the cross-bow and arquebuse. These kept up a con- | mosque near the walls, they kept up so galling a fire stant fire upon the gate of the castle, so that no one from it with lances, cross-bows, and arquebuses, could sally forth without being instantly shot down. that for some time the christians dared not approach. Two valiant cavaliers, who attempted to lead forth Covering themselves, at length, with bucklers and a party in defiance of this fatal tempest, were shot mantelets to protect them from the deadly shower, dead at the very portal. they made their way to the mosque, and set fire to the doors. When the smoke and flaines rolled in upon them, the Moors gave all up as lost. Many rushed forth desperately upon the enemy, but were immediately slain; the rest surrendered themselves captives. The christians now found themselves in a situation of great peril. Reinforcements must soon arrive to the enemy from Granada; unless, therefore, they gained possession of the town in the course of the day, they were likely to be surrounded and beleaguered, without provisions, in the castle. Some observed that, even if they took the town, they should not be able to maintain possession of it. They proposed, therefore, to make booty of every thing valuable, to sack the castle, set it on fire, and make good their retreat to Seville. The struggle was now at an end; the town remained at the mercy of the christians; and the inhabitants, both male and female, became the slaves of those who made them prisoners. Some few escaped by a mine or subterranean way, which led to the river, and concealed themselves, their wives and children, in caves and secret places; but in three or four days, were compelled to surrender themselves through hunger. The marques of Cadiz was of different counsel. "God has given the citadel into christian hands," said he ; he will no doubt strengthen them to maintain it. We have gained the place with difficulty and bloodshed; it would be a stain upon our honor to abandon it through fear of imaginary dangers." The adelantado and Don Diego de Merlo joined in his opinion; but without their earnest and united remonstrances, the place would have been abandoned; so exhausted were the troops by forced marches and hard fighting, and so apprehensive of the ap-rents and tributes of the surrounding country; it proach of the Moors of Granada. The strength and spirits of the party within the castle were in some degree restored by the provis ions which they found. The Christian army beneath the town, being also refreshed by a morning's repast, advanced vigorously to the attack of the walls. They planted their scaling-ladders, and, swarming up, sword in hand, fought fiercely with the Moorish soldiery upon the ramparts. In the mean time, the marques of Cadiz, seeing that the gate of the castle, which opened toward the city, was completely commanded by the artillery of the enemy, ordered a large breach to be made in the wall, through which he might lead his troops to the attack; animating them, in this perilous moment, by assuring them that the place should be given up to plunder, and its inhabitants made captives. The breach being made, the marques put himself at the head of his troops, and entered sword in hand. A simultaneous attack was made by the christians in every part-by the ramparts, by the gate, by the roofs and walls which connected the castle with the town. The Moors fought valiantly in their streets, from their windows, and from the tops of their houses. They were not equal to the christians in bodily strength, for they were for the most part peaceful men, of industrious callings, and enervated by the frequent use of the warm bath; but they were superior in number, and unconquerable in spirit; old and young, strong and weak, fought with the same desperation. The Moors fought for property, for liberty, for life. They fought at their thresholds and their hearths, with the shrieks of their wives and children ringing in their ears, and they ought in the hope that each moment would bring aid from Granada. They regarded neither their own wounds nor the deaths of their companions; but continued fighting until they fell, and seemed as if, when they could no longer contend, they would block up the thresholds of their beloved homes with their mangled bodies. The christians fought for glory, for revenge, for the holy faith, and for the spoil of these wealthy infidels. Success would place a rich town at their mercy; failure would deliver them into the hands of the tyrant of Granada. The town was given up to plunder, and the booty was immense. There were found prodigious quantities of gold and silver, and jewels, and rich silks, and costly stuffs of all kinds; together with horses and beeves, and abundance of grain and oil, and honey, and all other productions of this fruitful kingdom; for in Alhama were collected the royal was the richest town in the Moorish territory, and, from its great strength and its peculiar situation, was called the key to Granada. Great waste and devastation were committed by the Spanish soldiery; for, thinking it would be impossible to keep possession of the place, they began to destroy whatever they could not take away. Immense jars of oil were broken, costly furniture shattered to pieces, and magazines of grain broken open, and their contents scattered to the winds. Many christian captives, who had been taken at Zahara, were found buried in a Moorish dungeon, and were triumphantly restored to light and liberty; and a renegado Spaniard, who had often served as guide to the Moors in their incursions into the christian territories, was hanged on the highest part of the battlements, for the edification of the army. CHAPTER VI. HOW THE PEOPLE OF GRANADA WERE AFFECTED, A MOORISH horseman had spurred across the vega, nor reined his panting steed until he alighted at the gate of the Alhambra. He brought tidings to Muley Aben Hassan, of the attack upon Alhama. "The christians," said he, "are in the land. They came upon us, we know not whence or how, and scaled the walls of the castle in the night. There has been dreadful fighting and carnage in its towers and courts; and when I spurred my steed from the gate of Alhama, the castle was in possession of the unbelievers." Muley Aben Hassan felt for a moment as if swift retribution had come upon him for the woes he had inflicted upon Zahara. Still he flattered himself that this had only been some transient inroad of a party of marauders, intent upon plunder; and that a little The contest raged from morning until night, when the Moors began to yield. Retreating to a large troops, when advancing to sap or assault a walled place. * Mantelet-a movable parapet, made of thick planks, to protect panion in arms, among the most distinguished of the christian chivalry. This was Don Alonzo de Cordova, senior and lord of the house of Aguilar, and brother of Gonsalvo of Cordova, afterwards renowned as grand captain of Spain. As yet, Alonzo succor, thrown into the town, would be sufficient to expel them from the castle, and drive them from the land. He ordered out, therefore, a thousand of his chosen cavalry, and sent them in all speed to the assistance of Álhama. They arrived before its walls, the morning after its capture: the christian stand-de Aguilar was the glory of his name and raceards floated upon its towers, and a body of cavalry poured forth from its gates and came wheeling down into the plain to receive them. The Moorish horsemen turned the reins of their steeds, and galloped back for Granada. They entered its gates in tumultuous confusion, spreading terror and lamentation by their tidings. Alhama is fallen! Alhama is fallen!" exclaimed they; "the christians garrison its walls; the key of Granada is in the hands of the enemy!" for his brother was but young in arms. He was one of the most hardy, valiant, and enterprising of the Spanish knights, and foremost in all service of a perilous and adventurous nature. He had not been at hand, to accompany his friend Ponce de Leon, marques of Cadiz, in his inroad into the Moorish territory; but he hastily assembled a number of retainers, horse and foot, and pressed forward to join the enterprise. Arriving at the river Yeguas, he found the baggage of the army still upon its banks, When the people heard these words, they remem- and took charge of it to carry it to Alhama. The bered the denunciation of the santon. His predic-marques of Cadiz heard of the approach of his tion seemed still to resound in every ear, and its ful- friend, whose march was slow in consequence of filment to be at hand. Nothing was heard through-being encumbered by the baggage. He was within out the city but sighs and wailings. "Wo is me, but a few leagues of Alhama, when scouts came Alhama!" was in every mouth; and this ejaculation hurrying into the place, with intelligence that the of deep sorrow and doleful foreboding, came to be Moorish king was at hand with a powerful army. the burthen of a plaintive ballad, which remains un- The marques of Cadiz was filled with alarm lest De til the present day.* Aguilar should fall into the hands of the enemy Forgetting his own danger, and thinking only of that of his friend, he dispatched a well-mounted messenger to ride full speed, and warn him not to approach. Many aged men, who had taken refuge in Granada from other Moorish dominions which had fallen into the power of the Christians, now groaned in despair at the thoughts that war was to follow them into this last retreat, to lay waste this pleasant land, and to bring trouble and sorrow upon their declining years. The women were more loud and vehement in their grief; for they beheld the evils impending over their children, and what can restrain the agony of a mother's heart? Many of them made their way through the halls of the Alhambra into the presence of the king, weeping, and wailing, and tearing their hair. "Accursed be the day," cried they, that thou hast lit the flame of war in our land! May the holy Prophet bear witness before Allah, that we and our children are innocent of this act! Upon thy head, and upon the heads of thy posterity, until the end of the world, rest the sin of the desolation of Zahara!"† 66 Muley Aben Hassan remained unmoved, amidst all this storm; his heart was hardened (observes Fray Antonio Agapida) like that of Pharaoh, to the | end that, through his blind violence and rage, he might produce the deliverance of the land from its heathen bondage. In fact, he was a bold and fearless warrior, and trusted soon to make this blow recoil upon the head of the enemy. He had ascertained that the captors of Alhama were but a handful they were in the centre of his dominions, within a short distance of his capital. They were deficient in munitions of war, and provisions for sustaining a siege. By a rapid movement, he might surround them with a powerful army, cut off all aid from their countrymen, and entrap them in the fortress they had taken. To think was to act, with Muley Aben Hassan; but he was prone to act with too much precipitation. He immediately set forth in person, with three thousand horse and fifty thousand foot, and in his eagerness to arrive at the scene of action, would not wait to provide artillery and the various engines required in a siege. The multitude of my forces," said he, confidently, " will be sufficient to overwhelm the enemy." 64 The marques of Cadiz, who thus held possession of Alhama, had a chosen friend and faithful com The mournful little Spanish romance of Ay de mi, Alhama! is supposed to be of Moorish origin, and to embody the grief of the people of Granada on this occasion. + Garibay, lib. 40. C. 29. The first determination of Alonzo de Aguilar, when he heard that the Moorish king was at hand, was to take a strong position in the mountains, and await his coming. The madness of an attempt with his handful of men to oppose an immense army, was represented to him with such force as to induce him to abandon the idea; he then thought of throwing himself into Alhama, to share the fortunes of his friend: but it was now too late. The Moor would infallibly intercept him, and he should only give the marques the additional distress of beholding him captured beneath his walls. It was even urged upon him that he had no time for delay, if he would consult his own safety, which could only be insured by an immediate retreat into the Christian territory. This last opinion was confirmed by the return of scouts, who brought information that Muley Aben Hassan had received notice of his movements, and was rapidly advancing in quest of him. It was with infinite reluctance that Don Alonzo de Aguilar yielded to these united and powerful reasons. Proudly and sullenly he drew off his forces, laden with the baggage of the army, and made an unwilling retreat towards Antiquera. Muley Aben Hassan pursued him for some distance through the mountains, but soon gave up the chase and turned with his forces upon Alhama. As the army approached the town, they beheld the fields strewn with the dead bodies of their countrymen, who had fallen in defence of the place, and had been cast forth and left unburied by the christians. There they lay, mangled, and exposed to every indignity; while droves of half-famished dogs were preying upon them, and fighting and howling, over their hideous repast.* Furious at the sight, the Moors, in the first transports of their rage, attacked those ravenous animals: their next measure was to vent their fury upon the christians. They rushed like madmen to the walls, applied scaling-ladders in all parts, without waiting for the necessary mantelets and other protections, thinking, by attacking suddenly and at various points, to distract the enemy, and overcome them by the force of numbers. The marques of Cadiz, with his confederate com. Pulgar. Cronica. A CHRONICLE OF THE CONQUEST OF GRANADA. manders, distributed themselves along the walls, to direct and animate their men in the defence. The Moors, in their blind fury, often assailed the most difficult and dangerous places. Darts, stones, and all kinds of missiles, were hurled down upon their defenceless heads. As fast as they mounted, they were cut down, or dashed from the battlements, their ladders overturned, and all who were on them precipitated headlong below. their men, who were repeatedly driven back into the town. The marques of Cadiz was often up to his knees in the stream, fighting hand to hand with the Moors. The water ran red with blood, and was encumbered with dead bodies. At length, the overwhelming numbers of the Moors gave them the adThe christians had to struggle vantage, and they succeeded in diverting the greater severely, to supply themselves from the feeble rill part of the water. Muley Aben Hassan stormed with passion at the which remained. They sallied to the river by a subsight; he sent detachment after detachment to scale terraneous passage; but the Moorish cross-bowmen the walls-but in vain; they were like waves rush-stationed themselves on the opposite bank, keeping At ing upon a rock, only to dash themselves to pieces. up a heavy fire upon the christians, whenever they One party of the christians had, The Moors lay in heaps beneath the wall, and attempted to fill their vessels from the scanty and among them many of the bravest cavaliers of Gra- turbid stream. nada. The christians, also, sallied frequently from therefore, to fight, while another drew water. maintained, until it seemed as if every drop of water the gates, and made great havoc in the irregular all hours of the day and night, this deadly strife was multitude of assailants. In the mean time, the sufferings in the town bewere purchased with a drop of blood. None but the soldiery and their came intense. The wounded, who could not horses were allowed the precious beverage so dearly earned, and even that in quantities that only tantalized their wants. sally to procure it, were almost destitute; while the unhappy prisoners, shut up in the mosques, were reduced to frightful extremities. Many perished raving mad, fancying themselves swimming in boundless seas, yet unable to assuage their thirst. Many of the soldiers lay parched and panting along the battlements, no longer able to draw a bowstring or hurl a stone; while above five thousand Moors, stationed upon a rocky height which overlooked part of the town, kept up a galling fire into it with slings and cross-bows; so that the marques of Cadiz was obliged to heighten the battlements, by using the doors from the private dwellings. On one of these occasions, the party was com- The vigorous and successful defence of the chris- Muley Aben Hassan now abandoned all hope of The christian cavaliers, exposed to this extreme peril, and in imminent danger of falling into the hands of the enemy, dispatched fleet messengers to Seville and Cordova, entreating the chivalry of Andalusia to hasten to their aid. They sent likewise, at that time held their court in Medina del Campo. imploring assistance from the king and queen, who In the midst of their distress, a tank, or cistern, of water, was fortunately discovered in the city, which gave temporary relief to their sufferings. CHAPTER VII. CHIVALRY OF ANDALUSIA, HASTENED TO THE HOW THE DUKE OF MEDINA SIDONIA, AND THE RELIEF OF ALHAMA. THE perilous situation of the christian cavaliers, pent up and beleaguered within the walls of Alhama, spread terror among their friends, and anxiety equal the anguish of the marchioness of Cadiz, the throughout all Andalusia. Nothing, however, could wife of the gallant Roderigo Ponce de Leon. In her deep distress, she looked round for some powerful noble, who had the means of rousing the country to the assistance of her husband. No one appeared more competent for the purpose than Don Juan de Guzman, the duke of Medina Sidonia. He was one his possessions extended over some of the most ferof the most wealthy and puissant grandees of Spain; A desperate conflict ensued on the banks of the tile parts of Andalusia, embracing towns, and seariver, the Moors endeavoring to plant palisades in ports, and numerous villages. Here he reigned in its bed to divert the stream, and the christians striv-feudal state, like a petty sovereign, and could at any ing to prevent them. The Spanish commanders time bring into the field an immense force of vassals exposed themselves to the utmost danger to animate and retainers. |