32. CHAPTER XXXII.
How Queen Isabella devised means to supply the army
with provisions.
It has been the custom to laud the conduct and
address of king Ferdinand, in this most arduous and
protracted war; but the sage Agapida is more disposed
to give credit to the counsels and measures of
the queen, who, he observes, though less ostensible
in action, was in truth the very soul, the vital principle,
of this great enterprise. While king Ferdinand
was bustling in his camp and making a glittering display
with his gallant chivalry, she, surrounded by
her saintly counsellors, in the episcopal palace of
Jaen, was devising ways and means to keep the king
and his army in existence. She had pledged herself
to keep up a supply of men, and money, and provisions,
until the city should be taken. The hardships
of the siege caused a fearful waste of life, but the
supply of men was the least difficult part of her undertaking.
So beloved was the queen by the chivalry
of Spain, that on her calling on them for assistance,
not a grandee or cavalier that yet lingered at home,
but either repaired in person or sent forces to the
camp; the ancient and warlike families vied with
each other in marshalling forth their vassals, and
thus the besieged Moors beheld each day fresh troops
arriving before their city, and new ensigns and pennons
displayed, emblazoned with arms well known
to the veteran warriors.
But the most arduous task was to keep up a regular
supply of provisions. It was not the army alone
that had to be supported, but also the captured towns
and their garrisons; for the whole country around
them had been ravaged, and the conquerors were in
danger of starving in the midst of the land they had
desolated. To transport the daily supplies for such
immense numbers, was a gigantic undertaking, in a
country where there was neither water conveyance
nor roads for carriages. Every thing had to be borne
by beasts of burthen over rugged and broken paths
of the mountains, and through dangerous defiles, exposed
to the attacks and plunderings of the Moors.
The wary and calculating merchants, accustomed
to supply the army, shrunk from engaging, at their
own risk, in so hazardous an undertaking. The
queen therefore hired fourteen thousand beasts of
burthen, and ordered all the wheat and barley to be
bought up in Andalusia, and in the domains of the
knights of Santiago and Calatrava. She distributed
the administration of these supplies among able and
confidential persons. Some were employed to collect
the grain; others, to take it to the mills; others,
to superintend the grinding and delivery; and others,
to convey it to the camp. To every two hundred
animals a muleteer was allotted, to take charge of
them on the route. Thus, great lines of convoys
were in constant movement, traversing to and fro,
guarded by large bodies of troops, to defend them
from hovering parties of the Moors. Not a single
day's intermission was allowed, for the army depended
upon the constant arrival of these supplies
for daily food. The grain, when brought into the
camp, was deposited in an immense granary, and
sold to the army at a fixed price, which was never
either raised or lowered.
Incredible were the expenses incurred in these supplies;
but the queen had ghostly advisers, thoroughly
versed in the art of getting at the resources of the
country. Many worthy prelates opened the deep
purses of the church, and furnished loans from the
revenues of their dioceses and convents; and their
pious contributions were eventually rewarded by
Providence, an hundred fold. Merchants and other
wealthy individuals, confident of the punctual faith
of the queen, advanced large sums on the security
of her word; many noble families lent their plate,
without waiting to be asked. The queen also sold
certain annual rents in inheritance at great sacrifices,
assigning the revenues of towns and cities for the
payment. Finding all this insufficient to satisfy the
enormous expenditure, she sent her gold and plate
and all her jewels to the cities of Valentia and Barcelona,
where they were pledged for a great amount
of money, which was immediately appropriated to
keep up the supplies of the army.
Thus, through the wonderful activity, judgment,
and enterprise, of this heroic and magnanimous woman,
a great host, encamped in the heart of a warlike
country, accessible only over mountain roads,
was maintained in continual abundance. Nor was
it supplied merely with the necessaries and comforts
of life. The powerful escorts drew merchants and
artificers from all parts, to repair, as if in caravans,
to this great military market. In a little while, the
camp abounded with tradesmen and artists of all
kinds, to administer to the luxury and ostentation of
the youthful chivalry. Here might be seen cunning
artificers in steel, and accomplished armorers, achieving
those rare and sumptuous helmets and cuirasses,
richly gilt, inlaid, and embossed, in which the Spanish
cavaliers delighted. Saddlers and harness-makers
and horse-milliners, also, were there, whose tents
glittered with gorgeous housings and caparisons. The
merchants spread forth their sumptuous silks, cloths,
brocades, fine linen, and tapestry. The tents of the
nobility were prodigally decorated with all kinds of
the richest stuffs, and dazzled the eye with their
magnificence: nor could the grave looks and grave
speeches of king Ferdinand prevent his youthful
cavaliers from vying with each other in the splendor
of their dresses and caparisons, on all occasions of
parade and ceremony.
