24. CHAPTER XXIV.
Of the reception at court of the Count de Cabra and the
Alcayde de los Donzeles.
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 Donzeles, 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 Gonzalez 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
triumphant 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 majesty's hand; but 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
Cardonas, 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
Donzeles 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 Donzeles 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
Donzeles 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 Donzeles 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
Donzeles 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
Donzeles supped at the same table with the king,
the queen, and the Infanta. The royal family were
served by the marques of Villena. The cupbearer
to the king was his nephew Fadrigue de Toledo, son
to the duke of Alva. Don Alexis de Estañiga 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 Donzeles. 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
afterwards, 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.[1]
