CHAPTER LXXXV

Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada

by Washington Irving

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

THE FATE OF THE CASTLE OF ROMA.


About two leagues from Granada, on an eminence commanding an
extensive view of the Vega, stood the strong Moorish castle of Roma.
Hither the neighboring peasantry drove their flocks and herds and
hurried with their most precious effects on the irruption of a
Christian force, and any foraging or skirmishing party from Granada,
on being intercepted in their return, threw themselves into Roma,
manned its embattled towers, and set the enemy at defiance. The
garrison were accustomed to have parties of Moors clattering up to
their gates so hotly pursued that there was barely time to throw
open the portal, receive them within, and shut out their pursuers;
while the Christian cavaliers had many a time reined up their
panting steeds at the very entrance of the barbican, and retired,
cursing the strong walls of Roma that robbed them of their prey.

The late ravages of Ferdinand and the continual skirmishings in the
Vega had roused the vigilance of the castle. One morning early, as
the sentinels kept watch upon the battlements, they beheld a cloud
of dust advancing rapidly from a distance: turbans and Moorish
weapons soon caught their eyes, and as the whole approached they
descried a drove of cattle urged on in great haste and convoyed by
one hundred and fifty Moors, who led with them two Christian
captives in chains.

When the cavalgada arrived near the castle, a Moorish cavalier
of noble and commanding mien and splendid attire rode up to the
foot of the tower and entreated admittance. He stated that they
were returning with rich booty from a foray into the lands of the
Christians, but that the enemy was on their traces, and they feared
to be overtaken before they could reach Granada. The sentinels
descended in all haste and flung open the gates. The long cavalgada
defiled into the courts of the castle, which were soon filled with
bleating and lowing flocks and herds, with neighing and stamping
steeds, and with fierce-looking Moors from the mountains. The
cavalier who had asked admission was the chief of the party; he
was somewhat advanced in life, of a lofty and gallant bearing, and
had with him a son, a young man of great spirit and fire. Close by
them followed the two Christian captives, with looks cast down
and disconsolate.

The soldiers of the garrison had roused themselves from their sleep,
and were busily occupied attending to the cattle which crowded the
courts, while the foraging party distributed themselves about the
castle to seek refreshment or repose. Suddenly a shout arose that
was echoed from courtyard and hall and battlement. The garrison,
astonished and bewildered, would have rushed to their arms, but
found themselves, almost before they could make resistance,
completely in the power of an enemy.

The pretended foraging party consisted of mudexares, or Moors
tributary to the Christians, and the commanders were the prince Cid
Hiaya and his son Alnayar. They had hastened from the mountains with
this small force to aid the Catholic sovereigns during the summer's
campaign, and had concerted to surprise this important castle and
present it to King Ferdinand as a gage of their faith and the first
fruits of their devotion.

The politic monarch overwhelmed his new converts and allies with
favors and distinctions in return for this important acquisition,
but he took care to despatch a strong force of veteran and genuine
Christian troops to man the fortress.

As to the Moors who had composed the garrison, Cid Hiaya
remembered that they were his countrymen, and could not prevail
upon himself to deliver them into Christian bondage. He set them
at liberty, and permitted them to repair to Granada--"a proof," says
the pious Agapida, "that his conversion was not entirely consummated,
but that there were still some lingerings of the infidel in his heart."
His lenity was far from procuring him indulgence in the opinions of
his countrymen; on the contrary, the inhabitants of Granada, when
they learnt from the liberated garrison the stratagem by which Roma
had been captured, cursed Cid Hiaya for a traitor, and the garrison
joined in the malediction.*

*Pulgar, Cron., part 3, cap. 130; Cura de los Palacios, cap. 90.


But the indignation of the people of Granada was destined to be
roused to tenfold violence. The old warrior Muley Abdallah el Zagal
had retired to his little mountain-territory, and for a short time
endeavored to console himself with his petty title of king of
Andarax. He soon grew impatient, however, of the quiet and inaction
of his mimic kingdom. His fierce spirit was exasperated by being
shut up within such narrow limits, and his hatred rose to downright
fury against Boabdil, whom he considered as the cause of his
downfall. When tidings were brought him that King Ferdinand was
laying waste the Vega, he took a sudden resolution. Assembling the
whole disposable force of his kingdom, which amounted but to two
hundred men, he descended from the Alpuxarras and sought the
Christian camp, content to serve as a vassal the enemy of his faith
and his nation, so that he might see Granada wrested from the sway
of his nephew.

In his blind passion the old wrathful monarch injured his cause and
strengthened the cause of his adversary. The Moors of Granada
had been clamorous in his praise, extolling him as a victim to his
patriotism, and had refused to believe all reports of his treaty
with the Christians; but when they beheld from the walls of the
city his banner mingling with the banners of the unbelievers and
arrayed against his late people and the capital he had commanded,
they broke forth into revilings and heaped curses upon his name.

Their next emotion, of course, was in favor of Boabdil. They
gathered under the walls of the Alhambra and hailed him as their
only hope, as the sole dependence of the country. Boabdil could
scarcely believe his senses when he heard his name mingled with
praises and greeted with acclamations. Encouraged by this unexpected
gleam of popularity, he ventured forth from his retreat and was
received with rapture. All his past errors were attributed to the
hardships of his fortune and the usurpation of his tyrant uncle, and
whatever breath the populace could spare from uttering curses on
El Zagal was expended in shouts in honor of El Chico.