CHAPTER VIII

Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada

by Washington Irving

CHAPTER VIII, CHRONICLE OF THE CONQUEST OF GRANADA by Washington Irving

SEQUEL OF THE EVENTS AT ALHAMA.


While all Andalusia was thus in arms and pouring its chivalry
through the mountain-passes of the Moorish frontiers, the garrison
of Alhama was reduced to great extremity and in danger of sinking
under its sufferings before the promised succor could arrive. The
intolerable thirst that prevailed in consequence of the scarcity of
water, the incessant watch that had to be maintained over the vast
force of enemies without and the great number of prisoners within,
and the wounds which almost every soldier had received in the
incessant skirmishes and assaults, had worn grievously both flesh
and spirit. The noble Ponce de Leon, marques of Cadiz, still animated
the soldiery, however, by word and example, sharing every hardship
and being foremost in every danger, exemplifying that a good
commander is the vital spirit of an army.

When Muley Abul Hassan heard of the vast force that was approaching
under the command of the duke of Medina Sidonia, and that Ferdinand
was coming in person with additional troops, he perceived that no
time was to be lost: Alhama must be carried by one powerful attack
or abandoned entirely to the Christians.

A number of Moorish cavaliers, some of the bravest youth of Granada,
knowing the wishes of the king, proposed to undertake a desperate
enterprise which, if successful, must put Alhama in his power. Early
one morning, when it was scarcely the gray of the dawn, about the
time of changing the watch, these cavaliers approached the town at
a place considered inaccessible from the steepness of the rocks on
which the wall was founded, which, it was supposed, elevated the
battlements beyond the reach of the longest scaling-ladder. The
Moorish knights, aided by a number of the strongest and most active
escaladors, mounted these rocks and applied the ladders without
being discovered, for to divert attention from them Muley Abul
Hassan made a false attack upon the town in another quarter.

The scaling party mounted with difficulty and in small numbers; the
sentinel was killed at his post, and seventy of the Moors made their
way into the streets before an alarm was given. The guards rushed
to the walls to stop the hostile throng that was still pouring in. A
sharp conflict, hand to hand and man to man, took place on the
battlements, and many on both sides fell. The Moors, whether
wounded or slain, were thrown headlong without the walls, the
scaling-ladders were overturned, and those who were mounting were
dashed upon the rocks, and from thence tumbled upon the plain. Thus
in a little while the ramparts were cleared by Christian prowess,
led on by that valiant knight Don Alonzo Ponce, the uncle, and that
brave esquire Pedro Pineda, nephew, of the marques of Cadiz.

The walls being cleared, these two kindred cavaliers now hastened
with their forces in pursuit of the seventy Moors who had gained an
entrance into the town. The main party of the garrison being engaged
at a distance resisting the feigned attack of the Moorish king, this
fierce band of infidels had ranged the streets almost without
opposition, and were making their way to the gates to throw them
open to the army.* They were chosen men from among the Moorish
forces, several of them gallant knights of the proudest families of
Granada. Their footsteps through the city were in a manner printed
in blood, and they were tracked by the bodies of those they had
killed and wounded. They had attained the gate; most of the guard
had fallen beneath their scimetars; a moment more and Alhama would
have been thrown open to the enemy.

*Zurita, lib. 20, c. 43.


Just at this juncture Don Alonzo Ponce and Pedro de Pineda reached
the spot with their forces. The Moors had the enemy in front and
rear; they placed themselves back to back, with their banner in
the centre. In this way they fought with desperate and deadly
determination, making a rampart around them with the slain. More
Christian troops arrived and hemmed them in, but still they fought,
without asking for quarter. As their number decreased they serried
their circle still closer, defending their banner from assault, and the
last Moor died at his post grasping the standard of the Prophet.
This standard was displayed from the walls, and the turbaned heads
of the Moors were thrown down to the besiegers.*

*Pedro de Pineda received the honor of knighthood from the hand
of King Ferdinand for his valor on this occasion (Alonzo Ponce was
already knight.)--See Zuniga, Annales of Seville, lib. 12, an. 1482.


Muley Abul Hassan tore his beard with rage at the failure of this
attempt and at the death of so many of his chosen cavaliers. He
saw that all further effort was in vain; his scouts brought word that
they had seen from the heights the long columns and flaunting
banners of the Christian army approaching through the mountains.
To linger would be to place himself between two bodies of the enemy.
Breaking up his camp, therefore, in all haste, he gave up the siege
of Alhama and hastened back to Granada; and the last clash of his
cymbals scarce died upon the ear from the distant hills before the
standard of the Duke of Medina Sidonia was seen emerging in another
direction from the defiles of the mountains.

When the Christians in Alhama beheld their enemies retreating on one
side and their friends advancing on the other, they uttered shouts
of joy and hymns of thanksgiving, for it was as a sudden relief from
present death. Harassed by several weeks of incessant vigil and
fighting, suffering from scarcity of provisions and almost continual
thirst, they resembled skeletons rather than living men. It was
a noble and gracious spectacle--the meeting of those hitherto
inveterate foes, the duke of Medina Sidonia and the marques of
Cadiz. At sight of his magnanimous deliverer the marques melted
into tears: all past animosities only gave the greater poignancy to
present feelings of gratitude and admiration. The late deadly rivals
clasped each other in their arms, and from that time forward were
true and cordial friends.

While this generous scene took place between the commanders a sordid
contest arose among their troops. The soldiers who had come to the
rescue claimed a portion of the spoils of Alhama, and so violent was
the dispute that both parties seized their arms. The duke of Medina
Sidonia interfered, and settled the question with his characteristic
magnanimity. He declared that the spoil belonged to those who
had captured the city. "We have taken the field," said he, "only for
honor, for religion, and for the rescue of our countrymen and
fellow-Christians, and the success of our enterprise is a sufficient
and a glorious reward. If we desire booty, there are sufficient
Moorish cities yet to be taken to enrich us all." The soldiers were
convinced by the frank and chivalrous reasoning of the duke; they
replied to his speech by acclamations, and the transient broil was
happily appeased.

The marchioness of Cadiz, with the forethought of a loving wife, had
despatched her major-domo with the army with a large supply of
provisions. Tables were immediately spread beneath the tents, where
the marques gave a banquet to the duke and the cavaliers who had
accompanied him, and nothing but hilarity prevailed in this late
scene of suffering and death.

A garrison of fresh troops was left in Alhama, and the veterans who
had so valiantly captured and maintained it returned to their homes
burdened with precious booty. The marques and duke, with their
confederate cavaliers, repaired to Antiquera, where they were
received with great distinction by the king, who honored the marques
of Cadiz with signal marks of favor. The duke then accompanied his
late enemy, but now most zealous and grateful friend, the marques of
Cadiz, to his town of Marchena, where he received the reward of his
generous conduct in the thanks and blessings of the marchioness.
The marques celebrated a sumptuous feast in honor of his guest;
for a day and night his palace was thrown open and was the scene
of continual revel and festivity. When the duke departed for his
estates at St. Lucar the marques attended him for some distance on
his journey, and when they separated it was as the parting scene of
brothers. Such was the noble spectacle exhibited to the chivalry of
Spain by these two illustrious rivals. Each reaped universal renown
from the part he had performed in the campaign--the marques from
having surprised and captured one of the most important and
formidable fortresses of the kingdom of Granada, and the duke from
having subdued his deadliest foe by a great act of magnanimity.