Chapter XXII: Termination of the Reconquest (4)

There, too, was Ferdinand, proud, stern, impassive; his stolid features bearing no evidence of the exultation he must have felt, yet willing to concede to his martial consort the larger portion of the credit attaching to the crowning glory of the Christian cause. Around the monarchs were assembled the princes of the blood, the great dignitaries of the realm in their robes and bearing their insignia of office, the haughty grandees, the female members of the Queen’s household in splendid costumes and glittering jewels, the famous warriors whose prowess had made their names familiar to every nation in Europe,--sheathed in polished steel, with lance and buckler, with pennon and heraldic device,--in all a picture worthily representing the pomp and the magnificence, the pride and the renown, of the Spanish monarchy. As the splendid procession swept forward amidst the blare of trumpets, the strains of martial music, the waving of banners, and the tumultuous applause of thousands, and halted on an elevation near the Genil, a gate of the Alhambra swung slowly open. From it issued a band of horsemen, whose appearance and dress indicated that their origin and customs were foreign to the continent of Europe. At their head rode a cavalier encased in armor exquisitely damascened, and whose fair complexion and tawny beard offered a striking contrast to the swarthy features of those who formed his retinue. The latter were clothed in flowing robes of silk woven in stripes of every hue, revealing, when moved by the morning breeze, shining coats of mail and scimetars set with gems and inlaid with gold.

The interview of the sovereigns was short and almost devoid of ceremony. Obsequious to the last, Boabdil attempted to dismount and kiss the hand of his conqueror, but the Spanish King, with generous and unaffected courtesy, prevented this act of voluntary abasement, insisted on his remaining mounted, and received the kiss upon his sleeve. With a few words, which betrayed the bitterness of his mortification and anguish, the Moslem prince surrendered the keys of the city to Ferdinand. He gave them to Isabella, and she, in turn, transferred these evidences of possession and sovereignty to the Count of Tendilla, who had been appointed Governor of Granada. The latter, with many nobles as escort and a garrison of five thousand men, without delay entered and took possession of the Alhambra, and raised upon the tower of Comares the gold and silver cross of the Archiepiscopate of Toledo, the royal ensign, and the consecrated standard of Santiago. The appearance of the sacred emblem and the familiar banners upon the battlements of the Moorish citadel aroused the wildest enthusiasm among the spectators. The priests of the royal chapel chanted the Te Deum Laudamus. Thousands of gray and battle-scarred veterans fell upon their knees and wept for joy. The heralds, in all the magnificence of their striking costumes, made proclamation, by sound of trumpet, that the authority of the Moslems had forever vanished from the Peninsula in the words, “Castilla! Castilla! Granada! Granada! por los reyes Don Fernando y Doña Isabel?” The stately Castilian nobles, in the glittering panoply of war, one after another, then came forward, knelt before Isabella, and kissed her hand in homage for her newly acquired dignity as Queen of Granada.

Followed by the principal Moorish officials, some of whom, including the vizier, were secret renegades and in the pay of Ferdinand, Boabdil retired to his dominions in the Alpujarras. Even there he was not destined to remain long in tranquillity. Subjected to ceaseless espionage, his every word and action were reported to Hernando de Zafra, secretary of the Catholic monarchs. Despite his apparent apathy, his presence was considered a menace to the public peace, especially when the discontent arising from open violations of the treaty began to be manifested. Emissaries were sent to attempt the purchase of his estates and to suggest the probable dangers of insurrection, as contrasted with the advantages of voluntary exile. This failing of success, a bolder plan was resolved upon. The false vizier, Ibn-Comixa, was induced to assume an authority which he did not possess, to sell to the Spanish Crown the possessions of the princes of the Moorish dynasty of Granada, and to even stipulate, in detail, the time and manner of their departure from Spain. The price this corrupt and treacherous agent received for his services was never known. The rights of Boabdil and his family thus were disposed of, without their consent, for the paltry sum of twenty-one thousand doubloons of gold. When apprised by his unblushing minister of the manner in which he had been betrayed, he drew his sword, and Ibn-Comixa only saved his life by instant flight. The unfortunate prince well knew who had suggested the employment of this ignoble and perfidious artifice, and that it would be dangerous, as well as useless, to attempt to repudiate a measure which, dictated by cunning, would certainly be enforced by violence. He therefore ratified the spurious contract, received in exchange for his estates and all claims upon the crown nine millions of maravedis; and, on the fourteenth of October, 1493, sailed with all his household for Africa, where the Sultan of Fez had offered him an asylum. Thirty-four years afterwards he fell in battle, fighting bravely in the service of his benefactor against the savage mountaineers of the Atlas. His body, never recovered, remained unburied in the Desert, under a strange sky, far from the scene of his early triumphs, his misfortunes, and his disgrace.

Thus ended the implacable contest waged by Christian and Moslem so long and so desperately in the southwestern corner of Europe. To the heroic queen of Ferdinand is to be attributed the success of the last campaign of that portentous struggle. It was her administrative ability that regulated the internal affairs of the kingdom, suppressed lawlessness, established order, restored public confidence, developed the resources and consolidated the strength of a powerful and warlike nation. Her martial genius was ever with the army, whether encouraging it by her presence on the march or collecting and transporting supplies over mountain paths beset by bold and cunning enemies; ever animating the living, ever aiding and consoling the relatives of the dead. She was universally recognized as the head and front of the crusade; every opinion was tacitly subordinated to her judgment; her advice was sought in all important undertakings; her cheerful personality brought courage and enthusiasm to the disheartened camp; her masculine spirit did not shrink from participation in the exposure of a reconnoissance or from the certain and omnipresent dangers of the field of battle. In the closing scenes of the eventful drama hers was the prominent figure. On the day of the capitulation, she alone carried the sceptre and wore the crown, tacitly belying the motto, “Tanto Monta,” which admitted the equality of Aragon; it was her hand which bestowed the keys of the city and the authority of governor on her hereditary vassal, the Count of Tendilla; it was “Castile” that the heralds proclaimed from the highest battlements of the palace; it was not before the politic craft of Ferdinand that the haughty aristocracy of the North bowed with profound and graceful obeisance in acknowledgment of the sovereignty of a newly conquered realm, but before the eminent talents, the earnest piety, the affable but majestic and ever impressive dignity of Isabella the Catholic, Queen of Castile and Granada.

END OF VOLUME II.

Transcriber’s Notes:

1. Obvious printers’, punctuation and spelling errors have been corrected silently.

2. Where hyphenation is in doubt, it has been retained as in the original.

3. Some hyphenated and non-hyphenated versions of the same words have been retained as in the original.

4. Italics are shown as _xxx_.