While at Valladolid, the sovereigns received an embassy from Maximilian, son of the emperor Frederic the Fourth, of Germany, soliciting their co- operation in his designs against France for the restitution of his late wife's rightful inheritance, the duchy of Burgundy, and engaging in turn to support them in their claims on Roussillon and Cerdagne. The Spanish monarchs had long entertained many causes of discontent with the French court, both with regard to the mortgaged territory of Roussillon, and the kingdom of Navarre; and they watched with jealous eye the daily increasing authority of their formidable neighbor on their own frontier. They had been induced, in the preceding summer, to equip an armanent at Biscay and Guipuscoa, to support the duke of Brittany in his wars with the French regent, the celebrated Anne de Beaujeu. This expedition, which proved disastrous, was followed by another in the spring of the succeeding year. [4] But, notwithstanding these occasional episodes to the great work in which they were engaged, they had little leisure for extended operations; and, although they entered into the proposed treaty of alliance with Maximilian, they do not seem to have contemplated any movement of importance before the termination of the Moorish war. The Flemish ambassadors, after being entertained for forty days in a style suited to impress them with high ideas of the magnificence of the Spanish court, and of its friendly disposition towards their master, were dismissed with costly presents, and returned to their own country. [5]

These negotiations show the increasing intimacy growing up between the European states, who, as they settled their domestic feuds, had leisure to turn their eyes abroad, and enter into the more extended field of international politics. The tenor of this treaty indicates also the direction which affairs were to take, when the great powers should be brought into collision with each other on a common theatre of action.

All thoughts were now concentrated on the prosecution of the war with Granada, which, it was determined, should be conducted on a more enlarged scale than it had yet been; notwithstanding the fearful pest which had desolated the country during the past year, and the extreme scarcity of grain, owing to the inundations caused by excessive rains in the fruitful provinces of the south. The great object proposed in this campaign was the reduction of Baza, the capital of that division of the empire which belonged to El Zagal. Besides this important city, that monarch's dominions embraced the wealthy sea-port of Almeria, Guadix, and numerous other towns and villages of less consequence, together with the mountain region of the Alpuxarras, rich in mineral wealth; whose inhabitants, famous for the perfection to which they had carried the silk manufacture, were equally known for their enterprise and courage in war, so that El Zagal's division comprehended the most potent and opulent portion of the empire. [6] In the spring of 1489, the Castilian court passed to Jaen, at which place the queen was to establish her residence, as presenting the most favorable point of communication with the invading army. Ferdinand advanced as far as Sotogordo, where, on the 27th of May, he put himself at the head of a numerous force, amounting to about fifteen thousand horse and eighty thousand foot, including persons of every description; among whom was gathered, as usual, that chivalrous array of nobility and knighthood, who, with stately and well-appointed retinues, were accustomed to follow the royal standard in these crusades. [8]

The first point, against which operations were directed, was the strong post of Cuxar, two leagues only from Baza, which surrendered after a brief but desperate resistance. The occupation of this place, and some adjacent fortresses, left the approaches open to El Zagal's capital. As the Spanish army toiled up the heights of the mountain barrier, which towers above Baza on the west, their advance was menaced by clouds of Moorish light troops, who poured down a tempest of musket-balls and arrows on their heads. These however were quickly dispersed by the advancing vanguard; and the Spaniards, as they gained the summits of the hills, beheld the lordly city of Baza, reposing in the shadows of the bold sierra that stretches towards the coast, and lying in the bosom of a fruitful valley, extending eight leagues in length, and three in breadth. Through this valley flowed the waters of the Guadalentin and the Guadalquiton, whose streams were conducted by a thousand canals over the surface of the vega. In the midst of the plain, adjoining the suburbs, might be descried the orchard or garden, as it was termed, of Baza, a league in length, covered with a thick growth of wood, and with numerous villas and pleasure-houses of the wealthy citizens, now converted into garrisoned fortresses. The suburbs were encompassed by a low mud wall; but the fortifications of the city were of uncommon strength. The place, in addition to ten thousand troops of its own, was garrisoned by an equal number from Almeria; picked men, under the command of the Moorish prince Cidi Yahye, a relative of El Zagal, who lay at this time in Guadix, prepared to cover his own dominions against any hostile movement of his rival in Granada. These veterans were commissioned to defend the place to the last extremity; and, as due time had been given for preparation, the town was victualled with fifteen months' provisions, and even the crops growing in the vega had been garnered before their prime, to save them from the hands of the enemy. [8]

The first operation, after the Christian army had encamped before the walls of Baza, was to get possession of the garden, without which it would be impossible to enforce a thorough blockade, since its labyrinth of avenues afforded the inhabitants abundant facilities of communication with the surrounding country. The assault was intrusted to the grand master of St. James, supported by the principal cavaliers, and the king in person. Their reception by the enemy was such as gave them a foretaste of the perils and desperate daring they were to encounter in the present siege. The broken surface of the ground, bewildered with intricate passes, and thickly studded with trees and edifices, was peculiarly favorable to the desultory and illusory tactics of the Moors. The Spanish cavalry was brought at once to a stand; the ground proving impracticable for it, it was dismounted, and led to the charge by its officers on foot. The men, however, were soon scattered far asunder from their banners and their leaders. Ferdinand, who from a central position endeavored to overlook the field, with the design of supporting the attack on the points most requiring it, soon lost sight of his columns amid the precipitous ravines, and the dense masses of foliage which everywhere intercepted the view. The combat was carried on, hand to hand, in the utmost confusion. Still the Spaniards pressed forward, and, after a desperate struggle for twelve hours, in which many of the bravest on both sides fell, and the Moslem chief Reduan Zafarga had four horses successively killed under him, the enemy were beaten back behind the intrenchments that covered the suburbs, and the Spaniards, hastily constructing a defence of palisades, pitched their tents on the field of battle. [9]

The following morning Ferdinand had the mortification to observe, that the ground was too much broken and obstructed with wood, to afford a suitable place for a general encampment. To evacuate his position, however, in the face of the enemy, was a delicate manoeuvre, and must necessarily expose him to severe loss. This he obviated, in a great measure, by a fortunate stratagem. He commanded the tents nearest the town to be left standing, and thus succeeded in drawing off the greater part of his forces, before the enemy was aware of his intention.

After regaining his former position, a council of war was summoned to deliberate on the course next to be pursued. The chiefs were filled with despondency, as they revolved the difficulties of their situation. They almost despaired of enforcing the blockade of a place, whose peculiar situation gave it such advantages. Even could this be effected, the camp would be exposed, they argued, to the assaults of a desperate garrison on the one hand, and of the populous city of Guadix, hardly twenty miles distant, on the other; while the good faith of Granada could scarcely be expected to outlive a single reverse of fortune; so that, instead of besieging, they might be more properly regarded as themselves besieged. In addition to these evils, the winter frequently set in with much rigor in this quarter; and the torrents, descending from the mountains, and mingling with the waters of the valley, might overwhelm the camp with an inundation, which, if it did not sweep it away at once, would expose it to the perils of famine by cutting off all external communication. Under these gloomy impressions, many of the council urged Ferdinand to break up his position at once, and postpone all operations on Baza, until the reduction of the surrounding country should make it comparatively easy. Even the marquis of Cadiz gave in to this opinion; and Gutierre de Cardenas, commander of Leon, a cavalier deservedly high in the confidence of the king, was almost the only person of consideration decidedly opposed to it. In this perplexity, Ferdinand, as usual in similar exigencies, resolved to take counsel of the queen. [10]

Isabella received her husband's despatches a few hours after they were written, by means of the regular line of posts maintained between the camp and her station at Jaen. She was filled with chagrin at their import, from which she plainly saw, that all her mighty preparations were about to vanish into air. Without assuming the responsibility of deciding the proposed question, however, she besought her husband not to distrust the providence of God, which had conducted them through so many perils towards the consummation of their wishes. She reminded him, that the Moorish fortunes were never at so low an ebb as at present, and that their own operations could probably never be resumed on such a formidable scale or under so favorable auspices as now, when their arms had not been stained with a single important reverse. She concluded with the assurance, that, if his soldiers would be true to their duty, they might rely on her for the faithful discharge of hers in furnishing them with all the requisite supplies.

The exhilarating tone of this letter had an instantaneous effect, silencing the scruples of the most timid, and confirming the confidence of the others. The soldiers, in particular, who had received with dissatisfaction some intimation of what was passing in the council, welcomed it with general enthusiasm; and every heart seemed now intent on furthering the wishes of their heroic queen by prosecuting the siege with the utmost vigor.

The army was accordingly distributed into two encampments; one under the marquis duke of Cadiz, supported by the artillery, the other under King Ferdinand on the opposite side of the city. Between the two lay the garden or orchard before mentioned, extending a league in length; so that, in order to connect the works of the two camps, it became necessary to get possession of this contested ground, and to clear it of the heavy timber with which it was covered.

This laborious operation was intrusted to the commander of Leon, and the work was covered by a detachment of seven thousand troops, posted in such a manner as to check the sallies of the garrison. Notwithstanding four thousand taladores, or pioneers, were employed in the task, the forest was so dense, and the sorties from the city so annoying, that the work of devastation did not advance more than ten paces a day, and was not completed before the expiration of seven weeks. When the ancient groves, so long the ornament and protection of the city, were levelled to the ground, preparations were made for connecting the two camps, by a deep trench, through which the mountain waters were made to flow; while the borders were fortified with palisades, constructed of the timber lately hewn, together with strong towers of mud or clay, arranged at regular intervals. In this manner, the investment of the city was complete on the side of the vega. [11]

As means of communication still remained open, however, by the opposite sierra, defences of similar strength, consisting of two stone walls separated by a deep trench, were made to run along the rocky heights and ravines of the mountains until they touched the extremities of the fortifications on the plain; and thus Baza was encompassed by an unbroken line of circumvallation.

In the progress of the laborious work, which occupied ten thousand men, under the indefatigable commander of Leon, for the space of two months, it would have been easy for the people of Guadix, or of Granada, by co- operation with the sallies of the besieged, to place the Christian army in great peril. Some feeble demonstration of such a movement was made at Guadix, but it was easily disconcerted. Indeed, El Zagal was kept in check by the fear of leaving his own territory open to his rival, should he march against the Christians. Abdallah, in the mean while, lay inactive in Granada, incurring the odium and contempt of his people, who stigmatized him as a Christian in heart, and a pensioner of the Spanish sovereigns. Their discontent gradually swelled into a rebellion, which was suppressed by him with a severity, that at length induced a sullen acquiescence in a rule, which, however inglorious, was at least attended with temporary security. [12]

While the camp lay before Baza, a singular mission was received from the sultan of Egypt, who had been solicited by the Moors of Granada to interpose in their behalf with the Spanish sovereigns. Two Franciscan friars, members of a religious community in Palestine, were bearers of despatches; which, after remonstrating with the sovereigns on. their persecution of the Moors, contrasted it with the protection uniformly extended by the sultan to the Christians in his dominions. The communication concluded with menacing a retaliation of similar severities on these latter, unless the sovereigns desisted from their hostilities towards Granada.

From the camp, the two ambassadors proceeded to Jaen, where they were received by the queen with all the deference due to their holy profession, which seemed to derive additional sanctity from the spot in which it was exercised. The menacing import of the sultan's communication, however, had no power to shake the purposes of Ferdinand and Isabella, who made answer, that they had uniformly observed the same policy in regard to their Mahometan, as to their Christian subjects; but that they could no longer submit to see their ancient and rightful inheritance in the hands of strangers; and that, if these latter would consent to live under their rule, as true and loyal subjects, they should experience the same paternal indulgence which had been shown to their brethren. With this answer the reverend emissaries returned to the Holy Land, accompanied by substantial marks of the royal favor, in a yearly pension of one thousand ducats, which the queen settled in perpetuity on their monastery, together with a richly embroidered veil, the work of her own fair hands, to be suspended over the Holy Sepulchre. The sovereigns subsequently despatched the learned Peter Martyr as their envoy to the Moslem court, in order to explain their proceedings more at length, and avert any disastrous consequences from the Christian residents. [13]

In the mean while, the siege went forward with spirit; skirmishes and single rencontres taking place every day between the high-mettled cavaliers on both sides. These chivalrous combats, however, were discouraged by Ferdinand, who would have confined his operations to strict blockade, and avoided the unnecessary effusion of blood; especially as the advantage was most commonly on the side of the enemy, from the peculiar adaptation of their tactics to this desultory warfare. Although some months had elapsed, the besieged rejected with scorn every summons to surrender; relying on their own resources, and still more on the tempestuous season of autumn, now fast advancing, which, if it did not break up the encampment at once, would at least, by demolishing the roads, cut off all external communication.

In order to guard against these impending evils, Ferdinand caused more than a thousand houses, or rather huts, to be erected, with walls of earth or clay, and roofs made of timber and tiles; while the common soldiers constructed cabins by means of palisades loosely thatched with the branches of trees. The whole work was accomplished in four days; and the inhabitants of Baza beheld with amazement a city of solid edifices, with all its streets and squares in regular order, springing as it were by magic out of the ground, which had before been covered with the light and airy pavilions of the camp. The new city was well supplied, owing to the providence of the queen, not merely with the necessaries, but the luxuries of life. Traders flocked there as to a fair, from Aragon, Valencia, Catalonia, and even Sicily, freighted with costly merchandise, and with jewelry and other articles of luxury; such as, in the indignant lament of an old chronicler, "too often corrupt the souls of the soldiery, and bring waste and dissipation into a camp."

That this was not the result, however, in the present instance, is attested by more than one historian. Among others, Peter Martyr, the Italian scholar before mentioned, who was present at this siege, dwells with astonishment on the severe decorum and military discipline, which everywhere obtained among this motley congregation of soldiers. "Who would have believed," says he, "that the Galician, the fierce Asturian, and the rude inhabitant of the Pyrenees, men accustomed to deeds of atrocious violence, and to brawl and battle on the lightest occasions at home, should mingle amicably, not only with one another, but with the Toledans, La-Manchans, and the wily and jealous Andalusian; all living together in harmonious subordination to authority, like members of one family, speaking one tongue, and nurtured under a common discipline; so that the camp seemed like a community modelled on the principles of Plato's republic!" In another part of this letter, which was addressed to a Milanese prelate, he panegyrizes the camp hospital of the queen, then a novelty in war; which, he says, "is so profusely supplied with medical attendants, apparatus, and whatever may contribute to the restoration or solace of the sick, that it is scarcely surpassed in these respects by the magnificent establishments of Milan." [14]

During the five months which the siege had now lasted, the weather had proved uncommonly propitious to the Spaniards, being for the most part of a bland and equal temperature, while the sultry heats of midsummer were mitigated by cool and moderate showers. As the autumnal season advanced, however, the clouds began to settle heavily around the mountains; and at length one of those storms, predicted by the people of Baza, burst forth with incredible fury, pouring a volume of waters down the rocky sides of the sierra, which, mingling with those of the vega, inundated the camp of the besiegers, and swept away most of the frail edifices constructed for the use of the common soldiery. A still greater calamity befell them in the dilapidation of the roads, which, broken up or worn into deep gullies by the force of the waters, were rendered perfectly impassable. All communication was of course suspended with Jaen, and a temporary interruption of the convoys filled the camp with consternation. This disaster, however, was speedily repaired by the queen, who, with an energy always equal to the occasion, caused six thousand pioneers to be at once employed in reconstructing the roads; the rivers were bridged over, causeways new laid, and two separate passes opened through the mountains, by which the convoys might visit the camp, and return without interrupting each other. At the same time, the queen bought up immense quantities of grain from all parts of Andalusia, which she caused to be ground in her own mills; and, when the roads, which extended more than seven leagues in length, were completed, fourteen thousand mules might be seen daily traversing the sierra, laden with supplies, which from that time forward were poured abundantly, and with the most perfect regularity, into the camp. [15]

Isabella's next care was to assemble new levies of troops, to relieve or reinforce those now in the camp; and the alacrity with which all orders of men from every quarter of the kingdom answered her summons is worthy of remark. But her chief solicitude was to devise expedients for meeting the enormous expenditures incurred by the protracted operations of the year. For this purpose, she had recourse to loans from individuals and religious corporations, which were obtained without much difficulty, from the general confidence in her good faith. As the sum thus raised, although exceedingly large for that period, proved inadequate to the expenses, further supplies were obtained from wealthy individuals, whose loans were secured by mortgage of the royal demesne; and, as a deficiency still remained in the treasury, the queen, as a last resource, pawned the crown jewels and her own personal ornaments to the merchants of Barcelona and Valencia, for such sums as they were willing to advance on them. [16] Such were the efforts made by this high-spirited woman, for the furtherance of her patriotic enterprise. The extraordinary results, which she was enabled to effect, are less to be ascribed to the authority of her station, than to that perfect confidence in her wisdom and virtue, with which she had inspired the whole nation, and which secured their earnest co-operation in all her undertakings. The empire, which she thus exercised, indeed, was far more extended than any station, however exalted, or any authority, however despotic, can confer; for it was over the hearts of her people.

Notwithstanding the vigor with which the siege was pressed, Baza made no demonstration of submission. The garrison was indeed greatly reduced in number; the ammunition was nearly expended; yet there still remained abundant supplies of provisions in the town, and no signs of despondency appeared among the people. Even the women of the place, with a spirit emulating that of the dames of ancient Carthage, freely gave up their jewels, bracelets, necklaces, and other personal ornaments, of which the Moorish ladies were exceedingly fond, in order to defray the charges of the mercenaries.

The camp of the besiegers, in the mean while, was also greatly wasted both by sickness and the sword. Many, desponding under perils and fatigues, which seemed to have no end, would even at this late hour have abandoned the siege; and they earnestly solicited the queen's appearance in the camp, in the hope that she would herself countenance this measure, on witnessing their sufferings. Others, and by far the larger part, anxiously desired the queen's visit, as likely to quicken the operations of the siege, and bring it to a favorable issue. There seemed to be a virtue in her presence, which, on some account or other, made it earnestly desired by all.

Isabella yielded to the general wish, and on the 7th of November arrived before the camp, attended by the infanta Isabella, the cardinal of Spain, her friend, the marchioness of Moya, and other ladies of the royal household. The inhabitants of Baza, says Bernaldez, lined the battlements and housetops, to gaze at the glittering cavalcade as it emerged from the depths of the mountains, amidst flaunting banners and strains of martial music, while the Spanish cavaliers thronged forth in a body from the camp to receive their beloved mistress, and gave her the most animated welcome. "She came," says Martyr, "surrounded by a choir of nymphs, as if to celebrate the nuptials of her child; and her presence seemed at once to gladden and reanimate our spirits, drooping under long vigils, dangers, and fatigue." Another writer, also present, remarks that, from the moment of her appearance, a change seemed to come over the scene. No more of the cruel skirmishes, which had before occurred every day; no report of artillery, or clashing of arms, or any of the rude sounds of war, was to be heard, but all seemed disposed to reconciliation and peace. [17]

The Moors probably interpreted Isabella's visit into an assurance, that the Christian army would never rise from before the place until its surrender. Whatever hopes they had once entertained of wearying out the besiegers, were therefore now dispelled. Accordingly, a few days after the queen's arrival, we find them proposing a parley for arranging terms of capitulation.

On the third day after her arrival, Isabella reviewed her army, stretched out in order of battle along the slope of the western hills; after which, she proceeded to reconnoitre the beleaguered city, accompanied by the king and the cardinal of Spain, together with a brilliant escort of the Spanish chivalry. On the same day, a conference was opened with the enemy through the comendador of Leon; and an armistice arranged, to continue until the old monarch, El Zagal, who then lay at Guadix, could be informed of the real condition of the besieged, and his instructions be received, determining the course to be adopted.

The alcayde of Baza represented to his master the low state to which the garrison was reduced by the loss of lives and the failure of ammunition. Still, he expressed such confidence in the spirit of his people, that he undertook to make good his defence some time longer, provided any reasonable expectation of succor could be afforded; otherwise, it would be a mere waste of life, and must deprive him of such vantage ground as he now possessed, for enforcing an honorable capitulation. The Moslem prince acquiesced in the reasonableness of these representations. He paid a just tribute to his brave kinsman Cidi Yahye's loyalty, and the gallantry of his defence; but, confessing at the same time his own inability to relieve him, authorized him to negotiate the best terms of surrender which he could, for himself and garrison. [18]

A mutual desire of terminating the protracted hostilities infused a spirit of moderation into both parties, which greatly facilitated the adjustment of the articles. Ferdinand showed none of the arrogant bearing, which marked his conduct towards the unfortunate people of Malaga, whether from a conviction of its impolicy, or, as is more probable, because the city of Baza was itself in a condition to assume a more imposing attitude. The principal stipulations of the treaty were, that the foreign mercenaries employed in the defence of the place should be allowed to march out with the honors of war; that the city should be delivered up to the Christians; but that the natives might have the choice of retiring with their personal effects where they listed; or of occupying the suburbs, as subjects of the Castilian crown, liable only to the same tribute which they paid to their Moslem rulers, and secured in the enjoyment of their property, religion, laws, and usages. [19]

On the fourth day of December, 1489, Ferdinand and Isabella took possession of Baza, at the head of their legions, amid the ringing of bells, the peals of artillery, and all the other usual accompaniments of this triumphant ceremony; while the standard of the Cross, floating from the ancient battlements of the city, proclaimed the triumph of the Christian arms. The brave alcayde, Cidi Yahye, experienced a reception from the sovereigns very different from that of the bold defender of Malaga. He was loaded with civilities and presents; and these acts of courtesy so won upon his heart, that he expressed a willingness to enter into their service. "Isabella's compliments," says the Arabian historian, dryly, "were repaid in more substantial coin."

Cidi Yahye was soon prevailed on to visit his royal kinsman El Zagal, at Guadix, for the purpose of urging his submission to the Christian sovereigns. In his interview with that prince, he represented the fruitlessness of any attempt to withstand the accumulated forces of the Spanish monarchies; that he would only see town after town pared away from his territory, until no ground was left for him to stand on, and make terms with the victor. He reminded him, that the baleful horoscope of Abdallah had predicted the downfall of Granada, and that experience had abundantly shown how vain it was to struggle against the tide of destiny. The unfortunate monarch listened, says the Arabian annalist, without so much as moving an eyelid; and, after a long and deep meditation, replied with the resignation characteristic of the Moslems, "What Allah wills, he brings to pass in his own way. Had he not decreed the fall of Granada, this good sword might have saved it; but his will be done!" It was then arranged, that the principal cities of Almeria, Guadix, and their dependencies, constituting the domain of El Zagal, should be formally surrendered by that prince to Ferdinand and Isabella, who should instantly proceed at the head of their army to take possession of them. [20]

On the seventh day of December, therefore, the Spanish sovereigns, without allowing themselves or their jaded troops any time for repose, marched out of the gates of Baza, King Ferdinand occupying the centre, and the queen the rear of the army. Their route lay across the most savage district of the long sierra, which stretches towards Almeria; leading through many a narrow pass, which a handful of resolute Moors, says an eye-witness, might have made good against the whole Christian army, over mountains whose peaks were lost in clouds, and valleys whose depths were never warmed by a sun. The winds were exceedingly bleak, and the weather inclement, so that men, as well as horses, exhausted by the fatigues of previous service, were benumbed by the intense cold, and many of them frozen to death. Many more, losing their way in the intricacies of the sierra, would have experienced the same miserable fate, had it not been for the marquis of Cadiz, whose tent was pitched on one of the loftiest hills, and who caused beacon fires to be lighted around it, in order to guide the stragglers back to their quarters.

At no great distance from Almeria, Ferdinand was met, conformably to the previous arrangement, by El Zagal, escorted by a numerous body of Moslem cavaliers. Ferdinand commanded his nobles to ride forward and receive the Moorish prince. "His appearance," says Martyr, who was in the royal retinue, "touched my soul with compassion; for, although a lawless barbarian, he was a king, and had given signal proofs of heroism." El Zagal, without waiting to receive the courtesies of the Spanish nobles, threw himself from his horse, and advanced towards Ferdinand with the design of kissing his hand; but the latter, rebuking his followers for their "rusticity," in allowing such an act of humiliation in the unfortunate monarch, prevailed on him to remount, and then rode by his side towards Almeria. [21]

This city was one of the most precious jewels in the diadem of Granada. It had amassed great wealth by its extensive commerce with Syria, Egypt, and Africa; and its corsairs had for ages been the terror of the Catalan and Pisan marine. It might have stood a siege as long as that of Baza, but it was now surrendered without a blow, on conditions similar to those granted to the former city. After allowing some days for the refreshment of their wearied forces in this pleasant region, which, sheltered from the bleak winds of the north by the sierra they had lately traversed, and fanned by the gentle breezes of the Mediterranean, is compared by Martyr to the gardens of the Hesperides, the sovereigns established a strong garrison there, under the commander of Leon, and then, striking again into the recesses of the mountains, marched on Guadix, which, after some opposition on the part of the populace, threw open its gates to them. The surrender of these principal cities was followed by that of all the subordinate dependencies belonging to El Zagal's territory, comprehending a multitude of hamlets scattered along the green sides of the mountain chain that stretched from Granada to the coast. To all these places the same liberal terms, in regard to personal rights and property, were secured, as to Baza.

As an equivalent for these broad domains, the Moorish chief was placed in possession of the taha, or district, of Andaraz, the vale of Alhaurin, and half the salt-pits of Maleha, together with a considerable revenue in money. He was, moreover, to receive the title of King of Andaraz, and to render homage for his estates to the crown of Castile.

This shadow of royalty could not long amuse the mind of the unfortunate prince. He pined away amid the scenes of his ancient empire; and, after experiencing some insubordination on the part of his new vassals, he determined to relinquish his petty principality, and withdraw for ever from his native land. Having received a large sum of money, as an indemnification for the entire cession of his territorial rights and possessions to the Castilian crown, he passed over to Africa, where, it is reported, he was plundered of his property by the barbarians, and condemned to starve out the remainder of his days in miserable indigence. [22]

The suspicious circumstances attending this prince's accession to the throne throw a dark cloud over his fame, which would otherwise seem, at least as far as his public life is concerned, to be unstained by any opprobrious act. He possessed such energy, talent, and military science, as, had he been fortunate enough to unite the Moorish nation under him by an undisputed title, might have postponed the fall of Granada for many years. As it was, these very talents, by dividing the state in his favor, served only to precipitate its ruin.

The Spanish sovereigns, having accomplished the object of the campaign, after stationing part of their forces on such points as would secure the permanence of their conquests, returned with the remainder to Jaen, where they disbanded the army on the 4th of January, 1490. The losses sustained by the troops, during the whole period of their prolonged service, greatly exceeded those of any former year, amounting to not less than twenty thousand men, by far the larger portion of whom are said to have fallen victims to diseases incident to severe and long-continued hardships and exposure. [23]

Thus terminated the eighth year of the war of Granada, a year more glorious to the Christian arms, and more important in its results, than any of the preceding. During this period, an army of eighty thousand men had kept the field, amid all the inclemencies of winter, for more than seven months; an effort scarcely paralleled in these times, when both the amount of levies, and period of service, were on the limited scale adapted to the exigencies of feudal warfare. [24] Supplies for this immense host, notwithstanding the severe famine of the preceding year, were punctually furnished, in spite of every embarrassment presented by the want of navigable rivers, and the interposition of a precipitous and pathless sierra.

The history of this campaign is, indeed, most honorable to the courage, constancy, and thorough discipline of the Spanish soldier, and to the patriotism and general resources of the nation; but most of all to Isabella. She it was, who fortified the timid councils of the leaders, after the disasters of the garden, and encouraged them to persevere in the siege. She procured all the supplies, constructed the roads, took charge of the sick, and furnished, at no little personal sacrifice, the immense sums demanded for carrying on the war; and when at last the hearts of the soldiers were fainting under long-protracted sufferings, she appeared among them, like some celestial visitant, to cheer their faltering spirits, and inspire them with her own energy. The attachment to Isabella seemed to be a pervading principle, which animated the whole nation by one common impulse, impressing a unity of design on all its movements. This attachment was imputable to her sex as well as character. The sympathy and tender care, with which she regarded her people, naturally raised a reciprocal sentiment in their bosoms. But when they beheld her directing their counsels, sharing their fatigues and dangers, and displaying all the comprehensive intellectual powers of the other sex, they looked up to her as to some superior being, with feelings far more exalted than those of mere loyalty. The chivalrous heart of the Spaniard did homage to her, as to his tutelar saint; and she held a control over her people, such as no man could have acquired in any age,—and probably no woman, in an age and country less romantic.

* * * * *

Pietro Martire, or, as he is called in English, Peter Martyr, so often quoted in the present chapter, and who will constitute one of our best authorities during the remainder of the history, was a native of Arona (not of Anghiera, as commonly supposed), a place situated on the borders of Lake Maggiore in Italy. (Mazzuchelli, Scrittori d'ltalia, (Brescia, 1753-63,) tom. ii. voce Anghiera.) He was of noble Milanese extraction. In 1477, at twenty-two years of age, he was sent to complete his education at Rome, where he continued ten years, and formed an intimacy with the most distinguished literary characters of that cultivated capital. In 1487, he was persuaded by the Castilian ambassador, the count of Tendilla, to accompany him to Spain, where he was received with marked distinction by the queen, who would have at once engaged him in the tuition of the young nobility of the court, but, Martyr having expressed a preference of a military life, she, with her usual delicacy, declined to press him on the point. He was present, as we have seen, at the siege of Baza, and continued with the army during the subsequent campaigns of the Moorish war. Many passages of his correspondence, at this period, show a whimsical mixture of self-complacency with a consciousness of the ludicrous figure which he made in "exchanging the Muses for Mars."

At the close of the war, he entered the ecclesiastical profession, for which he had been originally destined, and was persuaded to resume his literary vocation. He opened his school at Valladolid, Saragossa, Barcelona, Alcala de Henares, and other places; and it was thronged with the principal young nobility from all parts of Spain, who, as he boasts in one of his letters, drew their literary nourishment from him. "Suxerunt mea literalia ubera Castellae principes fere omnes." His important services were fully estimated by the queen, and, after her death, by Ferdinand and Charles V., and he was recompensed with high ecclesiastical preferment as well as civil dignities. He died about the year 1525, at the age of seventy, and his remains were interred beneath a monument in the cathedral church of Granada, of which he was prior.

Among Martyr's principal works is a treatise "De Legatione Babylonica," being an account of a visit to the sultan of Egypt, in 1501, for the purpose of deprecating the retaliation with which he had menaced the Christian residents in Palestine, for the injuries inflicted on the Spanish Moslems. Peter Martyr conducted his negotiation with such address, that he not only appeased the sultan's resentment, but obtained several important immunities for his Christian subjects, in addition to those previously enjoyed by them.

He also wrote an account of the discoveries of the New World, entitled "De Rebus Oceanicis et Novo Orbe," (Coloniae, 1574,) a book largely consulted and commended by subsequent historians. But the work of principal value in our researches is his "Opus Epistolarum," being a collection of his multifarious correspondence with the most considerable persons of his time, whether in political or literary life. The letters are in Latin, and extend from the year 1488 to the time of his death. Although not conspicuous for elegance of diction, they are most valuable to the historian, from the fidelity and general accuracy of the details, as well as for the intelligent criticism in which they abound, for all which, uncommon facilities were afforded by the writer's intimacy with the leading actors, and the most recondite sources of information of the period.

This high character is fully authorized by the judgments of those best qualified to pronounce on their merits,—Martyr's own contemporaries. Among these, Dr. Galindez de Carbajal, a counsellor of King Ferdinand, and constantly employed in the highest concerns of state, commends these epistles as "the work of a learned and upright man, well calculated to throw light on the transactions of the period." (Anales, MS., prologo.) Alvaro Gomez, another contemporary who survived Martyr, in the Life of Ximenes, which he was selected to write by the University of Alcala, declares, that "Martyr's Letters abundantly compensate by their fidelity for the unpolished style in which they are written." (De Rebus Gestis, fol. 6.) And John de Vergara, a name of the highest celebrity in the literary annals of the period, expresses himself in the following emphatic terms. "I know no record of the time more accurate and valuable. I myself have often witnessed the promptness with which he put down things the moment they occurred. I have sometimes seen him write one or two letters, while they were setting the table. For, as he did not pay much attention to style and mere finish of expression, his composition required but little time, and experienced no interruption from his ordinary avocations." (See his letter to Florian de Ocampo, apud Quintanilla y Mendoza, Archetypo de Virtudes, Espejo de Prelados, el Venerable Padre y Siervo de Dios, F. Francisco Ximenez de Cisneros, (Palermo, 1653,) Archivo, p. 4.) This account of the precipitate manner in which the epistles were composed, may help to explain the cause of the occasional inconsistencies and anachronisms, that are to be found in them; and which their author, had he been more patient of the labor of revision, would doubtless have corrected. But he seems to have had little relish for this, even in his more elaborate works, composed with a view to publication. (See his own honest confessions in his book "De Rebus Oceanicis," dec. 8, cap. 8, 9.) After all, the errors, such as they are, in his Epistles, may probably be chiefly charged on the publisher. The first edition appeared at Alcala de Henares, in 1530, about four years after the author's death. It has now become exceedingly rare. The second and last, being the one used in the present History, came out in a more beautiful form from the Elzevir press, Amsterdam, in 1670, folio. Of this also but a small number of copies were struck off. The learned editor takes much credit to himself for having purified the work from many errors, which had flowed from the heedlessness of his predecessor. It will not be difficult to detect several yet remaining. Such, for example, as a memorable letter on the lues venerea, (No. 68,) obviously misplaced, even according to its own date; and that numbered 168, in which two letters are evidently blended into one. But it is unnecessary to multiply examples.—It is very desirable, that an edition of this valuable correspondence should be published, under the care of some one qualified to illustrate it by his intimacy with the history of the period, as well as to correct the various inaccuracies which have crept into it, whether through the carelessness of the author or of his editors.

I have been led into this length of remark by some strictures which met my eye in the recent work of Mr. Hallam; who intimates his belief, that the Epistles of Martyr, instead of being written at their respective dates, were produced by him at some later period; (Introduction to the Literature of Europe, (London, 1837,) vol. i. pp. 439-441;) a conclusion which I suspect this acute and candid critic would have been slow to adopt, had he perused the correspondence in connection with the history of the times, or weighed the unqualified testimony borne by contemporaries to its minute accuracy.

FOOTNOTES

[1] Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 351, 352, 356.—Mariana, Hist. de Espana, tom. ii. lib. 25, cap. 12.—Pulgar, Reyes Catolicos, part. 3, cap. 95.

[2] Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, tom. viii. p. 76.—Pulgar, Reyes Catolicos, cap. 98.—Zuniga, Annales de Sevilla, p. 402.—Cardonne, Hist. d'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. iii. pp. 298, 299.—Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1488.

[3] Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. iii. pp. 239, 240.—Pulgar, Reyes Catolicos, cap. 100, 101.—During the preceding year, while the court was at Murcia, we find one of the examples of prompt and severe exercise of justice, which sometimes occur in this reign. One of the royal collectors having been resisted and personally maltreated by the alcayde of Salvatierra, a place belonging to the crown, and by the alcalde of a territorial court of the duke of Alva, the queen caused one of the royal judges privately to enter into the place, and take cognizance of the affair. The latter, after a brief investigation, commanded the alcayde to be hung up over his fortress, and the alcalde to be delivered over to the court of chancery at Valladolid, who ordered his right hand to be amputated, and banished him the realm. This summary justice was perhaps necessary in a community, that might be said to be in transition from a state of barbarism to that of civilization, and had a salutary effect in proving to the people that no rank was elevated enough to raise the offender above the law. Pulgar, cap. 99.

[4] Ialigny, Hist. de Charles VIII., pp. 92, 94.—Sismondi, Hist. des Francais, tom. xv. p. 77.—Aleson, Annales de Navarra, tom. v. p. 61.— Histoire du Royaume de Navarre, pp. 578, 579.—Pulgar, Reyes Catolicos, cap. 102.

In the first of these expeditions, more than a thousand Spaniards were slain or taken at the disastrous battle of St. Aubin, in 1488, being the same in which Lord Rivers, the English noble, who made such a gallant figure at the siege of Loja, lost his life. In the spring of 1489, the levies sent into France amounted to two thousand in number. These efforts abroad, simultaneous with the great operations of the Moorish war, show the resources as well as energy of the sovereigns.

[5] Pulgar, Reyes Catolicos, ubi supra.

[6] Bernaldez, Reyes Catolicos, MS., cap. 91.—Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 354.—Bleda, Coronica, fol. 607.—Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. fol. 307.

Such was the scarcity of grain that the prices in 1489, quoted by Bernaldez, are double those of the preceding year.—Both Abarca and Zurita mention the report, that four-fifths of the whole population were swept away by the pestilence of 1488. Zurita finds more difficulty in swallowing this monstrous statement than Father Abarca, whose appetite for the marvellous appears to have been fully equal to that of most of his calling in Spain.

[7] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., lib. 2, epist. 70.—Pulgar, Reyes Catolicos, cap. 104.

It may not be amiss to specify the names of the most distinguished cavaliers who usually attended the king in these Moorish wars; the heroic ancestors of many a noble house still extant in Spain.

Alonso de Cardenas, master of Saint Jago. Juan de Zuniga, master of Alcantara. Juan Garcia de Padilla, master of Calatrava. Rodrigo Ponce de Leon, marquis duke of Cadiz. Enrique de Guzman, duke of Medina Sidonia. Pedro Manrique, duke of Najera. Juan Pacheco, duke of Escalona, marquis of Villena. Juan Pimentel, count of Benavente. Fadrique de Toledo, son of the duke of Alva. Diego Fernandez de Cordova, count of Cabra. Gomez Alvarez de Figueroa, count of Feria. Alvaro Tellez Giron, count of Urena. Juan de Silva, count of Cifuentes. Fadrique Enriquez, adelantado of Andalusia. Alonso Fernandez de Cordova, lord of Aguilar. Gonsalvo de Cordova, brother of the last, known afterwards as the Great Captain. Luis Porto-Carrero, lord of Palma. Gutierre de Cardenas, first commander of Leon. Pedro Fernandez de Velasco, count of Haro, constable of Castile. Beltran de la Cueva, duke of Albuquerque. Diego Fernandez de Cordova, alcayde of the royal pages, afterwards marquis of Comaras. Alvaro de Zuniga, duke of Bejar. Inigo Lopez de Mendoza, count of Tendilla, afterwards marquis of Mondejar. Luis de Cerda, duke of Medina Celi. Inigo Lopez de Mendoza, marquis of Santillana, second duke of Infantado. Garcilasso de la Vega, lord of Batras.

[8] Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 360.—Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. iii. p. 241.—Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., lib. 2, epist. 70.—Estrada, Poblacion de Espana, tom. ii. fol. 239.—Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 16.

[9] Pulgar, Reyes Catolicos, cap. 106, 107.—Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. iii. cap. 40.—Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 71. Pulgar relates these particulars with a perspicuity very different from his entangled narrative of some of the preceding operations in this war. Both he and Martyr were present during the whole siege of Baza.

[10] Bernaldez, Reyes Catolicos, MS., cap. 92.—Cardonne, Hist. d'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. iii. pp. 299, 300.—Bleda, Coronica, p. 611.—Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. p. 664.

Don Gutierre de Cardenas, who possessed so high a place in the confidence of the sovereigns, occupied a station in the queen's household, as we have seen, at the time of her marriage with Ferdinand. His discretion and general ability enabled him to retain the influence which he had early acquired, as is shown by a popular distich of that time.

"Cardenas, y el Cardenal, y Chacon, y Fray Mortero, Traen la Corte al retortero."

Fray Mortero was Don Alonso de Burgos, bishop of Palencia, confessor of the sovereigns. Don Juan Chacon was the son of Gonsalvo, who had the care of Don Alfonso and the queen during her minority, when he was induced by the liberal largesses of John II., of Aragon, to promote her marriage with his son Ferdinand. The elder Chacon was treated by the sovereigns with the greatest deference and respect, being usually called by them "father." After his death, they continued to manifest a similar regard towards Don Juan, his eldest son, and heir of his ample honors and estates. Salazar de Mendoza, Dignidades, lib. 4, cap. 1.—Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 2, dial. 1, 2.

[11] Cardonne, Hist. d'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. iii. p. 304.—Pulgar, Reyes Catolicos, cap. 109.—Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., lib. 2, epist. 73. —Bernaldez, Reyes Catolicos, MS., cap. 92.

[12] Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. iii. cap. 40.—Mariana, Hist. de Espana, tom. ii. lib. 25, cap. 12.—Pulgar, Reyes Catolicos, cap. 111.

[13] Pulgar, Reyes Catolicos, cap. 112.—Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, tom. viii. p. 86.

[14] Bernaldez, Reyes Catolicos, MS.—Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., lib. 2, epist. 73, 80.—Pulgar, Reyes Catolicos, cap. 113, 114, 117.—Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. p. 667.—Bleda, Coronica, p. 64.

The plague, which fell heavily this year on some parts of Andalusia, does not appear to have attacked the camp, which Bleda imputes to the healing influence of the Spanish sovereigns, "whose good faith, religion, and virtue banished the contagion from their army, where it must otherwise have prevailed." Personal comforts and cleanliness of the soldiers, though not quite so miraculous a cause, may be considered perhaps full as efficacious.

[15] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., lib. 2, epist. 73.—Pulgar, Reyes Catolicos, cap. 116.

[16] Pulgar, Reyes Catolicos, cap. 118.—Archivo de Simancas, in Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. p. 311.

The city of Valencia lent 35,000 florins on the crown and 20,000 on a collar of rubies. They were not wholly redeemed till 1495. Senor Clemencin has given a catalogue of the royal jewels, (see Mem. de la Acad. de Hist., tom. vi. Ilustracion 6,) which appear to have been extremely rich and numerous, for a period anterior to the discovery of those countries, whose mines have since furnished Europe with its bijouterie. Isabella, however, set so little value on them, that she divested herself of most of them in favor of her daughters.

[17] Bernaldez, Reyes Catolicos, MS., cap. 92.—Pulgar, Reyes Catolicos, cap. 120, 121.—Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, tom. viii. p. 93.—Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., lib. 3, epist. 80.

[18] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., lib. 3, epist. 80.—Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. iii. p. 242.—Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1489.—Cardonne, Hist. d'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. iii. p. 305.

[19] Pulgar, Reyes Catolicos, cap. 124.—Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 16.

[20] Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. iii. cap. 40.—Bleda, Coronica, p. 612.—Bernaldez, Reyes Catolicos, MS., cap. 92.—Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 16.

[21] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., lib. 3, epist. 81.—Cardonne, Hist. d'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. iii. p. 340.—Pulgar, Reyes Catolicos, loc. cit.—Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. iii. cap. 40.

[22] El Nubiense, Descripcion de Espana, p. 160, not.—Carbajal, Anales, MS., ano 1488.—Cardonne, Hist. d'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. iii. p. 304. —Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., lib. 3, epist. 81.—Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. iii. pp. 245, 246.—Bernaldez, Reyes Catolicos, MS., cap. 93.

[23] Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 360.—Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. fol. 308.

[24] The city of Seville alone maintained 600 horse and 8000 foot under the count of Cifuentes, for the space of eight months during this siege. See Zuniga, Annales de Sevilla, p. 404.



CHAPTER XV.

WAR OF GRANADA.—SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF THE CITY OF GRANADA.

1490-1492.

The Infanta Isabella Affianced to the Prince of Portugal.—Isabella Deposes Judges at Valladolid.—Encampment before Granada.—The Queen Surveys the City.—Moslem and Christian Chivalry.—Conflagration of the Christian Camp.—Erection of Santa Fe.—Capitulation of Granada.—Results of the War.—Its Moral Influence.—Its Military Influence.—Fate of the Moors.—Death and Character of the Marquis of Cadiz.

In the spring of 1490, ambassadors arrived from Lisbon for the purpose of carrying into effect the treaty of marriage, which had been arranged between Alonso, heir of the Portuguese monarchy, and Isabella, infanta of Castile. An alliance with this kingdom, which from its contiguity possessed such ready means of annoyance to Castile, and which had shown such willingness to employ them in enforcing the pretensions of Joanna Beltraneja, was an object of importance to Ferdinand and Isabella. No inferior consideration could have reconciled the queen to a separation from this beloved daughter, her eldest child, whose gentle and uncommonly amiable disposition seems to have endeared her beyond their other children to her parents.

The ceremony of the affiancing took place at Seville, in the month of April, Don Fernando de Silveira appearing as the representative of the prince of Portugal; and it was followed by a succession of splendid fetes and tourneys. Lists were enclosed, at some distance from the city on the shores of the Guadalquivir, and surrounded with galleries hung with silk and cloth of gold, and protected from the noontide heat by canopies or awnings richly embroidered with the armorial bearings of the ancient houses of Castile. The spectacle was graced by all the rank and beauty of the court, with the infanta Isabella in the midst, attended by seventy noble ladies, and a hundred pages of the royal household. The cavaliers of Spain, young and old, thronged to the tournament, as eager to win laurels on the mimic theatre of war, in the presence of so brilliant an assemblage, as they had shown themselves in the sterner contests with the Moors. King Ferdinand, who broke several lances on the occasion, was among the most distinguished of the combatants for personal dexterity and horsemanship. The martial exercises of the day were relieved by the more effeminate recreations of dancing and music in the evening; and every one seemed willing to welcome the season of hilarity, after the long- protracted fatigues of war. [1]

In the following autumn, the infanta was escorted into Portugal by the cardinal of Spain, the grand master of St. James, and a numerous and magnificent retinue. Her dowry exceeded that usually assigned to the infantas of Castile, by five hundred marks of gold and a thousand of silver; and her wardrobe was estimated at one hundred and twenty thousand gold florins. The contemporary chroniclers dwell with much complacency on these evidences of the stateliness and splendor of the Castilian court. Unfortunately, these fair auspices were destined to be clouded too soon by the death of the prince, her husband. [2]

No sooner had the campaign of the preceding year been brought to a close, than Ferdinand and Isabella sent an embassy to the king of Granada, requiring a surrender of his capital, conformably to his stipulations at Loja, which guaranteed this, on the capitulation of Baza, Almeria, and Guadix. That time had now arrived; King Abdallah, however, excused himself from obeying the summons of the Spanish sovereigns; replying that he was no longer his own master, and that, although he had all the inclination to keep his engagements, he was prevented by the inhabitants of the city, now swollen much beyond its natural population, who resolutely insisted on its defence. [3]

It is not probable that the Moorish king did any great violence to his feelings, in this evasion of a promise extorted from him in captivity. At least, it would seem so from the hostile movements which immediately succeeded. The people of Granada resumed all at once their ancient activity, foraying into the Christian territories, surprising Alhendin and some other places of less importance, and stirring up the spirit of revolt in Guadix and other conquered cities. Granada, which had slept through the heat of the struggle, seemed to revive at the very moment when exertion became hopeless.

Ferdinand was not slow in retaliating these acts of aggression. In the spring of 1490, he marched with a strong force into the cultivated plain of Granada, sweeping off, as usual, the crops and cattle, and rolling the tide of devastation up to the very walls of the city. In this campaign he conferred the honor of knighthood on his son, prince John, then only twelve years of age, whom he had brought with him, after the ancient usage of the Castilian nobles, of training up their children from very tender years in the Moorish wars. The ceremony was performed on the banks of the grand canal, under the battlements almost of the beleaguered city. The dukes of Cadiz and Medina Sidonia were prince John's sponsors; and, after the completion of the ceremony, the new knight conferred the honors of chivalry in like manner on several of his young companions in arms. [4]

In the following autumn, Ferdinand repeated his ravages in the vega, and, at the same time appearing before the disaffected city of Guadix with a force large enough to awe it into submission, proposed an immediate investigation of the conspiracy. He promised to inflict summary justice on all who had been in any degree concerned in it; at the same time offering permission to the inhabitants, in the abundance of his clemency, to depart with all their personal effects wherever they would, provided they should prefer this to a judicial investigation of their conduct. This politic proffer had its effect. There were few, if any, of the citizens who had not been either directly concerned in the conspiracy, or privy to it. With one accord, therefore, they preferred exile to trusting to the tender mercies of their judges. In this way, says the Curate of Los Palacios, by the mystery of our Lord, was the ancient city of Guadix brought again within the Christian fold; the mosques converted into Christian temples, filled with the harmonies of Catholic worship, and the pleasant places, which for nearly eight centuries had been trampled under the foot of the infidel, were once more restored to the followers of the Cross.

A similar policy produced similar results in the cities of Almeria and Baza, whose inhabitants, evacuating their ancient homes, transported themselves, with such personal effects as they could carry, to the city of Granada, or the coast of Africa. The space thus opened by the fugitive population was quickly filled by the rushing tide of Spaniards. [5]

It is impossible at this day to contemplate these events with the triumphant swell of exultation, with which they are recorded by contemporary chroniclers. That the Moors were guilty (though not so generally as pretended) of the alleged conspiracy, is not in itself improbable, and is corroborated indeed by the Arabic statements. But the punishment was altogether disproportionate to the offence. Justice might surely have been satisfied by a selection of the authors and principal agents of the meditated insurrection;—for no overt act appears to have occurred. But avarice was too strong for justice; and this act, which is in perfect conformity to the policy systematically pursued by the Spanish crown for more than a century afterwards, may be considered as one of the first links in the long chain of persecution, which terminated in the expulsion of the Moriscoes.

During the following year, 1491, a circumstance occurred illustrative of the policy of the present government in reference to ecclesiastical matters. The chancery of Valladolid having appealed to the pope in a case coming within its own exclusive jurisdiction, the queen commanded Alonso de Valdivieso, bishop of Leon, the president of the court, together with all the auditors, to be removed from their respective offices, which she delivered to a new board, having the bishop of Oviedo at its head. This is one among many examples of the constancy with which Isabella, notwithstanding her reverence for religion, and respect for its ministers, refused to compromise the national independence by recognizing in any degree the usurpations of Rome. From this dignified attitude, so often abandoned by her successors, she never swerved for a moment during the course of her long reign. [6]

The winter of 1490 was busily occupied with preparations for the closing campaign against Granada. Ferdinand took command of the army in the month of April, 1491, with the purpose of sitting down before the Moorish capital, not to rise until its final surrender. The troops, which mustered in the Val de Velillos, are computed by most historians at fifty thousand horse and foot, although Martyr, who served as a volunteer, swells the number to eighty thousand. They were drawn from the different cities, chiefly, as usual, from Andalusia, which had been stimulated to truly gigantic efforts throughout this protracted war, [7] and from the nobility of every quarter, many of whom, wearied out with the contest, contented themselves with sending their quotas, while many others, as the marquises of Cadiz, Villena, the counts of Tendilla, Cabra, Urena, and Alonso de Aguilar, appeared in person, eager, as they had borne the brunt of so many hard campaigns, to share in the closing scene of triumph.

On the 26th of the month, the army encamped near the fountain of Ojos de Huescar, in the vega, about two leagues distant from Granada. Ferdinand's first movement was to detach a considerable force, under the marquis of Villena, which he subsequently supported in person with the remainder of the army, for the purpose of scouring the fruitful regions of the Alpuxarras, which served as the granary of the capital. This service was performed with such unsparing rigor, that no less than twenty-four towns and hamlets in the mountains were ransacked, and razed to the ground. After this, Ferdinand returned loaded with spoil to his former position on the banks of the Xenil, in full view of the Moorish metropolis, which seemed to stand alone, like some sturdy oak, the last of the forest, bidding defiance to the storm which had prostrated all its brethren.

Notwithstanding the failure of all external resources, Granada was still formidable from its local position and its defences. On the east it was fenced in by a wild mountain barrier, the Sierra Nevada, whose snow-clad summits diffused a grateful coolness over the city through the sultry heats of summer. The side towards the vega, facing the Christian encampment, was encircled by walls and towers of massive strength and solidity. The population, swelled to two hundred thousand by the immigration from the surrounding country, was likely, indeed, to be a burden in a protracted siege; but among them were twenty thousand, the flower of the Moslem chivalry, who had escaped the edge of the Christian sword. In front of the city, for an extent of nearly ten leagues, lay unrolled the magnificent vega,

"Fresca y regalada vega, Dulce recreacion de damas Y de hombres gloria immensa,"

whose prolific beauties could scarcely be exaggerated in the most florid strains of the Arabian minstrel, and which still bloomed luxuriant, notwithstanding the repeated ravages of the preceding season. [8]

The inhabitants of Granada were filled with indignation at the sight of their enemy, thus encamped under the shadow, as it were, of their battlements. They sallied forth in small bodies, or singly, challenging the Spaniards to equal encounter. Numerous were the combats which took place between the high-mettled cavaliers on both sides, who met on the level arena, as on a tilting-ground, where they might display their prowess in the presence of the assembled beauty and chivalry of their respective nations; for the Spanish camp was graced, as usual, by the presence of Queen Isabella and the infantas, with the courtly train of ladies who had accompanied their royal mistress from Alcala la Real. The Spanish ballads glow with picturesque details of these knightly tourneys, forming the most attractive portion of this romantic minstrelsy, which, celebrating the prowess of Moslem, as well as Christian warriors, sheds a dying glory round the last hours of Granada. [9]

The festivity, which reigned throughout the camp on the arrival of Isabella, did not divert her attention from the stern business of war. She superintended the military preparations, and personally inspected every part of the encampment. She appeared on the field superbly mounted, and dressed in complete armor; and, as she visited the different quarters and reviewed her troops, she administered words of commendation or sympathy, suited to the condition of the soldier. [10]

On one occasion, she expressed a desire to take a nearer survey of the city. For this purpose, a house was selected, affording the best point of view, in the little village of Zubia, at no great distance from Granada. The king and queen stationed themselves before a window, which commanded an unbroken prospect of the Alhambra, and the most beautiful quarter of the town. In the mean while, a considerable force, under the marquis duke of Cadiz, had been ordered, for the protection of the royal persons, to take up a position between the village and the city of Granada, with strict injunctions on no account to engage the enemy, as Isabella was unwilling to stain the pleasures of the day with unnecessary effusion of blood.

The people of Granada, however, were too impatient long to endure the presence, and, as they deemed it, the bravado of their enemy. They burst forth from the gates of the capital, dragging along with them several pieces of ordnance, and commenced a brisk assault on the Spanish lines. The latter sustained the shock with firmness, till the marquis of Cadiz, seeing them thrown into some disorder, found it necessary to assume the offensive, and, mustering his followers around him, made one of those desperate charges, which had so often broken the enemy. The Moorish cavalry faltered; but might have disputed the ground, had it not been for the infantry, which, composed of the rabble population of the city, was easily thrown into confusion, and hurried the horse along with it. The rout now became general. The Spanish cavaliers, whose blood was up, pursued to the very gates of Granada, "and not a lance," says Bernaldez, "that day, but was dyed in the blood of the infidel." Two thousand of the enemy were slain and taken in the engagement, which lasted only a short time; and the slaughter was stopped only by the escape of the fugitives within the walls of the city. [11]

About the middle of July, an accident occurred in the camp, which had like to have been attended with fatal consequences. The queen was lodged in a superb pavilion, belonging to the marquis of Cadiz, and always used by him in the Moorish war. By the carelessness of one of her attendants, a lamp was placed in such a situation, that, during the night, perhaps owing to a gust of wind, it set fire to the drapery or loose hangings of the pavilion, which was instantly in a blaze. The flame communicated with fearful rapidity to the neighboring tents, made of light, combustible materials, and the camp was menaced with general conflagration. This occurred at the dead of night, when all but the sentinels were buried in sleep. The queen and her children, whose apartments were near hers, were in great peril, and escaped with difficulty, though fortunately without injury. The alarm soon spread. The trumpets sounded to arms, for it was supposed to be some night attack of the enemy. Ferdinand, snatching up his arms hastily, put himself at the head of his troops; but, soon ascertaining the nature of the disaster, contented himself with posting the marquis of Cadiz, with a strong body of horse, over against the city, in order to repel any sally from that quarter. None, however, was attempted, and the fire was at length extinguished without personal injury, though not without loss of much valuable property, in jewels, plate, brocade, and other costly decorations of the tents of the nobility. [12]

In order to guard against a similar disaster, as well as to provide comfortable winter quarters for the army, should the siege be so long protracted as to require it, it was resolved to build a town of substantial edifices on the place of the present encampment. The plan was immediately put in execution. The work was distributed in due proportions among the troops of the several cities and of the great nobility; the soldier was on a sudden converted into an artisan, and, instead of war, the camp echoed with the sounds of peaceful labor.

In less than three months, this stupendous task was accomplished. The spot so recently occupied by light, fluttering pavilions, was thickly covered with solid structures of stone and mortar, comprehending, besides dwelling-houses, stables for a thousand horses. The town was thrown into a quadrangular form, traversed by two spacious avenues, intersecting each other at right angles in the centre, in the form of a cross, with stately portals at each of the four extremities. Inscriptions on blocks of marble in the various quarters, recorded the respective shares of the several cities in the execution of the work. When it was completed, the whole army was desirous that the new city should bear the name of their illustrious queen, but Isabella modestly declined this tribute, and bestowed on the place the title of Santa Fe, in token of the unshaken trust, manifested by her people throughout this war, in Divine Providence. With this name it still stands as it was erected in 1491, a monument of the constancy and enduring patience of the Spaniards, "the only city in Spain," in the words of a Castilian writer, "that has never been contaminated by the Moslem heresy." [13]

The erection of Santa Fe by the Spaniards struck a greater damp into the people of Granada, than the most successful military achievement could have done. They beheld the enemy setting foot on their soil, with a resolution never more to resign it. They already began to suffer from the rigorous blockade, which effectually excluded supplies from their own territories, while all communication with Africa was jealously intercepted. Symptoms of insubordination had begun to show themselves among the overgrown population of the city, as it felt more and more the pressure of famine. In this crisis, the unfortunate Abdallah and his principal counsellors became convinced, that the place could not be maintained much longer; and at length, in the month of October, propositions were made through the vizier Abul Cazim Abdelmalic, to open a negotiation for the surrender of the place. The affair was to be conducted with the utmost caution; since the people of Granada, notwithstanding their precarious condition, and their disquietude, were buoyed up by indefinite expectations of relief from Africa, or some other quarter.

The Spanish sovereigns intrusted the negotiation to their secretary Fernando de Zafra, and to Gonsalvo de Cordova, the latter of whom was selected for this delicate business, from his uncommon address, and his familiarity with the Moorish habits and language. Thus the capitulation of Granada was referred to the man, who acquired in her long wars the military science, which enabled him, at a later period, to foil the most distinguished generals of Europe.

The conferences were conducted by night with the utmost secrecy, sometimes within the walls of Granada, and at others, in the little hamlet of Churriana, about a league distant from it. At length, after large discussion on both sides, the terms of capitulation were definitively settled, and ratified by the respective monarchs on the 25th of November, 1491. [14]

The conditions were of similar, though somewhat more liberal import, than those granted to Baza. The inhabitants of Granada were to retain possession of their mosques, with the free exercise of their religion, with all its peculiar rites and ceremonies; they were to be judged by their own laws, under their own cadis or magistrates, subject to the general control of the Castilian governor; they were to be unmolested in their ancient usages, manners, language, and dress; to be protected in the full enjoyment of their property, with the right of disposing of it on their own account, and of migrating when and where they would; and to be furnished with vessels for the conveyance of such as chose within three years to pass into Africa. No heavier taxes were to be imposed than those customarily paid to their Arabian sovereigns, and none whatever before the expiration of three years. King Abdallah was to reign over a specified territory in the Alpuxarras, for which he was to do homage to the Castilian crown. The artillery and the fortifications were to be delivered into the hands of the Christians, and the city was to be surrendered in sixty days from the date of the capitulation. Such were the principal terms of the surrender of Granada, as authenticated by the most accredited Castilian and Arabian authorities; which I have stated the more precisely, as affording the best data for estimating the extent of Spanish perfidy in later times. [15]

The conferences could not be conducted so secretly, but that some report of them got air among the populace of the city, who now regarded Abdallah with an evil eye for his connection with the Christians. When the fact of the capitulation became known, the agitation speedily mounted into an open insurrection, which menaced the safety of the city, as well as of Abdallah's person. In this alarming state of things, it was thought best by that monarch's counsellors, to anticipate the appointed day of surrender; and the 2d of January, 1492, was accordingly fixed on for that purpose.

Every preparation was made by the Spaniards for performing this last act of the drama with suitable pomp and effect. The mourning which the court had put on for the death of Prince Alonso of Portugal, occasioned by a fall from his horse a few months after his marriage with the infanta Isabella, was exchanged for gay and magnificent apparel. On the morning of the 2d, the whole Christian camp exhibited a scene of the most animating bustle. The grand cardinal Mendoza was sent forward at the head of a large detachment, comprehending his household troops, and the veteran infantry grown grey in the Moorish wars, to occupy the Alhambra preparatory to the entrance of the sovereigns. [16] Ferdinand stationed himself at some distance in the rear, near an Arabian mosque, since consecrated as the hermitage of St. Sebastian. He was surrounded by his courtiers, with their stately retinues, glittering in gorgeous panoply, and proudly displaying the armorial bearings of their ancient houses. The queen halted still farther in the rear, at the village of Armilla. [17]

As the column under the grand cardinal advanced up the Hill of Martyrs, over which a road had been constructed for the passage of the artillery, he was met by the Moorish prince Abdallah, attended by fifty cavaliers, who, descending the hill, rode up to the position occupied by Ferdinand on the banks of the Xenil. As the Moor approached the Spanish king, he would have thrown himself from his horse, and saluted his hand in token of homage, but Ferdinand hastily prevented him, embracing him with every mark of sympathy and regard. Abdallah then delivered up the keys of the Alhambra to his conqueror, saying, "They are thine, O king, since Allah so decrees it; use thy success with clemency and moderation." Ferdinand would have uttered some words of consolation to the unfortunate prince, but he moved forward with dejected air to the spot occupied by Isabella, and, after similar acts of obeisance, passed on to join his family, who had preceded him with his most valuable effects on the route to the Alpuxarras. [18]

The sovereigns during this time waited with impatience the signal of the occupation of the city by the cardinal's troops, which, winding slowly along the outer circuit of the walls, as previously arranged, in order to spare the feelings of the citizens as far as possible, entered by what is now called the gate of Los Molinos. In a short time, the large silver cross, borne by Ferdinand throughout the crusade, was seen sparkling in the sunbeams, while the standards of Castile and St. Jago waved triumphantly from the red towers of the Alhambra. At this glorious spectacle, the choir of the royal chapel broke forth into the solemn anthem of the Te Deum, and the whole army, penetrated with deep emotion, prostrated themselves on their knees in adoration of the Lord of hosts, who had at length granted the consummation of their wishes, in this last and glorious triumph of the Cross. [19] The grandees who surrounded Ferdinand then advanced towards the queen, and kneeling down saluted her hand in token of homage to her as sovereign of Granada. The procession took up its march towards the city, "the king and queen moving in the midst," says an historian, "emblazoned with royal magnificence; and, as they were in the prime of life, and had now achieved the completion of this glorious conquest, they seemed to represent even more than their wonted majesty. Equal with each other, they were raised far above the rest of the world. They appeared, indeed, more than mortal, and as if sent by Heaven for the salvation of Spain." [20]

In the mean while the Moorish king, traversing the route of the Alpuxarras, reached a rocky eminence which commanded a last view of Granada. He checked his horse, and, as his eye for the last time wandered over the scenes of his departed greatness, his heart swelled, and he burst into tears. "You do well," said his more masculine mother, "to weep like a woman, for what you could not defend like a man!" "Alas!" exclaimed the unhappy exile, "when were woes ever equal to mine!" The scene of this event is still pointed out to the traveller by the people of the district; and the rocky height, from which the Moorish chief took his sad farewell of the princely abodes of his youth, is commemorated by the poetical title of El Ultimo Sospiro del Moro, "The Last Sigh of the Moor."

The sequel of Abdallah's history is soon told. Like his uncle, El Zagal, he pined away in his barren domain of the Alpuxarras, under the shadow, as it were, of his ancient palaces. In the following year, he passed over to Fez with his family, having commuted his petty sovereignty for a considerable sum of money paid him by Ferdinand and Isabella, and soon after fell in battle in the service of an African prince, his kinsman. "Wretched man," exclaims a caustic chronicler of his nation, "who could lose his life in another's cause, though he did not dare to die in his own. Such," continues the Arabian, with characteristic resignation, "was the immutable decree of destiny. Blessed be Allah, who exalteth and debaseth the kings of the earth, according to his divine will, in whose fulfilment consists that eternal justice, which regulates all human affairs." The portal, through which King Abdallah for the last time issued from his capital, was at his request walled up, that none other might again pass through it. In this condition it remains to this day, a memorial of the sad destiny of the last of the kings of Granada. [21]

The fall of Granada excited general sensation throughout Christendom, where it was received as counterbalancing, in a manner, the loss of Constantinople, nearly half a century before. At Rome, the event was commemorated by a solemn procession of the pope and cardinals to St. Peter's, where high mass was celebrated, and the public rejoicing continued for several days. [22] The intelligence was welcomed with no less satisfaction in England, where Henry the Seventh was seated on the throne. The circumstances attending it, as related by Lord Bacon, will not be devoid of interest for the reader. [23]

Thus ended the war of Granada, which is often compared by the Castilian chroniclers to that of Troy in its duration, and which certainly fully equalled the latter in variety of picturesque and romantic incidents, and in circumstances of poetical interest. With the surrender of its capital, terminated the Arabian empire in the Peninsula, after an existence of seven hundred and forty-one years from the date of the original conquest. The consequences of this closing war were of the highest moment to Spain. The most obvious, was the recovery of an extensive territory, hitherto held by a people, whose difference of religion, language, and general habits, made them not only incapable of assimilating with their Christian neighbors, but almost their natural enemies; while their local position was a matter of just concern, as interposed between the great divisions of the Spanish monarchy, and opening an obvious avenue to invasion from Africa. By the new conquest, moreover, the Spaniards gained a large extent of country, possessing the highest capacities for production, in its natural fruitfulness of soil, temperature of climate, and in the state of cultivation to which it had been brought by its ancient occupants; while its shores were lined with commodious havens, that afforded every facility for commerce. The scattered fragments of the ancient Visigothic empire were now again, with the exception of the little state of Navarre, combined into one great monarchy, as originally destined by nature; and Christian Spain gradually rose by means of her new acquisitions from a subordinate situation, to the level of a first-rate European power.