45. CHAPTER XLV.
Preparations of Granada for a desperate defence.
How is thy strength departed, oh Granada! how
is thy beauty withered and despoiled, oh city of groves
and fountains! The commerce that once thronged
thy streets is at an end; the merchant no longer hastens
to thy gates, with the luxuries of foreign lands.
The cities which once paid thee tribute are wrested
from thy sway; the chivalry which filled thy Vivarrambla
with the sumptuous pageantry of war, have
fallen in many battles. The Alhambra still rears its
ruddy towers from the midst of groves, but melancholy
reigns in its marble halls; and the monarch
looks down from his lofty balconies upon a naked
waste, where once had extended the blooming glories
of the vega!
Such is the lament of the Moorish writers, over
the lamentable state of Granada, which now remained
a mere phantom of its former greatness. The two
ravages of the vega, following so closely upon each
other, had swept off all the produce of the year; and
the husbandman had no longer the heart to till the
field, seeing that the ripening harvest only brought
the spoiler to his door.
During the winter season, king Ferdinand made
diligent preparations for the last campaign, that was
to decide the fate of Granada. As this war was
waged purely for the promotion of the christian faith,
he thought it meet that its enemies should bear the
expenses. He levied, therefore, a general contribution
upon all the Jews throughout his kingdom, by
synagogues and districts; and obliged them to render
in the proceeds, at the city of Seville.
[1]
On the 11th of April, Ferdinand and Isabella departed
for the Moorish frontier, with the solemn determination
to lay close siege to Granada, and never
to quit its walls until they had planted the standard
of the faith on the towers of the Alhambra. Many
of the nobles of the kingdom, particularly those from
the parts remote from the scene of action, wearied by
the toils of war, and foreseeing that this would be a
tedious siege, requiring patience and vigilance rather
than hardy deeds of arms, contented themselves with
sending their vassals, while they staid at home, to
attend to their domains. Many cities furnished soldiers
at their cost, and the king took the field with
an army of forty thousand infantry and ten thousand
horse. The principal captains who followed the
king in this campaign, were Roderigo Ponce de Leon,
the marques of Cadiz, the Master of Santiago, the
marques of Villena; the counts of Tendilla, Cifuentes,
Cabra, and Urena; and Don Alonzo de Aguilar.
Queen Isabella, accompanied by her son the prince
Juan, and by the princesses Juana, Maria, and Cathalina,
her daughters, proceeded to Alcala la Real,
the mountain fortress and strong-hold of the count
de Tendilla. Here she remained, to forward supplies
to the army, and to be ready to repair to the camp,
whenever her presence might be required.
The army of Ferdinand poured into the vega, by
various defiles of the mountains; and, on the 23d of
April, the royal tent was pitched at a village called
Los Ojos de Huescar, about a league and a half from
Granada. At the approach of this formidable force,
the harassed inhabitants turned pale, and even many
of the warriors trembled; for they felt that the last
desperate struggle was at hand.
Boabdil el Chico assembled his council in the Alhambra,
from the windows of which they could
behold the christian squadrons glistening through
clouds of dust, as they poured along the vega. The
utmost confusion and consternation reigned in the
council. Many of the members, terrified with the
horrors impending over their families, advised Boabdil
to throw himself upon the generosity of the christian
monarch: even several of the bravest suggested
the possibility of obtaining honorable terms.
The wazir of the city, Abul Casim Abdel Melic,
was called upon to report the state of the public
means for sustenance and defence. There were
sufficient provisions, he said, for a few months' supply,
independent of what might exist in the possession
of merchants and other rich inhabitants. “But
of what avail,” said he, “is a supply for a few months,
against the sieges of the Castilian monarch, which are
interminable?”
He produced, also, the lists of men capable of bearing
arms. “The number.” said he, “is great; but
what can be expected from mere citizen-soldiers?
They vaunt and menace, in time of safety; none are
so arrogant, when the enemy is at a distance—but
when the din of war thunders at their gates, they
hide themselves in terror.”
When Muza heard these words, he rose with generous
warmth: “What reason have we,” said he, “to
despair? The blood of those illustrious Moors, the
conquerors of Spain, still flows in our veins. Let us
be true to ourselves, and fortune will again be with
us. We have a veteran force, both horse and foot,
the flower of our chivalry, seasoned in war and scarred
in a thousand battles. As to the multitude of our
citizens, spoken of so slightly, why should we doubt
their valor? There are twenty thousand young men,
in the fire of youth, for whom I will engage, that
in the defence of their homes they will rival the
most valiant veterans. Do we want provisions? Our
horses are fleet, and our horsemen daring in the
foray. Let them scour and scourge the country of
those apostate Moslems who have surrendered to the
christians. Let them make inroads into the lands of
our enemies. We shall soon see them returning with
cavalgadas to our gates; and, to a soldier, there is no
morsel so sweet as that wrested with hard fighting
from the foe.”
Boabdil el Chico, though he wanted firm and durable
courage, was readily excited to sudden emotions
of bravery. He caught a glow of resolution from
the noble ardor of Muza. “Do what is needful,”
said he to his commanders; “into your hands I con
fide the common safety. You are the protectors of
the kingdom, and, with the aid of Allah, will revenge
the insults of our religion, the deaths of our friends
and relations, and the sorrows and sufferings heaped
upon our land.”
[2]
To every one was now assigned his separate duty.
The wazir had charge of the arms and provisions,
and the enrolling of the people. Muza was to command
the cavalry, to defend the gates, and to take
the lead in all sallies and skirmishings. Naim Reduan,
and Muhamed Aben Zayde, were his adjutants. Abdel
Kerim Zegri, and the other captains, were to
guard the walls; and the alcaydes of the Alcazaba,
and of the Red Towers, had command of the fortresses.
Nothing now was heard but the din of arms, and the
bustle of preparation. The Moorish spirit, quick to
catch fire, was immediately in a flame; and the populace,
in the excitement of the moment, set at nought
the power of the christians. Muza was in all parts
of the city, infusing his own generous zeal into the
bosoms of the soldiery. The young cavaliers rallied
round him as their model; the veteran warriors regarded
him with a soldier's admiration; the vulgar
throng followed him with shouts, and the helpless
part of the inhabitants, the old men and the women,
hailed him with blessings as their protector.
On the first appearance of the christian army, the
principal gates of the city had been closed, and secured
with bars and bolts and heavy chains: Muza
now ordered them to be thrown open; “To me and
my cavaliers,” said he, “is intrusted the defence of
the gates; our bodies shall be their barriers.” He
stationed at each gate a strong guard, chosen from his
bravest men. His horsemen were always completely
armed, and ready to mount at a moment's warning:
their steeds stood saddled and caparisoned in the
stables, with lance and buckler beside them. On
the least approach of the enemy, a squadron of horse
gathered within the gate, ready to lanch forth like the
bolt from the thunder-cloud. Muza made no empty
bravado nor haughty threat; he was more terrible in
deeds than in words, and executed daring exploits,
beyond even the vaunt of the vain-glorious. Such
was the present champion of the Moors. Had they
possessed many such warriors, or had Muza risen to
power at an earlier period of the war, the fate of
Granada might have been deferred, and the Moor for
a long time have maintained his throne within the
walls of the Alhambra.
