CHAPTER C.
How the Castilian sovereigns took possession
of Granada.
When the Castilian sovereigns had
received the keys of Granada, from the
hands of Boabdil el Chico, the royal army
resumed its triumphal march. As it approached
the gates of the city, in all the
pomp of courtly and chivalrous array, a
procession of a different kind came forth
to meet it. This was composed of more
than five hundred Christian captives,
many of whom had languished for years
in Mooorish dungeons. Pale and emaciated,
they came clanking their chains in
triumph, and shedding tears of joy.
They were received with tenderness by
the sovereigns. The king hailed them
as good Spaniards; as men loyal and
brave; as martyrs to the holy cause.
The queen distributed liberal relief among
them with her own hands, and they
passed on before the squadrous of the
army, singing hymns of jubilee.[128]
The sovereigns did not enter the city
on the day of its surrender; but waited
until it should be fully occupied by their
troops, and public tranquillity insured.
The Marquis de Villena, and the Count
de Tendilla, with three thousand cavalry,
and as many infantry, marched in, and
took possession, accompanied by the
proselyte prince, Cidi Yahye, now known
by the Christian appellation of Don Pedro
de Granada, who was appointed chief alguazil
of the city, and had charge of the
Moorish inhabitants; and by his son, the
late Prince Alnayer, now Don Alonso de
Granada, who was appointed admiral of
the fleets. In a little while every battlement
glistened with Christian helms and
lances, the standard of the faith and of
the realm floated from every tower, and
the thundering salvos of the ordnance
told, that the subjugation of the city was
complete.
The grandees and cavaliers now knelt,
and kissed the hands of the king and
queen, and the Prince Juan, and congratulated
them on the acquisition of so great
a kingdom; after which the royal procession
returned in state to Santa Fé.
It was on the 6th of January, the day
of Kings, and the festival of the Epiphany,
that the sovereigns made their triumphal
entry. "The king and queen,"
says the worthy Fray Antonio Agapida,
"looked on this occasion as more than
mortal. The venerable ecclesiastics, to
whose advice and zeal this glorious conquest
ought in a great measure to be attributed,
moved along, with hearts swelling
with holy exultation, but with chastened
and downeast looks of edifying
humility; while the hardy warriors, in
tossing plumes and shining steel, seemed
elevated with a stern joy, at finding themselves
in possession of this object of so
many toils and perils. As the streets
resounded with the tramp of steed, and
swelling peals of music, the Moors buried
themselves in the deepest recesses of their
dwellings. There they bewailed in secret
the fallen glory of their race; but suppressed
their groans, lest they should be
heard by their enemies, and increase
their triumph."
The royal procession advanced to the
principal mosque, which had been consecrated
as a cathedral. Here the sovereigns
offered up prayers and thanksgivings,
and the choir of the royal chapel
chanted a triumphant anthem, in which
they were joined by all the courtiers and
cavaliers. "Nothing," says Fray Antonio
Agapida, "could exceed the thankfulness
to God of the pious King Ferdinand,
for having enabled him to eradicate
from Spain the empire and name of
that accursed heathen race, and for the
elevation of the cross in that city,
wherein the impious doctrines of Mahomet
had so long been cherished. In
the fervour of his spirit, he supplicated
from Heaven a continuance of its grace,
and that this glorious triumph might be
perpetuated."[129]
The prayer of the pious
monarch was responded by the people,
and even his enemies were for once convinced
of his sincerity.
When the religious ceremonies were
concluded, the court ascended to the
stately palace of the Alhambra, and entered
by the great gate of justice. The
halls, lately occupied by turbaned infidels,
now rustled with stately dames and
Christian courtiers, who wandered with
eager curiosity over this far-famed palace,
admiring its verdant courts and gushing
fountains, its halls decorated with elegant
arabesques, and storied with inscriptions,
and the splendour of its gilded and brilliantly
painted ceilings.
It had been a last request of the unfortunate
Boabdil, and one which showed
how deeply he felt the transition of his
fate, that no person might be permitted
to enter or depart by the gate of the Alhambra
through which he had sallied
forth to surrender his capital. His request
was granted: the portal was closed up,
and remains so to the present day; a
mute memorial of that event.[130]
The Spanish sovereigns fixed their
throne in the presence-chamber of the
palace, so long the seat of Moorish royalty.
Hither the principal inhabitants of
Granada repaired, to pay them homage,
and kiss their hands, in token of vassalage;
and their example was followed by
deputies from all the towns and fortresses
of the Alpuxarras, which had not hitherto
submitted.
Thus terminated the war of Granada,
after ten years of incessant fighting;
"equalling, says Fray Antonio Agapida,
the far-famed siege of Troy in duration,
and ending, like that, in the capture of
the city." Thus ended, also, the dominion
of the Moors in Spain, after having
endured seven hundred and seventy-eight
years from the memorable defeat
of Roderick, the last of the Goths, on the
banks of the Guadalete. The authentic
Agapida is uncommonly particular in
fixing the epoch of this event. This
great triumph of our holy catholic faith,"
according to his computation, "took
place in the beginning of January, in the
year of our Lord 1492; being 3655
years from the population of Spain by the
patriarch Tubal; 3797 from the general
deluge; 5453 from the creation of the
world, according to Hebrew calculation;
and in the month Rabic, in the 897th
year of the Hegira, or flight of Mahomet:
whom may God confound!" saith the
pious Agapida.
