46. CHAPTER XLVI.
How King Ferdinand conducted the siege cautiously; and
how Queen Isabella arrived at the camp.
Though Granada was shorn of its glories, and
nearly cut off from all external aid, still its mighty
castles and massive bulwarks seemed to set all attack
at defiance. Being the last retreat of Moorish power,
it had assembled within its walls the remnants of the
armies that had contended, step by step, with the
invaders, in their gradual conquest of the land. All
that remained of high-born and high-bred chivalry,
was here; all that was loyal and patriotic was roused
to activity by the common danger; and Granada,
that had so long been lulled into inaction by vain
hopes of security, now assumed a formidable aspect
in the hour of its despair.
Ferdinand saw that any attempt to subdue the city
by main force, would be perilous and bloody. Cautious
in his policy, and fond of conquests gained by
art rather than valor, he resorted to the plan which
had been so successful with Baza, and determined
to reduce the place by famine. For this purpose,
his armies penetrated into the very heart of the Alpuxarras,
and ravaged the valleys, and sacked and
burnt the towns, upon which the city depended for
its supplies. Scouting parties, also, ranged the mountains
behind Granada, and captured every casual
convoy of provisions. The Moors became more daring,
as their situation became more hopeless. Never
had Ferdinand experienced such vigorous sallies and
assaults. Muza, at the head of his cavalry, harassed
the borders of the camp, and even penetrated into
the interior, making sudden spoil and ravage, and
leaving his course to be traced by the slain and wounded.
To protect his camp from these assaults, Ferdinand
fortified it with deep trenches and strong
bulwarks. It was of a quadrangular form, divided
into streets like a city, the troops being quartered
in tents, and in booths constructed of bushes and
branches of trees. When it was completed, queen
Isabella came in state, with all her court, and the
prince and princesses, to be present at the siege. This
was intended, as on former occasions, to reduce the
besieged to despair, by showing the determination of
the sovereigns to reside in the camp until the city
should surrender. Immediately after her arrival, the
queen rode forth to survey the camp and its environs:
wherever she went, she was attended by a
splendid retinue; and all the commanders vied with
each other, in the pomp and ceremony with which
they received her. Nothing was heard, from morning
until night, but shouts and acclamations, and bursts of
martial music; so that it appeared to the Moors as if
a continual festival and triumph reigned in the christian
camp.
The arrival of the queen, however, and the menaced
obstinacy of the siege, had no effect in damping
the fire of the Moorish chivalry. Muza inspired the
youthful warriors with the most devoted heroism:
“We have nothing left to fight for,” said he, “but the
ground we stand on; when this is lost, we cease to
have a country and a name.”
Finding the christian king forbore to make an
attack, Muza incited his cavaliers to challenge the
youthful chivalry of the christian army to single combat,
or partial skirmishes. Scarce a day passed without
gallant conflicts of the kind, in sight of the city
and the camp. The combatants rivalled each other
in the splendor of their armor and array, as well as
in the prowess of their deeds. Their contests were
more like the stately ceremonials of tilts and tournaments,
than the rude conflicts of the field. Ferdinand
soon perceived that they animated the fiery
Moors with fresh zeal and courage, while they cost
the lives of many of his bravest cavaliers: he again,
therefore, forbade the acceptance of any individual
challenges, and ordered that all partial encounters
should be avoided. The cool and stern policy of
the Catholic sovereign bore hard upon the generous
spirits of either army, but roused the indignation of
the Moors, when they found that they were to be
subdued in this inglorious manner: “Of what avail,”
said they, “are chivalry and heroic valour? the crafty
monarch of the christians has no magnanimity in
warfare; he seeks to subdue us through the weakness
of our bodies, but shuns to encounter the courage
of our souls.”
