The History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Volume I Part 31

In this extremity no other alternative seemed to remain, than to attempt to regain the route from which they had departed. As all other considerations were now subordinate to those of personal safety, it was agreed to abandon the spoil acquired at so much hazard, which greatly r.e.t.a.r.ded their movements. As they painfully retraced their steps, the darkness of the night was partially dispelled by numerous fires, which blazed along the hill-tops, and which showed the figures of their enemies flitting to and fro like so many spectres. It seemed, says Bernaldez, as if ten thousand torches were glancing along the mountains. At length, the whole body, faint with fatigue and hunger, reached the borders of a little stream, which flowed through a valley, whose avenues, as well as the rugged heights by which it was commanded, were already occupied by the enemy, who poured down mingled volleys of shot, stones, and arrows on the heads of the Christians. The compact ma.s.s presented by the latter afforded a sure mark to the artillery of the Moors; while they, from their scattered position, as well as from the defences afforded by the nature of the ground, were exposed to little annoyance in return. In addition to lighter missiles, the Moors occasionally dislodged large fragments of rock, which, rolling with tremendous violence down the declivities of the hills, spread frightful desolation through the Christian ranks. [26]

The dismay occasioned by these scenes, occurring amidst the darkness of night, and heightened by the shrill war-cries of the Moors, which rose around them on every quarter, seems to have completely bewildered the Spaniards, even their leaders. It was the misfortune of the expedition, that there was but little concert between the several commanders, or, at least, that there was no one so pre-eminent above the rest as to a.s.sume authority at this awful moment. So far, it would seem, from attempting escape, they continued in their perilous position, uncertain what course to take, until midnight; when at length, after having seen their best and bravest followers fall thick around them, they determined at all hazards to force a pa.s.sage across the sierra in the face of the enemy. "Better lose our lives," said the grand master of St. James, addressing his men, "in cutting a way through the foe, than be butchered without resistance, like cattle in the shambles." [27]

The marquis of Cadiz, guided by a trusty adalid, and accompanied by sixty or seventy lances, was fortunate enough to gain a circuitous route less vigilantly guarded by the enemy, whose attention was drawn to the movements of the main body of the Castilian army. By means of this path, the marquis, with his little band, succeeded, after a painful march, in which his good steed sunk under him oppressed with wounds and fatigue, in reaching a valley at some distance from the scene of action, where he determined to wait the coming up of his friends, who he confidently expected would follow on his track. [28]

But the grand master and his a.s.sociates, missing this track in the darkness of the night, or perhaps preferring another, breasted the sierra in a part where it proved extremely difficult of ascent. At every step the loosened earth gave way under the pressure of the foot, and, the infantry endeavoring to support themselves by clinging to the tails and manes of the horses, the jaded animals, borne down with the weight, rolled headlong with their riders on the ranks below, or were precipitated down the sides of the numerous ravines. The Moors, all the while, avoiding a close encounter, contented themselves with discharging on the heads of their opponents an uninterrupted shower of missiles of every description.

[29]

It was not until the following morning, that the Castilians, having surmounted the crest of the eminence, began the descent into the opposite valley, which they had the mortification to observe was commanded on every point by their vigilant adversary, who seemed now in their eyes to possess the powers of ubiquity. As the light broke upon the troops, it revealed the whole extent of their melancholy condition. How different from the magnificent array which, but two days previous, marched forth with such high and confident hopes from the gates of Antequera! their ranks thinned, their bright arms defaced and broken, their banners rent in pieces, or lost,--as had been that of St. James, together with its gallant _alferez_, Diego Becerra, in the terrible pa.s.sage of the preceding night,--their countenances aghast with terror, fatigue, and famine.

Despair now was in every eye, all subordination was at an end. No one, says Pulgar, heeded any longer the call of the trumpet, or the wave of the banner. Each sought only his own safety, without regard to his comrade.

Some threw away their arms; hoping by this means to facilitate their escape, while in fact it only left them more defenceless against the shafts of their enemies. Some, oppressed with fatigue and terror, fell down and died without so much as receiving a wound. The panic was such that, in more than one instance, two or three Moorish soldiers were known to capture thrice their own number of Spaniards. Some, losing their way, strayed back to Malaga and were made prisoners by females of the city, who overtook them in the fields. Others escaped to Alhama or other distant places, after wandering seven or eight days among the mountains, sustaining life on such wild herbs and berries as they could find, and lying close during the day. A greater number succeeded in reaching Antequera, and, among these, most of the leaders of the expedition. The grand master of St. James, the adelantado Henriquez, and Don Alonso de Aguilar effected their escape by scaling so perilous a part of the sierra that their pursuers cared not to follow. The count de Cifuentes was less fortunate. [30] That n.o.bleman's division was said to have suffered more severely than any other. On the morning after the b.l.o.o.d.y pa.s.sage of the mountain, he found himself suddenly cut off from his followers, and surrounded by six Moorish cavaliers, against whom he was defending himself with desperate courage, when their leader, Reduan Benegas, struck with the inequality of the combat, broke in, exclaiming, "Hold, this is unworthy of good knights." The a.s.sailants sunk back abashed by the rebuke, and left the count to their commander. A close encounter then took place between the two chiefs; but the strength of the Spaniard was no longer equal to his spirit, and, after a brief resistance, he was forced to surrender to his generous enemy. [31]

The marquis of Cadiz had better fortune. After waiting till dawn for the coming up of his friends, he concluded that they had extricated themselves by a different route. He resolved to provide for his own safety and that of his followers, and, being supplied with a fresh horse, accomplished his escape, after traversing the wildest pa.s.sages of the Axarquia for the distance of four leagues, and got into Antequera with but little interruption from the enemy. But, although he secured his personal safety, the misfortunes of the day fell heavily on his house; for two of his brothers were cut down by his side, and a third brother, with a nephew, fell into the hands of the enemy. [32]

The amount of slain in the two days' actions is admitted by the Spanish writers to have exceeded eight hundred, with double that number of prisoners. The Moorish force is said to have been small, and its loss comparatively trifling. The numerical estimates of the Spanish historians, as usual, appear extremely loose; and the narrative of their enemies is too meagre in this portion of their annals to allow any opportunity of verification. There is no reason, however, to believe them in any degree exaggerated.

The best blood of Andalusia was shed on this occasion. Among the slain, Bernaldez reckons two hundred and fifty, and Pulgar four hundred persons of quality, with thirty commanders of the military fraternity of St.

James. There was scarcely a family in the south, but had to mourn the loss of some one of its members by death or captivity; and the distress was not a little aggravated by the uncertainty which hung over the fate of the absent, as to whether they had fallen in the field, or were still wandering in the wilderness, or were pining away existence in the dungeons of Malaga and Granada. [33]

Some imputed the failure of the expedition to treachery in the adalides, some to want of concert among the commanders. The worthy Curate of Los Palacios concludes his narrative of the disaster in the following manner.

"The number of the Moors was small, who inflicted this grievous defeat on the Christians. It was, indeed, clearly miraculous, and we may discern in it the special interposition of Providence, justly offended with the greater part of those that engaged in the expedition; who, instead of confessing, partaking the sacrament, and making their testaments, as becomes good Christians, and men that are to bear arms in defence of the Holy Catholic faith, acknowledged that they did not bring with them suitable dispositions, but, with little regard to G.o.d's service, were influenced by covetousness and love of unG.o.dly gain." [34]

FOOTNOTES

[1] Estrada, Poblacion de Espana, tom. ii. pp. 242, 243.--Zurita, a.n.a.les, tom. iv. fol. 317.--Cardonne, Hist. d'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. iii. p.

261.

[2] Bernaldez, Reyes Catolicos, MS., cap. 58.--Mariana, Hist. de Espana, tom. ii, pp. 249, 250.--Cardonne, Hist. d'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. iii.

pp. 259, 260.

[3] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 173.--Pulgar, Reyes Catolicos, p.

187.--Zurita, a.n.a.les, tom. iv. fol. 316, 317.

[4] Rades y Andrada, Las Tres Ordenes, fol. 80, 81.--L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 173.--Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decades, ii. lib. 1, cap.

7.--Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. iii. p. 214.--Carbajal, a.n.a.les, MS., ano 1482.

[5] Pulgar, Reyes Catolicos, pp. 189-191.--Bernaldez, Reyes Catolicos, MS., cap. 58.--Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. iii. pp. 214-217.-- Cardonne, Hist. d'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. iii. pp. 260, 261.

[6] Bernaldez, Reyes Catolicos, MS., cap. 58.--Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. iii. pp. 214-217.--Pulgar, Reyes Catolicos, ubi supra.-- Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decades, ii. lib. 1, cap. 7.--The _Pena de los Enamorados_ received its name from a tragical incident in Moorish history. A Christian slave succeeded in inspiring the daughter of his master, a wealthy Mussulman of Granada, with a pa.s.sion for himself. The two lovers, after some time, fearful of the detection of their intrigue, resolved to mate their escape into the Spanish territory. Before they could effect their purpose, however, they were hotly pursued by the damsel's father at the head of a party of Moorish hors.e.m.e.n, and overtaken near a precipice which rises between Archidona and Antequera. The unfortunate fugitives, who had scrambled to the summit of the rocks, finding all further escape impracticable, after tenderly embracing each other threw themselves headlong from the dizzy heights, preferring this dreadful death to falling into the hands of their vindictive pursuers. The spot consecrated as the scene of this tragic incident has received the name of _Rock of the Lovers_. The legend is prettily told by Mariana, (Hist. de Espana, tom. ii. pp. 253, 254,) who concludes with the pithy reflection, that "such constancy would have been truly admirable, had it been shown in defence of the true faith, rather than in the gratification of lawless appet.i.te."

[7] Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. iii. pp. 214-217.--Cardonne, Hist. d'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. iii. pp. 262, 263.--Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib, 1, cap. 12.--Bernaldez states that great umbrage was taken at the influence which the king of Granada allowed a person of Christian lineage, named Venegas, to exercise over him. Pulgar hints at the b.l.o.o.d.y ma.s.sacre of the Abencerrages, which, without any better authority that I know of, forms the burden of many an ancient ballad, and has lost nothing of its romantic coloring under the hand of Cines Perez de Hyta.

[8] Cardonne, Hist. d'Afrique et d'Espagne, ubi supra.--Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, ubi supra.

Boabdil was surnamed "el Chico," _the Little_, by the Spanish writers, to distinguish him from an uncle of the same name; and "el Zogoybi," _the Unfortunate_, by the Moors, indicating that he was the last of his race destined to wear the diadem of Granada. The Arabs, with great felicity, frequently select names significant of some quality in the objects they represent. Examples of this may be readily found in the southern regions of the Peninsula, where the Moors lingered the longest. The etymology of Gibraltar, Gebal Tarik, _Mount of Tarik_, is well known. Thus, Algeziras comes from an Arabic word which signifies _an island_: Alpuxarras comes from a term signifying _herbage_ or _pasturage_: Arrecife from another, signifying _causeway_ or _high road_, etc. The Arabic word _wad_ stands for _river_. This without much violence has been changed into _guad_, and enters into the names of many of the southern streams; for example, Guadalquivir, _great river_, Guadiana, _narrow_ or _little river_, Guadalete, etc. In the same manner the term Medina, _Arabice_ "city,"

has been retained as a prefix to the names of many of the Spanish towns, as Medina Celi, Medina del Campo, etc. See Conde's notes to El Nubiense, Description de Espana, pa.s.sim.

[9] Salazar de Mendoza, Cron. del Gran Cardenal, p. 181.--Pulgar, Claros Varones, t.i.t. 20.--Carbajal, a.n.a.les, MS., ano 1483.--Aleson, Annales de Navarra, tom. v. p. 11, ed. 1766.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 158.

[10] Fred. Marslaar, De Leg. 2, 11.--M. de Wicquefort derives the word _amba.s.sadeur_ (anciently in English _amba.s.sador_) from the Spanish word _embiar_, "to send." See Rights of Emba.s.sadors, translated by Digby (London, 1740,) book 1, chap. 1.

[11] Sismondi, Republiques Italiennes, tom. xi. cap. 88.--Pulgar, Reyes Catolicos, pp. 195-198.--Zurita, a.n.a.les, tom iv. fol. 218.

[12] Aleson, Annales de Navarra, lib. 34, cap. 1.--Histoire du Royaume de Navarre, p. 558. Leonora's son, Gaston de Foix, prince of Viana, was slain by an accidental wound from a lance, at a tourney at Lisbon, in 1469. By the princess Magdeleine, his wife, sister of Louis XI, he left two children, a son and daughter, each of whom in turn succeeded to the crown of Navarre. Francis Phoebus ascended the throne on the demise of his grandmother Leonora, in 1479. He was distinguished by his personal graces and beauty, and especially by the golden l.u.s.tre of his hair, from which, according to Aleson, he derived his cognomen of Phoebus. As it was an ancestral name, however, such an etymology may be thought somewhat fanciful.

[13] Ferdinand and Isabella had at this time four children; the infant Don John, four years and a half old, but who did not live to come to the succession, and the infantas Isabella, Joanna, and Maria; the last, born at Cordova during the summer of 1482.

[14] Aleson, Annales de Navarra, lib. 34, cap. 2; lib. 35, cap. 1.-- Histoire du Royaume de Navarre, pp. 578, 579.--La Clede, Hist. de Portugal, tom. iii. pp. 438-441.--Pulgar, Reyes Catolicos, p. 199.-- Mariana, Hist. de Espana, tom. ii. p. 551.

[15] Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decades, ii. lib. 2, cap. 1.

Besides the armada in the Mediterranean, a fleet under Pedro de Vera was prosecuting a voyage of discovery and conquest to the Canaries at this time.

[16] Pulgar, Reyes Catolicos, p. 199.--Mariana, tom. ii. p. 551.-- Coleccion de Cedulas y Otros Doc.u.mentos, (Madrid, 1829,) tom. iii. no. 25.

For this important collection, a few copies of which, only, were printed for distribution, at the expense of the Spanish government, I am indebted to the politeness of Don A. Calderon de la Barca.

[17] Bernaldez, Reyes Catolicos, MS., cap. 58.--Pulgar, Reyes Catolicos, p. 202.

Juan de Corral imposed on the king of Granada by means of certain credentials, which he had obtained from the Spanish sovereigns without any privity on their part to his fraudulent intentions. The story is told in a very blind manner by Pulgar.

It may not be amiss to mention here a doughty feat performed by another Castilian envoy, of much higher rank, Don Juan de Vera. This knight, while conversing with certain Moorish cavaliers in the Alhambra, was so much scandalized by the freedom with which one of them treated the immaculate conception, that he gave the circ.u.mcised dog the lie, and smote him a sharp blow on the head with his sword. Ferdinand, say Bernaldez, who tells the story, was much gratified with the exploit, and recompensed the good knight with many honors.

[18] The _adalid_ was a guide, or scout, whose business it was to make himself acquainted with the enemy's country, and to guide the invaders into it. Much dispute has arisen respecting the authority and functions of this officer. Some writers regard him as an independent leader, or commander; and the Dictionary of the Academy defines the term _adalid_ by these very words. The Siete Partidas, however, explains at length the peculiar duties of this officer, conformably to the account I have given. (Ed. de la Real Acad. (Madrid, 1807,) part. 2, t.i.t. 2, leyes 1-4.) Bernaldez, Pulgar, and the other chroniclers of the Granadine war, repeatedly notice him in this connection. When he is spoken of as a captain, or leader, as he sometimes is in these and other ancient records, his authority, I suspect, is intended to be limited to the persons who aided him in the execution of his peculiar office.--It was common for the great chiefs, who lived on the borders, to maintain in their pay a number of these _adalides_, to inform them of the fitting time and place for making a foray. The post, as may well be believed, was one of great trust and personal hazard.

[19] Pulgar, Reyes Catolicos, p. 203.--L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol.

173.--Zurita, a.n.a.les, tom. iv. fol. 320.

[20] Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 36.--Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decades, ii. lib. 2, cap. 2.

The t.i.tle of _adelantado_ implies in its etymology one preferred or placed before others. The office is of great antiquity; some have derived it from the reign of St. Ferdinand in the thirteenth century, but Mendoza proves its existence at a far earlier period. The adelantado was possessed of very extensive judicial authority in the province or district in which he presided, and in war was invested with supreme military command. His functions, however, as well as the territories over which he ruled, have varied at different periods. An adelantado seems to have been generally established over a border province, as Andalusia for example. Marina discusses the civil authority of this officer, in his Teoria, tom. ii.

cap. 23. See also Salazar de Mendoza, Dignidades, lib. 2, cap. 15.

[21] Bernaldez, Reyes Catolicos, MS., cap. 60.--Rades y Andrada, Las Tres Ordenes, fol. 71.--Zurita, a.n.a.les, tom. iv. fol. 320.--Zuniga, Annales de Sevilla, fol. 395.--Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decades, ii. lib. 2, cap. 2.-- Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 36.

[22] Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. iii. p. 217.--Cardonne, Hist.

d'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. iii. pp. 264-267.--Bernaldez, Reyes Catolicos, MS., cap. 60.

[23] Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. iii. p. 217.--Pulgar, Reyes Catolicos, p. 204.--Rades y Andrada, Las Tres Ordenes, fol. 71, 72.

[24] Mariana, Hist. de Espana, tom. ii. pp. 552, 553.--Pulgar, Reyes Catolicos, p. 205.--Zurita, a.n.a.les, tom. iv. fol. 321.

[25] Pulgar, Reyes Catolicos, p. 205.--Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. p.

636.

[26] Bernaldez, Reyes Catolicos, MS., cap. 60.--Pulgar, Reyes Catolicos, ubi supra.--Cardonne, Hist. d'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. iii. pp. 264-267.