CHAPTER XLII

Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada

by Washington Irving

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

OF THE ARRIVAL OF QUEEN ISABELLA AT THE CAMP BEFORE MOCLIN,
AND OF THE PLEASANT SAYINGS OF THE ENGLISH EARL.


The war of Granada, however poets may embroider it with the flowers
of their fancy, was certainly one of the sternest of those iron conflicts
which have been celebrated under the name of "holy wars." The worthy
Fray Antonio Agapida dwells with unsated delight upon the succession
of rugged mountain-enterprises, bloody battles, and merciless sackings
and ravages which characterized it; yet we find him on one occasion
pausing in the full career of victory over the infidels to detail a stately
pageant of the Catholic sovereigns.

Immediately on the capture of Loxa, Ferdinand had written to Isabella,
soliciting her presence at the camp that he might consult with her as
to the disposition of their newly-acquired territories.

It was in the early part of June that the queen departed from Codova
with the princess Isabella and numerous ladies of her court. She had
a glorious attendance of cavaliers and pages, with many guards and
domestics. There were forty mules for the use of the queen, the
princess, and their train.

As this courtly cavalcade approached the Rock of the Lovers on the
banks of the river Yeguas, they beheld a splendid train of knights
advancing to meet them. It was headed by that accomplished cavalier
the marques-duke de Cadiz, accompanied by the adelantado of
Andalusia. He had left the camp the day after the capture of Illora,
and advanced thus far to receive the queen and escort her over
the borders. The queen received the marques with distinguished
honor, for he was esteemed the mirror of chivalry. His actions in
this war had become the theme of every tongue, and many hesitated
not to compare him in prowess with the immortal Cid.*

*Cura de los Palacios.


Thus gallantly attended, the queen entered the vanquished frontier
of Granada, journeying securely along the pleasant banks of the
Xenil, so lately subject to the scourings of the Moors. She stopped
at Loxa, where she administered aid and consolation to the wounded,
distributing money among them for their support according to their rank.

The king after the capture of Illora had removed his camp before
the fortress of Moclin, with an intention of besieging it. Thither
the queen proceeded, still escorted through the mountain-roads
by the marques of Cadiz. As Isabella drew near to the camp the
duke del Infantado issued forth a league and a half to receive her,
magnificently arrayed and followed by all his chivalry in glorious
attire. With him came the standard of Seville, borne by the men-
at-arms of that renowned city, and the prior of St. Juan with his
followers. They ranged themselves in order of battle on the left
of the road by which the queen was to pass.

The worthy Agapida is loyally minute in his description of the state
and grandeur of the Catholic sovereigns. The queen rode a chestnut
mule, seated in a magnificent saddle-chair decorated with silver
gilt. The housings of the mule were of fine crimson cloth, the
borders embroidered with gold, the reins and head-piece were
of satin, curiously embossed with needlework of silk and wrought
with golden letters. The queen wore a brial or regal skirt of velvet,
under which were others of brocade; a scarlet mantle, ornamented
in the Moresco fashion; and a black hat, embroidered round the crown
and brim. The infanta was likewise mounted on a chestnut mule
richly caparisoned: she wore a brial or skirt of black brocade and a
black mantle ornamented like that of the queen.

When the royal cavalcade passed by the chivalry of the duke del
Infantado, which was drawn out in battle array, the queen made a
reverence to the standard of Seville and ordered it to pass to the
right hand. When she approached the camp the multitude ran forth
to meet her with great demonstrations of joy, for she was universally
beloved by her subjects. All the battalions sallied forth in military
array, bearing the various standards and banners of the camp, which
were lowered in salutation as she passed.

The king now came forth in royal state, mounted on a superb chestnut
horse and attended by many grandees of Castile. He wore a jubon or
close vest of crimson cloth, with cuisses or short skirts of yellow satin,
a loose cassock of brocade, a rich Moorish scimetar, and a hat with
plumes. The grandees who attended him were arrayed with wonderful
magnificence, each according to his taste and invention.

These high and mighty princes (says Antonio Agapida) regarded each
other with great deference as allied sovereigns, rather than with
connubial familiarity as mere husband and wife. When they approached
each other, therefore, before embracing, they made three profound
reverences, the queen taking off her hat and remaining in a silk net
or caul, with her face uncovered. The king then approached and
embraced her, and kissed her respectfully on the cheek. He also
embraced his daughter the princess, and, making the sign of the
cross, he blessed her and kissed her on the lips.*

*Cura de los Palacios.


The good Agapida seems scarcely to have been more struck with
the appearance of the sovereigns than with that of the English earl.
He followed (says he) immediately after the king, with great pomp
and, in an extraordinary manner, taking precedence of all the rest.
He was mounted "a la guisa," or with long stirrups, on a superb
chestnut horse, with trappings of azure silk which reached to the
ground. The housings were of mulberry powdered with stars of gold.
He was armed in proof, and wore over his armor a short French mantle
of black brocade; he had a white French hat with plumes, and carried
on his left arm a small round buckler banded with gold. Five pages
attended him, apparelled in silk and brocade and mounted on horses
sumptuously caparisoned; he had also a train of followers bravely
attired after the fashion of his country.

He advanced in a chivalrous and courteous manner, making his
reverences first to the queen and infanta, and afterward to the
king. Queen Isabella received him graciously, complimenting him
on his courageous conduct at Loxa, and condoling with him on the
loss of his teeth. The earl, however, made light of his disfiguring
wound, saying that "our Blessed Lord, who had built all that house,
had opened a window there, that he might see more readily what
passed within;"* whereupon the worthy Fray Antonio Agapida is
more than ever astonished at the pregnant wit of this island cavalier.
The earl continued some little distance by the side of the royal
family, complimenting them all with courteous speeches, his horse
curveting and caracoling, but being managed with great grace and
dexterity, leaving the grandees and the people at large not more
filled with admiration at the strangeness and magnificence of his
state than at the excellence of his horsemanship.**

*Pietro Martyr, Epist. 61.

**Cura de los Palacios.


To testify her sense of the gallantry and services of this noble
English knight, who had come from so far to assist in their wars,
the queen sent him the next day presents of twelve horses, with
stately tents, fine linen, two beds with coverings of gold brocade,
and many other articles of great value.

Having refreshed himself, as it were, with the description of this
progress of Queen Isabella to the camp and the glorious pomp of
the Catholic sovereigns, the worthy Antonio Agapida returns with
renewed relish to his pious work of discomfiting the Moors.

The description of this royal pageant and the particulars concerning
the English earl, thus given from the manuscript of Fray Antonio
Agapida, agree precisely with the chronicle of Andres Bernaldez, the
curate of Los Palacios. The English earl makes no further figure in
this war. It appears from various histories that he returned in the
course of the year to England. In the following year his passion
for fighting took him to the Continent, at the head of four hundred
adventurers, in aid of Francis, duke of Brittany, against Louis XI.
of France. He was killed in the same year (1488) in the battle of
St. Alban's between the Bretons and the French.