CHAPTER XXVI

Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada

by Washington Irving

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

OF THE FORTRESS OF ALHAMA, AND HOW WISELY IT WAS GOVERNED
BY THE COUNT DE TENDILLA.


In this part of his chronicle the worthy father Fray Antonio Agapida
indulges in triumphant exultation over the downfall of Zahara.
Heaven sometimes speaks (says he) through the mouths of false
prophets for the confusion of the wicked. By the fall of this fortress
was the prediction of the santon of Granada in some measure
fulfilled, that "the ruins of Zahara should fall upon the heads of
the infidels."

Our zealous chronicler scoffs at the Moorish alcayde who lost his
fortress by surprise in broad daylight, and contrasts the vigilance
of the Christian governor of Alhama, the town taken in retaliation
for the storming of Zahara.

The important post of Alhama was at this time confided by King
Ferdinand to Don Inigo Lopez de Mendoza, count of Tendilla, a
cavalier of noble blood, brother to the grand cardinal of Spain. He
had been instructed by the king not merely to maintain his post, but
also to make sallies and lay waste the surrounding country. His
fortress was critically situated. It was within seven leagues of
Granada, and at no great distance from the warlike city of Loxa. It
was nestled in the lap of the mountains commanding the high-road
to Malaga and a view over the extensive Vega. Thus situated, in the
heart of the enemy's country, surrounded by foes ready to assail him
and a rich country for him to ravage, it behooved this cavalier to
be for ever on the alert. He was in fact an experienced veteran, a
shrewd and wary officer, and a commander amazingly prompt and
fertile in expedients.

On assuming the command he found that the garrison consisted but of
one thousand men, horse and foot. They were hardy troops, seasoned
in rough mountain-campaigning, but reckless and dissolute, as
soldiers are apt to be when accustomed to predatory warfare. They
would fight hard for booty, and then gamble it heedlessly away or
squander it in licentious revelling. Alhama abounded with hawking,
sharping, idle hangers-on, eager to profit by the vices and follies
of the garrison. The soldiers were oftener gambling and dancing
beneath the walls than keeping watch upon the battlements, and
nothing was heard from morning till night but the noisy contests of
cards and dice, mingled with the sound of the bolero or fandango,
the drowsy strumming of the guitar, and the rattling of the castanets,
while often the whole was interrupted by the loud brawl and fierce
and bloody contest.

The count of Tendilla set himself vigorously to reform these
excesses: he knew that laxity of morals is generally attended
by neglect of duty, and that the least breach of discipline in the
exposed situation of his fortress might be fatal. "Here is but a
handful of men," said he; "it is necessary that each man should
be a hero."

He endeavored to awaken a proper ambition in the minds of his
soldiers and to instil into them the high principles of chivalry. "A
just war," he observed, "is often rendered wicked and disastrous by
the manner in which it is conducted; for the righteousness of the
cause is not sufficient to sanction the profligacy of the means, and
the want of order and subordination among the troops may bring ruin
and disgrace upon the best-concerted plans." But we cannot describe
the character and conduct of this renowned commander in more
forcible language than that of Fray Antonio Agapida, excepting that
the pious father places in the foreground of his virtues his hatred
of the Moors. "The count de Tendilla," says he, "was a mirror of
Christian knighthood--watchful, abstemious, chaste, devout, and
thoroughly filled with the spirit of the cause. He labored
incessantly and strenuously for the glory of the faith and the
prosperity of their most Catholic majesties; and, above all, he
hated the infidels with a pure and holy hatred. This worthy cavalier
discountenanced all idleness, rioting, chambering, and wantonness
among his soldiery. He kept them constantly to the exercise of arms,
making them adroit in the use of their weapons and management of
their steeds, and prompt for the field at a moment's notice. He
permitted no sound of lute or harp or song or other loose minstrelsy
to be heard in his fortress, debauching the ear and softening the
valor of the soldier; no other music was allowed but the wholesome
rolling of the drum and braying of the trumpet, and such like
spirit-stirring instruments as fill the mind with thoughts of iron
war. All wandering minstrels, sharping peddlers, sturdy trulls, and
other camp trumpery were ordered to pack up their baggage, and
were drummed out of the gates of Alhama. In place of such lewd
rabble he introduced a train of holy friars to inspirit his people by
exhortation and prayer and choral chanting, and to spur them on to
fight the good fight of faith. All games of chance were prohibited
except the game of war, and this he labored, by vigilance and vigor,
to reduce to a game of certainty. Heaven smiled upon the efforts of
this righteous cavalier. His men became soldiers at all points and
terrors to the Moors. The good count never set forth on a ravage
without observing the rites of confession, absolution, and
communion, and obliging his followers to do the same. Their banners
were blessed by the holy friars whom he maintained in Alhama; and in

this way success was secured to his arms and he was enabled to lay
waste the land of the heathen."

The fortress of Alhama (continues Fray Antonio Agapida) overlooked
from its lofty site a great part of the fertile Vega, watered by the
Cazin and the Xenil; from this he made frequent sallies, sweeping
away the flocks and herds from the pasture, the laborer from the
field, and the convoy from the road; so that it was said by the Moors
that a beetle could not crawl across the Vega without being seen
by Count Tendilla. The peasantry, therefore, were fain to betake
themselves to watch-towers and fortified hamlets, where they shut
up their cattle, garnered their corn, and sheltered their wives and
children. Even there they were not safe: the count would storm
these rustic fortresses with fire and sword, make captives of their
inhabitants, carry off the corn, the oil, the silks, and cattle, and
leave the ruins blazing and smoking within the very sight of Granada.

"It was a pleasing and refreshing sight," continues the good father,
"to behold this pious knight and his followers returning from one of
these crusades, leaving the rich land of the infidel in smoking
desolation behind them; to behold the long line of mules and asses
laden with the plunder of the Gentiles--the hosts of captive Moors,
men, women, and children--droves of sturdy beeves, lowing kine, and
bleating sheep,--all winding up the steep acclivity to the gates of
Alhama, pricked on by the Catholic soldiery. His garrison thus
thrived on the fat of the land and the spoil of the infidel; nor was
he unmindful of the pious fathers whose blessings crowned his
enterprises with success. A large portion of the spoil was always
dedicated to the Church, and the good friars were ever ready at the
gate to hail him on his return and receive the share allotted them.
Besides these allotments, he made many votive offerings, either in
time of peril or on the eve of a foray, and the chapels of Alhama
were resplendent with chalices, crosses, and other precious gifts
made by this Catholic cavalier."

Thus eloquently does the venerable Fray Antonio Agapida dilate in
praise of the good count de Tendilla; and other historians of equal
veracity, but less unction, agree in pronouncing him one of the
ablest of Spanish generals. So terrible, in fact, did he become
in the land that the Moorish peasantry could not venture a league
from Granada or Loxa to labor in the fields without peril of being
carried into captivity. The people of Granada clamored against
Muley Abul Hassan for suffering his lands to be thus outraged and
insulted, and demanded to have this bold marauder shut up in his
fortress. The old monarch was roused by their remonstrances. He
sent forth powerful troops of horse to protect the country during the
season that the husbandmen were abroad in the fields. These troops
patrolled in formidable squadrons in the neighborhood of Alhama,
keeping strict watch upon its gates, so that it was impossible for
the Christians to make a sally without being seen and intercepted.

While Alhama was thus blockaded by a roving force of Moorish
cavalry, the inhabitants were awakened one night by a tremendous
crash that shook the fortress to its foundations. The garrison flew
to arms, supposing it some assault of the enemy. The alarm proved
to have been caused by the rupture of a portion of the wall, which,
undermined by heavy rains, had suddenly given way, leaving a large
chasm yawning toward the plain.

The count de Tendilla was for a time in great anxiety. Should this
breach be discovered by the blockading horsemen, they would arouse
the country, Granada and Loxa would pour out an overwhelming force,
and they would find his walls ready sapped for an assault. In this
fearful emergency the count displayed his noted talent for
expedients. He ordered a quantity of linen cloth to be stretched in
front of the breach, painted in imitation of stone and indented with
battlements, so as at a distance to resemble the other parts of the
walls: behind this screen he employed workmen day and night in
repairing the fracture. No one was permitted to leave the fortress,
lest information of its defenceless plight should be carried to the
Moor. Light squadrons of the enemy were seen hovering about the
plain, but never approached near enough to discover the deception;
and thus in the course of a few days the wall was rebuilt stronger
than before.

There was another expedient of this shrewd veteran which greatly
excites the marvel of Agapida. "It happened," he observes, "that
this Catholic cavalier at one time was destitute of gold and silver
wherewith to pay the wages of his troops; and the soldiers murmured
greatly, seeing that they had not the means of purchasing
necessaries from the people of the town. In this dilemma what does
this most sagacious commander? He takes me a number of little
morsels of paper, on the which he inscribes various sums, large and
small, according to the nature of the case, and signs me them with
his own hand and name. These did he give to the soldiery in earnest
of their pay. 'How!' you will say, 'are soldiers to be paid with
scraps of paper?' Even so, I answer, and well paid too, as I will
presently make manifest, for the good count issued a proclamation
ordering the inhabitants of Alhama to take these morsels of paper
for the full amount thereon inscribed, promising to redeem them at a
future time with silver and gold, and threatening severe punishment
to all who should refuse. The people, having full confidence in his
word, and trusting that he would be as willing to perform the one
promise as he certainly was able to perform the other, took those
curious morsels of paper without hesitation or demur. Thus by a
subtle and most miraculous kind of alchymy did this Catholic
cavalier turn worthless paper into precious gold, and make his
late impoverished garrison abound in money!"

It is but just to add that the count de Tendilla redeemed his
promises like a loyal knight; and this miracle, as it appeared in
the eyes of Fray Antonio Agapida, is the first instance on record of
paper money, which has since inundated the civilized world with
unbounded opulence.