CHAPTER XXIV

Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada

by Washington Irving

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

OF THE RECEPTION AT COURT OF THE COUNT DE CABRA AND THE
ALCAYDE DE LOS DONCELES.


In the midst of the bustle of warlike affairs the worthy chronicler
Fray Antonio Agapida pauses to note, with curious accuracy, the
distinguished reception given to the count de Cabra and his nephew,
the alcayde de los Donceles, at the stately and ceremonious court of
the Castilian sovereigns, in reward for the capture of the Moorish
king Boabdil. The court (he observes) was held at the time in the
ancient Moorish palace of the city of Cordova, and the ceremonials
were arranged by that venerable prelate Don Pedro Gonzales de
Mendoza, bishop of Toledo and grand cardinal of Spain.

It was on Wednesday, the 14th of October (continues the precise
Antonio Agapida), that the good count de Cabra, according to
arrangement, appeared at the gate of Cordova. Here he was met by
the grand cardinal and the duke of Villahermosa, illegitimate brother
of the king, together with many of the first grandees and prelates
of the kingdom. By this august train was he attended to the palace
amidst strains of martial music and the shouts of a prodigious
multitude.

When the count arrived in the presence of the sovereigns, who were
seated in state on a dais or raised part of the hall of audience,
they both arose. The king advanced exactly five steps toward the
count, who knelt and kissed his royal hand; however, the king would
not receive him as a mere vassal, but embraced him with affectionate
cordiality. The queen also advanced two steps, and received the
count with a countenance full of sweetness and benignity: after
he had kissed her hand the king and queen returned to their thrones,
and, cushions being brought, they ordered the count de Cabra to be
seated in their presence. This last circumstance is written in
large letters and followed by several notes of admiration in the
manuscript of the worthy Fray Antonio Agapida, who considers the
extraordinary privilege of sitting in presence of the Catholic
sovereigns an honor well worth fighting for.

The good count took his seat at a short distance from the king, and
near him was seated the duke of Najera, then the bishop of Palencia,
then the count of Aguilar, the count Luna, and Don Gutierre de
Cardenas, senior commander of Leon.

On the side of the queen were seated the grand cardinal of Spain,
the duke of Villahermosa, the count of Monte Rey, and the bishops
of Jaen and Cuenca, each in the order in which they are named. The
infanta Isabella was prevented by indisposition from attending the
ceremony.

And now festive music resounded through the hall, and twenty ladies
of the queen's retinue entered, magnificently attired; upon which
twenty youthful cavaliers, very gay and galliard in their array,
stepped forth, and, each seeking his fair partner, they commenced
a stately dance. The court in the mean time (observes Fray Antonio
Agapida) looked on with lofty and becoming gravity.

When the dance was concluded the king and queen rose to retire to
supper, and dismissed the count with many gracious expressions. He
was then attended by all the grandees present to the palace of the
grand cardinal, where they partook of a sumptuous banquet.

On the following Saturday the alcayde de los Donceles was received
likewise with great honors, but the ceremonies were so arranged
as to be a degree less in dignity than those shown to his uncle,
the latter being considered the principal actor in this great
achievement. Thus the grand cardinal and the duke of Villahermosa
did not meet him at the gate of the city, but received him in the
palace and entertained him in conversation until summoned to
the sovereigns.
#
When the alcayde de los Donceles entered the presence-chamber the
king and queen rose from their chairs, but without advancing. They
greeted him graciously, and commanded him to be seated next to the
count de Cabra.

The infanta Isabella came forth to this reception, and took her seat
beside the queen. When the court were all seated the music again
sounded through the hall, and the twenty ladies came forth as on the
preceding occasion, richly attired, but in different raiment. They
danced as before, and the infanta Isabella, taking a young Portuguese
damsel for a partner, joined in the dance. When this was concluded
the king and queen dismissed the alcayde de los Donceles with great
courtesy, and the court broke up.

The worthy Fray Antonio Agapida here indulges in a long eulogy
on the scrupulous discrimination of the Castilian court in the
distribution of its honors and rewards, by which means every smile
and gesture and word of the sovereigns had its certain value and
conveyed its equivalent of joy to the heart of the subject--a matter
well worthy the study (says he) of all monarchs, who are too apt
to distribute honors with a heedless caprice that renders them of
no avail.

On the following Sunday both the count de Cabra and the alcayde
de los Donceles were invited to sup with the sovereigns. The court
that evening was attended by the highest nobility, arrayed with that
cost and splendor for which the Spanish nobility of those days
were renowned.

Before supper there was a stately and ceremonious dance, befitting
the dignity of so august a court. The king led forth the queen in
grave and graceful measure; the count de Cabra was honored with
the hand of the infanta Isabella; and the alcayde de los Donceles
danced with a daughter of the marques de Astorga.

The dance being concluded, the royal party repaired to the
supper-table, which was placed on an elevated part of the saloon.
Here, in full view of the court, the count de Cabra and the alcayde
de los Donceles supped at the same table with the king, the queen,
and the infanta. The royal family were served by the marques of
Villena. The cup-bearer to the king was his nephew, Fadrigue de
Toledo, son to the duke of Alva. Don Alexis de Estaniga had the
honor of fulfilling that office for the queen, and Tello de Aguilar
for the infanta. Other cavaliers of rank and distinction waited on
the count and the alcayde de los Donceles. At one o'clock the two
distinguished guests were dismissed with many courteous expressions
by the sovereigns.

Such (says Fray Antonio Agapida) were the great honors paid at our
most exalted and ceremonious court to these renowned cavaliers,
but the gratitude of the sovereigns did not end here. A few days
afterward they bestowed upon them large revenues for life, and
others to descend to their heirs, with the privilege for them and
their descendants to prefix the title of Don to their names. They
gave them, moreover, as armorial bearings a Moor's head crowned,
with a golden chain round the neck, in a sanguine field, and
twenty-two banners round the margin of the escutcheon. Their
descendants, of the houses of Cabra and Cordova, continue to bear
these arms at the present day in memorial of the victory of Lucena
and the capture of Boabdil el Chico.*

*The account given by Fray Antonio Agapida of this ceremonial, so
characteristic of the old Spanish court, agrees in almost every
particular with an ancient manuscript made up from the chronicles
of the curate of los Palacios and other old Spanish writers.