University of Virginia Library

29. CHAPTER XXIX.
How King Ferdinand commenced another campaign
against the Moors, and how he laid siege to Coin
and Cartama.

The great effect of the battering ordnance in demolishing
the Moorish fortresses in the preceding
year, induced king Ferdinand to procure a powerful
train for the campaign of 1485, in the course of
which he resolved to assault some of the most
formidable holds of the enemy. An army of nine
thousand cavalry and twenty thousand infantry assembled
at Cordova, early in the spring; and the king
took the field on the 5th of April. It had been determined
in secret council, to attack the city of Malaga,
that ancient and important sea-port, on which
Granada depended for foreign aid and supplies. It
was thought proper previously, however, to get possession
of various towns and fortresses in the valleys
of Santa Maria and Cartama, through which pass
the roads to Malaga.

The first place assailed was the town of Benamaquex.
It had submitted to the Catholic sovereigns
in the preceding year, but had since renounced its
allegiance. King Ferdinand was enraged at the rebellion
of the inhabitants. “I will make their punishment,”
said he, “a terror to others: they shall be
loyal through force, if not through faith.” The place

was carried by storm: one hundred and eight of the
principal inhabitants were either put to the sword
or hanged on the battlements; the rest were carried
into captivity.[1]

The towns of Coin and Cartama were besieged
on the same day; the first by a division of the army
led on by the marques of Cadiz, the second by another
division commanded by Don Alonzo de Aguilar
and Luis Fernandez Puerto Carrero, the brave
Senior of Palma. The king, with the rest of the
army, remained posted between the two places, to
render assistance to either division. The batteries
opened upon both places at the same time, and the
thunder of the lombards was mutually heard from one
camp to the other. The Moors made frequent sallies,
and a valiant defence; but they were confounded
by the tremendous uproar of the batteries, and
the destruction of their walls. In the mean time, the
alarm-fires gathered together the Moorish mountaineers
of all the Serrania, who assembled in great
numbers in the city of Monda, about a league from
Coin. They made several attempts to enter the besieged
town, but in vain: they were each time intercepted
and driven back by the christians, and were
reduced to gaze at a distance in despair on the destruction
of the place. While thus situated, there
rode one day into Monda a fierce and haughty Moorish
chieftain, at the head of a band of swarthy African
horsemen: it was Hamet el Zegri, the fiery spirited

alcayde of Ronda, at the head of his band of
Gomeres. He had not yet recovered from the rage
and mortification of his defeat on the banks of the
Lopera, in the disastrous foray of old Bexir, when
he had been obliged to steal back furtively to his
mountains, with the loss of the bravest of his followers.
He had ever since panted for revenge. He
now rode among the host of warriors assembled at
Monda. “Who among you,” cried he, “feels pity for
the women and children of Coin, exposed to captivity
and death? Whoever he is, let him follow me,
who am ready to die as a Moslem for the relief of
Moslems.” So saying, he seized a white banner, and,
waving it over his head, rode forth from the town,
followed by the Gomeres. Many of the warriors,
roused by his words and his example, spurred resolutely
after his banner. The people of Coin, being
prepared for this attempt, sallied forth as they saw
the white banner, and made an attack upon the
christian camp; and in the confusion of the moment,
Hamet and his followers galloped into the gates.
This reinforcement animated the besieged, and
Hamet exhorted them to hold out obstinately in defence
of life and town. As the Gomeres were veteran
warriors, the more they were attacked the harder
they fought.

At length, a great breach was made in the walls,
and Ferdinand, who was impatient of the resistance
of the place, ordered the duke of Naxera and the
count of Benavente to enter with their troops; and
as their forces were not sufficient, he sent word to

Luis de Cerda, duke of Medina Celi, to send a part
of his people to their assistance.

The feudal pride of the duke was roused at this
demand. “Tell my lord the king,” said the haughty
grandee, “that I have come to succor him with my
household troops: if my people are ordered to any
place, I am to go with them; but if I am to remain
in the camp, my people must remain with me. For
the troops cannot serve without their commander,
nor their commander without his troops.”

The reply of the high-spirited grandee perplexed
the cautious Ferdinand, who knew the jealous pride
of his powerful nobles. In the mean time, the people
of the camp, having made all preparations for
the assault, were impatient to be led forward. Upon
this, Pero Ruyz de Alarcon put himself at their head,
and, seizing their mantas, or portable bulwarks, and
their other defences, they made a gallant assault, and
fought their way in at the breach. The Moors were
so overcome by the fury of their assault, that they
retreated fighting to the square of the town. Pero
Ruyz de Alarcon thought the place was carried,
when suddenly Hamet and his Gomeres came scouring
through the streets with wild war-cries, and fell
furiously upon the christians. The latter were in their
turn beaten back, and, while attacked in front by the
Gomeres, were assailed by the inhabitants with all
kinds of missiles from their roofs and windows.
They at length gave way, and retreated through the
breach. Pero Ruyz de Alarcon still maintained his
ground in one of the principal streets—the few cava

liers that stood by him urged him to fly: “No,” said
he; “I came here to fight, and not to fly.” He was
presently surrounded by the Gomeres; his companions
fled for their lives; the last they saw of him, he
was covered with wounds, but still fighting desperately
for the fame of a good cavalier.[2]

The resistance of the inhabitants, though aided by
the valor of the Gomeres, was of no avail. The
battering artillery of the christians demolished their
walls; combustibles were thrown into their town,
which set it on fire in various places; and they were
at length compelled to capitulate. They were permitted
to depart with their effects, and the Gomeres
with their arms. Hamet el Zegri and his African
band sallied forth, and rode proudly through the
christian camp; nor could the Spanish cavaliers refrain
from regarding with admiration that haughty
warrior and his devoted and dauntless followers.

The capture of Coin was accompanied by that of
Cartama: the fortifications of the latter were repaired
and garrisoned; but Coin, being too extensive to
be defended by a moderate force, its walls were demolished.
The siege of these places struck such terror
into the surrounding country, that the Moors of
many of the neighboring towns abandoned their
homes, and fled with such of their effects as they
could carry away; upon which the king gave orders
to demolish their walls and towers.

King Ferdinand now left his camp and his heavy

artillery near Cartama, and proceeded with his lighter
troops to reconnoitre Malaga. By this time, the
secret plan of attack, arranged in the council of war
at Cordova, was known to all the world. The vigilant
warrior El Zagal had thrown himself into the
place; he had put all the fortifications, which were
of vast strength, into a state of defence; and had
sent orders to the alcaydes of the mountain towns,
to hasten with their forces to his assistance.

The very day that Ferdinand appeared before the
place, El Zagal sallied forth to receive him, at the
head of a thousand cavalry, the choicest warriors of
Granada. A hot skirmish took place among the gardens
and olive-trees near the city. Many were killed
on both sides; and this gave the christians a sharp
foretaste of what they might expect, if they attempted
to besiege the place.

When the skirmish was over, the marques of Cadiz
had a private conference with the king. He represented
the difficulty of besieging Malaga with their
present force, especially as their plans had been discovered
and anticipated, and the whole country was
marching over the mountains to oppose them. The
marques, who had secret intelligence from all quarters,
had received a letter from Juceph Xerife, a
Moor of Ronda, of christian lineage, apprizing him
of the situation of that important place and its garrison,
which at that moment laid it open to attack;
and the marques was urgent with the king to seize
upon this critical moment, and secure a place which
was one of the most powerful Moorish fortresses on

the frontiers, and in the hands of Hamet el Zegri
had been the scourge of Andalusia. The good marques
had another motive for his advice, becoming of
a true and loyal knight. In the deep dungeons of
Ronda languished several of his companions in arms,
who had been captured in the defeat in the Axarquia.
To break their chains, and restore them to liberty
and light, he felt to be his peculiar duty, as one of
those who had most promoted that disastrous enterprise.

King Ferdinand listened to the advice of the marques.
He knew the importance of Ronda, which
was considered one of the keys to the kingdom of
Granada; and he was disposed to punish the inhabitants,
for the aid they had rendered to the garrison
of Coin. The siege of Malaga, therefore, was abandoned
for the present, and preparations made for a
rapid and secret move against the city of Ronda.