of hopeless captivity, the infidels
will throw all their gold and jewels into wells and
pits, and you will lose the greater part of the spoil;
but if you fix a general rate of ransom, and receive
their money and jewels in part payment, nothing will
be destroyed. The king relished greatly this advice;
and it was arranged that all the inhabitants should
be ransomed at the general rate of thirty doblas or
pistoles in gold for each individual, male or female,
large or small; that all their gold, jewels, and other
valuables, should be received immediately in part
payment of the general amount, and that the residue
should be paid within eight months; that if any of
the number, actually living, should die in the interim,
their ransom should nevertheless be paid. If, however,
the whole of the amount were not paid at the
expiration of the eight months, they should all be
considered and treated as slaves.
The unfortunate Moors were eager to catch at the
least hope of future liberty, and consented to these
hard conditions. The most rigorous precautions were
taken to exact them to the uttermost. The inhabitants
were numbered by houses and families, and
-- 118 --
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their names taken down; their most precious effects
were made up into parcels, and sealed and inscribed
with their names; and they were ordered to repair
with them to certain large corrales or inclosures adjoining
the Alcazaba, which were surrounded by
high walls and overlooked by watch-towers, to which
places the cavalgadas of christian captives had usually
been driven, to be confined until the time of sale, like
cattle in a market. The Moors were obliged to leave
their houses one by one; all their money, necklaces,
bracelets, and anklets of gold, pearl, coral, and precious
stones, were taken from them at the threshold,
and their persons so rigorously searched that they
carried off nothing concealed.
Then might be seen old men and helpless women,
and tender maidens, some of high birth and gentle
condition, passing through the streets, heavily burthened,
towards the Alcazaba. As they left their
homes, they smote their breasts, and wrung their
hands, and raised their weeping eyes to heaven in
anguish; and this is recorded as their plaint: “Oh
Malaga! city so renowned and beautiful! where now
is the strength of thy castles, where the grandeur of
thy towers? Of what avail have been thy mighty
walls, for the protection of thy children? Behold
them driven from thy pleasant abodes, doomed to
drag out a life of bondage in a foreign land, and to
die far from the home of their infancy! What will
become of thy old men and matrons, when their gray
hairs shall be no longer reverenced? What will become
of thy maidens, so delicately reared and ten
-- 119 --
[figure description] Page 119.[end figure description]
derly cherished, when reduced to hard and menial
servitude? Behold, thy once happy families are scattered
asunder, never again to be united; sons are
separated from their fathers, husbands from their
wives, and tender children from their mothers: they
will bewail each other in foreign lands, but their
lamentations will be the scoff of the stranger. Oh
Malaga! city of our birth! who can behold thy desolation,
and not shed tears of bitterness?”[23]
When Malaga was completely secured, a detachment
was sent against two fortresses near the sea,
called Mixas and Osuna, which had frequently harassed
the christian camp. The inhabitants were
threatened with the sword, unless they instantly surrendered.
They claimed the same terms that had
been granted to Malaga, imagining them to be freedom
of person and security of property. Their claim
was granted; they were transported to Malaga with
all their riches, and, on arriving there, were overwhelmed
with consternation at finding themselves
captives. “Ferdinand,” observes Fray Antonio
Agapida, “was a man of his word; they were shut
up in the inclosure at the Alcazaba with the people
of Malaga, and shared their fate.”
The unhappy captives remained thus crowded in
the court-yards of the Alcazaba, like sheep in a fold,
until they could be sent by sea and land to Seville.
They were then distributed about in city and country,
each christian family having one or more to feed
-- 120 --
[figure description] Page 120.[end figure description]
and maintain as servants, until the term fixed for
the payment of the residue of the ransom should expire.
The captives had obtained permission that
several of their number should go about among the
Moorish towns of the kingdom of Granada, collecting
contributions to aid in the purchase of their liberties;
but these towns were too much impoverished
by the war, and engrossed by their own distresses,
to lend a listening ear: so the time expired without
the residue of the ransom being paid, and all the
captives of Malaga, to the number, as some say, of
eleven, and others of fifteen thousand, became slaves!
“Never,” exclaims the worthy Fray Antonio Agapida,
in one of his usual bursts of zeal and loyalty,
“never has there been recorded a more adroit and
sagacious arrangement than this made by the Catholic
monarch, by which he not only secured all the
property and half of the ransom of these infidels, but
finally got possession of their persons into the bargain.
This truly may be considered one of the greatest
triumphs of the pious and politic Ferdinand, and as
raising him above the generality of conquerors, who
have merely the valor to gain victories, but lack the
prudence and management necessary to turn them
to account.”
eaf218v2.n22[22] “Los renegados fueron acañavareados; y los conversos quemados:
y estos fueron las cañas, y luminarias mas alegres, por
la fiesta de la vitoria, para la piedad Catholica de nuestros Reyes.”
Abarca. Anales de Aragon, tom. 2. Rey xxx. c. 3.
eaf218v2.n23[23] Pulgar.
-- 121 -- p218-452
CHAPTER XXII. How King Ferdinand prepared to carry the war into a different part of the territories of the Moors.
[figure description] Page 121.[end figure description]
The western part of the kingdom of Granada had
now been conquered by the christian arms. The
sea-port of Malaga was captured: the fierce and
warlike inhabitants of the Serrania de Ronda, and
the other mountain holds of the frontier, were all
disarmed, and reduced to peaceful and laborious
vassalage; their haughty fortresses, which had so
long overawed the valleys of Andalusia, now displayed
the standard of Castile and Arragon; the
watch-towers, which crowned every height, and
from whence the infidels had kept a vulture eye
over the christian territories, were now either dismantled,
or garrisoned with Catholic troops. “What
signalized and sanctified this great triumph,” adds
the worthy Fray Antonio Agapida, “were the emblems
of ecclesiastical domination which every
where appeared. In every direction arose stately
convents and monasteries, those fortresses of the
faith, garrisoned by its spiritual soldiery of monks
and friars. The sacred melody of christian bells
was again heard among the mountains, calling to
early matins, or sounding the Angeles at the solemn
hour of evening.”
-- 122 --
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While this part of the kingdom was thus reduced
by the christian sword, the central part, round the
city of Granada, forming the heart of the Moorish
territory, was held in vassalage of the Castilian
monarch, by Boabdil surnamed el Chico. That unfortunate
prince lost no occasion to propitiate the
conquerors of his country by acts of homage, and by
professions that must have been foreign to his heart.
No sooner had he heard of the capture of Malaga,
than he sent congratulations to the Catholic sovereigns,
accompanied with presents of horses richly
caparisoned for the king, and precious cloth of gold
and oriental perfumes for the queen. His congratulations
and his presents were received with the utmost
graciousness; and the short-sighted prince, lulled
by the temporary and politic forbearance of Ferdinand,
flattered himself that he was securing the lasting
friendship of that monarch.
The policy of Boabdil had its transient and superficial
advantages. The portion of Moorish territory
under his immediate sway had a respite from the
calamities of war: the husbandmen cultivated their
luxuriant fields in security, and the vega of Granada
once more blossomed like the rose. The merchants
again carried on a gainful traffic: the gates of the
city were thronged with beasts of burden, bringing
the rich products of every clime. Yet, while the
people of Granada rejoiced in their teeming fields
and crowded marts, they secretly despised the policy
which had procured them these advantages, and held
Boabdil for little better than an apostate and an
-- 123 --
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unbeliever. Muley Abdalla el Zagal was now the hope
of the unconquered part of the kingdom; and every
Moor, whose spirit was not quite subdued with his
fortunes, lauded the valor of the old monarch and his
fidelity to the faith, and wished success to his standard.
El Zagal, though he no longer sat enthroned in
the Alhambra, yet reigned over more considerable
domains than his nephew. His territories extended
from the frontier of Jaen along the borders of Murcia
to the Mediterranean, and reached into the centre
of the kingdom. On the north-east, he held the
cities of Baza and Guadix, situated in the midst of
fertile regions. He had the important sea-port of
Almeria, also, which at one time rivalled Granada
itself in wealth and population. Beside these, his
territories included a great part of the Alpuxarra
mountains, which extend across the kingdom and
shoot out branches towards the sea-coast. This
mountainous region was a strong-hold of wealth and
power. Its stern and rocky heights, rising to the
clouds, seemed to set invasion at defiance; yet within
their rugged embraces were sheltered delightful valleys,
of the happiest temperature and richest fertility.
The cool springs and limpid rills which gushed
out in all parts of the mountains, and the abundant
streams, which, for a great part of the year, were
supplied by the Sierra Nevada, spread a perpetual
verdure over the skirts and slopes of the hills, and,
collecting in silver rivers in the valleys, wound along
among plantations of mulberry trees, and groves of
oranges and citrons, of almonds, figs, and
-- 124 --
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pomegranates. Here was produced the finest silk of Spain,
which gave employment to thousands of manufacturers.
The sun-burnt sides of the hills, also, were
covered with vineyards; the abundant herbage of
the mountain ravines, and the rich pasturage of the
valleys, fed vast flocks and herds; and even the arid
and rocky bosoms of the heights teemed with wealth,
from the mines of various metals with which they
were impregnated. In a word, the Alpuxarra mountains
had ever been the great source of revenue to
the monarchs of Granada. Their inhabitants, also,
were hardy and warlike, and a sudden summons
from the Moorish king could at any time call forth
fifty thousand fighting men from their rocky fastnesses.
Such was the rich but rugged fragment of an empire
which remained under the sway of the old warrior
monarch El Zagal. The mountain barriers by
which it was locked up, had protected it from most
of the ravages of the present war. El Zagal prepared
himself, by strengthening every fortress, to
battle fiercely for its maintenance.
The Catholic sovereigns saw that fresh troubles
and toils awaited them. The war had to be carried
into a new quarter, demanding immense expenditures;
and new ways and means must be devised to
replenish their exhausted coffers. “As this was a
holy war, however,” says Fray Antonio Agapida,
“and peculiarly redounded to the prosperity of the
church, the clergy were full of zeal, and contributed
vast sums of money and large bodies of troops. A
-- 125 --
[figure description] Page 125.[end figure description]
pious fund was also produced, from the first fruits of
that glorious institution, the Inquisition.”
It so happened, that about this time there were
many families of wealth and dignity in the kingdoms
of Arragon and Valentia, and the principality of
Catalonia, whose forefathers had been Jews, but had
been converted to christianity. Notwithstanding the
outward piety of these families, it was surmised, and
soon came to be strongly suspected, that many of
them had a secret hankering after Judaism; and it
was even whispered, that some of them practised
Jewish rites in private.
The Catholic monarch (continues Agapida) had a
righteous abhorrence of all kinds of heresy, and a
fervent zeal for the faith; he ordered, therefore, a
strict investigation of the conduct of these pseudo
christians. Inquisitors were sent into these provinces
for the purpose, who proceeded with their accustomed
zeal. The consequence was, that many families
were convicted of apostasy from the christian
faith, and of the private practice of Judaism. Some,
who had grace and policy sufficient to reform in
time, were again received into the christian fold,
after being severely mulcted and condemned to
heavy penance; others were burnt at auto de fés,
for the edification of the public, and their property
was confiscated for the good of the state.
As these Hebrews were of great wealth, and had
a hereditary passion for jewelry, there was found
abundant store in their possession of gold and silver,
of rings and necklaces, and strings of pearl and
-- 126 --
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coral, and precious stones;—treasures easy of transportation,
and wonderfully adapted for the emergencies
of war. “In this way,” concludes the pious
Agapida, “these backsliders, by the all-seeing contrivances
of Providence, were made to serve the
righteous cause which they had so treacherously deserted;
and their apostate wealth was sanctified by
being devoted to the service of Heaven and the
crown, in this holy crusade against the infidels.”
It must be added, however, that these pious financial
expedients received some check from the interference
of queen Isabella. Her penetrating eyes discovered
that many enormities had been committed
under color of religious zeal, and many innocent
persons accused by false witnesses of apostasy, either
through malice or a hope of obtaining their wealth:
she caused strict investigation, therefore, into the
proceedings which had been held; many of which
were reversed, and suborners punished in proportion
to their guilt.[24]
eaf218v2.n24[24] Pulgar, part 3, c. 100.
-- 127 -- p218-458
CHAPTER XXIII. How King Ferdinand invaded the eastern side of the kingdom of Granada, and how he was received by El Zagal.
[figure description] Page 127.[end figure description]
“Muley Abdalla el Zagal,” says the venerable
Jesuit father, Pedro Abarca, “was the most venomous
Mahometan in all Morisma:” and the worthy
Fray Antonio Agapida most devoutly echoes his
opinion; “Certainly,” adds the latter, “none ever
opposed a more heathenish and diabolical obstinacy
to the holy inroads of the cross and sword.”
El Zagal felt that it was necessary to do something
to quicken his popularity with the people, and that
nothing was more effectual than a successful inroad.
The Moors loved the stirring call to arms, and a wild
foray among the mountains; and delighted more in
a hasty spoil, wrested with hard fighting from the
christians, than in all the steady and certain gains
secured by peaceful traffic.
There reigned at this time a careless security along
the frontier of Jaen. The alcaydes of the christian
fortresses were confident of the friendship of Boabdil
el Chico, and they fancied his uncle too distant
and too much engrossed by his own perplexities, to
think of molesting them. On a sudden, El Zagal
issued out of Guadix with a chosen band, passed
rapidly through the mountains which extend behind
Granada, and fell like a thunderbolt upon the
-- 128 --
[figure description] Page 128.[end figure description]
territories in the neighborhood of Alcala la Real. Before
the alarm could be spread and the frontier roused,
he had made a wide career of destruction through
the country, sacking and burning villages, sweeping
off flocks and herds, and carrying away captives.
The warriors of the frontier assembled; but el Zagal
was already far on his return through the mountains,
and he re-entered the gates of Guadix in triumph,
his army laden with christian spoil, and conducting
an immense cavalgada. Such was one of the fierce
El Zagal's preparatives for the expected invasion of
the christian king, exciting the warlike spirit of his
people, and gaining for himself a transient popularity.
King Ferdinand assembled his army at Murcia, in
the spring of 1488. He left that city on the fifth of
June, with a flying camp of four thousand horse and
fourteen thousand foot. The marques of Cadiz led
the van, followed by the adelantado of Murcia. The
army entered the Moorish frontier by the sea-coast,
spreading terror through the land; wherever it appeared,
the towns surrendered without a blow, so
great was the dread of experiencing the woes which
had desolated the opposite frontier. In this way,
Vera, Velez el Rubio, Velez el Blanco, and many
towns of inferior note, to the number of sixty, yielded
at the first summons.
It was not until it approached Almeria, that the
army met with resistance. This important city was
commanded by the prince Zelim, a relation of El
Zagal. He led forth his Moors bravely to the encounter,
and skirmished fiercely with the advance
-- 129 --
[figure description] Page 129.[end figure description]
guard in the gardens near the city. King Ferdinand
came up with the main body of the army, and called
off his troops from the skirmish. He saw that to
attack the place with his present force was fruitless.
Having reconnoitred the city and its environs,
therefore, against a future campaign, he retired with
his army and marched towards Baza.
The old warrior El Zagal was himself drawn up
in the city of Baza, with a powerful garrison. He
felt confidence in the strength of the place, and rejoiced
when he heard that the christian king was
approaching. In the valley in front of Baza, there
extended a great tract of gardens, like a continued
grove, and intersected by canals and water-courses.
In this he stationed a powerful ambuscade of arquebussiers
and cross-bow-men. The vanguard of the
christian army came marching gaily up the valley,
with great sound of drum and trumpet, and led on
by the marques of Cadiz and the adelantado of
Murcia. As they drew near, El Zagal sallied forth
with horse and foot, and attacked them for a time
with great spirit. Gradually falling back, as if pressed
by their superior valor, he drew the exulting
christians among the gardens. Suddenly the Moors
in ambuscade burst from their concealment, and
opened such a terrible fire in flank and rear, that
many of the christians were slain, and the rest
thrown into confusion. King Ferdinand arrived in
time to see the disastrous situation of his troops, and
gave signal for the vanguard to retire.
El Zagal did not permit the foe to draw off
-- 130 --
[figure description] Page 130.[end figure description]
unmolested. Ordering out fresh squadrons, he fell upon
the rear of the retreating troops with loud and triumphant
shouts, driving them before him with dreadful
havoc. The old war-cry of “El Zagal! El Zagal!”
was again put up by the Moors, and was echoed
with transport from the walls of the city. The christians
were for a time in imminent peril of a complete
rout, when fortunately the adelantado of Murcia
threw himself with a large body of horse and foot
between the pursuers and the pursued, covering the
retreat of the latter, and giving them time to rally.
The Moors were now attacked so vigorously in turn,
that they gave over the unequal contest, and drew
back slowly into the city. Many valiant cavaliers
were slain in this skirmish, among the number of
whom was Don Philip of Arragon, Master of the
chivalry of St. George of Montesor; he was illegitimate
son of the king's illegitimate brother Don
Carlos, and his death was greatly bewailed by Ferdinand.
He had formerly been archbishop of Palermo,
but had doffed the cassock for the cuirass,
and had thus, according to Fray Antonio Agapida,
gained a glorious crown of martyrdom by falling in
this holy war.
The warm reception of his advance guard by the
old warrior El Zagal, brought king Ferdinand to a
pause: he encamped on the banks of the neighboring
river Guadalquiton, and began to consider whether
he had acted wisely in undertaking this campaign
with his present force. His late successes had probably
rendered him over-confident: El Zagal had
-- 131 --
[figure description] Page 131.[end figure description]
again schooled him into his characteristic caution.
He saw that the old warrior was too formidably ensconced
in Baza, to be dislodged by any thing except
a powerful army and battering artillery; and he feared,
that should he persist in his invasion, some disaster
might befall his army, either from the enterprise
of the foe, or from a pestilence which prevailed in
various parts of the country.
Ferdinand retired, therefore, from before Baza, as
he had on a former occasion from before Loxa, all
the wiser for a wholesome lesson in warfare, but by
no means grateful to those who had given it, and
with a solemn determination to have his revenge
upon his teachers.
He now took measures for the security of the
places gained in this campaign; placing in them
strong garrisons, well armed and supplied, charging
their alcaydes to be vigilant on their posts and to
give no rest to the enemy. The whole of the frontier
was placed under the command of the brave
Luiz Fernandez Puerto Carrero. As it was evident,
from the warlike character of El Zagal, that there
would be abundance of active service and hard
fighting, many hidalgos and young cavaliers, eager for
distinction, remained with Puerto Carrero.
All these dispositions being made, king Ferdinand
closed the dubious campaign of this year, not, as
usual, by returning in triumph at the head of his
army to some important city of his dominions, but
by disbanding the troops, and repairing to pray at
the cross of Caravaca.
-- 132 -- p218-463
CHAPTER XXIV. How the Moors made various enterprises against the Christians.
[figure description] Page 132.[end figure description]
“While the pious king Ferdinand,” observes Fray
Antonio Agapida, “was humbling himself before the
cross, and devoutly praying for the destruction of his
enemies, that fierce pagan El Zagal, depending merely
on his arm of flesh and sword of steel, pursued his
diabolical outrages upon the christians.” No sooner
was the invading army disbanded, than El Zagal sallied
forth from his strong-hold, and carried fire and
sword into all those parts that had submitted to the
Spanish yoke. The castle of Nixar, being carelessly
guarded, was taken by surprise, and its garrison put
to the sword. The old warrior raged with sanguinary
fury about the whole frontier, attacking convoys,
slaying, wounding, and making prisoners, and coming
by surprise upon the christians wherever they were
off their guard.
The alcayde of the fortress of Cullar, confiding in
the strength of its walls and towers, and in its difficult
situation, being built on the summit of a lofty
hill, and surrounded by precipices, ventured to absent
himself from his post. The vigilant El Zagal
was suddenly before it, with a powerful force: he
stormed the town sword in hand, fought the christians
from street to street, and drove them, with great
-- 133 --
[figure description] Page 133.[end figure description]
slaughter, to the citadel. Here a veteran captain,
by the name of Juan de Avalos, a gray-headed warrior
scarred in many a battle, assumed the command
and made an obstinate defence. Neither the multitude
of the enemy, nor the vehemence of their
attacks, though led on by the terrible El Zagal himself,
had power to shake the fortitude of this doughty
old soldier.
The Moors undermined the outer walls and one
of the towers of the fortress, and made their way into
the exterior court. The alcayde manned the tops of
his towers, pouring down melted pitch, and showering
darts, arrows, stones, and all kinds of missiles, upon
the assailants. The Moors were driven out of the
court; but, being reinforced with fresh troops, returned
repeatedly to the assault. For five days the
combat was kept up: the christians were nearly exhausted,
but they were sustained by the cheerings of
their staunch old alcayde; and they feared death from
the cruel El Zagal, should they surrender. At length
the approach of a powerful force under Puerto Carrero
relieved them from this fearful peril. El Zagal
abandoned the assault, but set fire to the town in his
rage and disappointment, and retired to his strong-hold
of Guadix.
The example of El Zagal roused his adherents to
action. Two bold Moorish alcaydes, Ali Altar and
Yza Altar, commanding the fortresses of Alhenden
and Salobreña, laid waste the country of the subjects
of Boabdil, and the places which had recently submitted
to the christians: they swept off the cattle,
-- 134 --
[figure description] Page 134.[end figure description]
carried off captives, and harassed the whole of the
newly conquered frontier.
The Moors also of Almeria, and Tavernas, and
Purchena, made inroads into Murcia, and carried fire
and sword into its most fertile regions. On the opposite
frontier, also, among the wild valleys and rugged
recesses of the Sierra Bormeja, or Red Mountains,
many of the Moors who had lately submitted again
flew to arms. The marques of Cadiz suppressed by
timely vigilance the rebellion of the mountain town
of Gausin, situated on a high peak, almost among the
clouds; but others of the Moors fortified themselves
in rock-built towers and castles, inhabited soley by
warriors, from whence they carried on a continual
war of forage and depredation; sweeping suddenly
down into the valleys, and carrying off flocks and
herds and all kinds of booty to these eagle-nests, to
which it was perilous and fruitless to pursue them.
The worthy father Fray Antonio Agapida closes
his history of this checkered year, in quite a different
strain from those triumphant periods with which he
is accustomed to wind up the victorious campaigns
of the sovereigns. “Great and mighty,” says this
venerable chronicler, “were the floods and tempests
which prevailed throughout the kingdoms of Castile
and Arragon, about this time. It seemed as though
the windows of Heaven were again opened, and a
second deluge overwhelming the face of nature. The
clouds burst as it were in cataracts upon the earth;
torrents rushed down from the mountains, overflowing
the valleys; brooks were swelled into raging
-- 135 --
[figure description] Page 135.[end figure description]
rivers; houses were undermined; mills were swept
away by their own streams; the affrighted shepherds
saw their flocks drowned in the midst of the pasture,
and were fain to take refuge for their lives in towers
and high places. The Guadalquivir for a time became
a roaring and tumultuous sea, inundating the
immense plain of the Zablada, and filling the fair city
of Seville with affright.
“A vast black cloud moved over the land, accompanied
by a hurricane and a trembling of the earth.
Houses were unroofed, the walls and battlements of
fortresses shaken, and lofty towers rocked to their
foundations. Ships, riding at anchor, were either
stranded or swallowed up; others, under sail, were
tossed to and fro upon mountain waves, and cast
upon the land, where the whirlwind rent them in
pieces and scattered them in fragments in the air.
Doleful was the ruin and great the terror, where this
baleful cloud passed by; and it left a long track of
desolation over sea and land. Some of the fainthearted,”
adds Antonio Agapida, “looked upon this
torment of the elements as a prodigious event, out
of the course of nature. In the weakness of their
fears, they connected it with those troubles which
occurred in various places, considering it a portent
of some great calamity, about to be wrought by the
violence of the bloody-handed El Zagal and his fierce
adherents.”
-- 136 -- p218-467
CHAPTER XXV. How King Ferdinand prepared to besiege the city of Baza, and how the city prepared for defence.
[figure description] Page 136.[end figure description]
The stormy winter had passed away, and the
spring of 1489 was advancing; yet the heavy rains
had broken up the roads, the mountain brooks were
swoln to raging torrents, and the late shallow and
peaceful rivers were deep, turbulent, and dangerous.
The christian troops had been summoned to assemble
in early spring on the frontiers of Jaen, but were
slow in arriving at the appointed place. They were
entangled in the miry defiles of the mountains, or
fretted impatiently on the banks of impassable floods.
It was late in the month of May, before they assembled
in sufficient force to attempt the proposed invasion;
when, at length, a valiant army, of thirteen thousand
horse and forty thousand foot, marched merrily over
the border. The queen remained at the city of Jaen,
with the prince-royal and the princesses her children,
accompanied and supported by the venerable cardinal
of Spain, and those reverend prelates who assisted
in her councils throughout this holy war.
The plan of King Ferdinand was to lay siege to
the city of Baza, the key of the remaining possessions
of the Moor. That important fortress taken,
Guadix and Almeria must soon follow, and then the
power of El Zagal would be at an end. As the
-- 137 --
[figure description] Page 137.[end figure description]
Catholic king advanced, he had first to secure various
castles and strong-holds in the vicinity of Baza,
which might otherwise harass his army. Some of
these made obstinate resistance, especially the town
of Cuxar. The christians assailed the walls with
various machines, to sap them and batter them down.
The brave alcayde, Hubec Adalgan, opposed force
to force and engine to engine. He manned his towers
with his bravest warriors, who rained down an
iron shower upon the enemy; and he linked cauldrons
together by strong chains, and cast fire from them,
consuming the wooden engines of their assailants,
and those who managed them.
The siege was protracted for several days: the
bravery of the alcayde could not save his fortress
from an overwhelming foe, but it gained him honorable
terms. Ferdinand permitted the garrison and
the inhabitants to repair with their effects to Baza;
and the valiant Hubec Adalgan marched forth with
the remnant of his force, and took the way to that
devoted city.
The delays which had been caused to the invading
army by these various circumstances, had been diligently
improved by the old Moorish monarch El
Zagal; who felt that he was now making his last
stand for empire, and that this campaign would decide,
whether he should continue a king, or sink into
a vassal. El Zagal was but a few leagues from Baza,
at the city of Guadix. This last was the most important
point of his remaining territories, being a
kind of bulwark between them and the hostile city
-- 138 --
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of Granada, the seat of his nephew's power. Though
he heard of the tide of war, therefore, that was collecting
and rolling towards the city of Baza, he dared
not go in person to its assistance. He dreaded that,
should he leave Guadix, Boabdil would attack him
in rear while the christian army was battling with
him in front. El Zagal trusted in the great strength
of Baza, to defy any violent assault; and he profited
by the delays of the christian army, to supply it with
all possible means of defence. He sent thither all
the troops he could spare from his garrison of Guadix,
and dispatched missives throughout his territories,
calling upon true Moslems to hasten to Baza,
to make a devoted stand in defence of their homes,
their liberties, and their religion. The cities of
Tavernas and Purchena, and the surrounding heights
and valleys, responded to his orders, and sent forth
their fighting men to the field. The rocky fastnesses
of the Alpuxarras resounded with the din of arms:
troops of horse and bodies of foot-soldiers were seen
winding down the rugged cliffs and defiles of those
marble mountains, and hastening towards Baza.
Many brave cavaliers of Granada also, spurning the
quiet and security of christian vassalage, secretly left
the city and hastened to join their fighting countrymen.
The great dependence of El Zagal, however,
was upon the valor and loyalty of his cousin and
brother-in-law, Cidi Yahye Alnayar Aben Zelim,
who was alcayde of Almeria,—a cavalier experienced
in warfare, and redoubtable in the field. He
wrote to him to leave Almeria, and repair, with all
-- 139 --
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speed, at the head of his troops, to Baza. Cidi
Yahye departed immediately, with ten thousand of
the bravest Moors in the kingdom. These were for
the most part hardy mountaineers, tempered to sun
and storm, and tried in many a combat. None
equalled them for a sally or a skirmish. They were
adroit in executing a thousand stratagems, ambuscadoes,
and evolutions. Impetuous in their assaults,
yet governed in their utmost fury by a word or sign
from their commander, at the sound of a trumpet
they would check themselves in the midst of their
career, wheel off and disperse; and at another sound
of a trumpet, they would as suddenly re-assemble
and return to the attack. They were upon the enemy
when least expected, coming like a rushing blast,
spreading havoc and consternation, and then passing
away in an instant; so that when one recovered
from the shock and looked around, behold nothing
was to be seen or heard of this tempest of war, but
a cloud of dust and the clatter of retreating hoofs.
When Cidi Yahye led his train of ten thousand
valiant warriors into the gates of Baza, the city rang
with acclamations, and for a time the inhabitants
thought themselves secure. El Zagal, also, felt a
glow of confidence, notwithstanding his own absence
from the city. “Cidi Yahye,” said he, “is my cousin
and my brother-in-law; related to me by blood and
marriage, he is a second self: happy is that monarch
who has his kindred to command his armies.”
With all these reinforcements, the garrison of
Baza amounted to above twenty thousand men.
-- 140 --
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There were at this time three principal leaders in
the city:—Mohammed ben Hassan, surnamed the
veteran, who was military governor or alcayde, an
old Moor of great experience and discretion; the
second was Hamet Abu Zali, who was captain of
the troops stationed in the place; and the third was
Hubec Adalgan, the valiant alcayde of Cuxar, who
had repaired hither with the remains of his garrison.
Over all these Cidi Yahye exercised a supreme command,
in consequence of his being of the blood-royal,
and in the especial confidence of Muley Abdalla
el Zagal. He was eloquent and ardent in
council, and fond of striking and splendid achievements;
but he was a little prone to be carried away
by the excitement of the moment, and the warmth
of his imagination. The councils of war of these
commanders, therefore, were more frequently controlled
by the opinions of the old alcayde Mohammed
ben Hassan, for whose shrewdness, caution, and
experience, Cidi Yahye himself felt the greatest
deference.
The city of Baza was situated in a great valley,
eight leagues in length and three in breadth, called
the Hoya, or basin of Baza. It was surrounded by
a range of mountains, called the Sierra of Xabalcohol,
the streams of which, collecting themselves into two
rivers, watered and fertilized the country. The city
was built in the plain; but one part of it was protected
by the rocky precipices of the mountain, and
by a powerful citadel; the other part was defended
by massive walls, studded with immense towers. It
-- 141 --
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had suburbs towards the plain, imperfectly fortified
by earthen walls. In front of these suburbs extended
a tract of orchards and gardens nearly a league in
length, so thickly planted as to resemble a continued
forest. Here, every citizen who could afford it, had
his little plantation, and his garden of fruits and flowers
and vegetables, watered by canals and rivulets,
and dominated by a small tower to serve for recreation
or defence. This wilderness of groves and gardens,
intersected in all parts by canals and runs of
water, and studded by above a thousand small towers,
formed a kind of protection to this side of the
city, rendering all approach extremely difficult and
perplexed, and affording covert to the defenders.
While the christian army had been detained before
the frontier posts, the city of Baza had been a scene
of hurried and unremitting preparation. All the
grain of the surrounding valley, though yet unripe,
was hastily reaped and borne into the city, to prevent
it from yielding sustenance to the enemy. The
country was drained of all its supplies; flocks and
herds were driven, bleating and bellowing, into the
gates; long trains of beasts of burthen, some laden
with food, others with lances, darts, and arms of all
kinds, kept pouring into the place. Already there
were munitions collected sufficient for a siege of
fifteen months; yet still the eager and hasty preparation
was going on, when the army of Ferdinand
came in sight.
On one side might be seen scattered parties of foot
and horse spurring to the gates, and muleteers
-- 142 --
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hurrying forward their burthened animals, all anxious to
get under shelter before the gathering storm; on the
other side, the cloud of war came sweeping down
the valley, the roll of drum or clang of trumpet resounding
occasionally from its deep bosom, or the
bright glance of arms flashing forth, like vivid lightning,
from its columns. King Ferdinand pitched his
tents in the valley, beyond the green labyrinth of
gardens. He sent his heralds to summon the city to
surrender, promising the most favorable terms in case
of immediate compliance, and avowing in the most
solemn terms his resolution never to abandon the
siege until he had possession of the place.
Upon receiving this summons, the Moorish commanders
held a council of war. The prince Cidi
Yahye, indignant at the menace of the king, was for
retorting by a declaration that the garrison never
would surrender, but would fight until buried under
the ruins of the walls. “Of what avail,” said the
veteran Mohammed, “is a declaration of the kind,
which we may falsify by our deeds? Let us threaten
what we know we can perform, and let us endeavor
to perform more than we threaten.”
In conformity to the advice of Mohammed ben
Hassan, therefore, a laconic reply was sent to the
christian monarch, thanking him for his offer of favorable
terms, but informing him that they were placed
in the city to defend, not to surrender it.
-- 143 -- p218-474
CHAPTER XXVI. The battle of the gardens before Baza.
[figure description] Page 143.[end figure description]
When the reply of the Moorish commanders was
brought to king Ferdinand, he prepared to press the
siege with the utmost rigor. Finding the camp too
far from the city, and that the intervening orchards
afforded shelter for the sallies of the Moors, he determined
to advance it beyond the gardens, in the space
between them and the suburbs, where his batteries
would have full play upon the city walls. A detachment
was sent in advance, to take possession of the
gardens, and to keep a check upon the suburbs, opposing
any sally, while the encampment should be
formed and fortified. The various commanders entered
the orchards at different points. The young
cavaliers marched fearlessly forward, but the experienced
veterans foresaw infinite peril in the mazes
of this verdant labyrinth. The Master of St. Jago,
as he led his troops into the centre of the gardens,
exhorted them to keep by one another, and to press
forward in defiance of all difficulty or danger; assuring
them that God would give them the victory, if
they attacked hardily and persisted resolutely.
Scarce had they entered the verge of the orchards,
when a din of drums and trumpets, mingled with
war-cries, was heard from the suburbs, and a legion
of Moorish warriors on foot poured forth. They
-- 144 --
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were led on by the prince Cidi Yahye. He saw the
imminent danger of the city, should the christians
gain possession of the orchards. “Soldiers,” he cried,
“we fight for life and liberty, for our families, our
country, our religion;[25] nothing is left for us to depend
upon, but the strength of our hands, the courage of
our hearts, and the almighty protection of Allah.”
The Moors answered him with shouts of war, and
rushed to the encounter. The two hosts met in the
midst of the gardens. A chance-medley combat ensued,
with lances, arquebusses, cross-bows, and scimitars;
the perplexed nature of the ground, cut up and
intersected by canals and streams, the closeness of
the trees, the multiplicity of towers and petty edifices,
gave greater advantages to the Moors, who were on
foot, than to the christians, who were on horseback.
The Moors, too, knew the ground, with all its alleys
and passes; and were thus enabled to lurk, to sally
forth, to attack, and to retreat, almost without injury.
The christian commanders, seeing this, ordered
many of the horsemen to dismount and fight on foot.
The battle then became fierce and deadly, each disregarding
his own life, provided he could slay his
enemy. It was not so much a general battle, as a
multitude of petty actions; for every orchard and
garden had its distinct contest. No one could see
further than the little scene of fury and bloodshed
around him, nor know how the general battle fared.
-- 145 --
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In vain the captains exerted their voices, in vain the
trumpets brayed forth signals and commands—all
was confounded and unheard, in the universal din
and uproar. No one kept to his standard, but fought
as his own fury or fear dictated. In some places the
christians had the advantage, in others the Moors;
often, a victorious party, pursuing the vanquished,
came upon a superior and triumphant force of the
enemy, and the fugitives turned back upon them in
an overwhelming wave. Some broken remnants, in
their terror and confusion, fled from their own countrymen
and sought refuge among their enemies, not
knowing friend from foe, in the obscurity of the
groves. The Moors were more adroit in these wild
skirmishings, from their flexibility, lightness, and agility,
and the rapidity with which they would disperse,
rally, and return again to the charge.[26]
The hardest fighting was about the small garden
towers and pavilions, which served as so many petty
fortresses. Each party by turns gained them, defended
them fiercely, and were driven out; many of the
towers were set on fire, and increased the horrors of
the fight by the wreaths of smoke and flame in which
they wrapped the groves, and by the shrieks of those
who were burning.
Several of the christian cavaliers, bewildered by
the uproar and confusion, and shocked at the carnage
which prevailed, would have led their men out of
the action; but they were entangled in a labyrinth,
-- 146 --
[figure description] Page 146.[end figure description]
and knew not which way to retreat. While in this
perplexity, the standard-bearer of one of the squadrons
of the grand cardinal had his arm carried off by
a cannon-ball; the standard was well nigh falling into
the hands of the enemy, when Roderigo de Mendoza,
an intrepid youth, natural son of the grand cardinal,
rushed to its rescue, through a shower of balls,
lances, and arrows, and, bearing it aloft, dashed forward
with it into the hottest of the combat, followed
by his shouting soldiery.
King Ferdinand, who remained in the skirts of the
orchard, was in extreme anxiety. It was impossible
to see much of the action, for the multiplicity of trees
and towers, and the wreaths of smoke; and those
who were driven out defeated, or came out wounded
and exhausted, gave different accounts, according to
the fate of the partial conflicts in which they had
been engaged. Ferdinand exerted himself to the
utmost, to animate and encourage his troops to this
blind encounter, sending reinforcements of horse and
foot to those points where the battle was most sanguinary
and doubtful.
Among those who were brought forth mortally
wounded, was Don Juan de Luna, a youth of uncommon
merit, greatly prized by the king, beloved
by the army, and recently married to Donna Catalina
de Urrea, a young lady of distinguished beauty.[27]
They laid him at the foot of a tree, and endeavored
to stanch and bind up his wounds with a scarf which
-- 147 --
[figure description] Page 147.[end figure description]
his bride had wrought for him; but his life-blood
flowed too profusely; and while a holy friar was yet
administering to him the last sacred offices of the
church, he expired, almost at the feet of his sovereign.
On the other hand, the veteran alcayde Mohammed
ben Hassan, surrounded by a little band of
chieftains, kept an anxious eye upon the scene of
combat, from the walls of the city. For nearly
twelve hours, the battle had raged without intermission.
The thickness of the foliage hid all the particulars
from their sight; but they could see the flash
of swords and glance of helmets among the trees.
Columns of smoke rose in every direction, while the
clash of arms, the thundering of ribadoquines and
arquebusses, the shouts and cries of the combatants,
and the groans and supplications of the wounded,
bespoke the deadly conflict that was waging in the
bosom of the groves. They were harassed too by
the shrieks and lamentations of the Moorish women
and children, as their wounded relations were
brought bleeding from the scene of action; and were
stunned by a general outcry of wo on the part of the
inhabitants, as the body of Redoan Zalfarga, a renegado
christian, and one of the bravest of their generals,
was borne breathless into the city.
At length, the din of battle approached nearer to
the skirts of the orchards. They beheld their warriors
driven out from among the groves by fresh
squadrons of the enemy, and, after disputing the
ground inch by inch, obliged to retire to a place be
-- 148 --
[figure description] Page 148.[end figure description]
tween the orchards and the suburbs, which was fortified
with palisadoes.
The christians immediately planted opposing palisadoes,
and established strong outposts near to this
retreat of the Moors; while, at the same time, king
Ferdinand ordered that his encampment should be
pitched within the hard-won orchards.
Mohammed ben Hassan sallied forth to the aid of
the prince Cidi Yahye, and made a desperate attempt
to dislodge the enemy from this formidable position:
but the night had closed, and the darkness rendered
it impossible to make any impression. The Moors,
however, kept up constant assaults and alarms,
throughout the night; and the weary christians, exhausted
by the toils and sufferings of the day, were
not allowed a moment of repose.[28]
eaf218v2.n25[25] “Illi (Mauri) pro fortunis, pro libertate, pro laribus patriis,
pro vita denique certabant.”—Pietro Martyr, Epist. 70.
eaf218v2.n26[26] Mariana, lib. 25. cap. 13.
eaf218v2.n27[27] Mariana. P. Martyr. Zurita.
eaf218v2.n28[28] Pulgar, part 3, cap. 106, 107. Cura de los Palacios, cap. 92.
Zurita, lib. 20, cap. 81.
-- 149 -- p218-480
CHAPTER XXVII. Siege of Baza. —Embarrassments of the army.
[figure description] Page 149.[end figure description]
The morning sun rose upon a piteous scene, before
the walls of Baza. The christian outposts, harassed
throughout the night, were pale and haggard; while
the multitudes of slain which lay before their palisadoes,
showed the fierce attacks they had sustained,
and the bravery of their defence.
Beyond them lay the groves and gardens of Baza;
once, the favorite resorts for recreation and delight—
now, a scene of horror and desolation. The towers
and pavilions were smoking ruins; the canals and
water-courses were discolored with blood, and choked
with the bodies of the slain. Here and there, the
ground, deep dinted with the tramp of man and
steed, and plashed and slippery with gore, showed
where there had been some fierce and mortal conflict;
while the bodies of Moors and christians,
ghastly in death, lay half concealed among the matted
and trampled shrubs, and flowers, and herbage.
Amidst these sanguinary scenes arose the christian
tents, which had been hastily pitched among the
gardens in the preceding evening. The experience
of the night, however, and the forlorn aspect of
every thing in the morning, convinced king Ferdinand
of the perils and hardships to which his camp
must be exposed, in its present situation; and, after
-- 150 --
[figure description] Page 150.[end figure description]
a consultation with his principal cavaliers, he resolved
to abandon the orchards.
It was a dangerous movement, to extricate his
army from so entangled a situation, in the face of so
alert and daring an enemy. A bold front was therefore
kept up towards the city; additional troops were
ordered to the advanced posts, and works begun as
if for a settled encampment. Not a tent was struck
in the gardens; but in the mean time, the most active
and unremitting exertions were made to remove all
the baggage and furniture of the camp back to the
original station.
All day, the Moors beheld a formidable show of
war maintained in front of the gardens; while in the
rear, the tops of the christian tents, and the pennons
of the different commanders, were seen rising above
the groves. Suddenly, towards evening, the tents
sunk and disappeared; the outposts broke up their
stations and withdrew, and the whole shadow of an
encampment was fast vanishing from their eyes.
The Moors saw too late the subtle manœuvre of
king Ferdinand. Cidi Yahye again sallied forth with
a large force of horse and foot, and pressed furiously
upon the christians. The latter, however, experienced
in Moorish attack, retired in close order, sometimes
turning upon the enemy and driving them to
their barricadoes, and then pursuing their retreat.
In this way the army was extricated, without much
further loss, from the perilous labyrinths of the
gardens.
The camp was now out of danger; but it was also
-- 151 --
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too distant from the city to do mischief, while the
Moors could sally forth and return without hindrance.
The king called a council of war, to consider in
what manner to proceed. The marques of Cadiz was
for abandoning the siege for the present, the place
being too strong, too well garrisoned and provided,
and too extensive, to be either carried by assault or
invested and reduced by famine, with their limited
forces; while, in lingering before it, the army would
be exposed to the usual maladies and sufferings of
besieging armies, and, when the rainy season came
on, would be shut up by the swelling of the rivers.
He recommended, instead, that the king should throw
garrisons of horse and foot into all the towns captured
in the neighborhood, and leave them to keep
up a predatory war upon Baza, while he should
overrun and ravage all the country; so that, in the
following year, Almeria and Guadix, having all their
subject towns and territories taken from them, might
be starved into submission.
Don Gutiere de Cardenas, senior commander of
Leon, on the other hand, maintained that to abandon
the siege would be construed by the enemy into a
sign of weakness and irresolution. It would give
new spirits to the partisans of El Zagal, and would
gain to his standard many of the wavering subjects
of Boabdil, if it did not encourage the fickle populace
of Granada to open rebellion. He advised
therefore that the siege should be prosecuted with
vigor.
The pride of Ferdinand pleaded in favor of the
-- 152 --
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last opinion; for it would be doubly humiliating,
again to return from a campaign in this part of the
Moorish kingdom, without effecting a blow. But
when he reflected on all that his army had suffered,
and on all that they must suffer should the siege continue—
especially from the difficulty of obtaining a
regular supply of provisions for so numerous a host,
across a great extent of rugged and mountainous
country—he determined to consult the safety of his
people, and to adopt the advice of the marques of
Cadiz.
When the soldiery heard that the king was about
to raise the siege in mere consideration of their sufferings,
they were filled with generous enthusiasm,
and entreated, as with one voice, that the siege might
never be abandoned until the city surrendered.
Perplexed by conflicting counsels, the king dispatched
messengers to the queen at Jaen, requesting
her advice. Posts had been stationed between them,
in such manner that missives from the camp could
reach the queen within ten hours. Isabella sent instantly
her reply. She left the policy of raising or
continuing the siege to the decision of the king and
his captains; but should they determine to persevere,
she pledged herself, with the aid of God, to forward
them men, money, provisions, and all other supplies,
until the city should be taken.
The reply of the queen determined Ferdinand to
persevere; and when his determination was made
known to the army, it was hailed with as much joy
as if it had been tidings of a victory.
-- 153 -- p218-484
CHAPTER XXVIII. Siege of Baza continued. —How King Ferdinand completely invested the city.
[figure description] Page 153.[end figure description]
The Moorish prince Cidi Yahye had received
tidings of the doubts and discussions in the christian
camp, and flattered himself with hopes that the besieging
army would soon retire in despair, though the
veteran alcayde Mohammed shook his head with incredulity
at the suggestion. A sudden movement,
one morning, in the christian camp, seemed to confirm
the sanguine hopes of the prince. The tents
were struck, the artillery and baggage were conveyed
away, and bodies of soldiers began to march along
the valley. The momentary gleam of triumph was
soon dispelled. The Catholic king had merely divided
his host into two camps, the more effectually
to distress the city. One, consisting of four thousand
horse and eight thousand foot, with all the artillery
and battering engines, took post on the side of the
city towards the mountain. This was commanded
by the valiant marques of Cadiz, with whom were
Don Alonzo de Aguilar, Luis Fernandez Puerto Carrero,
and many other distinguished cavaliers.
The other camp was commanded by the king, having
six thousand horse and a great host of foot-soldiers,
the hardy mountaineers of Biscay, Guipuscon,
Gallicia, and the Asturias. Among the cavaliers who
-- 154 --
[figure description] Page 154.[end figure description]
were with the king were the brave count de Tendilla,
Don Roderigo de Mendoza, and Don Alonzo de Cardenas,
Master of Santiago. The two camps were
wide asunder, on opposite sides of the city, and between
them lay the thick wilderness of orchards.
Both camps were therefore fortified by great trenches,
breastworks, and palisadoes. The veteran Mohammed,
as he saw these two formidable camps glittering
on each side of the city, and noted the well-known
pennons of renowned commanders fluttering above
them, still comforted his companions: “These camps,”
said he, “are too far removed from each other, for
mutual succor and co-operation; and the forest of
orchards is as a gulf between them.” This consolation
was but of short continuance. Scarcely were
the christian camps fortified, when the ears of the
Moorish garrison were startled by the sound of innumerable
axes, and the crash of falling trees. They
looked with anxiety from their highest towers, and
behold their favorite groves were sinking beneath
the blows of the christian pioneers. The Moors
sallied forth with fiery zeal to protect their beloved
gardens, and the orchards in which they so much delighted.
The christians, however, were too well
supported to be driven from their work. Day after
day, the gardens became the scene of incessant and
bloody skirmishings; yet still the devastation of the
groves went on, for king Ferdinand was too well
aware of the necessity of clearing away this screen
of woods, not to bend all his forces to the undertaking.
It was a work, however, of gigantic toil and patience.
-- 155 --
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The trees were of such magnitude, and so closely set
together, and spread over so wide an extent, that
notwithstanding four thousand men were employed,
they could scarcely clear a strip of land ten paces
broad within a day; and such were the interruptions
from the incessant assaults of the Moors, that it was
full forty days before the orchards were completely
levelled.
The devoted city of Baza now lay stripped of its
beautiful covering of groves and gardens, at once its
ornament, its delight, and its protection. The besiegers
went on slowly and surely, with almost incredible
labors, to invest and isolate the city. They
connected their camps by a deep trench across the
plain, a league in length, into which they diverted
the waters of the mountain streams. They protected
this trench by palisadoes, fortified by fifteen castles,
at regular distances. They dug a deep trench,
also, two leagues in length, across the mountain in
the rear of the city, reaching from camp to camp,
and fortified it on each side with walls of earth, and
stone, and wood. Thus the Moors were inclosed on
all sides by trenches, palisadoes, walls, and castles;
so that it was impossible for them to sally beyond
this great line of circumvallation—nor could any
force enter to their succor. Ferdinand made an attempt,
likewise, to cut off the supply of water from
the city; “for water,” observes the worthy Agapida,
“is more necessary to these infidels than bread, making
use of it in repeated daily ablutions enjoined by
their damnable religion, and employing it in baths
-- 156 --
[figure description] Page 156.[end figure description]
and in a thousand other idle and extravagant modes,
of which we Spaniards and christians make but little
account.”
There was a noble fountain of pure water, which
gushed out at the foot of the hill Albohacen, just behind
the city. The Moors had almost a superstitious
fondness for this fountain, and chiefly depended upon
it for their supplies. Receiving intimation from some
deserters, of the plan of king Ferdinand to get possession
of this precious fountain, they sallied forth at
night, and threw up such powerful works upon the
impending hill, as to set all attempts of the christian
assailants at defiance.
-- 157 -- p218-488
CHAPTER XXIX. Exploit of Hernando Perez del Pulgar and other Cavaliers.
[figure description] Page 157.[end figure description]
The siege of Baza, while it displayed the skill
and science of the christian commanders, gave but
little scope for the adventurous spirit and fiery valor
of the young Spanish cavaliers. They repined at the
tedious monotony and dull security of their fortified
camp, and longed for some soul-stirring exploit of
difficulty and danger. Two of the most spirited of
these youthful cavaliers were Francisco de Bazan
and Antonio de Cueva, the latter of whom was son
to the duke of Albuquerque. As they were one day
seated on the ramparts of the camp, and venting
their impatience at this life of inaction, they were
overheard by a veteran adalid, one of those scouts or
guides who are acquainted with all parts of the
country. “Señors,” said he, “if you wish for a service
of peril and profit, if you are willing to pluck
the fiery old Moor by the beard, I can lead you to
where you may put your mettle to the proof. Hard
by the city of Guadix, are certain hamlets rich in
booty. I can conduct you by a way in which you
may come upon them by surprise; and if you are as
cool in the head, as you are hot in the spur, you
may bear off your spoils from under the very eyes
of old El Zagal.”
-- 158 --
[figure description] Page 158.[end figure description]
The idea of thus making booty at the very gates
of Guadix, pleased the hot-spirited youths. These
predatory excursions were frequent about this time;
and the Moors of Padul, Alhenden, and other towns
of the Alpuxarras, had recently harassed the christian
territories by expeditions of the kind. Francisco
de Bazan and Antonio de Cueva soon found other
young cavaliers of their age, eager to join in the adventure;
and in a little while, they had nearly three
hundred horse and two hundred foot, ready equipped
and eager for the foray.
Keeping their destination secret, they sallied out
of the camp on the edge of an evening, and, guided
by the adalid, made their way by star-light through
the most secret roads of the mountains. In this way
they pressed on rapidly day and night, until early
one morning, before cock-crowing, they fell suddenly
upon the hamlets, made prisoners of the inhabitants,
sacked the houses, ravaged the fields, and, sweeping
through the meadows, gathered together all the
flocks and herds. Without giving themselves time
to rest, they set out upon their return, making with
all speed for the mountains, before the alarm should
be given and the country roused.
Several of the herdsmen, however, had fled to
Guadix, and carried tidings of the ravage to El Zagal.
The beard of old Muley trembled with rage;
he immediately sent out six hundred of his choicest
horse and foot, with orders to recover the booty,
and to bring those insolent maurauders captive to
Guadix.
-- 159 --
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The christian cavaliers were urging their cavalgada
of cattle and sheep up a mountain, as fast as
their own weariness would permit, when, looking
back, they beheld a great cloud of dust, and presently
descried the turbaned host hot upon their
traces.
They saw that the Moors were superior in number;
they were fresh also, both man and steed,
whereas both they and their horses were fatigued by
two days and two nights of hard marching. Several
of the horsemen therefore gathered round the commanders,
and proposed that they should relinquish
their spoil, and save themselves by flight. The captains,
Francisco de Bazan and Antonio de Cueva,
spurned at such craven counsel. “What!” cried
they, “abandon our prey without striking a blow?
Leave our foot-soldiers too in the lurch, to be overwhelmed
by the enemy? If any one gives such counsel
through fear, he mistakes the course of safety;
for there is less danger in presenting a bold front to
the foe, than in turning a dastard back; and fewer
men are killed in a brave advance, than in a cowardly
retreat.”
Some of the cavaliers were touched by these
words, and declared that they would stand by the
foot-soldiers like true companions in arms: the great
mass of the party, however, were volunteers, brought
together by chance, who received no pay, nor had
any common tie to keep them together in time of
danger. The pleasure of the expedition being over,
each thought but of his own safety, regardless of his
-- 160 --
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companions. As the enemy approached, the tumult
of opinions increased, and every thing was in confusion.
The captains, to put an end to the dispute,
ordered the standard-bearer to advance against the
Moors, well knowing that no true cavalier would
hesitate to follow and defend his banner. The standard-bearer
hesitated—the troops were on the point
of taking to flight.
Upon this, a cavalier of the royal guards, named
Hernando Perez del Pulgar, alcayde of the fortress
of Salar, rode to the front. He took off a handkerchief
which he wore round his head, after the Andalusian
fashion, and, tying it to the end of his lance,
elevated it in the air. “Cavaliers,” cried he, “why
do ye take weapons in your hands, if you depend
upon your feet for safety? This day will determine
who is the brave man, and who the coward. He
who is disposed to fight, shall not want a standard:
let him follow this handkerchief.” So saying, he
waved his banner, and spurred bravely against the
Moors. His example shamed some, and filled others
with generous emulation: all turned with one accord,
and, following the valiant Pulgar, rushed with
shouts upon the enemy. The Moors scarcely waited
to receive the shock of their encounter. Seized with
a sudden panic, they took to flight, and were pursued
for a considerable distance, with great slaughter.
Three hundred of their dead strewed the road, and
were stripped and despoiled by the conquerors;
many were taken prisoners, and the christian cavaliers
returned in triumph to the camp, with a long
-- 161 --
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cavalgada of sheep and cattle, and mules laden with
booty, and bearing before them the singular standard
which had conducted them to victory.
When king Ferdinand was informed of the gallant
action of Hernando Perez del Pulgar, he immediately
conferred on him the honor of knighthood, and ordered,
that in memory of his achievement, he should
bear for arms a lance with a handkerchief at the end
of it, together with a castle and twelve lions. This
is but one of many hardy and heroic deeds done by
this brave cavalier, in the wars against the Moors;
by which he gained great renown, and the distinguished
appellation of “El de las hazañas,” or “He
of the exploits.”[29]
eaf218v2.n29[29] Hernando del Pulgar the historian, secretary to queen Isabella,
is confounded with this cavalier, by some writers. He was also
present at the siege of Baza, and has recounted this transaction
in his chronicle of the Catholic sovereigns Ferdinand and Isabella.
-- 162 -- p218-493
CHAPTER XXX. Continuation of the Siege of Baza.
[figure description] Page 162.[end figure description]
The old Moorish king El Zagal mounted a tower,
and looked out eagerly to enjoy the sight of the christian
marauders brought captive into the gates of
Guadix; but his spirits fell, when he beheld his own
troops stealing back in the dusk of the evening, in
broken and dejected parties.
The fortune of war bore hard against the old monarch;
his mind was harassed by the disastrous tidings
brought each day from Baza, of the sufferings of the
inhabitants, and the numbers of the garrison slain in
the frequent skirmishes. He dared not go in person
to the relief of the place, for his presence was necessary
in Guadix, to keep a check upon his nephew in
Granada. He made efforts to send reinforcements
and supplies; but they were intercepted, and either
captured or driven back. Still his situation was in
some respects preferable to that of his nephew Boabdil.
The old monarch was battling like a warrior,
on the last step of his throne; El Chico remained a
kind of pensioned vassal, in the luxurious abode of
the Alhambra. The chivalrous part of the inhabitants
of Granada could not but compare the generous
stand made by the warriors of Baza for their country
and their faith, with their own timeserving submission
to the yoke of an unbeliever. Every account they
received of the woes of Baza, wrung their hearts
-- 163 --
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with agony; every account of the exploits of its devoted
defenders, brought blushes to their cheeks.
Many stole forth secretly with their weapons, and
hastened to join the besieged; and the partisans of
El Zagal wrought upon the patriotism and passions
of the remainder, until another of those conspiracies
was formed, that were continually menacing the unsteady
throne of Granada. It was concerted by the
conspirators, to assail the Alhambra on a sudden; to
slay Boabdil; to assemble all the troops, and march
to Guadix; where, being reinforced by the garrison
of that place, and led on by the old warrior monarch,
they might fall with overwhelming power upon the
christian army before Baza.
Fortunately for Boabdil, he discovered the conspiracy
in time, and had the heads of the leaders
struck off, and placed upon the walls of the Alhambra,—
an act of severity unusual with this mild and
wavering monarch, which struck terror into the disaffected,
and produced a kind of mute tranquillity
throughout the city.
King Ferdinand had full information of all these
movements and measures for the relief of Baza, and
took timely precautions to prevent them. Bodies
of horsemen held watch in the mountain passes, to
prevent all supplies, and to intercept any generous
volunteers from Granada; and watch-towers were
erected, or scouts were placed on every commanding
height, to give the alarm at the least sign of a
hostile turban.
The prince Cidi Yahye and his brave companions
-- 164 --
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in arms, were thus gradually walled up, as it were,
from the rest of the world. A line of towers, the
battlements of which bristled with troops, girdled
their city; and behind the intervening bulwarks and
palisadoes, passed and repassed continual squadrons
of troops. Week after week, and month after month,
passed away, but Ferdinand waited in vain for the
garrison to be either terrified or starved into surrender.
Every day they sallied forth with the spirit
and alacrity of troops high fed, and flushed with confidence.
“The christian monarch,” said the veteran
Mohammed ben Hassan, “builds his hopes upon our
growing faint and desponding—we must manifest
unusual cheerfulness and vigor. What would be
rashness in other service, becomes prudence with
us.” The prince Cidi Yahye agreed with him in
opinion, and sallied forth with his troops upon all
kinds of harebrained exploits. They laid ambushes,
concerted surprises, and made the most desperate
assaults. The great extent of the christian works
rendered them weak in many parts: against these
the Moors directed their attacks, suddenly breaking
into them, making a hasty ravage, and bearing off
their booty in triumph to the city. Sometimes they
would sally forth by the passes and clefts of the
mountain in the rear of the city, which it was difficult
to guard, and, hurrying down into the plain,
would sweep off all cattle and sheep that were grazing
near the suburbs, and all stragglers from the camp.
These partisan sallies brought on many sharp and
bloody encounters, in some of which Don Alonzo de
-- 165 --
[figure description] Page 165.[end figure description]
Aguilar and the alcayde de los Donzeles distinguished
themselves greatly. During one of these hot skirmishes,
which happened on the skirts of the mountain,
about twilight, a valiant cavalier, named Martin
Galindo, beheld a powerful Moor dealing deadly
blows about him, and making great havoc among the
christians. Galindo pressed forward, and challenged
him to single combat. The Moor, who was of the
valiant tribe of the Abencerrages, was not slow in
answering the call. Couching their lances, they
rushed furiously upon each other. At the first shock
the Moor was wounded in the face, and borne out
of his saddle. Before Galindo could check his steed,
and turn from his career, the Moor sprang upon his
feet, recovered his lance, and, rushing upon him,
wounded him in the head and the arm. Though
Galindo was on horseback and the Moor on foot,
yet such was the prowess and address of the latter,
that the christian knight being disabled in the arm,
was in the utmost peril, when his comrades hastened
to his assistance. At their approach, the valiant
pagan retreated slowly up the rocks, keeping them
at bay, until he found himself among his companions.
Several of the young Spanish cavaliers, stung by
the triumph of this Moslem knight, would have challenged
others of the Moors to single combat; but
king Ferdinand prohibited all vaunting encounters
of the kind. He forbade his troops, also, to provoke
skirmishes, well knowing that the Moors were more
dextrous than most people in this irregular mode of
fighting, and were better acquainted with the ground.
-- 166 -- p218-497
CHAPTER XXXI. How two Friars arrived at the camp, and how they came from the Holy Land.
[figure description] Page 166.[end figure description]
While the holy christian army (says Fray Antonio
Agapida) was thus beleaguring this infidel city of
Baza, there rode into the camp, one day, two reverend
friars of the order of Saint Francis. One was
of portly person, and authoritative air: he bestrode
a goodly steed, well conditioned and well caparisoned;
while his companion rode beside him, upon a
humble hack, poorly accoutred, and, as he rode, he
scarcely raised his eyes from the ground, but maintained
a meek and lowly air.
The arrival of two friars in the camp was not a
matter of much note, for in these holy wars the
church militant continually mingled in the affray,
and helmet and cowl were always seen together;
but it was soon discovered that these worthy saintserrant
were from a far country, and on a mission of
great import.
They were, in truth, just arrived from the Holy
Land, being two of the saintly men who kept vigil
over the sepulchre of our blessed Lord at Jerusalem.
He of the tall and portly form and commanding
presence, was Fray Antonio Millan, prior of the
Franciscan convent in the holy city. He had a full
and florid countenance, a sonorous voice, and was
-- 167 --
[figure description] Page 167.[end figure description]
round, and swelling, and copious in his periods, like
one accustomed to harangue, and to be listened to
with deference. His companion was small and spare
in form, pale of visage, and soft and silken and almost
whispering in speech. “He had a humble and
lowly way,” says Agapida, “evermore bowing the
head, as became one of his calling.” Yet he was one
of the most active, zealous, and effective brothers
of the convent; and when he raised his small black
eye from the earth, there was a keen glance out of
the corner, which showed, that though harmless as a
dove, he was nevertheless as wise as a serpent.
These holy men had come on a momentous embassy
from the grand soldan of Egypt; or, as Agapida
terms him in the language of the day, the soldan
of Babylon. The league which had been made between
that potentate and his arch-foe the Grand-Turk
Bajazet II., to unite in arms for the salvation
of Granada, as has been mentioned in a previous
chapter of this chronicle, had come to nought. The
infidel princes had again taken up arms against each
other, and had relapsed into their ancient hostility.
Still the grand soldan, as head of the whole Moslem
sect, considered himself bound to preserve the kingdom
of Granada from the grasp of unbelievers. He
dispatched, therefore, these two holy friars with
letters to the Castilian sovereigns, as well as to the
pope and to the king of Naples, remonstrating against
the evils done to the Moors of the kingdom of Granada,
who were of his faith and kindred; whereas it
was well known that great numbers of christians
-- 168 --
[figure description] Page 168.[end figure description]
were indulged and protected in the full enjoyment of
their property, their liberty, and their faith, in his
dominions. He insisted, therefore, that this war
should cease; that the Moors of Granada should be
reinstated in the territory of which they had been
dispossessed; otherwise he threatened to put to death
all the christians beneath his sway, to demolish
their convents and temples, and to destroy the holy
sepulchre.
This fearful menace had spread consternation
among the christians of Palestine; and when the
intrepid Fray Antonio Millan and his lowly companion
departed on their mission, they were accompanied
far from the gates of Jerusalem by an anxious
throng of brethren and disciples, who remained
watching them with tearful eyes, as they journeyed
over the plains of Judea.
These holy ambassadors were received with great
distinction by king Ferdinand; for men of their cloth
had ever high honor and consideration in his court.
He had long and frequent conversations with them,
about the Holy Land; the state of the christian
church in the dominions of the grand soldan, and of
the policy and conduct of that arch-infidel towards
it. The portly prior of the Franciscan convent was
full, and round, and oratorical, in his replies; and
the king expressed himself much pleased with the
eloquence of his periods; but the politic monarch
was observed to lend a close and attentive ear to the
whispering voice of the lowly companion, “whose
discourse,” adds Agapida, “though modest and low,
-- 169 --
[figure description] Page 169.[end figure description]
was clear and fluent, and full of subtle wisdom.”
These holy friars had visited Rome in their journeying,
where they had delivered the letter of the soldan
to the sovereign pontiff. His holiness had written
by them to the Castilian sovereigns, requesting to
know what reply they had to offer to this demand of
the oriental potentate.
The king of Naples also wrote to them on the
subject, but in wary terms. He inquired into the
cause of this war with the Moors of Granada, and
expressed great marvel at its events, as if (says
Agapida) both were not notorious throughout all the
christian world. “Nay,” adds the worthy friar with
becoming indignation, “he uttered opinions savoring
of little better than damnable heresy;—for he observed,
that although the Moors were of a different
sect, they ought not to be maltreated without just
cause; and hinted that if the Castilian sovereigns did
not suffer any crying injury from the Moors, it would
be improper to do any thing which might draw great
damage upon the christians: as if, when once the
sword of the faith was drawn, it ought ever to be
sheathed until this scum of heathendom were utterly
destroyed or driven from the land. But this monarch,”
he continues, “was more kindly disposed
towards the infidels than was honest and lawful in a
christian prince, and was at that very time in league
with the soldan against their common enemy the
Grand-Turk.”
These pious sentiments of the truly Catholic
Agapida, are echoed by Padre Mariana, in his histo
-- 170 --
[figure description] Page 170.[end figure description]
ry;[30] but the worthy chronicler Pedro Abarca attributes
the interference of the king of Naples, not to
lack of orthodoxy in religion, but to an excess of
worldly policy; he being apprehensive that, should
Ferdinand conquer the Moors of Granada, he might
have time and means to assert a claim of the house
of Arragon to the crown of Naples.
“King Ferdinand,” continues the worthy father
Pedro Abarca, “was no less master of dissimulation
than his cousin of Naples; so he replied to him with
the utmost suavity of manner, going into a minute and
patient vindication of the war, and taking great apparent
pains to inform him of those things which all
the world knew, but of which the other pretended
to be ignorant.Ӡ At the same time he soothed his
solicitude about the fate of the christians in the empire
of the grand soldan, assuring him that the great
revenue extorted from them in rents and tributes,
would be a certain protection against the threatened
violence.
To the pope he made the usual vindication of the
war; that it was for the recovery of ancient territory,
usurped by the Moors; for the punishment of
wars and violences inflicted upon the christians; and
finally, that it was a holy crusade for the glory and
advancement of the church.
“It was a truly edifying sight,” says Agapida, “to
behold these friars, after they had had their audience
-- 171 --
[figure description] Page 171.[end figure description]
of the king, moving about the camp always surrounded
by nobles and cavaliers of high and martial
renown. These were insatiable in their questions
about the Holy Land, the state of the sepulchre of
our Lord, and the sufferings of the devoted brethren
who guarded it, and the pious pilgrims who resorted
there to pay their vows. The portly prior of the
convent would stand with lofty and shining countenance
in the midst of these iron warriors, and declaim
with resounding eloquence on the history of
the sepulchre; but the humbler brother would ever
and anon sigh deeply, and in low tones utter some
tale of suffering and outrage, at which his steel-clad
hearers would grasp the hilts of their swords, and
mutter between their clinched teeth prayers for another
crusade.”
The pious friars, having finished their mission to
the king, and been treated with all due distinction,
took their leave and wended their way to Jaen, to
visit the most Catholic of queens. Isabella, whose
heart was the seat of piety, received them as sacred
men, invested with more than human dignity. During
their residence at Jaen, they were continually in the
royal presence; the respectable prior of the convent
moved and melted the ladies of the court by his
florid rhetoric, but his lowly companion was observed
to have continual access to the royal ear. That
saintly and soft-spoken messenger (says Agapida)
received the reward of his humility; for the queen,
moved by his frequent representations, made in all
modesty and lowliness of spirit, granted a yearly sum
-- 172 --
[figure description] Page 172.[end figure description]
in perpetuity, of one thousand ducats in gold, for the
support of the monks of the convent of the holy
sepulchre.[31]
Moreover, on the departure of these holy ambassadors,
the excellent and most Catholic queen delivered
to them a veil devoutly embroidered with her
own royal hands, to be placed over the holy sepulchre;—
a precious and inestimable present, which
called forth a most eloquent tribute of thanks from
the portly prior, but which brought tears into the
eyes of his lowly companion.†
eaf218v2.n30[30] Mariana, lib. 25. cap. 15.
eaf218v2.dag5† Abarca, Anales de Aragon, Rey xxx. cap.
3.
eaf218v2.n31[31] “La Reyna dio a los Frayles mil ducados de renta cado año
para el sustanto de los religiosos del santo sepulcro, que es la
mejor limosna y sustanto que hasta nuestros dias ha quedado a
estos religiosas de Gerusalem: para donde les dio la Reyna un
velo labrado por sus manos, para poner encima de la santa sepultura
del Señor.”—Garibay, Compend. Hist. lib. 18. cap. 36.
eaf218v2.dag6† It is proper to mention the result of this mission of the two
friars, and which the worthy Agapida has neglected to record.
At a subsequent period, the Catholic sovereigns sent the distinguished
historian, Pietro Martyr, of Angleria, as ambassador to
the grand soldan. That able man made such representations as
were perfectly satisfactory to the oriental potentate. He also obtained
from him the remission of many exactions and extortions
heretofore practised upon christian pilgrims visiting the holy
sepulchre; which, it is presumed, had been gently but cogently
detailed to the monarch by the lowly friar. Pietro Martyr wrote
an account of his embassy to the grand soldan—a work greatly
esteemed by the learned, and containing much curious information.
It is entitled, De Legatione Babylonica.
-- 173 -- p218-504
CHAPTER XXXII. How Queen Isabella devised means to supply the army with provisions.
[figure description] Page 173.[end figure description]
It has been the custom to laud the conduct and
address of king Ferdinand, in this most arduous and
protracted war; but the sage Agapida is more disposed
to give credit to the counsels and measures of
the queen, who, he observes, though less ostensible
in action, was in truth the very soul, the vital principle,
of this great enterprise. While king Ferdinand
was bustling in his camp and making a glittering display
with his gallant chivalry, she, surrounded by
her saintly counsellors, in the episcopal palace of
Jaen, was devising ways and means to keep the king
and his army in existence. She had pledged herself
to keep up a supply of men, and money, and provisions,
until the city should be taken. The hardships
of the siege caused a fearful waste of life, but the
supply of men was the least difficult part of her undertaking.
So beloved was the queen by the chivalry
of Spain, that on her calling on them for assistance,
not a grandee or cavalier that yet lingered at home,
but either repaired in person or sent forces to the
camp; the ancient and warlike families vied with
each other in marshalling forth their vassals, and
thus the besieged Moors beheld each day fresh troops
arriving before their city, and new ensigns and
-- 174 --
[figure description] Page 174.[end figure description]
pennons displayed, emblazoned with arms well known
to the veteran warriors.
But the most arduous task was to keep up a regular
supply of provisions. It was not the army alone
that had to be supported, but also the captured towns
and their garrisons; for the whole country around
them had been ravaged, and the conquerors were in
danger of starving in the midst of the land they had
desolated. To transport the daily supplies for such
immense numbers, was a gigantic undertaking, in a
country where there was neither water conveyance
nor roads for carriages. Every thing had to be borne
by beasts of burthen over rugged and broken paths
of the mountains, and through dangerous defiles, exposed
to the attacks and plunderings of the Moors.
The wary and calculating merchants, accustomed
to supply the army, shrunk from engaging, at their
own risk, in so hazardous an undertaking. The
queen therefore hired fourteen thousand beasts of
burthen, and ordered all the wheat and barley to be
bought up in Andalusia, and in the domains of the
knights of Santiago and Calatrava. She distributed
the administration of these supplies among able and
confidential persons. Some were employed to collect
the grain; others, to take it to the mills; others,
to superintend the grinding and delivery; and others,
to convey it to the camp. To every two hundred
animals a muleteer was allotted, to take charge of
them on the route. Thus, great lines of convoys
were in constant movement, traversing to and fro,
guarded by large bodies of troops, to defend them
-- 175 --
[figure description] Page 175.[end figure description]
from hovering parties of the Moors. Not a single
day's intermission was allowed, for the army depended
upon the constant arrival of these supplies
for daily food. The grain, when brought into the
camp, was deposited in an immense granary, and
sold to the army at a fixed price, which was never
either raised or lowered.
Incredible were the expenses incurred in these supplies;
but the queen had ghostly advisers, thoroughly
versed in the art of getting at the resources of the
country. Many worthy prelates opened the deep
purses of the church, and furnished loans from the
revenues of their dioceses and convents; and their
pious contributions were eventually rewarded by
Providence, an hundred fold. Merchants and other
wealthy individuals, confident of the punctual faith
of the queen, advanced large sums on the security
of her word; many noble families lent their plate,
without waiting to be asked. The queen also sold
certain annual rents in inheritance at great sacrifices,
assigning the revenues of towns and cities for the
payment. Finding all this insufficient to satisfy the
enormous expenditure, she sent her gold and plate
and all her jewels to the cities of Valentia and Barcelona,
where they were pledged for a great amount
of money, which was immediately appropriated to
keep up the supplies of the army.
Thus, through the wonderful activity, judgment,
and enterprise, of this heroic and magnanimous woman,
a great host, encamped in the heart of a warlike
country, accessible only over mountain roads,
-- 176 --
[figure description] Page 176.[end figure description]
was maintained in continual abundance. Nor was
it supplied merely with the necessaries and comforts
of life. The powerful escorts drew merchants and
artificers from all parts, to repair, as if in caravans,
to this great military market. In a little while, the
camp abounded with tradesmen and artists of all
kinds, to administer to the luxury and ostentation of
the youthful chivalry. Here might be seen cunning
artificers in steel, and accomplished armorers, achieving
those rare and sumptuous helmets and cuirasses,
richly gilt, inlaid, and embossed, in which the Spanish
cavaliers delighted. Saddlers and harness-makers
and horse-milliners, also, were there, whose tents
glittered with gorgeous housings and caparisons. The
merchants spread forth their sumptuous silks, cloths,
brocades, fine linen, and tapestry. The tents of the
nobility were prodigally decorated with all kinds of
the richest stuffs, and dazzled the eye with their
magnificence: nor could the grave looks and grave
speeches of king Ferdinand prevent his youthful
cavaliers from vying with each other in the splendor
of their dresses and caparisons, on all occasions of
parade and ceremony.
-- 177 -- p218-508
CHAPTER XXXIII. Of the disasters which befell the camp.
[figure description] Page 177.[end figure description]
While the christian camp, thus gay and gorgeous,
spread itself out like a holyday pageant before the
walls of Baza—while a long line of beasts of burthen
laden with provisions and luxuries, were seen descending
the valley from morning till night, and pouring
into the camp a continued stream of abundance,—
the unfortunate garrison found their resources rapidly
wasting away, and famine already began to pinch the
peaceful part of the community.
Cidi Yahye had acted with great spirit and valor,
as long as there was any prospect of success; but he
began to lose his usual fire and animation, and was
observed to pace the walls of Baza with a pensive
air, casting many a wistful look towards the christian
camp, and sinking into profound reveries and cogitations.
The veteran alcayde, Mohammed ben Hassan,
noticed these desponding moods, and endeavored to
rally the spirits of the prince. “The rainy season is
at hand,” would he cry; “the floods will soon pour
down from the mountains; the rivers will overflow
their banks, and inundate the valleys. The christian
king already begins to waver; he dare not linger,
and encounter such a season, in a plain cut up by
canals and rivulets. A single wintry storm from our
mountains would wash away his canvas city, and
-- 178 --
[figure description] Page 178.[end figure description]
sweep off those gay pavilions like wreaths of snow
before the blast.”
The prince Cidi Yahye took heart at these words,
and counted the days as they passed until the stormy
season should commence. As he watched the christian
camp, he beheld it one morning in universal
commotion: there was an unusual sound of hammers
in every part, as if some new engines of war were
constructing. At length, to his astonishment, the
walls and roofs of houses began to appear above the
bulwarks. In a little while, there were above a
thousand edifices of wood and plaister erected, covered
with tiles taken from the demolished towers of
the orchards, and bearing the pennons of various
commanders and cavaliers; while the common soldiery
constructed huts, of clay and branches of trees,
thatched with straw. Thus, to the dismay of the
Moors, within four days, the light tents and gay pavilions
which had whitened their hills and plains,
passed away like summer clouds; and the unsubstantial
camp assumed the solid appearance of a city laid
out into streets and squares. In the centre rose a
large edifice, which overlooked the whole; and the
royal standard of Arragon and Castile, proudly floating
above it, showed it to be the palace of the king.[32]
Ferdinand had taken the sudden resolution thus to
turn his camp into a city, partly to provide against
the approaching season, and partly to convince the
Moors of his fixed determination to continue the
-- 179 --
[figure description] Page 179.[end figure description]
siege. In their haste to erect their dwellings, however,
the Spanish cavaliers had not properly considered
the nature of the climate. For the greater part
of the year, there scarcely falls a drop of rain on the
thirsty soil of Andalusia. The ramblas, or dry channels
of the torrents, remain deep and arid gashes and
clefts in the sides of the mountains; the perennial
streams shrink up to mere threads of water, which,
tinkling down the bottoms of the deep barrancas or
ravines, scarce feed and keep alive the rivers of the
valleys. The rivers, almost lost in their wide and
naked beds, seem like thirsty rills, winding in serpentine
mazes through deserts of sand and stones; and
so shallow and tranquil in their course, as to be forded
in safety in almost every part. One autumnal
tempest of rain, however, changes the whole face of
nature:—the clouds break in deluges among the vast
congregation of mountains; the ramblas are suddenly
filled with raging floods; the tinkling rivulets swell
to thundering torrents, that come roaring down from
the mountains, tumbling great masses of rocks in their
career. The late meandering river spreads over its
once naked bed, lashes its surges against the banks,
and rushes like a wide and foaming inundation through
the valley.
Scarcely had the christians finished their slightly
built edifices, when an autumnal tempest of the kind
came scouring from the mountains. The camp was
immediately overflowed. Many of the houses, undermined
by the floods or beaten by the rain, crumbled
away and fell to the earth, burying man and
-- 180 --
[figure description] Page 180.[end figure description]
beast beneath their ruins. Several valuable lives
were lost, and great numbers of horses and other
animals perished. To add to the distress and confusion
of the camp, the daily supply of provisions
suddenly ceased; for the rain had broken up the
roads, and rendered the rivers impassable. A panic
seized upon the army, for the cessation of a single
day's supply produced a scarcity of bread and provender.
Fortunately, the rain was but transient: the
torrents rushed by, and ceased; the rivers shrunk
back again to their narrow channels, and the convoys
that had been detained upon their banks arrived
safely in the camp.
No sooner did queen Isabella hear of this interruption
of her supplies, than, with her usual vigilance
and activity, she provided against its recurrence.
She dispatched six thousand foot-soldiers, under the
command of experienced officers, to repair the roads,
and to make causeways and bridges, for the distance
of seven Spanish leagues. The troops, also, who
had been stationed in the mountains by the king to
guard the defiles, made two paths,—one for the convoys
going to the camp, and the other for those returning,
that they might not meet and impede each
other. The edifices which had been demolished by
the late floods were rebuilt in a firmer manner, and
precautions were taken to protect the camp from
future inundations.
eaf218v2.n32[32] Cura de los Palacios, Pulgar, &c.
-- 181 -- p218-512
CHAPTER XXXIV. Encounters between the Christians and Moors, before Baza; and the devotion of the inhabitants to the defence of their city.
[figure description] Page 181.[end figure description]
When King Ferdinand beheld the ravage and confusion
produced by a single autumnal storm, and bethought
him of all the maladies to which a besieging
camp is exposed in inclement seasons, he began to
feel his compassion kindling for the suffering people
of Baza, and an inclination to grant them more favorable
terms. He sent, therefore, several messages to
the alcayde Mohammed ben Hassan, offering liberty
of person and security of property for the inhabitants,
and large rewards for himself, if he would surrender
the city.
The veteran Mohammed was not to be dazzled
by the splendid offers of the monarch; he had received
exaggerated accounts of the damage done to
the christian camp by the late storm, and of the sufferings
and discontents of the army in consequence
of the transient interruption of supplies: he considered
the overtures of Ferdinand as proofs of the desperate
state of his affairs. “A little more patience,
a little more patience,” said the shrewd old warrior,
“and we shall see this cloud of christian locusts
driven away before the winter storms. When they
once turn their backs, it will be our turn to strike;
-- 182 --
[figure description] Page 182.[end figure description]
and, with the help of Allah, the blow shall be decisive.”
He sent a firm though courteous refusal to
the Castilian monarch, and in the mean time animated
his companions to sally forth with more spirit
than ever, to attack the Spanish outposts and those
laboring in the trenches. The consequence was, a
daily occurrence of the most daring and bloody skirmishes,
that cost the lives of many of the bravest and
most adventurous cavaliers of either army.
In one of these sallies, nearly three hundred horse
and two thousand foot mounted the heights behind
the city, to capture the christians who were employed
upon the works. They came by surprise upon a
body of guards, esquires of the count de Urena, killed
some, put the rest to flight, and pursued them
down the mountain, until they came in sight of a
small force under the count de Tendilla and Gonsalvo
of Cordova. The Moors came rushing down
with such fury, that many of the men of the count
de Tendilla betook themselves to flight. The brave
count considered it less dangerous to fight than to fly.
Bracing his buckler, therefore, and grasping his trusty
weapon, he stood his ground with his accustomed
prowess. Gonsalvo of Cordova ranged himself by
his side, and, marshalling the troops which remained
with them, they made a valiant front to the Moors.
The infidels pressed them hard, and were gaining
the advantage, when Alonzo de Aguilar, hearing of
the danger of his brother Gonsalvo, flew to his assistance,
accompanied by the count of Ureña and a
body of their troops. A hot fight ensued, from cliff
-- 183 --
[figure description] Page 183.[end figure description]
to cliff, and glen to glen. The Moors were fewer in
number, but they excelled in the dexterity and lightness
requisite for their scrambling skirmishes. They
were at length driven from their vantage-ground, and
pursued by Alonzo de Aguilar and his brother Gonsalvo
to the very suburbs of the city, leaving many
of the bravest of their men upon the field.
Such was one of innumerable rough encounters
which were daily taking place, in which many brave
cavaliers were slain, without any apparent benefit to
either party. The Moors, notwithstanding repeated
defeats and losses, continued to sally forth daily, with
astonishing spirit and vigor, and the obstinacy of their
defence seemed to increase with their sufferings.
The prince Cidi Yahye was ever foremost in these
sallies, but he grew daily more despairing of success.
All the money in the military chest was expended,
and there was no longer wherewithal to pay the
hired troops. Still the veteran Mohammed ben Hassan
undertook to provide for this emergency. Summoning
the principal inhabitants, he represented the
necessity of some exertion and sacrifice on their part,
to maintain the defence of the city. “The enemy,”
said he, “dreads the approach of winter, and our
perseverance drives him to despair. A little longer,
and he will leave you in quiet enjoyment of your
homes and families. But our troops must be paid, to
keep them in good heart. Our money is exhausted,
and all our supplies are cut off. It is impossible to
continue our defence, without your aid.”
-- 184 --
[figure description] Page 184.[end figure description]
Upon this the citizens consulted together, and they
collected all their vessels of gold and silver, and
brought them to Mohammed ben Hassan: “Take
these,” said they, “and coin them, or sell them, or
pledge them, for money wherewith to pay the troops.”
The women of Baza also were seized with generous
emulation: “Shall we deck ourselves with gorgeous
apparel,” said they, “when our country is desolate,
and its defenders in want of bread?” So they took
their collars, and bracelets and anklets, and other
ornaments of gold, and all their jewels, and put them
in the hands of the veteran alcayde: “Take these
spoils of our vanity,” said they, “and let them contribute
to the defence of our homes and families. If
Baza be delivered, we need no jewels to grace our
rejoicing; and if Baza fall, of what avail are ornaments
to the captive?”
By these contributions was Mohammed enabled to
pay the soldiery, and to carry on the defence of the
city with unabated spirit.
Tidings were speedily conveyed to king Ferdinand,
of this generous devotion on the part of the
people of Baza, and the hopes which the Moorish
commanders gave them that the christian army would
soon abandon the siege in despair. “They shall have
a convincing proof of the fallacy of such hopes,” said
the politic monarch: so he wrote forthwith to queen
Isabella, praying her to come to the camp in state,
with all her train and retinue, and publicly to take
up her residence there for the winter. By this
-- 185 --
[figure description] Page 185.[end figure description]
means, the Moors would be convinced of the settled
determination of the sovereigns to persist in the
siege until the city should surrender, and he trusted
they would be brought to speedy capitulation.
-- 186 -- p218-517
CHAPTER XXXV. How Queen Isabella arrived at the camp, and the consequences of her arrival.
[figure description] Page 186.[end figure description]
Mohammed ben Hassan still encouraged his companions
with hopes that the royal army would soon
relinquish the siege; when they heard, one day,
shouts of joy from the christian camp, and thundering
salvos of artillery. Word was brought, at the
same time, from the sentinels on the watch-towers,
that a christian army was approaching down the
valley. Mohammed and his fellow-commanders ascended
one of the highest towers of the walls, and
beheld in truth a numerous force, in shining array,
descending the hills, and heard the distant clangor of
the trumpet and the faint swell of triumphant music.
As the host drew nearer, they descried a stately
dame magnificently attired, whom they soon discovered
to be the queen. She was riding on a mule,
the sumptuous trappings of which were resplendent
with gold, and reached to the ground. On her right
hand rode her daughter, the princess Isabella, equally
splendid in her array; and on her left, the venerable
grand cardinal of Spain. A noble train of ladies and
cavaliers followed her, together with pages and
esquires, and a numerous guard of hidalgos of high
rank, arrayed in superb armor. When the veteran
Mohammed ben Hassan beheld that this was the
-- 187 --
[figure description] Page 187.[end figure description]
queen Isabella, arriving in state to take up her residence
in the camp, his heart failed him: he shook
his head mournfully, and, turning to his captains,
“Cavaliers,” said he, “the fate of Baza is decided!”
The Moorish commanders remained gazing with a
mingled feeling of grief and admiration at this magnificent
pageant, which foreboded the fall of their
city. Some of the troops would have sallied forth
on one of their desperate skirmishes, to attack the
royal guard; but the prince Cidi Yahye forbade
them; nor would he allow any artillery to be discharged,
or any molestation or insult to be offered;
for the character of Isabella was venerated even by
the Moors; and most of the commanders possessed
that high and chivalrous courtesy which belongs to
heroic spirits—for they were among the noblest and
bravest cavaliers of the Moorish nation.
The inhabitants of Baza, when they learnt that the
christian queen was approaching the camp, eagerly
sought every eminence that could command a view
of the plain; and every battlement, and tower, and
mosque, was covered with turbaned heads gazing at
the glorious spectacle. They beheld king Ferdinand
issue forth in royal state, attended by the marques of
Cadiz, the Master of Santiago, the duke of Alva, the
admiral of Castile, and many other nobles of renown;
while the whole chivalry of the camp, sumptuously
arrayed, followed in his train, and the populace rent
the air with acclamations at the sight of the patriot
queen.
When the sovereigns had met and embraced each
-- 188 --
[figure description] Page 188.[end figure description]
other, the two hosts mingled together and entered the
camp in martial pomp; and the eyes of the infidel
beholders were dazzled by the flash of armor, the
splendor of golden caparisons, the gorgeous display
of silks and brocades and velvets, of tossing plumes
and fluttering banners. There was at the same time
a triumphant sound of drums and trumpets, clarions
and sackbuts, mingled with the sweet melody of the
dulcimer, which came swelling in bursts of harmony
that seemed to rise up to the heavens.[33]
On the arrival of the queen, (says the historian
Hernando del Pulgar, who was present at the time,)
it was marvellous to behold how all at once the rigor
and turbulence of war were softened, and the storm
of passion sunk into a calm. The sword was sheathed;
the cross-bow no longer lanched its deadly
shafts; and the artillery, which had hitherto kept up
an incessant uproar, now ceased its thundering. On
both sides, there was still a vigilant guard kept up;
the sentinels bristled the walls of Baza with their
lances, and the guards patrolled the christian camp;
but there was no sallying forth to skirmish, nor any
wanton violence or carnage.
Prince Cidi Yahye saw, by the arrival of the
queen, that the christians were determined to continue
the siege, and he knew that the city would
have to capitulate. He had been prodigal of the
lives of his soldiers, as long as he thought a military
good was to be gained by the sacrifice; but he was
-- 189 --
[figure description] Page 189.[end figure description]
sparing of their blood in a hopeless cause, and weary
of exasperating the enemy by an obstinate yet hopeless
defence.
At the request of prince Cidi Yahye, a parley was
granted, and the Master commander of Leon, Don
Gutiere de Cardenas, was appointed to confer with
the veteran alcayde Mohammed. They met at an
appointed place, within view of both camp and city,
honorably attended by cavaliers of either army.
Their meeting was highly courteous, for they had
learnt, from rough encounters in the field, to admire
each other's prowess. The commander of Leon, in
an earnest speech, pointed out the hopelessness of
any further defence, and warned Mohammed of the
ills which Malaga had incurred by its obstinacy. “I
promise, in the name of my sovereigns,” said he,
“that if you surrender immediately, the inhabitants
shall be treated as subjects, and protected in property,
liberty, and religion. If you refuse, you, who are
now renowned as an able and judicious commander,
will be chargeable with the confiscations, captivities,
and deaths, which may be suffered by the people of
Baza.”
The commander ceased, and Mohammed returned
to the city to consult with his companions. It was
evident that all further resistance was hopeless; but
the Moorish commanders felt that a cloud might rest
upon their names, should they, of their own discretion,
surrender so important a place without its having
sustained an assault. Prince Cidi Yahye
-- 190 --
[figure description] Page 190.[end figure description]
requested permission, therefore, to send an envoy to Guadix,
with a letter to the old monarch El Zagal, treating
of the surrender; the request was granted, a safe-conduct
assured to the envoy, and the veteran alcayde
Mohammed ben Hassan departed upon this momentous
mission.
eaf218v2.n33[33] Cura de los Palacios.
-- 191 -- p218-522
CHAPTER XXXVI. Surrender of Baza.
[figure description] Page 191.[end figure description]
The old warrior king was seated in an inner chamber
of the castle of Guadix, much cast down in spirit,
and ruminating on his gloomy fortunes, when an envoy
from Baza was announced, and the veteran alcayde
Mohammed stood before him. El Zagal saw
disastrous tidings written in his countenance: “How
fares it with Baza?” said he, summoning up his spirits
to the question. “Let this inform thee,” replied
Mohammed; and he delivered into his hands the
letter from the prince Cidi Yahye.
This letter spoke of the desperate situation of
Baza; the impossibility of holding out longer, without
assistance from El Zagal; and the favorable
terms held out by the Castilian sovereigns. Had it
been written by any other person, El Zagal might
have received it with distrust and indignation; but
he confided in Cidi Yahye as in a second self, and
the words of his letter sunk deep in his heart. When
he had finished reading it, he sighed deeply, and remained
for some time lost in thought, with his head
drooping upon his bosom. Recovering himself, at
length, he called together the alfaquis and the old
men of Guadix, and, communicating the tidings from
Baza, solicited their advice. It was a sign of sore
trouble of mind and dejection of heart, when El Zagal
-- 192 --
[figure description] Page 192.[end figure description]
sought the advice of others; but his fierce courage
was tamed, for he saw the end of his power approaching.
The alfaquis and the old men did but increase
the distraction of his mind by a variety of counsel,
none of which appeared of any avail; for unless Baza
were succored, it was impossible that it should hold
out; and every attempt to succor it had proved ineffectual.
El Zagal dismissed his council in despair, and
summoned the veteran Mohammed before him. “Allah
Acbar!” exclaimed he, “God is great; there is
but one God, and Mahomet is his prophet. Return
to my cousin, Cidi Yahye; tell him it is out of my
power to aid him; he must do as seems to him for
the best. The people of Baza have performed deeds
worthy of immortal fame; I cannot ask them to encounter
further ills and perils, in maintaining a hopeless
defence.”
The reply of El Zagal determined the fate of the
city. Cidi Yahye and his fellow-commanders immediately
capitulated, and were granted the most favorable
terms. The cavaliers and soldiers who had
come from other parts to the defence of the place,
were permitted to depart freely, with their arms,
horses, and effects. The inhabitants had their choice,
either to depart with their property, or to dwell in
the suburgs, in the enjoyment of their religion and
laws, taking an oath of fealty to the sovereigns, and
paying the same tribute they had paid to the Moorish
kings. The city and citadel were to be delivered
up in six days, within which period the inhabitants
-- 193 --
[figure description] Page 193.[end figure description]
were to remove all their effects; and in the mean
time, they were to place, as hostages, fifteen Moorish
youths, sons of the principal inhabitants, in the hands
of the commander of Leon. When Cidi Yahye and
the alcayde Mohammed came to deliver up the hostages,
among whom were the sons of the latter, they
paid homage to the king and queen, who received
them with the utmost courtesy and kindness, and ordered
magnificent presents to be given to them, and
likewise to the other Moorish cavaliers, consisting
of money, robes, horses, and other things of great
value.
The prince Cidi Yahye was so captivated by the
grace, the dignity, and generosity of Isabella, and the
princely courtesy of Ferdinand, that he vowed never
again to draw his sword against such magnanimous
sovereigns. The queen, charmed with his gallant
bearing and his animated professions of devotion, assured
him, that, having him on her side, she already
considered the war terminated which had desolated
the kingdom of Granada.
Mighty and irresistible are words of praise from
the lips of sovereigns. Cidi Yahye was entirely subdued
by this fair speech from the illustrious Isabella.
His heart burned with a sudden flame of loyalty towards
the sovereigns. He begged to be enrolled
amongst the most devoted of their subjects; and, in
the fervor of his sudden zeal, engaged not merely to
dedicate his sword to their service, but to exert all
his influence, which was great, in persuading his
cousin, Muley Abdalla el Zagal, to surrender the
-- 194 --
[figure description] Page 194.[end figure description]
cities of Guadix and Almeria, and to give up all further
hostilities. Nay, so powerful was the effect
produced upon his mind by his conversation with
the sovereigns, that it extended even to his religion;
for he became immediately enlightened as to the
heathenish abominations of the vile sect of Mahomet,
and struck with the truths of christianity, as illustrated
by such powerful monarchs. He consented, therefore,
to be baptized, and to be gathered into the fold
of the church. The pious Agapida indulges in a
triumphant strain of exultation, on the sudden and
surprising conversion of this princely infidel: he considers
it one of the greatest achievements of the
Catholic sovereigns, and indeed one of the marvellous
occurrences of this holy war: “But it is given to
saints and pious monarchs,” says he, “to work miracles
in the cause of the faith; and such did the most
Catholic Ferdinand, in the conversion of the prince
Cidi Yahye.”
Some of the Arabian writers have sought to lessen
the wonder of this miracle, by alluding to great revenues
granted to the prince and his heirs by the Castilian
monarchs, together with a territory in Marchena,
with towns, lands, and vassals; but in this (says
Agapida) we only see a wise precaution of king Ferdinand,
to clinch and secure the conversion of his
proselyte. The policy of the Catholic monarch was
at all times equal to his piety. Instead also of vaunting
of this great conversion, and making a public
parade of the entry of the prince into the church,
king Ferdinand ordered that the baptism should be
-- 195 --
[figure description] Page 195.[end figure description]
performed in private, and kept a profound secret.
He feared that Cidi Yahye might otherwise be denounced
as an apostate, and abhorred and abandoned
by the Moors, and thus his influence destroyed in
bringing the war to a speedy termination.[34]
The veteran Mohammed ben Hassan was likewise
won by the magnanimity and munificence of the
Castilian sovereigns, and entreated to be received
into their service; and his example was followed by
many other Moorish cavaliers, whose services were
generously accepted and magnificently rewarded.
Thus, after a siege of six months and twenty days,
the city of Baza surrendered on the 4th of December,
1489; the festival of the glorious Santa Barbara,
who is said, in the Catholic calendar, to preside over
thunder and lightning, fire and gunpowder, and all
kinds of combustious explosions. The king and
queen made their solemn and triumphant entry on
the following day; and the public joy was heightened
by the sight of upwards of five hundred christian
captives, men, women, and children, delivered from
the Moorish dungeons.
The loss of the christians in this siege amounted
to twenty thousand men, of whom seventeen thousand
died of disease, and not a few of mere cold,—a
kind of death (says the historian Mariana) peculiarly
uncomfortable; but (adds the venerable Jesuit) as
these latter were chiefly people of ignoble rank,
-- 196 --
[figure description] Page 196.[end figure description]
baggage-carriers and such like, the loss was not of great
importance.
The surrender of Baza was followed by that of
Almunecar, Tavernas, and most of the fortresses of
the Alpuxarra mountains; the inhabitants hoped, by
prompt and voluntary submission, to secure equally
favorable terms with those granted to the captured
city, and the alcaydes to receive similar rewards to
those lavished on its commanders; nor were either
of them disappointed. The inhabitants were permitted
to remain as Mudexares, in the quiet enjoyment
of their property and religion; and as to the
alcaydes, when they came to the camp to render up
their charges, they were received by Ferdinand with
distinguished favor, and rewarded with presents of
money in proportion to the importance of the places
they had commanded. Care was taken by the politic
monarch, however, not to wound their pride or shock
their delicacy; so these sums were paid under color
of arrears due to them for their services to the former
government. Ferdinand had conquered by dint of
sword, in the earlier part of the war; but he found
gold as potent as steel, in this campaign of Baza.
With several of these mercenary chieftains came
one named Ali Aben Fahar, a seasoned warrior, who
had held many important commands. He was a
Moor of a lofty, stern, and melancholy aspect, and
stood silent and apart, while his companions surrendered
their several fortresses and retired laden with
treasure. When it came to his turn to speak, he
-- 197 --
[figure description] Page 197.[end figure description]
addressed the sovereigns with the frankness of a soldier,
but with a tone of dejection and despair.
“I am a Moor,” said he, “and of Moorish lineage,
and am alcayde of the fair towns and castles of Purchena
and Paterna. These were intrusted to me to
defend; but those who should have stood by me have
lost all strength and courage, and seek only for security.
These fortresses, therefore, most potent
sovereigns, are yours, whenever you will send to
take possession of them.”
Large sums of gold were immediately ordered
by Ferdinand to be delivered to the alcayde, as
a recompense for so important a surrender. The
Moor, however, put back the gift with a firm and
haughty demeanor: “I came not,” said he, “to sell
what is not mine, but to yield what fortune has made
yours; and your majesties may rest assured that, had
I been properly seconded, death would have been
the price at which I would have sold my fortresses,
and not the gold you offer me.”
The Castilian monarchs were struck with the lofty
and loyal spirit of the Moor, and desired to engage a
man of such fidelity in their service; but the proud
Moslem could not be induced to serve the enemies
of his nation and his faith.
“Is there nothing, then,” said queen Isabella,
“that we can do to gratify thee, and to prove to thee
our regard?” “Yes,” replied the Moor; “I have left
behind me, in the towns and valleys which I have
surrendered, many of my unhappy countrymen, with
their wives and children, who cannot tear themselves
-- 198 --
[figure description] Page 198.[end figure description]
from their native abodes. Give me your royal word
that they shall be protected in the peaceable enjoyment
of their religion and their homes.” “We
promise it,” said Isabella; “they shall dwell in peace
and security. But for thyself—what dost thou ask
for thyself?” “Nothing,” replied Ali, “but permission
to pass unmolested, with my horses and effects,
into Africa.”
The Castilian monarchs would fain have forced
upon him gold and silver, and superb horses richly
caparisoned, not as rewards, but as marks of personal
esteem; but Ali Aben Fahar declined all presents and
distinctions, as if he thought it criminal to flourish
individually during a time of public distress; and disdained
all prosperity, that seemed to grow out of the
ruins of his country.
Having received a royal passport, he gathered together
his horses and servants, his armor and weapons,
and all his warlike effects; bade adieu to his
weeping countrymen with a brow stamped with anguish,
but without shedding a tear; and, mounting
his Barbary steed, turned his back upon the delightful
valleys of his conquered country, departing on his
lonely way, to seek a soldier's fortune amidst the
burning sands of Africa.[35]
eaf218v2.n34[34] Conde, tom. 3, cap. 40.
eaf218v2.n35[35] Pulgar. Garibay, lib. 40. cap. 40. Cura de los Palacios.
-- 199 -- p218-530
CHAPTER XXXVII. Submission of El Zagal to the Castilian Sovereigns.
[figure description] Page 199.[end figure description]
Evil tidings never fail by the way, through lack
of messengers; they are wafted on the wings of the
wind, and it is as if the very birds of the air would
bear them to the ear of the unfortunate. The old
king El Zagal buried himself in the recesses of his
castle, to hide himself from the light of day, which
no longer shone prosperously upon him; but every
hour brought missives, thundering at the gate, with
the tale of some new disaster. Fortress after fortress
had laid its keys at the feet of the christian sovereigns:
strip by strip, of warrior mountain and green
fruitful valley, was torn from his domains, and added
to the territories of the conquerors. Scarcely a remnant
remained to him, except a tract of the Alpuxarras,
and the noble cities of Guadix and Almeria.
No one any longer stood in awe of the fierce old
monarch; the terror of his frown had declined with
his power. He had arrived at that stage of adversity,
when a man's friends feel emboldened to tell
him hard truths, and to give him unpalatable advice;
and when his spirit is bowed down to listen quietly,
if not meekly.
El Zagal was seated on his divan, his whole spirit
absorbed in rumination on the transitory nature of
human glory, when his kinsman and brother-in-law,
-- 200 --
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the prince Cidi Yahye, was announced. That illustrious
convert to the true faith and the interests of
the conquerors of his country, had hastened to Guadix
with all the fervor of a new proselyte, eager to
prove his zeal in the service of Heaven and the Castilian
sovereigns, by persuading the old monarch to
abjure his faith and surrender his possessions.
Cidi Yahye still bore the guise of a Moslem, for
his conversion was as yet a secret. The stern heart
of El Zagal softened at beholding the face of a kinsman,
in this hour of adversity. He folded his cousin
to his bosom, and gave thanks to Allah that amidst all
his troubles he had still a friend and counsellor on
whom he might rely.
Cidi Yahye soon entered upon the real purpose
of his mission. He represented to El Zagal the desperate
state of affairs, and the irretrievable decline
of Moorish power in the kingdom of Granada.
“Fate,” said he, “is against our arms; our ruin is
written in the heavens. Remember the prediction of
the astrologers, at the birth of your nephew Boabdil.
We had hoped that their prediction was accomplished
by his capture at Lucena; but it is now evident
that the stars portended not a temporary and passing
reverse of the kingdom, but a final overthrow. The
constant succession of disasters which have attended
our efforts, show that the sceptre of Granada is
doomed to pass into the hands of the christian monarchs.
Such,” concluded the prince emphatically,
and with a profound and pious reverence, “such is
the almighty will of God!”
-- 201 --
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El Zagal listened to these words in mute attention,
without so much as moving a muscle of his face, or
winking an eyelid. When the prince had concluded,
he remained for a long time silent and pensive; at
length, heaving a profound sigh from the very bottom
of his heart, “Alahuma subahana hu!” exclaimed
he, “the will of God be done! Yes, my cousin, it is
but too evident that such is the will of Allah; and
what he wills, he fails not to accomplish. Had he not
decreed the fall of Granada, this arm and this scimitar
would have maintained it.”[36]
“What then remains,” said Cidi Yahye, “but to
draw the most advantage from the wreck of empire
that is left you? To persist in a war is to bring complete
desolation upon the land, and ruin and death
upon its faithful inhabitants. Are you disposed to
yield up your remaining towns to your nephew El
Chico, that they may augment his power, and derive
protection from his alliance with the christian sovereigns?”
The eye of El Zagal flashed fire at this suggestion.
He grasped the hilt of his scimitar, and gnashed his
teeth in fury. “Never,” cried he, “will I make
terms with that recreant and slave! Sooner would I
see the banners of the christian monarchs floating
above my walls, than they should add to the possessions
of the vassal Boabdil!”
Cidi Yahye immediately siezed upon this idea, and
urged El Zagal to make a frank and entire
-- 202 --
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surrender: “Trust,” said he, “to the magnanimity of the
Castilian sovereigns; they will doubtless grant you
high and honorable terms. It is better to yield to
them as friends, what they must infallibly and before
long wrest from you as enemies; for such, my cousin,
is the almighty will of God!”
“Alahuma subahana hu!” repeated El Zagal, “the
will of God be done!” So the old monarch bowed
his haughty neck, and agreed to surrender his territories
to the enemies of his faith, rather than suffer
them to augment the Moslem power under the sway
of his nephew.
Cidi Yahye now returned to Baza, empowered by
El Zagal to treat on his behalf with the christian
sovereigns. The prince felt a species of exultation,
as he expatiated on the rich relics of empire which
he was authorized to cede. There was a great part
of that line of mountains which extends from the
metropolis to the Mediterranean sea, with their
series of beautiful green valleys, like precious emeralds
set in a golden chain. Above all, there were
Guadix and Almeria, two of the most inestimable
jewels in the crown of Granada.
In return for these possessions, and for the claim
of El Zagal to the rest of the kingdom, the sovereigns
received him into their friendship and alliance,
and gave him in perpetual inheritance the territory
of Andarax and the valley of Alhaurin in the
Alpuxarras, with half of the salinas or salt-pits of
Maleha. He was to enjoy the title of king of Andarax,
with two thousand Mudexares, or conquered
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Moors, for subjects; and his revenues were to be
made up to the sum of four millions of marevedies.[37]
All these he was to hold, as a vassal of the Castilian
crown.
These arrangements being made, Cidi Yahye returned
with them to Muley Abdalla; and it was concerted
that the ceremony of surrender and homage
should take place at the city of Almeria.
On the 17th of December, king Ferdinand departed
from Baza with a part of his army, and the queen
soon followed with the remainder. Ferdinand passed
in triumph by several of the newly-acquired towns,
exulting in these trophies of his policy rather than
his valor. As he drew near to Almeria, the Moorish
king came forth to meet him, accompanied by the
prince Cidi Yahye, and a number of the principal
inahbitants on horseback. The fierce brow of El
Zagal was clouded with a kind of forced humility;
but there was an impatient curl of the lip, with now
and then a swelling of the bosom and an indignant
breathing from the distended nostril. It was evident
he considered himself conquered, not by the power
of man, but by the hand of Heaven; and, while he
bowed to the decrees of fate, it galled his proud
spirit to have to humble himself before its mortal
agent. As he approached the christian king, he
alighted from his horse, and advanced to kiss his
hand in token of homage. Ferdinand, however, respected
the royal title which the Moor had held, and
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would not permit the ceremony; but, bending from
his saddle, graciously embraced him, and requested
him to remount his steed.[38] Several courteous speeches
passed between them; and the fortress and city
of Almeria, and all the remaining territories of El
Zagal, were delivered up in form. When all was
accomplished, the old warrior Moor retired to the
mountains with a handful of adherents, to seek his
petty territory of Andarax, to bury his humiliation
from the world, and to console himself with the
shadowy title of a king.†
eaf218v2.n36[36] Conde, tom. 3. c. 40.
eaf218v2.n37[37] Cura de los Palacios, cap. 94.
eaf218v2.n38[38] Cura de los Palacios, cap. 93.
eaf218v2.dag7† Pulgar, Garibay, &c. &c.
-- 205 -- p218-536
CHAPTER XXXVIII. Events at Granada, subsequent to the submission of El Zagal.
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Who can tell when to rejoice, in this fluctuating
world? Every wave of prosperity has its reacting
surge, and we are often overwhelmed by the very
billow on which we thought to be wafted into the
haven of our hopes. When Yusef Aben Commixa,
the vizier of Boabdil, surnamed El Chico, entered
the royal saloon of the Alhambra and anounced the
capitulation of El Zagal, the heart of the youthful
monarch leaped for joy. His great wish was accomplished;
his uncle was defeated and dethroned, and
he reigned without a rival, sole monarch of Granada.
At length, he was about to enjoy the fruits of his
humiliation and vassalage. He beheld his throne
fortified by the friendship and alliance of the Castilian
monarchs; there could be no question, therefore,
of its stability. “Allah Acbar!” exclaimed he,
“God is great! Rejoice with me, oh Yusef; the stars
have ceased their persecution. Henceforth let no
man call me El Zogoybi.”
In the first moment of his exultation, Boabdil would
have ordered public rejoicings; but the shrewd Yusef
shook his head. “The tempest has ceased,” said he,
“from one point of the heavens, but it may begin to
rage from another. A troubled sea is beneath us,
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and we are surrounded by rocks and quicksands: let
my lord the king defer rejoicings, until all has settled
into a calm.” El Chico, however, could not remain
tranquil, in this day of exultation: he ordered his
steed to be sumptuously caparisoned, and, issuing out
of the gate of the Alhambra, descended, with a glittering
retinue, along the avenue of trees and fountains,
into the city, to receive the acclamations of
the populace. As he entered the great square of the
Vivarrambla, he beheld crowds of people in violent
agitation; but, as he approached, what was his surprise,
to hear groans and murmurs and bursts of execration!
The tidings had spread through Granada,
that Muley Abdalla el Zagal had been driven to
capitulate, and that all his territories had fallen into
the hands of the christians. No one had inquired
into the particulars, but all Granada had been thrown
into a ferment of grief and indignation. In the heat
of the moment, old Muley was extolled to the skies
as a patriot prince, who had fought to the last for the
salvation of his country—as a mirror of monarchs,
scorning to compromise the dignity of his crown by
any act of vassalage. Boabdil, on the contrary, had
looked on exultingly at the hopeless yet heroic struggle
of his uncle; he had rejoiced in the defeat of the
faithful, and the triumph of unbelievers; he had aided
in the dismemberment and downfall of the empire.
When they beheld him riding forth in gorgeous state,
on what they considered a day of humiliation for all
true Moslems, they could not contain their rage; and
amidst the clamors that met his ears, Boabdil more
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than once heard his name coupled with the epithets
of traitor and renegado.
Shocked and discomfited, the youthful monarch
returned in confusion to the Alhambra. He shut
himself up within its innermost courts, and remained
a kind of voluntary prisoner until the first burst of
popular feeling should subside. He trusted that it
would soon pass away; that the people would be too
sensible of the sweets of peace, to repine at the price
at which it was obtained; at any rate, he trusted to
the strong friendship of the christian sovereigns, to
secure him even against the factions of his subjects.
The first missives from the politic Ferdinand showed
Boabdil the value of his friendship. The Catholic
monarch reminded him of a treaty which he had made
when captured in the city of Loxa. By this, he had
engaged, that in case the Catholic sovereigns should
capture the cities of Guadix, Baza, and Almeria, he
would surrender Granada into their hands within a
limited time, and accept in exchange certain Moorish
towns, to be held by him as their vassal. Ferdinand
now informed him that Guadix, Baza, and Almeria,
had fallen; he called upon him, therefore, to fulfil
his engagement.
If the unfortunate Boabdil had possessed the will,
he had not the power to comply with this demand.
He was shut up in the Alhambra, while a tempest of
popular fury raged without. Granada was thronged
by refugees from the captured towns, many of them
disbanded soldiers, and others broken-down citizens,
rendered fierce and desperate by ruin. All railed at
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Boabdil, as the real cause of their misfortunes. How
was he to venture forth in such a storm?—above all,
how was he to talk to such men of surrender? In
his reply to Ferdinand, he represented the difficulties
of his situation, and that, so far from having control
over his subjects, his very life was in danger from
their turbulence. He entreated the king, therefore,
to rest satisfied for the present with his recent conquests,
promising him that should he be able to regain
full empire over his capital and its inhabitants,
it would but be to rule over them as vassal to the
Castilian crown.
Ferdinand was not to be satisfied with such a reply.
The time was come to bring his game of policy to a
close, and to consummate his conquest, by seating
himself on the throne of the Alhambra. Professing to
consider Boabdil as a faithless ally, who had broken
his plighted word, he discarded him from his friendship,
and addressed a second letter, not to that monarch,
but to the commanders and council of the city.
He demanded a complete surrender of the place,
with all the arms in the possession either of the citizens
or of others who had recently taken refuge within
its walls. If the inhabitants should comply with this
summons, he promised them the indulgent terms
which had been granted to Baza, Guadix, and Almeria;
if they should refuse, he threatened them with
the fate of Malaga.[39]
The message of the Catholic monarch produced
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the greatest commotion in the city. The inhabitants
of the Alcaiceria, that busy hive of traffic, and all
others who had tasted the sweets of gainful commerce
during the late cessation of hostilities, were
for securing their golden advantages by timely submission:
others, who had wives and children, looked
on them with tenderness and solicitude, and dreaded,
by resistance, to bring upon them the horrors of
slavery.
But, on the other hand, Granada was crowded
with men from all parts, ruined by the war, exasperated
by their sufferings, and eager only for revenge;
with others, who had been reared amidst hostilities,
who had lived by the sword, and whom a return of
peace would leave without home or hope. Beside
these, there were others no less fiery and warlike in
disposition, but animated by a loftier spirit. These
were valiant and haughty cavaliers of the old chivalrous
lineages, who had inherited a deadly hatred to
the christians from a long line of warrior ancestors,
and to whom the idea was worse than death, that
Granada, illustrious Granada! for ages the seat of
Moorish grandeur and delight, should become the
abode of unbelievers.
Among these cavaliers, the most eminent was
Muza ben Abil Gazan. He was of royal lineage, of
a proud and generous nature, and a form combining
manly strength and beauty. None could excel him in
the management of the horse, and dextrous use of all
kinds of weapons: his gracefulness and skill in the
tourney were the theme of praise among the Moorish
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dames, and his prowess in the field had made him
the terror of the enemy. He had long repined at
the timid policy of Boabdil, and had endeavored to
counteract its enervating effects, and to keep alive
the martial spirit of Granada. For this reason, he
had promoted jousts and tiltings with the reed, and
all those other public games which bear the semblance
of war. He endeavored also to inculcate
into his companions in arms those high chivalrous
sentiments which lead to valiant and magnanimous
deeds, but which are apt to decline with the independence
of a nation. The generous efforts of Muza
had been in a great measure successful: he was the
idol of the youthful cavaliers; they regarded him as
a mirror of chivalry, and endeavored to imitate his
lofty and heroic virtues.
When Muza heard the demand of Ferdinand that
they should deliver up their arms, his eye flashed
fire: “Does the christian king think that we are old
men,” said he, “and that staffs will suffice us?—or
that we are women, and can be contented with distaffs?
Let him know that a Moor is born to the spear
and scimitar; to career the steed, bend the bow, and
lanch the javelin: deprive him of these, and you deprive
him of his nature. If the christian king desires
our arms, let him come and win them; but let him
win them dearly. For my part, sweeter were a
grave beneath the walls of Granada, on the spot I
had died to defend, than the richest couch within
her palaces, earned by submission to the unbeliever.”
The words of Muza were received with
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enthusiastic shouts, by the warlike part of the populace.
Granada once more awoke, as a warrior shaking off
a disgraceful lethargy. The commanders and council
partook of the public excitement, and dispatched a
reply to the christian sovereigns, declaring that they
would suffer death rather than surrender their city.
eaf218v2.n39[39] Cura de los Palacios, cap. 96.
-- 212 -- p218-543
CHAPTER XXXIX. How King Ferdinand turned his hostilities against the city of Granada.
[figure description] Page 212.[end figure description]
When king Ferdinand received the defiance of
the Moors, he made preparations for bitter hostilities.
The winter season did not admit of an immediate
campaign; he contented himself, therefore, with
throwing strong garrisons into all his towns and fortresses
in the neighborhood of Granada, and gave the
command of all the frontier of Jaen to Inigo Lopez
de Mendoza, count of Tendilla, who had shown
such consummate vigilance and address in maintaining
the dangerous post of Alhama. This renowned
veteran established his head-quarters in the mountain
city of Alcala la Real, within eight leagues of the
city of Granada, and commanding the most important
passes of that rugged frontier.
In the mean time, the city of Granada resounded
with the stir of war. The chivalry of the nation had
again control of its councils; and the populace,
having once more resumed their weapons, were
anxious to wipe out the disgrace of their late passive
submission, by signal and daring exploits.
Muza ben Abil Gazan was the soul of action. He
commanded the cavalry, which he had disciplined
with uncommon skill: he was surrounded by the
noblest youth of Granada, who had caught his own
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generous and martial fire, and panted for the field;
while the common soldiers, devoted to his person,
were ready to follow him in the most desperate enterprises.
He did not allow their courage to cool
for want of action. The gates of Granada once more
poured forth legions of light scouring cavalry, which
skirred the country up to the very gates of the christian
fortresses, sweeping off flocks and herds. The
name of Muza became formidable throughout the
frontier; he had many encounters with the enemy
in the rough passes of the mountains, in which the
superior lightness and dexterity of his cavalry gave
him the advantage. The sight of his glistening
legion, returning across the vega with long cavalgadas
of booty, was hailed by the Moors as a revival
of their ancient triumphs; but when they beheld
christian banners borne into their gates as trophies,
the exultation of the light-minded populace was beyond
all bounds.
The winter passed away; the spring advanced,
yet Ferdinand delayed to take the field. He knew
the city of Granada to be too strong and populous to
be taken by assault, and too full of provisions to be
speedily reduced by siege. “We must have patience
and perseverance,” said the politic monarch; “by
ravaging the country this year, we shall produce a
scarcity the next, and then the city may be invested
with effect.”
An interval of peace, aided by the quick vegetation
of a prolific soil and happy climate, had restored
the vega to all its luxuriance and beauty; the green
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pastures on the borders of the Xenel were covered
with flocks and herds; the blooming orchards gave
promise of abundant fruit, and the open plain was
waving with ripening corn. The time was at hand
to put in the sickle and reap the golden harvest,
when suddenly a torrent of war came sweeping
down from the mountains; and Ferdinand, with an
army of five thousand horse and twenty thousand
foot, appeared before the walls of Granada. He had
left the queen and princess at the fortress of Moclin,
and came attended by the duke of Medina Sidonia,
the marques of Cadiz, the marques de Villena, the
counts of Ureña and Cabra, Don Alonzo de Aguilar,
and other renowned cavaliers. On this occasion,
king Ferdinand for the first time led his son prince
Juan into the field, and bestowed upon him the dignity
of knighthood. As if to stimulate him to grand
achievements, the ceremony took place on the banks
of the grand canal, almost beneath the embattled
walls of that warlike city, the object of such daring
enterprises, and in the midst of that famous vega
which had been the field of so many chivalrous exploits.
Above them shone resplendent the red towers
of the Alhambra, rising from amidst delicious groves,
with the standard of Mahomet waving defiance to
the christian arms.
The duke of Medina Sidonia, and the valiant
Roderigo Ponce de Leon, marques of Cadiz, were
sponsors; and all the chivalry of the camp was assembled
on the occasion. The prince, after he was
knighted, bestowed the same honor on several
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youthful cavaliers of high rank, just entering, like himself,
on the career of arms.
Ferdinand did not loiter, in carrying his desolating
plans into execution. He detached parties in every
direction, to lay waste the country; villages were
sacked, burnt, and destroyed, and the lovely vega
once more laid waste with fire and sword. The
ravage was carried so close to Granada, that the city
was wrapped in the smoke of its gardens and hamlets.
The dismal cloud rolled up the hill and hung
about the towers of the Alhambra, where the unfortunate
Boabdil still remained shut up from the indignation
of his subjects. The hapless monarch smote
his breast, as he looked down from his mountain
palace on the desolation effected by his late ally.
He dared not even show himself in arms among the
populace, for they cursed him as the cause of the
miseries once more brought to their doors.
The Moors, however, did not suffer the christians
to carry on their ravages as unmolested as in former
years. Muza incited them to incessant sallies. He
divided his cavalry into small squadrons, each led by
a daring commander. They were taught to hover
round the christian camp; to harass it from various
and opposite quarters, cutting off convoys and straggling
detachments; to waylay the army in its ravaging
expeditions, lurking among rocks and passes of
the mountains, or in hollows and thickets of the
plain, and practising a thousand stratagems and surprises.
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The christian army had one day spread itself out
rather unguardedly, in its foraging about the vega.
As the troops commanded by the marques of Villena
approached the skirts of the mountains, they beheld
a number of Moorish peasants hastily driving a herd
of cattle into a narrow glen. The soldiers, eager for
booty, pressed in pursuit of them. Scarcely had they
entered the glen, when shouts arose from every side,
and they were furiously attacked by an ambuscade of
horse and foot. Some of the christians took to flight;
others stood their ground, and fought valiantly. The
Moors had the vantage-ground; some showered darts
and arrows from the cliffs of the rocks, others fought
hand to hand on the plain; while their cavalry, rapid
as lightning in their movements, carried havoc and
confusion into the midst of the christian forces.
The marques de Villena, with his brother Don
Alonzo de Pacheco, at the first onset of the Moors,
spurred into the hottest of the fight. They had
scarce entered, when Don Alonzo was struck lifeless
from his horse, before the eyes of his brother. Estevan
de Luzon, a gallant captain, fell fighting bravely
by the side of the marques, who remained, with his
chamberlain Solier and a handful of knights, surrounded
by the enemy. Several cavaliers from other
parts of the army hastened to their assistance, when
king Ferdinand, seeing that the Moors had the vantage-ground
and that the christians were suffering
severely, gave signal for retreat. The marques obeyed
slowly and reluctantly, for his heart was full of
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grief and rage at the death of his brother. As he
was retiring, he beheld his faithful chamberlain Solier
defending himself valiantly against six Moors.
The marques turned, and rushed to his rescue; he
killed two of the enemy with his own hand, and put
the rest to flight. One of the Moors, however, in
retreating, rose in his stirrups, and, hurling his lance
at the marques, wounded him in the right arm and
crippled him for life.[40]
Such was one of the many ambuscadoes concerted
by Muza; nor did he hesitate at times to present a
bold front to the christian forces, and to defy them
in the open field. King Ferdinand soon perceived,
however, that the Moors seldom provoked a battle
without having the advantage of the ground; and that
though the christians generally appeared to have the
victory, they suffered the greatest loss; for retreating
was a part of the Moorish system, by which they
would draw their pursuers into confusion, and then
turn upon them with a more violent and fatal attack.
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He commanded his captains, therefore, to decline all
challenges to skirmish, and to pursue a secure system
of destruction, ravaging the country, and doing all
possible injury to the enemy, with slight risk to
themselves.
eaf218v2.n40[40] In consequence of this wound, the marques was ever after
obliged to write his signature with his left hand, though capable
of managing his lance with his right. The queen one day demanded
of him, why he had adventured his life for that of a domestic?
“Does not your majesty think,” replied he, “that I ought
to risk one life for him who would have adventured three for me
had he possessed them?” The queen was charmed with the
magnanimity of the reply, and often quoted the marques as setting
an heroic example to the chivalry of the age.—Mariana, lib.
25. c. 15.
-- 219 -- p218-550
CHAPTER XL. The fate of the Castle of Roma.
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About two leagues from Granada, on an eminence
commanding an extensive view of the vega, stood the
strong Moorish castle of Roma, a great place of refuge
and security. Hither the neighboring peasantry drove
their flocks and herds, and hurried with their most
precious effects, on the irruption of a christian force;
and any foraging or skirmishing party from Granada,
on being intercepted in their return, threw themselves
into Roma, manned its embattled towers, and set the
enemy at defiance. The garrison were accustomed
to these sudden claims upon their protection; to have
parties of Moors clattering up to their gates, so hotly
pursued that there was barely time to throw open
the portal, receive them within, and shut out their
pursuers; while the christian cavaliers had many a
time reined in their panting steeds, at the very entrance
of the barbacan, and retired, cursing the strong
walls of Roma, that robbed them of their prey.
The late ravages of Ferdinand, and the continual
skirmishings in the vega, had roused the vigilance of
the castle. One morning early, as the sentinels kept
watch upon the battlements, they beheld a cloud of
dust advancing rapidly from a distance: turbans and
Moorish weapons soon caught their eyes; and as the
whole approached, they descried a drove of cattle,
urged on in great haste, and convoyed by one
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hundred and fifty Moors, who led with them two christian
captives in chains.
When the cavalgada had arrived near to the castle,
a Moorish cavalier, of noble and commanding mien
and splendid attire, rode up to the foot of the tower,
and entreated admittance. He stated that they were
returning with rich booty from a foray into the lands
of the christians, but that the enemy was on their
traces, and they feared to be overtaken before they
could reach Granada. The sentinels descended in
all haste, and flung open the gates. The long cavalgada
defiled into the courts of the castle, which were
soon filled with lowing and bleating flocks and herds,
with neighing and stamping steeds, and with fierce-looking
Moors from the mountains. The cavalier
who had asked admission was the chief of the party;
he was somewhat advanced in life, of a lofty and gallant
bearing, and had with him a son, a young man
of great fire and spirit. Close by them followed the
two christian captives, with looks cast down and disconsolate.
The soldiers of the garrison had roused themselves
from their sleep, and were busily occupied attending
to the cattle which crowded the courts; while the
foraging party distributed themselves about the castle,
to seek refreshment or repose. Suddenly a shout
arose, that was echoed from court-yard, and hall,
and battlement. The garrison, astonished and bewildered,
would have rushed to their arms, but found
themselves, almost before they could make resistance,
completely in the power of an enemy.
-- 221 --
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The pretended foraging party consisted of Mudexares,
or Moors tributary to the christians; and
the commanders were the prince Cidi Yahye, and
his son Alnayer. They had hastened from the mountains
with this small force, to aid the Catholic sovereigns
during the summer's campaign; and they had
concerted to surprise this important castle, and present
it to king Ferdinand, as a gage of their faith, and
the first fruits of their devotion.
The politic monarch overwhelmed his new converts
and allies with favors and distinctions, in return
for this important acquisition; but he took care to
dispatch a strong force of veteran and genuine christian
troops, to man the fortress.
As to the Moors who had composed the garrison,
Cidi Yahye remembered that they were his countrymen,
and could not prevail upon himself to deliver
them into christian bondage. He set them at liberty,
and permitted them to repair to Granada;—“a
proof,” says the pious Agapida, “that his conversion
was not entirely consummated, but that there were
still some lingerings of the infidel in his heart.” His
lenity was far from procuring him indulgence in the
opinions of his countrymen; on the contrary, the inhabitants
of Granada, when they learnt from the
liberated garrison the stratagem by which Roma had
been captured, cursed Cidi Yahye for a traitor; and
the garrison joined in the malediction.
But the indignation of the people of Granada was
destined to be aroused to tenfold violence. The old
warrior Muley Abdalla el Zagal had retired to his
-- 222 --
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little mountain territory, and for a short time endeavored
to console himself with his petty title of king
of Andarax. He soon grew impatient, however, of
the quiet and inaction of his mimic kingdom. His
fierce spirit was exasperated by being shut up within
such narrow limits, and his hatred rose to downright
fury against Boabdil, whom he considered as the
cause of his downfall. When tidings were brought
him that king Ferdinand was laying waste the vega,
he took a sudden resolution. Assembling the whole
disposable force of his kingdom, which amounted but
to two hundred men, he descended from the Alpuxarras
and sought the christian camp, content to serve
as a vassal the enemy of his faith and his nation, so
that he might see Granada wrested from the sway of
his nephew.
In his blind passion, the old wrathful monarch injured
his cause, and strengthened the cause of his
adversary. The Moors of Granada had been clamorous
in his praise, extolling him as a victim to his patriotism,
and had refused to believe all reports of his
treaty with the christians; but when they beheld,
from the walls of the city, his banner mingling with
the banners of the unbelievers, and arrayed against
his late people, and the capital he had commanded,
they broke forth into curses and revilings, and heaped
all kind of stigmas upon his name.
Their next emotion, of course, was in favor of
Boabdil. They gathered under the walls of the Alhambra,
and hailed him as their only hope, as the
sole dependence of the country. Boabdil could
-- 223 --
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scarcely believe his senses, when he heard his name
mingled with praises and greeted with acclamations.
Encouraged by this unexpected gleam of popularity,
he ventured forth from his retreat, and was received
with rapture. All his past errors were attributed to
the hardships of his fortune, and the usurpation of
his tyrant uncle; and whatever breath the populace
could spare from uttering curses on El Zagal, was
expended in shouts in honor of El Chico.
-- 224 -- p218-555
CHAPTER XLI. How Boabdil el Chico took the field; and his expedition against Alhendin.
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For thirty days, had the vega been overrun by the
christian forces; and that vast plain, late so luxuriant
and beautiful, was one wide scene of desolation.
The destroying army, having accomplished its task,
passed over the bridge of Pinos and wound up into
the mountains, on the way to Cordova, bearing away
the spoils of towns and villages, and driving off flocks
and herds in long dusty columns. The sound of the
last christian trumpet died away along the side of
the mountain of Elvira, and not a hostile squadron
was seen glistening on the mournful fields of the
vega.
The eyes of Boabdil el Chico were at length
opened to the real policy of king Ferdinand, and he
saw that he had no longer any thing to depend upon
but the valor of his arm. No time was to be lost in
hastening to counteract the effect of the late christian
ravage, and in opening the channel for distant
supplies to Granada.
Scarcely had the retiring squadrons of Ferdinand
disappeared among the mountains, when Boabdil
buckled on his armor, sallied forth from the Alhambra,
and prepared to take the field. When the populace
beheld him actually in arms against his late ally,
-- 225 --
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both parties thronged with zeal to his standard. The
hardy inhabitants also of the Sierra Nevada, or
chain of snow-capped mountains which rise above
Granada, descended from their heights, and hastened
into the city gates, to proffer their devotion to their
youthful king. The great square of the Vivarrambla
shone with the proud array of legions of cavalry,
decked with the colors and devices of the most ancient
Moorish families, and marshalled forth by the
patriot Muza to follow the king to battle.
It was on the 15th of June, that Boabdil once
more issued forth from the gates of Granada on martial
enterprise. A few leagues from the city, within
full view of it, and at the entrance of the Alpuxarra
mountains, stood the powerful castle of Alhendin.
It was built on an eminence, rising from the midst
of a small town, and commanding a great part of the
vega, and the main road to the rich valleys of the
Alpuxarras. The castle was commanded by a valiant
christian cavalier named Mendo de Quexada, and
garrisoned by two hundred and fifty men, all seasoned
and experienced warriors. It was a continual
thorn in the side of Granada: the laborers of the
vega were swept off from their fields, by its hardy
soldiers; convoys were cut off, in the passes of the
mountains; and as the garrison commanded a full
view of the gates of the city, no band of merchants
could venture forth on their needful journeys, without
being swooped up by the war-hawks of Alhendin.
It was against this important fortress, that Boabdil
first led his troops. For six days and nights, the
-- 226 --
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fortress was closely besieged. The alcayde and his veteran
garrison defended themselves valiantly, but they
were exhausted by fatigue and constant watchfulness;
for the Moors, being continually relieved by
fresh troops from Granada, kept up an unremitted
and vigorous attack. Twice the barbacan was forced,
and twice the assailants were driven forth headlong
with excessive loss. The garrison, however,
was diminished in number by the killed and wounded;
there were no longer soldiers sufficient to man
the walls and gateway; and the brave alcayde was
compelled to retire, with his surviving force, to the
keep of the castle, in which he continued to make a
desperate resistance.
The Moors now approached the foot of the tower,
under shelter of wooden screens covered with wet
hides, to ward off missiles and combustibles. They
went to work vigorously to undermine the tower,
placing props of wood under the foundations, to be
afterwards set on fire, so as to give the besiegers
time to escape before the edifice should fall. Some
of the Moors plied their cross-bows and arquebusses
to defend the workmen, and to drive the christians
from the wall; while the latter showered down
stones, and darts, and melted pitch, and flaming combustibles,
on the miners.
The brave Mendo de Quexada had cast many an
anxious eye across the vega, in hopes of seeing some
christian force hastening to his assistance. Not a
gleam of spear or helm was to be descried, for no
one had dreamt of this sudden irruption of the
-- 227 --
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Moors. The alcayde beheld his bravest men dead
or wounded around him, while the remainder were
sinking with watchfulness and fatigue. In defiance
of all opposition, the Moors had accomplished their
mine; the fire was brought before the walls, that
was to be applied to the stancheons, in case the
garrison persisted in defence. In a little while, the
tower would crumble beneath him, and be rent and
hurled a ruin to the plain. At the very last moment,
the brave alcayde made the signal of surrender. He
marched forth with the remnant of his veteran garrison,
who were all made prisoners. Boabdil immediately
ordered the walls of the fortress to be razed,
and fire to be applied to the stanchions, that the
place might never again become a strong-hold to the
christians, and a scourge to Granada. The alcayde
and his fellow-captives were led in dejected convoy
across the vega, when they heard a tremendous
crash behind them. They turned to look upon their
late fortress, but beheld nothing but a heap of tumbling
ruins, and a vast column of smoke and dust,
where once had stood the lofty tower of Alhendin.
-- 228 -- p218-559
CHAPTER XLII. Exploit of the Count de Tendilla.
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Boabdil el Chico followed up his success, by
capturing the two fortresses of Marchena and Bulduy;
he sent his alfaquis in every direction, to proclaim a
holy war, and to summon all true Moslems of town
or castle, mountain or valley, to saddle steed and
buckle on armor, and hasten to the standard of the
faith. The tidings spread far and wide, that Boabdil
el Chico was once more in the field, and was victorious.
The Moors of various places, dazzled by this
gleam of success, hastened to throw off their sworn
allegiance to the Castilian crown, and to elevate the
standard of Boabdil; and the youthful monarch flattered
himself that the whole kingdom was on the
point of returning to its allegiance.
The fiery cavaliers of Granada were eager to renew
those forays into the christian lands, in which
they had formerly delighted. A number of them
therefore concerted an irruption to the north, into
the territory of Jaen, to harass the country about
Quezada. They had heard of a rich convoy of merchants
and wealthy travellers, on the way to the city
of Baza; and they anticipated a glorious conclusion
to their foray, in capturing this convoy.
Assembling a number of horsemen, lightly armed
and fleetly mounted, and one hundred foot-soldiers,
-- 229 --
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these hardy cavaliers issued forth by night from Granada,
made their way in silence through the defiles
of the mountains, crossed the frontier without opposition,
and suddenly appeared, as if fallen from the
clouds, in the very heart of the christian country.
The mountainous frontier which separates Granada
from Jaen was at this time under the command of the
count de Tendilla, the same veteran who had distinguished
himself by his vigilance and sagacity when
commanding the fortress of Alhama. He held his
head-quarters at the city of Alcala la Real, in its impregnable
fortress, perched high among the mountains,
about six leagues from Granada, and dominating
all the frontier. From this cloud-capt hold among
the rocks, he kept an eagle eye upon Granada, and
had his scouts and spies in all directions, so that a
crow could not fly over the border without his knowledge.
His fortress was a place of refuge for the
christian captives who escaped by night from the
Moorish dungeons of Granada. Often, however,
they missed their way in the defiles of the mountains,
and, wandering about bewildered, either repaired by
mistake to some Moorish town, or were discovered
and retaken at daylight by the enemy. To prevent
these accidents, the count had a tower built at his
own expense, on the top of one of the heights near
Alcala, which commanded a view of the vega and
the surrounding country. Here he kept a light blazing
throughout the night, as a beacon for all christian
fugitives, to guide them to a place of safety.
The count was aroused one night from his repose,
-- 230 --
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by shouts and cries, which came up from the town
and approached the castle walls. “To arms! to
arms! the Moor is over the border!” was the cry.
A christian soldier, pale and emaciated, and who still
bore traces of the Moorish chains, was brought before
the count. He had been taken as guide by the Moorish
cavaliers who had sallied from Granada, but had
escaped from them among the mountains, and, after
much wandering, had found his way to Alcala by the
signal-fire.
Notwithstanding the bustle and agitation of the
moment, the count de Tendilla listened calmly and
attentively to the account of the fugitive, and questioned
him minutely as to the time of departure of
the Moors, and the rapidity and direction of their
march. He saw that it was too late to prevent their
incursion and ravage; but he determined to await
them, and give them a warm reception on their return.
His soldiers were always on the alert, and ready to
take the field at a moment's warning. Choosing one
hundred and fifty lances, hardy and valiant men, well
disciplined and well seasoned, as indeed were all his
troops, he issued forth quietly before break of day,
and, descending through the defiles of the mountains,
stationed his little force in ambush, in a deep barranca,
or dry channel of a torrent, near Barzina, but
three leagues from Granada, on the road by which
the marauders would have to return. In the mean
time, he sent out scouts, to post themselves upon
different heights, and look out for the approach of
the enemy.
-- 231 --
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All day they remained concealed in the ravine,
and for a great part of the following night; not a
turban, however, was to be seen, excepting now and
then a peasant returning from his labor, or a solitary
muleteer hastening towards Granada. The cavaliers
of the count began to grow restless and impatient;
they feared that the enemy might have taken some
other route, or might have received intelligence of
their ambuscade. They urged the count to abandon
the enterprise, and return to Alcala. “We are here,”
said they, “almost at the gates of the Moorish capital,
our movements may have been descried, and, before
we are aware, Granada may pour forth its legions of
swift cavalry, and crush us with an overwhelming
force.” The count de Tendilla, however, persisted
in remaining until his scouts should come in. About
two hours before daybreak, there were signal-fires
on certain Moorish watch-towers of the mountains.
While they were regarding these with anxiety, the
scouts came hurrying into the ravine: “The Moors
are approaching,” said they; “we have reconnoitred
them near at hand. They are between one and two
hundred strong, but encumbered with many prisoners
and much booty.” The christian cavaliers laid their
ears to the ground, and heard the distant tramp of
horses and the tread of foot-soldiers. They mounted
their horses, braced their shields, couched their lances,
and drew near to the entrance of the ravine where it
opened upon the road.
The Moors had succeeded in waylaying and surprising
the christian convoy, on its way to Baza.
-- 232 --
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They had captured a great number of prisoners, male
and female, with great store of gold and jewels, and
sumpter mules laden with rich merchandise. With
these they had made a forced march over the dangerous
parts of the mountains; but now, finding themselves
so near to Granada, they fancied themselves
in perfect security. They loitered along the road,
therefore, irregularly and slowly, some singing, others
laughing and exulting at having eluded the boasted
vigilance of the count de Tendilla; while ever and
anon were heard the plaint of some female captive
bewailing the jeopardy of her honor, and the heavy
sighing of the merchant at beholding his property in
the grasp of ruthless spoilers.
The count de Tendilla waited until some of the
escort had passed the ravine; then, giving the signal
for assault, his cavaliers set up great shouts and cries,
and charged furiously into the centre of the foe. The
obscurity of the place and the hour added to the
terrors of the surprise. The Moors were thrown into
confusion; some rallied, fought desperately, and fell
covered with wounds. Thirty-six were killed, and
fifty-five were made prisoners; the rest, under cover
of the darkness, made their escape to the rocks and
defiles of the mountains.
The good count unbound the prisoners, gladdening
the hearts of the merchants by restoring to them
their merchandise. To the female captives also he
restored the jewels of which they had been despoiled,
excepting such as had been lost beyond recovery.
Forty-five saddle horses, of the choice Barbary breed,
-- 233 --
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remained as captured spoils of the Moors, together
with costly armor, and booty of various kinds. Having
collected every thing in haste, and arranged his
cavalgada, the count urged his way with all speed
for Alcala la Real, lest he should be pursued and
overtaken by the Moors of Granada. As he wound
up the steep ascent to his mountain city, the inhabitants
poured forth to meet him with shouts of joy.
His triumph was doubly enhanced by being received
at the gates of the city by his wife, the daughter of
the marques of Villena, a lady of distinguished merit,
whom he had not seen for two years, that he had
been separated from his home by the arduous duties
of these iron wars.
-- 234 -- p218-565
CHAPTER XLIII. Expedition of Boabdil el Chico against Salobreña. — Exploit of Hernando Perez del Pulgar.
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King Boabdil found that his diminished territory
was too closely dominated by christian fortresses like
Alcala la Real, and too strictly watched by vigilant
alcaydes like the count of Tendilla, to be able to
maintain itself by internal resources. His foraging
expeditions were liable to be intercepted and defeated,
while the ravage of the vega had swept off every
thing on which the city depended for future sustenance.
He felt the want of a sea-port, through
which, as formerly, he might keep open a communication
with Africa, and obtain reinforcements and
supplies from beyond the sea. All the ports and
harbors were in the hands of the christians, and
Granada and its remnant of dependent territory were
completely landlocked.
In this emergency, the attention of Boabdil was
called by circumstances to the sea-port of Salobreña.
This redoubtable town has already been mentioned
in this chronicle, as a place deemed impregnable by
the Moors; insomuch that their kings were accustomed,
in time of peril, to keep their treasures in
its citadel. It was situated on a high rocky hill, dividing
one of those rich little vegas or plains which
lie open to the Mediterranean, but run like deep
-- 235 --
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green bays into the stern bosoms of the mountains.
The vega was covered with beautiful vegetation,
with rice and cotton, with groves of oranges, citrons,
figs and mulberries, and with gardens inclosed by
hedges of reeds, of aloes and the Indian fig. Running
streams of cool water from the springs and
snows of the Sierra Nevada, kept this delightful
valley continually fresh and verdant; while it was
almost locked up by mountain barriers, and lofty
promontories that stretched far into the sea.
Through the centre of this rich vega, the rock of
Salobreña reared its rugged back, nearly dividing the
plain, and advancing to the margin of the sea, with
just a strip of sandy beach at its foot, laved by the
blue waves of the Mediterranean.
The town covered the ridge and sides of the rocky
hill, and was fortified by strong walls and towers;
while on the highest and most precipitous part stood
the citadel, a huge castle that seemed to form a part
of the living rock; the massive ruins of which, at the
present day, attract the gaze of the traveller, as he
winds his way far below, along the read which passes
through the vega.
This important fortress had been intrusted to the
command of Don Francisco Ramirez de Madrid,
captain-general of the artillery, and the most scientific
of all the Spanish leaders. That experienced
veteran, however, was with the king at Cordova,
having left a valiant cavalier as alcayde of the place.
Boabdil el Chico had full information of the state
of the garrison and the absence of its commander.
-- 236 --
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Putting himself at the head of a powerful force,
therefore, he departed from Granada, and made a
rapid march through the mountains; hoping, by this
sudden move, to seize upon Salobreña before king
Ferdinand could come to its assistance.
The inhabitants of Salobreña were Mudexares, or
Moors who had sworn allegiance to the christians.
Still, when they heard the sound of the Moorish
drums and trumpets, and beheld the squadrons of
their countrymen advancing across the vega, their
hearts yearned towards the standard of their nation
and their faith. A tumult arose in the place; the
populace shouted the name of Boabdil el Chico,
and, throwing open the gates, admitted him within
the walls.
The christian garrison was too few in number, to
contend for the possession of the town: they retreated
to the citadel, and shut themselves within its massive
walls, which were considered impregnable. Here
they maintained a desperate defence, hoping to hold
out until succor should arrive from the neighboring
fortresses.
The tidings that Salobreña was invested by the
Moorish king, spread along the sea-coast, and filled
the christians with alarm. Don Francisco Enriquez,
uncle of the king, commanded the city of Velez
Malaga, about twelve leagues distant, but separated
by ranges of those vast rocky mountains which are
piled along the Mediterranean, and tower in steep
promontories and precipices above its waves.
Don Francisco summoned the alcaydes of his
-- 237 --
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district to hasten with him to the relief of this important
fortress. A number of cavaliers and their
retainers answered to his call, among whom was
Fernando Perez del Pulgar, surnamed “El de las
Hazanas,” (he of the exploits,)—the same who had
signalized himself in a foray, by elevating a handkerchief
on a lance for a banner, and leading on his
disheartened comrades to victory. As soon as Don
Francisco beheld a little band collected round him,
he set out with all speed for Salobreña. The march
was rugged and severe, climbing and descending immense
mountains, and sometimes winding along the
edge of giddy precipices, with the surges of the sea
raging far below. When Don Francisco arrived with
his followers at the lofty promontory that stretches
along one side of the little vega of Salobreña, he
looked down with sorrow and anxiety upon a Moorish
army of great force encamped at the foot of the
fortress, while Moorish banners, on various parts of
the walls, showed that the town was already in possession
of the infidels. A solitary christian standard
alone floated on the top of the castle-keep, showing
that the brave garrison were hemmed up in their
rock-built citadel.
Don Francisco found it impossible, with his small
force, to make any impression on the camp of the
Moors, or to get to the relief of the castle. He stationed
his little band upon a rocky height near the
sea, where they were safe from the assaults of the
enemy. The sight of his friendly banner waving in
their neighborhood cheered the heart of the garrison,
-- 238 --
[figure description] Page 238.[end figure description]
and conveyed to them assurance of speedy succor
from the king.
In the mean time, Fernando Perez del Pulgar,
who always burned to distinguish himself by bold
and striking exploits, in the course of a prowling
expedition along the borders of the Moorish camp,
remarked a postern-gate of the castle, opening upon
the steep part of the rocky hill which looked towards
the mountains.
A sudden thought flashed upon the daring mind of
Pulgar:—“Who will follow my banner,” said he,
“and make a dash for yonder postern?” A bold
proposition, in time of warfare, never wants for bold
spirits to accept it. Seventy resolute men immediately
stepped forward. Pulgar put himself at their
head; they cut their way suddenly through a weak
part of the camp, fought their way up to the gate,
which was eagerly thrown open to receive them;
and succeeded in making their way into the fortress,
before the alarm of their attempt had spread through
the Moorish army.
The garrison was roused to new spirit by this unlooked-for
reinforcement, and were enabled to make
a more vigorous resistance. The Moors had intelligence,
however, that there was a great scarcity of
water in the castle; and they exulted in the idea that
this additional number of warriors would soon exhaust
the cisterns, and compel them to surrender.
When Pulgar heard of this hope entertained by the
enemy, he caused a bucket of water to be lowered
-- 239 --
[figure description] Page 239.[end figure description]
from the battlements, and threw a silver cup in
bravado to the Moors.
The situation of the garrison, however, was daily
growing more and more critical; they suffered greatly
from thirst, while, to tantalize them in their sufferings,
they beheld limpid streams winding in abundance
through the green plain below them. They
began to fear that all succor would arrive too late,
when one day they beheld a little squadron of vessels
far at sea, but standing towards the shore.
There was some doubt at first whether it might not
be a hostile armament from Africa; but as it approached,
they descried, to their great joy, the banner
of Castile.
It was a reinforcement, brought in all haste by the
governor of the fortress, Don Francisco Ramirez.
The squadron anchored at a steep rocky island,
which rises from the very margin of the smooth
sandy beach, directly in front of the rock of Salobre
ña, and stretches out into the sea. On this island
Ramirez landed his men, and was as strongly posted
as if in a fortress. His force was too scanty to attempt
a battle, but he assisted to harass and distract
the besiegers. Whenever king Boabdil made an attack
upon the fortress, his camp was assailed on one
side by the troops of Ramirez, who landed from
their island, and on another by those of Don Francisco
Enriquez, who swept down from their rock;
while Fernando del Pulgar kept up a fierce defence,
from every tower and battlement of the castle.
-- 240 --
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The attention of the Moorish king was diverted,
also, for a time, by an ineffectual attempt to relieve
the little port of Adra, which had recently declared
in his favor, but which had been recaptured for the
christians by Cidi Yahye and his son Alnayar. Thus
the unlucky Boabdil, bewildered on every hand, lost
all the advantage that he had gained by his rapid
march from Granada. While he was yet besieging
the obstinate citadel, tidings were brought him that
king Ferdinand was in full march, with a powerful
host, to its assistance. There was no time for farther
delay: he made a furious attack with all his forces
upon the castle, but was again repulsed by Pulgar
and his coadjutors; when, abandoning the siege in
despair, he retreated with his army, lest king Ferdinand
should get between him and his capital. On
his way back to Granada, however, he in some sort
consoled himself for his late disappointment, by
overrunning a part of the territories and possessions
lately assigned to his uncle El Zagal, and to Cidi
Yahye. He defeated their alcaydes, destroyed several
of their fortresses, burnt their villages, and, leaving
the country behind him reeking and smoking with
his vengeance, returned with considerable booty, to
repose himself within the walls of the Alhambra.
-- 241 -- p218-572
CHAPTER XLIV. How King Ferdinand treated the people of Gaudix— and how El Zagal finished his regal career.
[figure description] Page 241.[end figure description]
Scarcely had Boabdil ensconced himself in his
capital, when king Ferdinand, at the head of seven
thousand horse and twenty thousand foot, again appeared
in the vega. He had set out in all haste from
Cordova, to the relief of Salobreña; but, hearing on
his march that the siege was raised, he turned with
his army to make a second ravage round the walls
of devoted Granada. His present forage lasted fifteen
days, in the course of which every thing that had
escaped his former desolating visit was destroyed,
and scarce a green thing or a living animal was left
on the face of the land. The Moors sallied frequently,
and fought desperately, in defence of their fields;
but the work of destruction was accomplished—and
Granada, once the queen of gardens, was left surrounded
by a desert.
From hence Ferdinand marched to crush a conspiracy
which had lately manifested itself in the cities
of Guadix, Baza, and Almeria. These recently conquered
places had entered into secret correspondence
with king Boabdil, inviting him to march to their
gates, promising to rise upon the christian garrisons,
seize upon the citadels, and surrender themselves
into his power. The marques of Villena had re
-- 242 --
[figure description] Page 242.[end figure description]
ceived notice of the conspiracy, and had suddenly
thrown himself, with a large force, into Guadix.
Under pretence of making a review of the inhabitants,
he made them sally forth into the fields before
the city. When the whole Moorish population capable
of bearing arms was thus without the walls, he
ordered the gates to be closed. He then permitted
them to enter, two by two and three by three, and
to take forth their wives, children, and effects. The
houseless Moors were fain to make themselves temporary
hovels, in the gardens and orchards about the
city; they were clamorous in their complaints at
being thus excluded from their homes, but were told
they must wait with patience until the charges against
them could be investigated, and the pleasure of the
king be known.[41]
When Ferdinand arrived at Guadix, he found the
unhappy Moors in their cabins among the orchards.
They complained bitterly of the deception that had
been practised upon them, and implored permission
to return into the city, and live peaceably in their
dwellings, as had been promised them in their articles
of capitulation.
King Ferdinand listened graciously to their complaints:
“My friends,” said he in reply, “I am informed
that there has been a conspiracy among you
to kill my alcayde and garrison, and to take part
with my enemy the king of Granada. I shall make
a thorough investigation of this conspiracy. Those
-- 243 --
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among you who shall be proved innocent shall be
restored to their dwellings, but the guilty shall incur
the penalty of their offences. As I wish however to
proceed with mercy as well as justice, I now give
you your choice, either to depart at once without
further question, going wherever you please, and
taking with you your families and effects, under an
assurance of safety; or to deliver up those who are
guilty, not one of whom, I give you my royal word,
shall escape punishment.”
When the people of Guadix heard these words,
they communed among themselves; and as most of
them (says the worthy Agapida) were either culpable
or feared to be considered so, they accepted the
alternative, and departed sorrowfully, they and their
wives and their little ones. “Thus,” in the words
of that excellent and cotemporary historian, Andres
Bernaldez, commonly called the curate of Los Palacios—
“thus did the king deliver Guadix from the
hands of the enemies of our holy faith, after seven
hundred and seventy years that it had been in their
possession, ever since the time of Roderick the
Goth; and this was one of the mysteries of our
Lord, who would not consent that the city should
remain longer in the power of the Moors:”—a pious
and sage remark, which is quoted with peculiar approbation
by the worthy Agapida.
King Ferdinand offered similar alternatives to the
Moors of Baza, Almeria, and other cities accused of
participation in this conspiracy; who generally preferred
to abandon their homes, rather than incur the
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risk of an investigation. Most of them relinquished
Spain, as a country where they could no longer live
in security and independence, and departed with
their families for Africa; such as remained were suffered
to live in villages and hamlets, and other unwalled
places.[42]
While Ferdinand was thus occupied at Guadix,
dispensing justice and mercy, and receiving cities in
exchange, the old monarch Muley Abdalla, surnamed
El Zagal, appeared before him. He was haggard
with care, and almost crazed with passion. He had
found his little territory of Andarax, and his two
thousand subjects, as difficult to govern as had been
the distracted kingdom of Granada. The charm,
which had bound the Moors to him, was broken
when he appeared in arms under the banner of Ferdinand.
He had returned from his inglorious campaign
with his petty army of two hundred men, followed
by the execrations of the people of Granada,
and the secret repining of those he had led into the
field. No sooner had his subjects heard of the successes
of Boabdil el Chico, than they had seized
their arms, assembled tumultuously, declared for the
young monarch, and threatened the life of El Zagal.†
The unfortunate old king had with difficulty evaded
their fury; and this last lesson seemed entirely to
have cured him of his passion for sovereignty. He
now entreated Ferdinand to purchase the towns and
-- 245 --
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castles and other possessions which had been granted
to him; offering them at a low rate, and begging safe
passage for himself and his followers to Africa. King
Ferdinand graciously complied with his wishes. He
purchased of him three-and-twenty towns and villages
in the valleys of Andarax and Alhaurin, for
which he gave him five millions of maravedies. El
Zagal relinquished his right to one-half of the salinas
or salt-pits of Maleha, in favor of his brother-in-law
Cidi Yahye. Having thus disposed of his petty empire
and possessions, he packed up all his treasure,
of which he had a great amount, and, followed by
many Moorish families, passed over to Africa.[43]
And here let us cast an eye beyond the present
period of our chronicle, and trace the remaining
career of El Zagal. His short and turbulent reign,
and disastrous end, would afford a wholesome lesson
to unprincipled ambition, were not all ambition of
the kind fated to be blind to precept and example.
When he arrived in Africa, instead of meeting with
kindness and sympathy, he was seized and thrown
into prison by the king of Fez, as though he had been
his vassal. He was accused of being the cause of
the dissensions and downfall of the kingdom of Granada;
and the accusation being proved to the satisfaction
of the king of Fez, he condemned the unhappy
El Zagal to perpetual darkness. A basin of
glowing copper was passed before his eyes, which
effectually destroyed his sight. His wealth, which
-- 246 --
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had probably been the secret cause of these cruel
measures, was confiscated and seized upon by his
oppressor; and El Zagal was thrust forth, blind,
helpless, and destitute, upon the world. In this
wretched condition, the late Moorish monarch
groped his way through the regions of Tingitania,
until he reached the city of Velez de Gomera. The
king of Velez had formerly been his ally, and felt
some movement of compassion at his present altered
and abject state. He gave him food and raiment, and
suffered him to remain unmolested in his dominions.
Death, which so often hurries off the prosperous and
happy from the midst of untasted pleasures, spares
on the other hand the miserable, to drain the last
drop of his cup of bitterness. El Zagal dragged out
a wretched existence of many years, in the city of
Velez. He wandered about blind and disconsolate,
an object of mingled scorn and pity, and bearing
above his raiment a parchment on which was written
in Arabic, “This is the unfortunate king of Andalusia.”
[44]
eaf218v2.n41[41] Zurita, lib. 20. c. 85. Cura de los Palacios, c. 97.
eaf218v2.n42[42] Garibay, lib. 13. cap. 39. Pulgar, part 3. cap. 132.
eaf218v2.dag8† Cura de los Palacios, cap. 97.
eaf218v2.n43[43] Conde, part 4. cap. 41.
eaf218v2.n44[44] Marmol, de Rebelione Maur. lib. 1. cap. 16. Padraza, Hist.
Granat. part 3. c. 4. Suarez, Hist. de Obispados de Guadix y
Baza, cap. 10.
-- 247 -- p218-578
CHAPTER XLV. Preparations of Granada for a desperate defence.
[figure description] Page 247.[end figure description]
How is thy strength departed, oh Granada! how
is thy beauty withered and despoiled, oh city of groves
and fountains! The commerce that once thronged
thy streets is at an end; the merchant no longer hastens
to thy gates, with the luxuries of foreign lands.
The cities which once paid thee tribute are wrested
from thy sway; the chivalry which filled thy Vivarrambla
with the sumptuous pageantry of war, have
fallen in many battles. The Alhambra still rears its
ruddy towers from the midst of groves, but melancholy
reigns in its marble halls; and the monarch
looks down from his lofty balconies upon a naked
waste, where once had extended the blooming glories
of the vega!
Such is the lament of the Moorish writers, over
the lamentable state of Granada, which now remained
a mere phantom of its former greatness. The two
ravages of the vega, following so closely upon each
other, had swept off all the produce of the year; and
the husbandman had no longer the heart to till the
field, seeing that the ripening harvest only brought
the spoiler to his door.
During the winter season, king Ferdinand made
diligent preparations for the last campaign, that was
to decide the fate of Granada. As this war was
waged purely for the promotion of the christian faith,
-- 248 --
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he thought it meet that its enemies should bear the
expenses. He levied, therefore, a general contribution
upon all the Jews throughout his kingdom, by
synagogues and districts; and obliged them to render
in the proceeds, at the city of Seville.[45]
On the 11th of April, Ferdinand and Isabella departed
for the Moorish frontier, with the solemn determination
to lay close siege to Granada, and never
to quit its walls until they had planted the standard
of the faith on the towers of the Alhambra. Many
of the nobles of the kingdom, particularly those from
the parts remote from the scene of action, wearied by
the toils of war, and foreseeing that this would be a
tedious siege, requiring patience and vigilance rather
than hardy deeds of arms, contented themselves with
sending their vassals, while they staid at home, to
attend to their domains. Many cities furnished soldiers
at their cost, and the king took the field with
an army of forty thousand infantry and ten thousand
horse. The principal captains who followed the
king in this campaign, were Roderigo Ponce de Leon,
the marques of Cadiz, the Master of Santiago, the
marques of Villena; the counts of Tendilla, Cifuentes,
Cabra, and Urena; and Don Alonzo de Aguilar.
Queen Isabella, accompanied by her son the prince
Juan, and by the princesses Juana, Maria, and Cathalina,
her daughters, proceeded to Alcala la Real,
the mountain fortress and strong-hold of the count
de Tendilla. Here she remained, to forward supplies
-- 249 --
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to the army, and to be ready to repair to the camp,
whenever her presence might be required.
The army of Ferdinand poured into the vega, by
various defiles of the mountains; and, on the 23d of
April, the royal tent was pitched at a village called
Los Ojos de Huescar, about a league and a half from
Granada. At the approach of this formidable force,
the harassed inhabitants turned pale, and even many
of the warriors trembled; for they felt that the last
desperate struggle was at hand.
Boabdil el Chico assembled his council in the Alhambra,
from the windows of which they could
behold the christian squadrons glistening through
clouds of dust, as they poured along the vega. The
utmost confusion and consternation reigned in the
council. Many of the members, terrified with the
horrors impending over their families, advised Boabdil
to throw himself upon the generosity of the christian
monarch: even several of the bravest suggested
the possibility of obtaining honorable terms.
The wazir of the city, Abul Casim Abdel Melic,
was called upon to report the state of the public
means for sustenance and defence. There were
sufficient provisions, he said, for a few months' supply,
independent of what might exist in the possession
of merchants and other rich inhabitants. “But
of what avail,” said he, “is a supply for a few months,
against the sieges of the Castilian monarch, which are
interminable?”
He produced, also, the lists of men capable of bearing
arms. “The number.” said he, “is great; but
-- 250 --
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what can be expected from mere citizen-soldiers?
They vaunt and menace, in time of safety; none are
so arrogant, when the enemy is at a distance—but
when the din of war thunders at their gates, they
hide themselves in terror.”
When Muza heard these words, he rose with generous
warmth: “What reason have we,” said he, “to
despair? The blood of those illustrious Moors, the
conquerors of Spain, still flows in our veins. Let us
be true to ourselves, and fortune will again be with
us. We have a veteran force, both horse and foot,
the flower of our chivalry, seasoned in war and scarred
in a thousand battles. As to the multitude of our
citizens, spoken of so slightly, why should we doubt
their valor? There are twenty thousand young men,
in the fire of youth, for whom I will engage, that
in the defence of their homes they will rival the
most valiant veterans. Do we want provisions? Our
horses are fleet, and our horsemen daring in the
foray. Let them scour and scourge the country of
those apostate Moslems who have surrendered to the
christians. Let them make inroads into the lands of
our enemies. We shall soon see them returning with
cavalgadas to our gates; and, to a soldier, there is no
morsel so sweet as that wrested with hard fighting
from the foe.”
Boabdil el Chico, though he wanted firm and durable
courage, was readily excited to sudden emotions
of bravery. He caught a glow of resolution from
the noble ardor of Muza. “Do what is needful,”
said he to his commanders; “into your hands I con
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fide the common safety. You are the protectors of
the kingdom, and, with the aid of Allah, will revenge
the insults of our religion, the deaths of our friends
and relations, and the sorrows and sufferings heaped
upon our land.”[46]
To every one was now assigned his separate duty.
The wazir had charge of the arms and provisions,
and the enrolling of the people. Muza was to command
the cavalry, to defend the gates, and to take
the lead in all sallies and skirmishings. Naim Reduan,
and Muhamed Aben Zayde, were his adjutants. Abdel
Kerim Zegri, and the other captains, were to
guard the walls; and the alcaydes of the Alcazaba,
and of the Red Towers, had command of the fortresses.
Nothing now was heard but the din of arms, and the
bustle of preparation. The Moorish spirit, quick to
catch fire, was immediately in a flame; and the populace,
in the excitement of the moment, set at nought
the power of the christians. Muza was in all parts
of the city, infusing his own generous zeal into the
bosoms of the soldiery. The young cavaliers rallied
round him as their model; the veteran warriors regarded
him with a soldier's admiration; the vulgar
throng followed him with shouts, and the helpless
part of the inhabitants, the old men and the women,
hailed him with blessings as their protector.
On the first appearance of the christian army, the
principal gates of the city had been closed, and
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secured with bars and bolts and heavy chains: Muza
now ordered them to be thrown open; “To me and
my cavaliers,” said he, “is intrusted the defence of
the gates; our bodies shall be their barriers.” He
stationed at each gate a strong guard, chosen from his
bravest men. His horsemen were always completely
armed, and ready to mount at a moment's warning:
their steeds stood saddled and caparisoned in the
stables, with lance and buckler beside them. On
the least approach of the enemy, a squadron of horse
gathered within the gate, ready to lanch forth like the
bolt from the thunder-cloud. Muza made no empty
bravado nor haughty threat; he was more terrible in
deeds than in words, and executed daring exploits,
beyond even the vaunt of the vain-glorious. Such
was the present champion of the Moors. Had they
possessed many such warriors, or had Muza risen to
power at an earlier period of the war, the fate of
Granada might have been deferred, and the Moor for
a long time have maintained his throne within the
walls of the Alhambra.
eaf218v2.n45[45] Garibay, lib. 18. c. 39.
eaf218v2.n46[46] Conde.
-- 253 -- p218-584
CHAPTER XLVI. How King Ferdinand conducted the siege cautiously; and how Queen Isabella arrived at the camp.
[figure description] Page 253.[end figure description]
Though Granada was shorn of its glories, and
nearly cut off from all external aid, still its mighty
castles and massive bulwarks seemed to set all attack
at defiance. Being the last retreat of Moorish power,
it had assembled within its walls the remnants of the
armies that had contended, step by step, with the
invaders, in their gradual conquest of the land. All
that remained of high-born and high-bred chivalry,
was here; all that was loyal and patriotic was roused
to activity by the common danger; and Granada,
that had so long been lulled into inaction by vain
hopes of security, now assumed a formidable aspect
in the hour of its despair.
Ferdinand saw that any attempt to subdue the city
by main force, would be perilous and bloody. Cautious
in his policy, and fond of conquests gained by
art rather than valor, he resorted to the plan which
had been so successful with Baza, and determined
to reduce the place by famine. For this purpose,
his armies penetrated into the very heart of the Alpuxarras,
and ravaged the valleys, and sacked and
burnt the towns, upon which the city depended for
its supplies. Scouting parties, also, ranged the mountains
behind Granada, and captured every casual
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convoy of provisions. The Moors became more daring,
as their situation became more hopeless. Never
had Ferdinand experienced such vigorous sallies and
assaults. Muza, at the head of his cavalry, harassed
the borders of the camp, and even penetrated into
the interior, making sudden spoil and ravage, and
leaving his course to be traced by the slain and wounded.
To protect his camp from these assaults, Ferdinand
fortified it with deep trenches and strong
bulwarks. It was of a quadrangular form, divided
into streets like a city, the troops being quartered
in tents, and in booths constructed of bushes and
branches of trees. When it was completed, queen
Isabella came in state, with all her court, and the
prince and princesses, to be present at the siege. This
was intended, as on former occasions, to reduce the
besieged to despair, by showing the determination of
the sovereigns to reside in the camp until the city
should surrender. Immediately after her arrival, the
queen rode forth to survey the camp and its environs:
wherever she went, she was attended by a
splendid retinue; and all the commanders vied with
each other, in the pomp and ceremony with which
they received her. Nothing was heard, from morning
until night, but shouts and acclamations, and bursts of
martial music; so that it appeared to the Moors as if
a continual festival and triumph reigned in the christian
camp.
The arrival of the queen, however, and the menaced
obstinacy of the siege, had no effect in damping
the fire of the Moorish chivalry. Muza inspired the
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youthful warriors with the most devoted heroism:
“We have nothing left to fight for,” said he, “but the
ground we stand on; when this is lost, we cease to
have a country and a name.”
Finding the christian king forbore to make an
attack, Muza incited his cavaliers to challenge the
youthful chivalry of the christian army to single combat,
or partial skirmishes. Scarce a day passed without
gallant conflicts of the kind, in sight of the city
and the camp. The combatants rivalled each other
in the splendor of their armor and array, as well as
in the prowess of their deeds. Their contests were
more like the stately ceremonials of tilts and tournaments,
than the rude conflicts of the field. Ferdinand
soon perceived that they animated the fiery
Moors with fresh zeal and courage, while they cost
the lives of many of his bravest cavaliers: he again,
therefore, forbade the acceptance of any individual
challenges, and ordered that all partial encounters
should be avoided. The cool and stern policy of
the Catholic sovereign bore hard upon the generous
spirits of either army, but roused the indignation of
the Moors, when they found that they were to be
subdued in this inglorious manner: “Of what avail,”
said they, “are chivalry and heroic valour? the crafty
monarch of the christians has no magnanimity in
warfare; he seeks to subdue us through the weakness
of our bodies, but shuns to encounter the courage
of our souls.”
-- 256 -- p218-587
CHAPTER XLVII. Of the insolent defiance of Yarfe the Moor, and the daring exploit of Hernando Perez del Pulgar.
[figure description] Page 256.[end figure description]
When the Moorish knights beheld that all courteous
challenges were unavailing, they sought various
means to provoke the christian warriors to the field.
Sometimes a body of them, fleetly mounted, would
gallop up to the skirts of the camp, and try who
should hurl his lance farthest within the barriers,
having his name inscribed upon it, or a label affixed
to it, containing some taunting defiance. These bravadoes
caused great irritation, but still the Spanish
warriors were restrained by the prohibition of the
king.
Among the Moorish cavaliers was one named Yarfe,
renowned for his great strength and daring spirit; but
whose courage partook of fierce audacity, rather than
chivalric heroism. In one of these sallies, when
they were skirting the christian camp, this arrogant
Moor outstripped his companions, overleaped the
barriers, and, galloping close to the royal quarters,
lanched his lance so far within, that it remained
quivering in the earth close by the pavilions of the
sovereigns. The royal guards rushed forth in pursuit,
but the Moorish horsemen were already beyond the
camp, and scouring in a cloud of dust for the city.
Upon wresting the lance from the earth, a label was
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found upon it, importing that it was infended for the
queen.
Nothing could equal the indignation of the christian
warriors, at the insolence of the bravado, and
the discourteous insult offered to the queen. Hernando
Perez del Pulgar, surnamed “he of the exploits,” was
present, and resolved not to be outbraved by this
daring infidel: “Who will stand by me,” said he, “in
an enterprise of desperate peril?” The christian cavaliers
well knew the harebrained valor of Hernando
del Pulgar, yet not one hesitated to step forward. He
chose fifteen companions, all men of powerful arm
and dauntless heart. In the dead of the night, he led
them forth from the camp, and approached the city
cautiously, until he arrived at a postern-gate, which
opened upon the Darro, and was guarded by foot-soldiers.
The guards, little thinking of such an unwonted
and partial attack, were for the most part
asleep. The gate was forced, and a confused and
chance-medley skirmish ensued: Hernando del Pulgar
stopped not to take part in the affray: putting spurs
to his horse, he galloped furiously through the streets,
striking fire out of the stones at every bound. Arrived
at the principal mosque, he sprang from his
horse, and, kneeling at the portal, took possession of
the edifice as a christian chapel, dedicating it to the
blessed virgin. In testimonial of the ceremony, he
took a tablet which he had brought with him, on
which was inscribed in large characters, “Ave
Maria,” and nailed it to the door of the mosque with
his dagger. This done, he remounted his steed, and
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galloped back to the gate. The alarm had been given—
the city was in an uproar—soldiers were gathering
from every direction. They were astonished at seeing
a christian warrior galloping from the interior
of the city. Hernando del Pulgar overturned some,
cut down others, rejoined his companions, who still
maintained possession of the gate by dint of hard
fighting, and all made good their retreat to the camp.
The Moors were at a loss to imagine the meaning of
this wild and apparently fruitless assault; but great
was their exasperation, on the following day, when
the trophy of hardihood and prowess, the “Ave
Maria,” was discovered thus elevated in bravado in
the very centre of the city. The mosque thus boldly
sanctified by Hernando del Pulgar was actually consecrated
into a cathedral, after the capture of Granada.
[47]
eaf218v2.n47[47] In commemoration of this daring feat, the emperor Charles
V., in after years, conferred on Pulgar and his descendants the
right of sepulture in that church, and the privilege of sitting in
the choir during high mass. This Hernando Perez del Pulgar was
a man of letters, as well as arms, and inscribed to Charles V. a summary
of the achievements of Gonsalvo of Cordova, surnamed the
great captain, who had been one of his comrades in arms. He
is often confounded with Hernando del Pulgar, historian and
secretary to queen Isabella.—See note to Pulgar's Chron. of the
Catholic Sovereigns, part 3. c. iii. edit. Valencia, 1780.
-- 259 -- p218-590
CHAPTER XLVIII. How Queen Isabella took a view of the city of Granada— and how her curiosity cost the lives of many Christians and Moors.
[figure description] Page 259.[end figure description]
The royal encampment lay at such a distance from
Granada, that the general aspect of the city only could
be seen, as it rose gracefully from the vega, covering
the sides of the hills with palaces and towers. Queen
Isabella had expressed an earnest desire to behold,
nearer at hand, a city whose beauty was so renowned
throughout the world; and the marques of Cadiz,
with his accustomed courtesy, prepared a great military
escort and guard, to protect the queen and the
ladies of the court, while they enjoyed this perilous
gratification.
It was on the morning after the events recorded in
the preceding chapter, that a magnificent and powerful
train issued forth from the christian camp. The
advanced guard was composed of legions of cavalry,
heavily armed, that looked like moving masses of
polished steel. Then came the king and queen, with
the prince and princess, and the ladies of the court,
surrounded by the royal body-guard, sumptuously
arrayed, composed of the sons of the most illustrious
houses of Spain; after these was the rear-guard, composed
of a powerful force of horse and foot; for the
flower of the army sallied forth that day. The Moors
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gazed with fearful admiration at this glorious pageant,
wherein the pomp of the court was mingled with
the terrors of the camp. It moved along in a radiant
line, across the vega, to the melodious thunders of
martial music; while banner and plume, and silken
scarf, and rich brocade, gave a gay and gorgeous
relief to the grim visage of iron war, that lurked
beneath.
The army moved towards the hamlet of Zubia,
built on the skirts of the mountain to the left of Granada,
and commanding a view of the Alhambra, and
the most beautiful quarter of the city. As they approached
the hamlet, the marques of Villena, the
count Ureña, and Don Alonzo de Aguilar, filed off
with their battalions, and were soon seen glittering
along the side of the mountain above the village. In
the mean time, the marques of Cadiz, the count de
Tendilla, the count de Cabra, and Don Alonzo Fernandez,
Senior of Alcandrete and Montemayor, drew
up their forces in battle array on the plain below the
hamlet, presenting a living barrier of loyal chivalry
between the sovereigns and the city.
Thus securely guarded, the royal party alighted,
and, entering one of the houses of the hamlet, which
had been prepared for their reception, enjoyed a full
view of the city from its terraced roof. The ladies
of the court gazed with delight at the red towers
of the Alhambra, rising from amidst shady groves,
anticipating the time when the Catholic sovereigns
should be enthroned within its walls, and its courts
shine with the splendor of Spanish chivalry. “The
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[figure description] Page 261.[end figure description]
reverend prelates and holy friars, who always surrounded
the queen, looked with serene satisfaction,”
says Fray Antonio Agapida, “at this modern Babylon,
enjoying the triumph that awaited them, when those
mosques and minarets should be converted into
churches, and goodly priests and bishops should succeed
to the infidel alfaquis.”
When the Moors beheld the christians thus drawn
forth in full array in the plain, they supposed it was
to offer them battle; and they hesitated not to accept
it. In a little while, the queen beheld a body of
Moorish cavalry pouring into the vega, the riders
managing their fleet and fiery steeds with admirable
address. They were richly armed, and clothed in
the most brilliant colors, and the caparisons of
their steeds flamed with gold and embroidery. This
was the favorite squadron of Muza, composed of the
flower of the youthful cavaliers of Granada. Others
succeeded, some heavily armed, some à la ginete
with lance and buckler; and lastly came the legions
of foot-soldiers, with arquebuss and cross-bow, and
spear and scimitar.
When the queen saw this army issuing from the
city, she sent to the marques of Cadiz, and forbade
any attack upon the enemy, or the acceptance of
any challenge to a skirmish; for she was loth that
her curiosity should cost the life of a single human
being.
The marques promised to obey, though sorely
against his will; and it grieved the spirit of the Spanish
cavaliers, to be obliged to remain with sheathed
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swords while bearded by the foe. The Moors could
not comprehend the meaning of this inaction of the
christians, after having apparently invited a battle.
They sallied several times from their ranks, and approached
near enough to discharge their arrows; but
the christians were immovable. Many of the Moorish
horsemen galloped close to the christian ranks,
brandishing their lances and scimitars, and defying
various cavaliers to single combat; but king Ferdinand
had rigorously prohibited all duels of the kind,
and they dared not transgress his orders under his
very eye.
While this grim and reluctant tranquillity prevailed
along the christian line, there rose a mingled shout and
sound of laughter near the gate of the city. A Moorish
horseman, armed at all points, issued forth, followed
by a rabble, who drew back as he approached the
scene of danger. The Moor was more robust and
brawny than was common with his countrymen. His
visor was closed; he bore a huge buckler and a
ponderous lance; his scimitar was of a Damascus
blade, and his richly ornamented dagger was wrought
by an artificer of Fez. He was known by his device
to be Yarfe, the most insolent, yet valiant, of the
Moslem warriors—the same who had hurled into the
royal camp his lance, inscribed to the queen. As he
rode slowly along in front of the army, his very steed,
prancing with fiery eye and distended nostril, seemed
to breath defiance to the christians.
But what were the feelings of the Spanish cavaliers,
when they beheld, tied to the tail of his steed,
-- 263 --
[figure description] Page 263.[end figure description]
and dragged in the dust, the very inscription, “Ave
Maria,” which Hernando Perez del Pulgar had affixed
to the door of the mosque! A burst of horror and
indignation broke forth from the army. Hernando
del Pulgar was not at hand, to maintain his previous
achievement; but one of his young companions in
arms, Garcilasso de la Vega by name, putting spurs
to his horse, galloped to the hamlet of Zubia, threw
himself on his knees before the king, and besought
permission to accept the defiance of this insolent
infidel, and to revenge the insult offered to our blessed
Lady. The request was too pious to be refused:
Garcilasso remounted his steed; he closed his helmet,
graced by four sable plumes, grasped his buckler of
Flemish workmanship, and his lance of matchless
temper, and defied the haughty Moor in the midst of
his career. A combat took place, in view of the
two armies and of the Castilian court. The Moor
was powerful in wielding his weapons, and dextrous
in managing his steed. He was of larger frame than
Garcilasso, and more completely armed; and the
christians trembled for their champion. The shock
of their encounter was dreadful; their lances were
shivered, and sent up splinters in the air. Garcilasso
was thrown back in his saddle—his horse made a
wide career, before he could recover, gather up the
reins, and return to the conflict. They now encountered
each other with swords. The Moor circled
round his opponent, as a hawk circles whereabout
to make a swoop; his Arabian steed obeyed his
rider, with matchless quickness; at every attack of
-- 264 --
[figure description] Page 264.[end figure description]
the infidel, it seemed as if the christian knight must
sink beneath his flashing scimitar. But if Garcilasso
were inferior to him in power, he was superior in
agility: many of his blows he parried; others he received
upon his Flemish shield, which was proof
against the Damascus blade. The blood streamed
from numerous wounds received by either warrior.
The Moor, seeing his antagonist exhausted, availed
himself of his superior force, and, grappling, endeavored
to wrest him from his saddle. They both fell
to earth; the Moor placed his knee upon the breast
of his victim, and, brandishing his dagger, aimed a
blow at his throat. A cry of despair was uttered by
the christian warriors, when suddenly they beheld
the Moor rolling lifeless in the dust. Garcilasso had
shortened his sword, and, as his adversary raised his
arm to strike, had pierced him to the heart. “It
was a singular and miraculous victory,” says Fray
Antonio Agapida; “but the christian knight was
armed by the sacred nature of his cause, and the
holy virgin gave him strength, like another David, to
slay this gigantic champion of the Gentiles.”
The laws of chivalry were observed throughout
the combat—no one interfered on either side. Garcilasso
now despoiled his adversary; then, rescuing
the holy inscription of “Ave Maria” from its degrading
situation, he elevated it on the point of his sword,
and bore it off as a signal of triumph, amidst the rapturous
shouts of the christian army.
The sun had now reached the meridian; and the
hot blood of the Moors was inflamed by its rays, and
-- 265 --
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by the sight of the defeat of their champion. Muza
ordered two pieces of ordnance to open a fire upon
the christians. A confusion was produced in one
part of their ranks: Muza called to the chiefs of the
army, “Let us waste no more time in empty challenges—
let us charge upon the enemy: he who assaults
has always an advantage in the combat.” So
saying, he rushed forward, followed by a large body
of horse and foot, and charged so furiously upon the
advance guard of the christians, that he drove it in
upon the battalion of the marques of Cadiz.
The gallant marques now considered himself absolved
from all further obedience to the queen's commands.
He gave the signal to attack. “Santiago!”
was shouted along the line; and he pressed forward
to the encounter, with his battalion of twelve hundred
lances. The other cavaliers followed his example,
and the battle instantly became general.
When the king and queen beheld the armies thus
rushing to the combat, they threw themselves on their
knees, and implored the holy virgin to protect her
faithful warriors. The prince and princess, the ladies
of the court, and the prelates and friars who were
present, did the same; and the effect of the prayers
of these illustrious and saintly persons, was immediately
apparent. The fierceness with which the
Moors had rushed to the attack was suddenly cooled;
they were bold and adroit for a skirmish, but unequal
to the veteran Spaniards in the open field. A panic
seized upon the foot-soldiers—they turned, and took
to flight. Muza and his cavaliers in vain endeavored
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to rally them. Some took refuge in the mountains;
but the greater part fled to the city, in such confusion
that they overturned and trampled upon each
other. The christians pursued them to the very gates.
Upwards of two thousand were either killed, wounded,
or taken prisoners; and the two pieces of ordnance
were brought off, as trophies of the victory.
Not a christian lance but was bathed that day in the
blood of an infidel.[48]
Such was the brief but bloody action, which was
known among the christian warriors by the name of
“the queen's skirmish;” for when the marques of
Cadiz waited upon her majesty to apologize for breaking
her commands, he attributed the victory entirely
to her presence. The queen, however, insisted that
it was all owing to her troops being led on by so
valiant a commander. Her majesty had not yet recovered
from her agitation at beholding so terrible a
scene of bloodshed; though certain veterans present
pronounced it as gay and gentle a skirmish as they
had ever witnessed.
To commemorate this victory, the queen afterwards
erected a monastery in this village of Zubia,
dedicated to St. Francisco, which still exists; and in
its garden is a laurel, planted by the hands of her
majesty.†
eaf218v2.n48[48] Cura de los Palacios.
eaf218v2.dag9† The house from whence the king and queen contemplated
the battle, is likewise to be seen at the present day. It is in the
first street, to the right, on entering the village from the vega;
-- --
[figure description] Page 267.[end figure description]
and the royal arms are painted on the ceilings. It is inhabited
by a worthy farmer, Francisco Garcia, who, in showing the
house, refuses all compensation, with true Spanish pride; offering,
on the contrary, the hospitalities of his mansion to the strange.
His children are versed in the old Spanish ballads, about
the exploits of Hernando Perez del Pulgar and Garcilasso de la
Vega.
-- 268 -- p218-599
CHAPTER XLIX. Conflagration of the Christian camp.
[figure description] Page 268.[end figure description]
The ravages of war had as yet spared a little portion
of the vega of Granada. A green belt of gardens
and orchards still flourished round the city, extending
along the banks of the Xenel and the Darro.
They had been the solace and delight of the inhabitants
in their happier days, and contributed to their
sustenance in this time of scarcity. Ferdinand determined
to make a final and exterminating ravage to
the very walls of the city, so that there should not
remain a single green thing for the sustenance of man
or beast. The evening of a hot July day shone
splendidly upon the christian camp, which was in a
bustle of preparation for the next day's service—for
desperate resistance was expected from the Moors.
The camp made a glorious appearance, in the setting
sun. The various tents of the royal family and the
attendant nobles, were adorned with rich hangings,
and sumptuous devices, and costly furniture; forming,
as it were, a little city of silk and brocade, where
the pinnacles of pavilions of various gay colors, surmounted
with waving standards and fluttering pennons,
might vie with the domes and minarets of the
capital they were besieging.
In the midst of this little gaudy metropolis, the
lofty tent of the queen domineered over the rest like
-- 269 --
[figure description] Page 269.[end figure description]
a stately palace. The marques of Cadiz had courteously
surrendered his own tent to the queen; it
was the most complete and sumptuous in Christendom,
and had been carried about with him throughout
the war. In the centre rose a stately alfaneque or
pavilion in oriental taste, the rich hangings being supported
by columns of lances and ornamented with
martial devices. This central pavilion, or silken
tower, was surrounded by other compartments, some
of painted linen lined with silk, and all separated
from each other by curtains. It was one of those
camp palaces which are raised and demolished in an
instant, like the city of canvas that surrounds them.
As the evening advanced, the bustle in the camp
subsided. Every one sought repose, preparatory to
the next day's trial. The king retired early, that he
might be up with the crowing of the cock, to head
the destroying army in person. All stir of military
preparation was hushed in the royal quarters; the very
sound of ministrelsy was mute, and not the tinkling
of a guitar was to be heard from the tents of the fair
ladies of the court.
The queen had retired to the innermost part of her
pavilion, where she was performing her orisons before
a private altar; perhaps the peril to which the
king might be exposed in the next day's foray, inspired
her with more than usual devotion. While thus
at her prayers, she was suddenly aroused by a glare
of light, and wreaths of suffocating smoke. In an
instant, the whole tent was in a blaze: there was
a high gusty wind, which whirled the light flames
-- 270 --
[figure description] Page 270.[end figure description]
from tent to tent, and wrapped the whole in one
conflagration.
Isabella had barely time to save herself by instant
flight. Her first thought, on being extricated from
her tent, was for the safety of the king. She rushed
to his tent, but the vigilant Ferdinand was already
at the entrance of it. Starting from bed on the first
alarm, and fancying it an assault of the enemy, he
had seized his sword and buckler, and sallied forth
undressed, with his cuirass upon his arm.
The late gorgeous camp was now a scene of wild
confusion. The flames kept spreading from one
pavilion to another, glaring upon the rich armor, and
golden and silver vessels, which seemed melting in
the fervent heat. Many of the soldiers had erected
booths and bowers of branches, which, being dry,
crackled and blazed, and added to the rapid conflagration.
The ladies of the court fled, shrieking
and half-dressed, from their tents. There was an
alarm of drum and trumpet, and a distracted hurry
about the camp of men half armed. The prince
Juan had been snatched out of bed by an attendant,
and conveyed to the quarters of the count de Cabra,
which were at the entrance of the camp. The loyal
count immediately summoned his people, and those
of his cousin Don Alonzo de Montemayor, and formed
a guard round the tent in which the prince was
sheltered.
The idea that this was a stratagem of the Moors,
soon subsided; but it was feared that they might take
advantage of it, to assault the camp. The marques
-- 271 --
[figure description] Page 271.[end figure description]
of Cadiz, therefore, sallied forth with three thousand
horse, to check any advance from the city. As they
passed along, the whole camp was a scene of hurry
and consternation—some hastening to their posts, at
the call of drum and trumpet; some attempting to
save rich effects and glittering armor from the tents,
others dragging along terrified and restive horses.
When they emerged from the camp, they found
the whole firmament illuminated. The flames whirled
up in long light spires, and the air was filled with
sparks and cinders. A bright glare was thrown upon
the city, revealing every battlement and tower. Turbaned
heads were seen gazing from every roof, and
armor gleamed along the walls; yet not a single
warrior sallied from the gates: the Moors suspected
some stratagem on the part of the christians, and
kept quietly within their walls. By degrees, the
flames expired; the city faded from sight; all again
became dark and quiet, and the marques of Cadiz
returned with his cavalry to the camp.
-- 272 -- p218-603
CHAPTER L. The last ravage before Granada.
[figure description] Page 272.[end figure description]
When the day dawned on the christian camp,
nothing remained of that beautiful assemblage of stately
pavilions, but heaps of smouldering rubbish, with
helms and corselets and other furniture of war, and
masses of melted gold and silver glittering among the
ashes. The wardrobe of the queen was entirely destroyed,
and there was an immense loss in plate,
jewels, costly stuffs, and sumptuous armor of the
luxurious nobles. The fire at first had been attributed
to treachery, but on investigation it proved to be
entirely accidental. The queen, on retiring to her
prayers, had ordered her lady in attendance to remove
a light burning near her couch, lest it should
prevent her sleeping. Through heedlessness, the
taper was placed in another part of the tent, near the
hangings, which, being blown against it by a gust of
wind, immediately took fire.
The wary Ferdinand knew the sanguine temperament
of the Moors, and hastened to prevent their
deriving confidence from the night's disaster. At
break of day, the drums and trumpets sounded to
arms, and the christian army issued from among the
smoking ruins of their camp, in shining squadrons,
with flaunting banners and bursts of martial melody,
as though the preceding night had been a time of high
festivity, instead of terror.
-- 273 --
[figure description] Page 273.[end figure description]
The Moors had beheld the conflagration with wonder
and perplexity. When the day broke, and they
looked towards the christian camp, they saw nothing
but a dark smoking mass. Their scouts came in, with
the joyful intelligence that the whole camp was a
scene of ruin. Scarce had the tidings spread throughout
the city, when they beheld the christian army
advancing towards their walls. They considered it
a feint, to cover their desperate situation and prepare
for a retreat. Boabdil el Chico had one of his
impulses of valor—he determined to take the field in
person, and to follow up this signal blow which Allah
had inflicted on the enemy.
The christian army approached close to the city,
and were laying waste the gardens and orchards, when
Boabdil sallied forth, surrounded by all that was left
of the flower and chivalry of Granada. There is
one place where even the coward becomes brave—
that sacred spot called home. What then must have
been the valor of the Moors, a people always of
fiery spirit, when the war was thus brought to their
thresholds! They fought among the scenes of their
loves and pleasures; the scenes of their infancy, and
the haunts of their domestic life. They fought under
the eyes of their wives and children, their old men
and their maidens, of all that was helpless and all
that was dear to them; for all Granada, crowded on
tower and battlement, watched with trembling heart
the fate of this eventful day.
There was not so much one battle, as a variety of
battles; every garden and orchard became a scene of
-- 274 --
[figure description] Page 274.[end figure description]
deadly contest; every inch of ground was disputed,
with an agony of grief and valor, by the Moors;
every inch of ground that the christians advanced,
they valiantly maintained; but never did they advance
with severer fighting, or greater loss of blood.
The cavalry of Muza was in every part of the
field; wherever it came, it gave fresh ardor to the
fight. The Moorish soldier, fainting with heat, fatigue,
and wounds, was roused to new life at the approach
of Muza; and even he who lay gasping in the agonies
of death, turned his face towards him, and faintly
uttered cheers and blessings as he passed.
The christians had by this time gained possession
of various towers near the city, from whence they
had been annoyed by cross-bows and arquebusses.
The Moors, scattered in various actions, were severely
pressed. Boabdil, at the head of the cavaliers
of his guard, displayed the utmost valor, mingling in
the fight in various parts of the field, and endeavoring
to inspirit the foot-soldiers to the combat. But
the Moorish infantry was never to be depended upon.
In the heat of the action, a panic seized upon them;
they fled, leaving their sovereign exposed with his
handful of cavaliers to an overwhelming force. Boabdil
was on the point of falling into the hands of the
christians, when, wheeling round, with his followers,
they threw the reins on the necks of their fleet
steeds, and took refuge by dint of hoof within the
walls of the city.[49]
-- 275 --
[figure description] Page 275.[end figure description]
Muza endeavored to retrieve the fortune of the
field. He threw himself before the retreating infantry,
calling upon them to turn and fight for their
homes, their families, for every thing that was sacred
and dear to them. It was all in vain:—they were
totally broken and dismayed, and fled tumultuously
for the gates. Muza would fain have kept the field
with his cavalry; but this devoted band, having stood
the brunt of war throughout this desperate campaign,
was fearfully reduced in numbers, and many of the
survivors were crippled and enfeebled by their
wounds. Slowly and reluctantly Muza retreated to
the city, his bosom swelling with indignation and
despair. When he entered the gates, he ordered
them to be closed, and secured with bolts and bars;
for he refused to place any further confidence in the
archers and arquebusiers who were stationed to defend
them, and he vowed never more to sally forth
with foot-soldiers to the field.
In the mean time the artillery thundered from the
walls, and checked all further advances of the christians.
King Ferdinand, therefore, called off his
troops, and returned in triumph to the ruins of his
camp, leaving the beautiful city of Granada wrapped
in the smoke of her fields and gardens, and surrounded
by the bodies or her slaughtered children.
Such was the last sally made by the Moors, in defence
of their favorite city. The French ambassador,
who witnessed it, was filled with wonder, at the
prowess, the dexterity, and daring of the Moslems.
-- 276 --
[figure description] Page 276.[end figure description]
In truth, this whole war was an instance, memorable
in history, of the most persevering resolution. For
nearly ten years had the war endured—an almost
uninterrupted series of disasters to the Moorish arms.
Their towns had been taken, one after another, and
their brethren slain or led into captivity. Yet they
disputed every city and town, and fortress and castle,
nay every rock itself, as if they had been inspirited
by victories. Wherever they could plant foot
to fight, or find wall or cliff from whence to lanch an
arrow, they disputed their beloved country; and now,
when their capital was cut off from all relief, and
had a whole nation thundering at its gates, they still
maintained defence, as if they hoped some miracle
to interpose in their behalf. Their obstinate resistance
(says an ancient chronicler) shows the grief
with which the Moors yielded up the vega, which
was to them a paradise and heaven. Exerting all
the strength of their arms, they embraced, as it were,
that most beloved soil, from which neither wounds,
nor defeats, nor death itself, could part them. They
stood firm, battling for it with the united force of
love and grief, never drawing back the foot while
they had hands to fight, or fortune to befriend them.[50]
eaf218v2.n49[49] Zurita, lib. 20. c. 88.
eaf218v2.n50[50] Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, R. 30, c. 3.
-- 277 -- p218-608
CHAPTER LI. Building of the city of Santa Fé—Despair of the Moors.
[figure description] Page 277.[end figure description]
The Moors now shut themselves up gloomily within
their walls; there were no longer any daring sallies
from their gates; and even the martial clangor of the
drum and trumpet, which had continually resounded
within that warrior city, was now seldom heard from
its battlements. For a time, they flattered themselves
with hopes that the late conflagration of the camp
would discourage the besiegers; that, as in former
years, their invasion would end with the summer, and
that they would again withdraw before the autumnal
rains.
The measures of Ferdinand and Isabella soon
crushed these hopes. They gave orders to build a
regular city upon the site of their camp, to convince
the Moors that the siege was to endure until the surrender
of Granada. Nine of the principal cities of
Spain were charged with this stupendous undertaking;
and they emulated each other, with a zeal worthy
of the cause. “It verily seems,” says Fray Antonio
Agapida, “as though some miracle operated to
aid this pious work, so rapidly did arise a formidable
city, with solid edifices, and powerful walls, and
mighty towers, where lately had been seen nothing
but tents and light pavilions. The city was traversed
by two principal streets in form of a cross,
-- 278 --
[figure description] Page 278.[end figure description]
terminating in four gates facing the four winds; and in the
centre was a vast square, where the whole army
might be assembled. To this city it was proposed
to give the name of Isabella, so dear to the army and
the nation; “but that pious princess,” adds Antonio
Agapida, “calling to mind the holy cause in which it
was erected, gave it the name of Santa Fé, (or the
City of the Holy Faith;) and it remains to this day,
a monument of the piety and glory of the Catholic
sovereigns.”
Hither the merchants soon resorted, from all points.
Long trains of mules were seen every day entering
and departing from its gates; the streets were
crowded with magazines, filled with all kinds of
costly and luxurious merchandise; a scene of bustling
commerce and prosperity took place, while unhappy
Granada remained shut up and desolate.
In the mean time, the besieged city began to suffer
the distress of famine. Its supplies were all cut off;
a cavalgada of flocks and herds, and mules laden with
money, coming to the relief of the city from the
mountains of the Alpuxarras, was taken by the marques
of Cadiz, and led in triumph to the camp, in
sight of the suffering Moors. Autumn arrived; but
the harvests had been swept from the face of the
country; a rigorous winter was approaching, and the
city was almost destitute of provisions. The people
sank into deep despondency. They called to mind
all that had been predicted by astrologers at the birth
of their ill-starred sovereign, and all that had been
-- 279 --
[figure description] Page 279.[end figure description]
foretold of the fate of Granada at the time of the
capture of Zahara.
Boabdil was alarmed by the gathering dangers from
without, and by the clamors of his starving people.
He summoned a council, composed of the principal
officers of the army, the alcaydes of the fortresses, the
xequis or sages of the city, and the alfaquis or doctors
of the faith. They assembled in the great hall of
audience of the Alhambra, and despair was painted
in their countenances. Boabdil demanded of them,
what was to be done in their present extremity; and
their answer was, “Surrender.” The venerable
Abul Cazim Abdel Melic, governor of the city, represented
its unhappy state: “Our granaries are nearly
exhausted, and no further supplies are to be expected.
The provender for the war-horses is required as sustenance
for the soldiery; the very horses themselves
are killed for food; of seven thousand steeds which
once could be sent into the field, three hundred only
remain. Our city contains two hundred thousand
inhabitants, old and young, with each a mouth that
calls piteously for bread.”
The xequis and principal citizens declared that the
people could no longer sustain the labors and sufferings
of a defence: “And of what avail is our defence,”
said they, “when the enemy is determined to
persist in the siege?—what alternative remains, but
to surrender or to die?”
The heart of Boabdil was touched by this appeal,
and he maintained a gloomy silence. He had cherished
some faint hope of relief from the soldan of
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[figure description] Page 280.[end figure description]
Egypt or the Barbary powers: but it was now at an
end; even if such assistance were to be sent, he had
no longer a sea-port where it might debark. The
counsellors saw that the resolution of the king was
shaken, and they united their voices in urging him to
capitulate.
The valiant Muza alone arose in opposition: “It
is yet too early,” said he, “to talk of a surrender.
Our means are not exhausted; we have yet one
source of strength remaining, terrible in its effects,
and which often has achieved the most signal victories—
it is our despair. Let us rouse the mass of
the people—let us put weapons in their hands—let
us fight the enemy to the very utmost, until we rush
upon the points of their lances. I am ready to lead
the way into the thickest of their squadrons; and much
rather would I be numbered among those who fell in
the defence of Granada, than of those who survived
to capitulate for her surrender!”
The words of Muza were without effect, for they
were addressed to broken-spirited and heartless men,
or men, perhaps, to whom sad experience had taught
discretion. They were arrived at that state of
public depression, when heroes and heroism are no
longer regarded, and when old men and their counsels
rise into importance. Boabdil el Chico yielded
to the general voice; it was determined to capitulate
with the christian sovereigns; and the venerable
Abul Cazim Abdel Melic was sent forth to the camp,
empowered to treat for terms.
-- 281 -- p218-612
CHAPTER LII. Capitulation of Granada.
[figure description] Page 281.[end figure description]
The old governor, Abul Cazim Abdel Melic, was
received with great distinction by Ferdinand and Isabella,
who appointed Gonsalvo of Cordova and Fernando
de Zafra, secretary to the king, to confer with
him. All Granada awaited, in trembling anxiety, the
result of his negotiations. After repeated conferences,
he at length returned with the ultimate terms of the
Catholic sovereigns. They agreed to suspend all
attack for seventy days, at the end of which time, if
no succor should arrive to the Moorish king, the city
of Granada was to be surrendered.
All christian captives should be liberated, without
ransom.
Boabdil and his principal cavaliers should take an
oath of fealty to the Castilian crown, and certain
valuable territories in the Alpuxarra mountains should
be assigned to the Moorish monarch for his maintenance.
The Moors of Granada should become subjects of
the Spanish sovereigns, retaining their possessions,
their arms and horses, and yielding up nothing but
their artillery. They should be protected in the
exercise of their religion, and governed by their own
laws, administered by cadis of their own faith, under
governors appointed by the sovereigns. They should
-- 282 --
[figure description] Page 282.[end figure description]
be exempted from tribute for three years, after which
term they should pay the same that they had been
accustomed to render to their native monarchs.
Those who chose to depart for Africa within three
years, should be provided with a passage for themselves
and their effects, free of charge, from whatever
port they should prefer.
For the fulfilment of these articles, four hundred
hostages from the principal families were required,
previous to the surrender, to be subsequently restored.
The son of the king of Granada, and all other
hostages in possession of the Castilian sovereigns,
were to be restored at the same time.
Such were the conditions that the wazir Abul
Cazim laid before the council of Granada, as the
best that could be obtained from the besieging foe.
When the members of the council found that the
awful moment had arrived when they were to sign
and seal the perdition of their empire, and blot themselves
out as a nation, all firmness deserted them, and
many gave way to tears. Muza alone retained an
unaltered mien: “Leave, seniors,” cried he, “this
idle lamentation to helpless women and children: we
are men—we have hearts, not to shed tender tears,
but drops of blood. I see the spirit of the people so
cast down, that it is impossible to save the kingdom.
Yet there still remains an alternative for noble minds—
a glorious death! Let us die defending our liberty,
and avenging the woes of Granada. Our mother
earth will receive her children into her bosom, safe
from the chains and oppressions of the conqueror;
-- 283 --
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or, should any fail a sepulchre to hide his remains,
he will not want a sky to cover him. Allah forbid, it
should be said the nobles of Granada feared to die in
her defence!”
Muza ceased to speak, and a dead silence reigned
in the assembly. Boabdil el Chico looked anxiously
round, and scanned every face; but he read in them
all the anxiety of care-worn men, in whose hearts
enthusiasm was dead, and who had grown callous to
every chivalrous appeal. “Allah Acbar! God is
great!” exclaimed he; “there is no God but God,
and Mahomet is his prophet! It is in vain to struggle
against the will of Heaven. Too surely was it written
in the book of fate, that I should be unfortunate,
and the kingdom expire under my rule.”
“Allah Acbar! God is great!” echoed the viziers
and alfaquis; “the will of God be done!” So they
all accorded with the king, that these evils were preordained;
that it was hopeless to contend with them;
and that the terms offered by the Castilian monarchs
were as favorable as could be expected.
When Muza saw that they were about to sign the
treaty of surrender, he rose in violent indignation:
“Do not deceive yourselves,” cried he, “nor think
the christians will be faithful to their promises, or
their king as magnanimous in conquest as he has been
victorious in war. Death is the least we have to fear.
It is the plundering and sacking of our city, the profanation
of our mosques, the ruin of our homes, the
violation of our wives and daughters—cruel oppression,
bigoted intolerance, whips and chains, the dun
-- 284 --
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geon, the fagot, and the stake—such are the miseries
and indignities we shall see and suffer; at least, those
groveling souls will see them, who now shrink from
an honorable death. For my part, by Allah, I will
never witness them!”
With these words he left the council-chamber, and
strode gloomily through the Court of Lions and the
outer halls of the Alhambra, without deigning to speak
to the obsequious courtiers who attended in them.
He repaired to his dwelling, armed himself at all
points, mounted his favorite war-horse, and, issuing
forth from the city by the gate of Elvira, was never
seen or heard of more.[51]
Such is the account given by Arabian historians, of
the exit of Muza ben Abel Gazan; but the venerable
Fray Antonio Agapida endeavors to clear up the
mystery of his fate. That very evening, a small
party of Andalusian cavaliers, somewhat more than
half a score of lances, were riding along the banks of
the Xenel, where it winds through the vega. They
beheld in the twilight a Moorish warrior approaching,
closely locked up from head to foot in proof.
His visor was closed, his lance in rest, his powerful
charger barbed like himself in steel. The christians
were lightly armed, with corselet, helm, and target;
for, during the truce, they apprehended no attack.
Seeing, however, the unknown warrior approach in
this hostile guise, they challenged him to stand and
declare himself.
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The Moslem answered not, but, charging into the
midst of them, transfixed one knight with his lance,
and bore him out of his saddle to the earth. Wheeling
round, he attacked the rest with his scimitar.
His blows were furious and deadly; he seemed regardless
what wounds he received, so he could but
slay. He was evidently fighting, not for glory, but
revenge—eager to inflict death, but careless of surviving
to enjoy victory. Near one-half of the cavaliers
fell beneath his sword, before he received a dangerous
wound, so completely was he cased in armor of proof.
At length he was desperately wounded, and his
steed, being pierced by a lance, sank to the ground.
The christians, admiring the valor of the Moor, would
have spared his life; but he continued to fight upon
his knees, brandishing a keen dagger of Fez. Finding
at length he could no longer battle, and determined
not to be taken prisoner, he threw himself,
with an expiring exertion, into the Xenel, and his
armor sank him to the bottom of the stream.
This unknown warrior the venerable Agapida
pronounces to have been Muza ben Abel Gazan,
and says his horse was recognised by certain converted
Moors of the christian camp: the fact, however,
has alway remained in doubt.
eaf218v2.n51[51] Conde, part 4.
-- 286 -- p218-617
CHAPTER LIII. Commotions in Granada.
[figure description] Page 286.[end figure description]
The capitulation for the surrender of Granada was
signed on the 25th of November, 1481, and produced
a sudden cessation of those hostilities which had raged
for so many years. Christian and Moor might now
be seen mingling courteously on the banks of the
Xenel and the Darro, where to have met a few days
previous would have produced a scene of sanguinary
contest. Still, as the Moors might be suddenly aroused
to defence, if, within the allotted term of seventy
days, succors should arrive from abroad; and as they
were at all times a rash, inflammable people, the wary
Ferdinand maintained a vigilant watch upon the city,
and permitted no supplies of any kind to enter. His
garrisons in the sea-ports, and his cruisers in the
Straits of Gibraltar, were ordered likewise to guard
against any relief from the grand soldan of Egypt, or
the princes of Barbary. There was no need of such
precautions. Those powers were either too much
engrossed by their own wars, or too much daunted
by the success of the Spanish arms, to interfere in a
desperate cause; and the unfortunate Moors of Granada
were abandoned to their fate.
The month of December had nearly passed away:
the famine became extreme, and there was no hope
of any favorable event within the term specified in
the capitulation. Boabdil saw, that to hold out to the
-- 287 --
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end of the allotted time would but be to protract
the miseries of his people. With the consent of his
council, he determined to surrender the city on the
sixth of January. On the 30th of December, he
sent his grand vizier Yusef Aben Comixa, with the
four hundred hostages, to king Ferdinand, to make
known his intention; bearing him, at the same time,
a present of a magnificent scimitar, and two Arabian
steeds superbly caparisoned.
The unfortunate Boabdil was doomed to meet with
trouble, to the end of his career. The very next day,
the santon or dervise Hamet Aben Zarrax, the same
who had uttered prophecies and excited commotions
on former occasions, suddenly made his appearance.
Whence he came, no one knew; it was rumored that
he had been in the mountains of the Alpuxarras, and
on the coast of Barbary, endeavoring to rouse the
Moslems to the relief of Granada. He was reduced
to a skeleton; his eyes glowed like coals in their
sockets, and his speech was little better than frantic
raving. He harangued the populace, in the streets
and squares; inveighed against the capitulation, denounced
the king and nobles as Moslems only in
name, and called upon the people to sally forth
against the unbelievers, for that Allah had decreed
them a signal victory.
Upwards of twenty thousand of the populace
seized their arms, and paraded the streets with shouts
and outcries. The shops and houses were shut up;
the king himself did not dare to venture forth, but
remained a kind of prisoner in the Alhambra.
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The turbulent multitude continued roaming and
shouting and howling about the city, during the day
and a part of the night. Hunger, and a wintry tempest,
tamed their frenzy; and when morning came,
the enthusiast who had led them on had disappeared.
Whether he had been disposed of by the emissaries
of the king, or by the leading men of the city, is not
known: his disappearance remains a mystery.[52]
The Moorish king now issued from the Alhambra,
attended by his principal nobles, and harangued the
populace. He set forth the necessity of complying
with the capitulation, from the famine that reigned
in the city, the futility of defence, and from the hostages
having already been delivered into the hands
of the besiegers.
In the dejection of his spirits, the unfortunate Boabdil
attributed to himself the miseries of the country.
“It was my crime in ascending the throne in rebellion
against my father,” said he, mournfully, “which
has brought these woes upon the kingdom; but Allah
has grievously visited my sins upon my head. For
your sake, my people, I have now made this treaty,
to protect you from the sword, your little ones from
famine, your wives and daughters from the outrages
of war; and to secure you in the enjoyment of your
properties, your liberties, your laws, and your religion,
under a sovereign of happier destinies than the ill-starred
Boabdil.”
The versatile population were touched by the
-- 289 --
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humility of their sovereign—they agreed to adhere to
the capitulation, and there was even a faint shout of
“Long live Boabdil the unfortunate!” and they all
returned to their homes in perfect tranquillity.
Boabdil immediately sent missives to king Ferdinand,
apprizing him of these events, and of his fears
lest further delay should produce new tumults. He
proposed, therefore, to surrender the city on the following
day. The Castilian sovereigns assented, with
great satisfaction; and preparations were made in
city and camp for this great event, that was to seal
the fate of Granada.
It was a night of doleful lamentings, within the
walls of the Alhambra; for the household of Boabdil
were preparing to take a last farewell of that delightful
abode. All the royal treasures, and the most
precious effects of the Alhambra, were hastily packed
upon mules; the beautiful apartments were despoiled,
with tears and wailings, by their own inhabitants.
Before the dawn of day, a mournful cavalcade moved
obscurely out of a postern-gate of the Alhambra,
and departed through one of the most retired quarters
of the city. It was composed of the family of
the unfortunate Boabdil, which he sent off thus privately,
that they might not be exposed to the eyes
of scoffers, or the exultation of the enemy. The
mother of Boabdil, the sultana Ayxa la Horra, rode
on in silence, with dejected yet dignified demeanor;
but his wife Zorayma, and all the females of his
household, gave way to loud lamentations, as they
looked back upon their favorite abode, now a mass
-- 290 --
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of gloomy towers behind them. They were attended
by the ancient domestics of the household, and by a
small guard of veteran Moors, loyally attached to the
fallen monarch, and who would have sold their lives
dearly in defence of his family. The city was yet
buried in sleep, as they passed through its silent
streets. The guards at the gate shed tears, as they
opened it for their departure. They paused not, but
proceeded along the banks of the Xenel on the road
that leads to the Alpuxarras, until they arrived at a
hamlet at some distance from the city, where they
halted, and waited until they should be joined by king
Boabdil.
eaf218v2.n52[52] Mariana.
-- 291 -- p218-622
CHAPTER LIV. Surrender of Granada.
[figure description] Page 291.[end figure description]
The sun had scarcely begun to shed his beams
upon the summits of the snowy mountains which
rise above Granada, when the christian camp was in
motion. A detachment of horse and foot, led by
distinguished cavaliers, and accompanied by Hernando
de Talavera, bishop of Avila, proceeded to
take possession of the Alhambra and the towers. It
had been stipulated in the capitulation, that the detachment
sent for this purpose should not enter by
the streets of the city; a road had therefore been
opened, outside of the walls, leading by the Puerta
de los Molinos, or the Gate of the Mills, to the summit
of the Hill of Martyrs, and across the hill to a
postern-gate of the Alhambra.
When the detachment arrived at the summit of
the hill, the Moorish king came forth from the gate,
attended by a handful of cavaliers, leaving his vizier
Yusef Aben Comixa to deliver up the palace. “Go,
senior,” said he to the commander of the detachment,
“go and take possession of those fortresses, which
Allah has bestowed upon your powerful sovereigns,
in punishment of the sins of the Moors.” He said
no more, but passed mournfully on, along the same
road by which the Spanish cavaliers had come; descending
to the vega, to meet the Catholic sovereigns.
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The troops entered the Alhambra, the gates of which
were wide open, and all its splendid courts and halls
silent and deserted.
In the mean time, the christian court and army
poured out of the city of Santa Fé, and advanced
across the vega. The king and queen, with the
prince and princess, and the dignitaries and ladies of
the court, took the lead, accompanied by the different
orders of monks and friars, and surrounded by
the royal guards splendidly arrayed. The procession
moved slowly forward, and paused at the village
of Armilla, at the distance of half a league from the
city.
The sovereigns waited here with impatience, their
eyes fixed on the lofty tower of the Alhambra, watching
for the appointed signal of possession. The time
that had elapsed since the departure of the detachment
seemed to them more than necessary for the purpose,
and the anxious mind of Ferdinand began to
entertain doubts of some commotion in the city. At
length they saw the silver cross, the great standard of
this crusade, elevated on the Torre de la Vala, or
Great Watch-Tower, and sparkling in the sunbeams.
This was done by Hernando de Talavera, bishop of
Avila. Beside it was planted the pennon of the glorious
apostle St. James, and a great shout of “Santiago!
Santiago!” rose throughout the army. Lastly was
reared the royal standard by the king of arms, with
the shout of “Castile! Castile! For king Ferdinand
and queen Isabella!” The words were echoed by
the whole army, with acclamations that resounded
-- 293 --
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across the vega. At sight of these signals of possession,
the sovereigns sank upon their knees, giving
thanks to God for this great triumph; the whole
assembled host followed their example, and the
choristers of the royal chapel broke forth into the
solemn anthem of “Te Deum laudamus.”
The procession now resumed its march with joyful
alacrity, to the sound of triumphant music, until
they came to a small mosque, near the banks of the
Xenel, and not far from the foot of the Hill of Martyrs,
which edifice remains to the present day, consecrated
as the hermitage of St. Sebastian. Here
the sovereigns were met by the unfortunate Boabdil,
accompanied by about fifty cavaliers and domestics.
As he drew near, he would have dismounted in token
of homage, but Ferdinand prefented him. He then
proffered to kiss the king's hand, but this sign of
vassalage was likewise declined; whereupon, not to
be outdone in magnanimity, he leaned forward and
kissed the right arm of Ferdinand. Queen Isabella
also refused to receive this ceremonial of homage,
and, to console him under his adversity, delivered to
him his son, who had remained as hostage ever since
Boabdil's liberation from captivity. The Moorish
monarch pressed his child to his bosom with tender
emotion, and they seemed mutually endeared to each
other by their misfortunes.[53]
He then delivered the keys of the city to king Ferdinand,
with an air of mingled melancholy and resig
-- 294 --
[figure description] Page 294.[end figure description]
nation: “These keys,” said he, “are the last relics
of the Arabian empire in Spain: thine, oh king, are
our trophies, our kingdom, and our person. Such
is the will of God! Receive them with the clemency
thou hast promised, and which we look for at thy
hands.”[54]
King Ferdinand restrained his exultation into an
air of serene magnanimity. “Doubt not our promises,”
replied he, “nor that thou shalt regain from
our friendship the prosperity of which the fortune of
war has deprived thee.”
On receiving the keys, king Ferdinand handed
them to the queen; she in her turn presented them to
her son prince Juan, who delivered them to the count
de Tendilla, that brave and loyal cavalier being appointed
alcayde of the city, and captain-general of
the kingdom of Granada.
Having surrendered the last symbol of power, the
unfortunate Boabdil continued on towards the Alpuxarras,
that he might not behold the entrance of the
christians into his capital. His devoted band of
cavaliers followed him in gloomy silence; but heavy
sighs burst from their bosoms, as shouts of joy and
strains of triumphant music were borne on the breeze
from the victorious army.
Having rejoined his family, Boabdil set forward
with a heavy heart for his allotted residence in the
valley of Purchena. At two leagues' distance, the
cavalcade, winding into the skirts of the Alpuxarras,
-- 295 --
[figure description] Page 295.[end figure description]
ascended an eminence commanding the last view of
Granada. As they arrived at this spot, the Moors
paused involuntarily, to take a farewell gaze at their
beloved city, which a few steps more would shut
from their sight for ever. Never had it appeared so
lovely in their eyes. The sunshine, so bright in that
transparent climate, lit up each tower and minaret,
and rested gloriously upon the crowning battlements
of the Alhambra; while the vega spread its enameled
bosom of verdure below, glistening with the silver
windings of the Xenel. The Moorish cavaliers gazed
with a silent agony of tenderness and grief upon that
delicious abode, the scene of their loves and pleasures.
While they yet looked, a light cloud of smoke burst
forth from the citadel, and presently a peal of artillery,
faintly heard, told that the city was taken possession
of, and the throne of the Moslem kings was
lost for ever. The heart of Boabdil, softened by misfortunes
and overcharged with grief, could no longer
contain itself: “Allah Acbar! God is great!” said he;
but the words of resignation died upon his lips, and
he burst into a flood of tears.
His mother, the intrepid sultana Ayxa la Horra,
was indignant at his weakness: “You do well,” said
she, “to weep like a woman, for what you failed to
defend like a man!”
The vizier Aben Comixa endeavored to console
his royal master. “Consider, sire,” said he, “that
the most signal misfortunes often render men as renowned
as the most prosperous achievements, provided
they sustain them with magnanimity.”
-- 296 --
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The unhappy monarch, however, was not to be
consoled; his tears continued to flow. “Allah Acbar!”
exclaimed he; “when did misfortunes ever
equal mine?”
From this circumstance, the hill, which is not far
from the Padul, took the name of Feg Allah Acbar:
but the point of view commanding the last prospect
of Granada, is known among Spaniards by the name
of El ultimo suspiro del Moro; or, “The last sigh of
the Moor.”
eaf218v2.n53[53] Zurita, Anales de Aragon.
eaf218v2.n54[54] Abarca, Anales de Aragon, Rey 30. c. 3.
-- 297 -- p218-628
CHAPTER LV. How the Castilian Sovereigns took possession of Granada.
[figure description] Page 297.[end figure description]
When the Castilian sovereigns had received the
keys of Granada from the hands of Boabdil el Chico,
the royal army resumed its triumphant march. As it
approached the gates of the city, in all the pomp of
courtly and chivalrous array, a procession of a different
kind came forth to meet it. This was composed
of more than five hundred christian captives, many of
whom had languished for years in Moorish dungeons.
Pale and emaciated, they came clanking their chains
in triumph, and shedding tears of joy. They were
received with tenderness by the sovereigns. The
king hailed them as good Spaniards, as men loyal and
brave, as martyrs to the holy cause; the queen distributed
liberal relief among them with her own
hands, and they passed on before the squadrons of
the army, singing hymns of jubilee.[55]
The sovereigns did not enter the city on this day
of its surrender, but waited until it should be fully
occupied by their troops, and public tranquillity
insured. The marques de Villena and the count de
Tendilla, with three thousand cavalry and as many
infantry, marched in and took possession,
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accompanied by the proselyte prince Cidi Yahye, now known
by the christian appellation of Don Pedro de Granada,
who was appointed chief alguazil of the city, and had
charge of the Moorish inhabitants, and by his son the
late prince Alnayar, now Don Alonzo de Granada,
who was appointed admiral of the fleets. In a little
while, every battlement glistened with christian
helms and lances, the standard of the faith and of
the realm floated from every tower, and the thundering
salvoes of the ordnance told that the subjugation
of the city was complete.
The grandees and cavaliers now knelt and kissed
the hands of the king and queen and the prince Juan,
and congratulated them on the acquisition of so great
a kingdom; after which, the royal procession returned
in state to Santa Fé.
It was on the sixth of January, the day of kings and
festival of the Epiphany, that the sovereigns made
their triumphal entry. The king and queen (says
the worthy Fray Antonio Agapida) looked, on this
occasion, as more than mortal: the venerable ecclesiastics,
to whose advice and zeal this glorious conquest
ought in a great measure to be attributed, moved
along with hearts swelling with holy exultation, but
with chastened and downcast looks of edifying humility;
while the hardy warriors, in tossing plumes
and shining steel, seemed elevated with a stern joy,
at finding themselves in possession of this object of
so many toils and perils. As the streets resounded
with the tramp of steed and swelling peals of music,
the Moors buried themselves in the deepest recesses
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of their dwellings. There they bewailed in secret
the fallen glory of their race, but suppressed their
groans, lest they should be heard by their enemies
and increase their triumph.
The royal procession advanced to the principal
mosque, which had been consecrated as a cathedral.
Here the sovereigns offered up prayers and thanksgivings,
and the choir of the royal chapel chanted a
triumphant anthem, in which they were joined by
all the courtiers and cavaliers. Nothing (says Fray
Antonio Agapida) could exceed the thankfulness to
God of the pious king Ferdinand, for having enabled
him to eradicate from Spain the empire and name of
that accursed heathen race, and for the elevation of
the cross in that city wherein the impious doctrines
of Mahomet had so long been cherished. In the
fervor of his spirit, he supplicated from Heaven a
continuance of its grace, and that this glorious triumph
might be perpetuated.[56] The prayer of the
pious monarch was responded by the people, and
even his enemies were for once convinced of his
sincerity.
When the religious ceremonies were concluded,
the court ascended to the stately palace of the Alhambra,
and entered by the great gate of Justice. The
halls lately occupied by turbaned infidels now rustled
with stately dames and christian courtiers, who wandered
with eager curiosity over this far-famed palace,
-- 300 --
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admiring its verdant courts and gushing fountains, its
halls decorated with elegant arabesques and storied
with inscriptions, and the splendor of its gilded and
brilliantly painted ceilings.
It had been a last request of the unfortunate Boabdil,
and one which showed how deeply he felt the
transition of his fate, that no person might be permitted
to enter or depart by the gate of the Alhambra,
through which he had sallied forth to surrender his
capital. His request was granted; the portal was
closed up, and remains so to the present day—a mute
memorial of that event.[57]
The Spanish sovereigns fixed their throne in the
-- 301 --
[figure description] Page 301.[end figure description]
presence-chamber of the palace, so long the seat of
Moorish royalty. Hither the principal inhabitants of
Granada repaired, to pay them homage and kiss their
hands in token of vassalage; and their example was
followed by deputies from all the towns and fortresses
of the Alpuxarras, which had not hitherto submitted.
Thus terminated the war of Granada, after ten
years of incessant fighting; equalling (says Fray Antonio
Agapida) the far-famed siege of Troy in duration,
and ending, like that, in the capture of the city.
Thus ended also the dominion of the Moors in Spain,
having endured seven hundred and seventy-eight
years, from the memorable defeat of Roderick, the
last of the Goths, on the banks of the Guadalete.
The authentic Agapida is uncommonly particular in
fixing the epoch of this event. This great triumph
of our holy Catholic faith, according to his computation,
took place in the beginning of January, in the
year of our Lord 1492, being 3655 years from the
population of Spain by the patriarch Tubal; 3797
from the general deluge; 5453 from the creation of
the world, according to Hebrew calculation; and in
the month Rabic, in the eight hundred and ninety-seventh
year of the Hegira, or flight of Mahomet;
whom may God confound! saith the pious Agapida.
eaf218v2.n55[55] Abarca, lib. sup. Zurita, &c.
eaf218v2.n56[56] The words of Fray Antonio Agapida are little more than an
echo of those of the worthy Jesuit father Mariana. (L. 25. c. 18.)
eaf218v2.n57[57] Garibay, Compend. Hist. lib. 40. c. 42. The existence of
this gateway, and the story connected with it, are perhaps known
to few; but were identified, in the researches made to verify this
history. The gateway is at the bottom of the great tower, at
some distance from the main body of the Alhambra. The tower
has been rent and ruined by gunpowder, at the time when the
fortress was evacuated by the French. Great masses lie around,
half covered by vines and fig-trees. A poor man, by the name of
Matteo Ximenes, who lives in one of the halls among the ruins of
the Alhambra, where his family has resided for many generations,
pointed out the gateway, still closed up with stones. He remembered
to have heard his father and grandfather say, that it had
always been stopped up, and that out of it king Boabdil had gone
when he surrendered Granada. The route of the unfortunate
king may be traced from thence across the garden of the convent
of Los Martyros, and down a ravine beyond, through a street of
gipsy caves and hovels, by the gate of Los Molinos, and so on
to the Hermitage of St. Sebastian. None but an antiquarian,
however, will be able to trace it, unless aided by the humble historian
of the place, Matteo Ximenes.
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