University of Virginia Library

CHAPTER XXVI.

In this part of his chronicle the worthy
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 the 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 Diego Lopez de Mendoza, Count
de 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
stationed. 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 situate, in the
heart of the enemy's country, surrounded
by foes ready to assail him, and a rich
country for him to ravage, it behoved 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 revellings. 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
contest 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 de 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 endeavoured 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 laboured 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 soldiers. 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
valour of the soldier: no other music was
allowed but the wholesome rolling of the
drums and braying of the trumpet, and
such like spirit-stirring instruments, as
fill the mind with thoughts of iron war.
All wandering minstrels, sharping pedlers,
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 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
laboured, by vigilance and vigour, 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 rights 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 labourer
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 the Count
de Tendilla. The peasantry, therefore,
were fain to betake themselves to watchtowers
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 the 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 gates 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 labour in the fields, without peril
of being carried into captivity. The people
of Granada clamoured against Muley
Aben 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 neighbourhood
of Alhama, keeping strict watch upon
its gates, so that it was impossible for
the Christians to make a sally, without
being seen and interrupted.

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 a rapture
of a portion of the wall, which,
undermined by heavy rains, had suddenly
given way, leaving a large chasm
yawning towards 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 Moors. Light squadrons
of the enemy were seen hovering about
the plain, but none 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 him a number of
little morsels of paper, on which he
inscribed various sums, large and small,
according to the nature of the case, and
signs 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
a severe punishment, to all who
should refuse. The people, having full
confidence in his words, and trusting,
that he would be as willing to perform
the one promise, as he certainly was
able to perform the other, took these
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.