HOW KING FERDINAND COMMENCED ANOTHER CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE MOORS, AND HOW
HE LAID SIEGE TO COIN AND CARTAMA.
The recent effect of the battering ordnance in demolishing the Moorish
fortresses induced King Ferdinand to procure a powerful train for the
campaign of 1485, intending to assault some of the most formidable holds
of the enemy.
An army of nine thousand cavalry and twenty thousand infantry assembled
at Cordova early in the spring, and the king took the field on the 5th
of April. It had been determined in secret council to attack the city of
Malaga, that ancient and important seaport on which Granada depended for
foreign aid and supplies. It was thought proper previously, however, to
get possession of various towns and fortresses in the valleys of Santa
Maria and Cartama, through which pass the roads to Malaga.
The first place assailed was the town of Benamexi or Bonameji. It had
submitted to the Catholic sovereigns in the preceding year, but had
since renounced its allegiance. King Ferdinand was enraged at the
rebellion of the inhabitants. “I will make their punishment,” said he,
“a terror to others: they shall be loyal through force, if not through
faith.” The place was carried by storm: one hundred and eight of the
principal inhabitants were either put to the sword or hanged on the
battlements; the rest were carried into captivity.*
* Pulgar, Garibay, Cura de los Palacios.
The towns of Coin and Cartama were besieged on the same day--the first
by a division of the army led on by the marques of Cadiz; the second by
another division commanded by Don Alonso de Aguilar and Luis Fernandez
Puerto Carrero, the brave senior of Palma. The king, with the rest of
the army, remained posted between the two places to render assistance to
either division. The batteries opened upon both places at the same time,
and the thunder of the lombards was mutually heard from one camp to the
other. The Moors made frequent sallies and a valiant defence, but
they were confounded by the tremendous uproar of the batteries and the
destruction of their walls. In the mean time, the alarm-fires gathered
together the Moorish mountaineers of all the Serrania, who assembled in
great numbers in the city of Monda, about a league from Coin. They made
several attempts to enter the besieged town, but in vain: they were each
time intercepted and driven back by the Christians, and were reduced
to gaze at a distance in despair on the destruction of the place. While
thus situated there rode one day into Monda a fierce and haughty Moorish
chieftain at the head of a band of swarthy African horsemen: it was
Hamet el Zegri, the fiery-spirited alcayde of Ronda, at the head of
his band of Gomeres. He had not yet recovered from the rage and
mortification of his defeat on the banks of the Lopera in the disastrous
foray of old Bexir, when he had been obliged to steal back furtively to
his mountains with the loss of the bravest of his followers. He had
ever since panted for revenge. He now rode among the host of warriors
assembled at Monda. “Who among you,” cried he, “feels pity for the women
and children of Coin exposed to captivity and death? Whoever he is,
let him follow me, who am ready to die as a Moslem for the relief of
Moslems.” So saying, he seized a white banner, and, waving it over his
head, rode forth from the town, followed by the Gomeres. Many of the
warriors, roused by his words and his example, spurred resolutely after
his banner. The people of Coin, being prepared for this attempt, sallied
forth as they saw the white banner and made an attack upon the Christian
camp, and in the confusion of the moment Hamet and his followers
galloped into the gates. This reinforcement animated the besieged, and
Hamet exhorted them to hold out obstinately in defence of life and town.
As the Gomeres were veteran warriors, the more they were attacked the
harder they fought.
At length a great breach was made in the walls, and Ferdinand, who was
impatient of the resistance of the place, ordered the duke of Naxara and
the count of Benavente to enter with their troops, and, as their forces
were not sufficient, he sent word to Luis de Cerda, duke of Medina Celi,
to send a part of his people to their assistance.
The feudal pride of the duke was roused at this demand. “Tell my lord
the king,” said the haughty grandee, “that I have come to succor him
with my household troops: if my people are ordered to any place, I am to
go with them; but if I am to remain in the camp, my people must remain
with me. For the troops cannot serve without their commander, nor their
commander without his troops.”
The reply of the high-spirited grandee perplexed the cautious Ferdinand,
who knew the jealous pride of his powerful nobles. In the mean time, the
people of the camp, having made all preparations for the assault, were
impatient to be led forward. Upon this Pero Ruyz de Alarcon put himself
at their head, and, seizing their mantas or portable bulwarks, and their
other defences, they made a gallant assault and fought their way in at
the breach. The Moors were so overcome by the fury of their assault
that they retreated, fighting, to the square of the town. Pero Ruyz
de Alarcon thought the place was carried, when suddenly Hamet and his
Gomeres came scouring through the streets with wild war-cries, and fell
furiously upon the Christians. The latter were in their turn beaten
back, and, while attacked in front by the Gomeres, were assailed by the
inhabitants with all kinds of missiles from their roofs and windows.
They at length gave way and retreated through the breach. Pero Ruyz de
Alarcon still maintained his ground in one of the principal streets: the
few cavaliers that stood by him urged him to fly: “No,” said he; “I
came here to fight, and not to fly.” He was presently surrounded by the
Gomeres; his companions fled for their lives: the last they saw of him
he was covered with wounds, but still fighting desperately for the fame
of a good cavalier.*
* Pulgar, part 3, cap. 42.
The resistance of the inhabitants, though aided by the valor of the
Gomeres, was of no avail. The battering artillery of the Christians
demolished their walls; combustibles thrown into their town set it on
fire in various places; and they were at length compelled to capitulate.
They were permitted to depart with their effects, and the Gomeres with
their arms. Hamet el Zegri and his African band rode proudly through the
Christian camp, nor could the Spanish cavaliers refrain from regarding
with admiration that haughty warrior and his devoted and dauntless
followers.
The capture of Coin was accompanied by that of Cartama: the
fortifications of the latter were repaired and garrisoned, but Coin,
being too extensive to be defended by a moderate force, its walls
were demolished. The siege of these places struck such terror into the
surrounding country that the Moors of many of the neighboring towns
abandoned their homes, and fled with such of their effects as they could
carry away, upon which the king gave orders to demolish their walls and
towers.
King Ferdinand now left his camp and his heavy artillery near Cartama,
and proceeded with his lighter troops to reconnoitre Malaga. By this
time the secret plan of attack arranged in the council of war at Cordova
was known to all the world. The vigilant warrior, El Zagal, had thrown
himself into the place, put all the fortifications, which were of vast
strength, into a state of defence, and sent orders to the alcaydes of
the mountain-towns to hasten with their forces to his assistance.
The very day that Ferdinand appeared before the place El Zagal sallied
forth to receive him at the head of a thousand cavalry, the choicest
warriors of Granada. A sharp skirmish took place among the gardens and
olive trees near the city. Many were killed on both sides, and this gave
the Christians a foretaste of what they might expect if they attempted
to besiege the place.
When the skirmish was over the marques of Cadiz had a private conference
with the king. He represented the difficulty of besieging Malaga with
their present force, especially as their plans had been discovered and
anticipated, and the whole country was marching to oppose them. The
marques, who had secret intelligence from all quarters, had received
a letter from Juceph Xerife, a Moor of Ronda of Christian lineage,
apprising him of the situation of that important place and its garrison,
which at that moment laid it open to attack, and the marques was urgent
with the king to seize upon this critical moment, and secure a place
which was one of the most powerful Moorish fortresses on the frontiers,
and in the hands of Hamet el Zegri had been the scourge of Andalusia.
The good marques had another motive for his advice, becoming a true and
loyal knight. In the deep dungeons of Ronda languished several of his
companion-in-arms who had been captured in the defeat in the Axarquia.
To break their chains and restore them to liberty and light he felt
to be his peculiar duty as one of those who had most promoted that
disastrous enterprise.
King Ferdinand listened to the advice of the marques. He knew the
importance of Ronda, which was considered one of the keys to the kingdom
of Granada, and he was disposed to punish the inhabitants for the
aid they had rendered to the garrison of Coin. The siege of Malaga
therefore, was abandoned for the present, and preparations made for a
rapid and secret move against the city of Ronda.