WAR OF GRANADA.--SURRENDER OF VELEZ MALAGA.--SIEGE AND CONQUEST OF MALAGA.
1487.
Narrow Escape of Ferdinand before Velez.--Malaga invested by Sea and
Land.--Brilliant Spectacle.--The Queen visits the Camp.--Attempt to
Assassinate the Sovereigns.--Distress and Resolution of the Besieged.--
Enthusiasm of the Christians.--Outworks Carried by them.--Proposals for
Surrender.--Haughty Demeanor of Ferdinand.--Malaga Surrenders at
Discretion.--Cruel Policy of the Victors.
Before commencing operations against Malaga, it was thought expedient by
the Spanish council of war to obtain possession of Velez Malaga, situated
about five leagues distant from the former. This strong town stood along
the southern extremity of a range of mountains that extend to Granada. Its
position afforded an easy communication with that capital, and obvious
means of annoyance to an enemy interposed between itself and the adjacent
city of Malaga. The reduction of this place, therefore, became the first
object of the campaign.
The forces assembled at Cordova, consisting of the levies of the
Andalusian cities principally, of the retainers of the great nobility, and
of the well-appointed chivalry which thronged from all quarters of the
kingdom, amounted on this occasion to twelve thousand horse and forty
thousand foot; a number, which sufficiently attests the unslackened ardor
of the nation in the prosecution of the war. On the 7th of April, King
Ferdinand, putting himself at the head of this formidable host, quitted
the fair city of Cordova amid the cheering acclamations of its
inhabitants, although these were somewhat damped by the ominous occurrence
of an earthquake, which demolished a part of the royal residence, among
other edifices, during the preceding night. The route, after traversing
the Yeguas and the old town of Antequera, struck into a wild, hilly
country, that stretches towards Velez. The rivers were so much swollen by
excessive rains, and the passes so rough and difficult, that the army in
part of its march advanced only a league a day; and on one occasion, when
no suitable place occurred for encampment for the space of five leagues,
the men fainted with exhaustion, and the beasts dropped down dead in the
harness. At length, on the 17th of April, the Spanish army sat down before
Velez Malaga, where in a few days they were joined by the lighter pieces
of their battering ordnance; the roads, notwithstanding the immense labor
expended on them, being found impracticable for the heavier. [1]
The Moors were aware of the importance of Velez to the security of Malaga.
The sensation excited in Granada by the tidings of its danger was so
strong, that the old chief, El Zagal, found it necessary to make an effort
to relieve the beleaguered city, notwithstanding the critical posture in
which his absence would leave his affairs in the capital. Dark clouds of
the enemy were seen throughout the day mustering along the heights, which
by night were illumined with a hundred fires. Ferdinand's utmost vigilance
was required for the protection of his camp against the ambuscades and
nocturnal sallies of his wily foe. At length, however, El Zagal, having
been foiled in a well-concerted attempt to surprise the Christian quarters
by night, was driven across the mountains by the marquis of Cadiz, and
compelled to retreat on his capital, completely baffled in his enterprise.
There the tidings of his disaster had preceded him. The fickle populace,
with whom misfortune passes for misconduct, unmindful of his former
successes, now hastened to transfer their allegiance to his rival,
Abdallah, and closed the gates against him; and the unfortunate chief
withdrew to Guadix, which, with Almeria, Baza, and some less considerable
places, still remained faithful. [2]
Ferdinand conducted the siege all the while with his usual vigor, and
spared no exposure of his person to peril or fatigue. On one occasion,
seeing a party of Christians retreating in disorder before a squadron of
the enemy, who had surprised them while fortifying an eminence near the
city, the king, who was at dinner in his tent, rushed out with no other
defensive armor than his cuirass, and, leaping on his horse, charged
briskly into the midst of the enemy, and succeeded in rallying his own
men. In the midst of the rencontre, however, when he had discharged his
lance, he found himself unable to extricate his sword from the scabbard
which hung from the saddle-bow. At this moment he was assaulted by several
Moors, and must have been either slain or taken, but for the timely rescue
of the marquis of Cadiz, and a brave cavalier, Garcilasso de la Vega, who,
galloping up to the spot with their attendants, succeeded after a sharp
skirmish in beating off the enemy. Ferdinand's nobles remonstrated with
him on this wanton exposure of his person, representing that he could
serve them more effectually with his head than his hand. But he answered,
that "he could not stop to calculate chances, when his subjects were
perilling their lives for his sake;" a reply, says Pulgar, which endeared
him to the whole army. [3]
At length, the inhabitants of Velez, seeing the ruin impending from the
bombardment of the Christians, whose rigorous blockade both by sea and
land excluded all hopes of relief from without, consented to capitulate on
the usual conditions of security to persons, property, and religion. The
capitulation of this place, April 27th, 1487, was followed by that of more
than twenty places of inferior note lying between it and Malaga, so that
the approaches to this latter city were now left open to the victorious
Spaniards. [4]
This ancient city, which, under the Spanish Arabs in the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries, formed the capital of an independent principality,
was second only to the metropolis itself, in the kingdom of Granada. Its
fruitful environs furnished abundant articles of export, while its
commodious port on the Mediterranean opened a traffic with the various
countries washed by that inland sea, and with the remoter regions of
India. Owing to these advantages, the inhabitants acquired unbounded
opulence, which showed itself in the embellishments of their city, whose
light forms of architecture, mingling after the eastern fashion with
odoriferous gardens and fountains of sparkling water, presented an
appearance most refreshing to the senses in this sultry climate. [5]
The city was encompassed by fortifications of great strength, and in
perfect repair. It was commanded by a citadel, connected by a covered way
with a second fortress impregnable from its position, denominated
Gebalfaro, which stood along the declivities of the bold sierra of the
Axarquia, whose defiles had proved so disastrous to the Christians. The
city lay between two spacious suburbs, the one on the land side being also
encircled by a formidable wall; and the other declining towards the sea,
showing an expanse of olive, orange, and pomegranate gardens, intermingled
with the rich vineyards that furnished the celebrated staple for its
export.
Malaga was well prepared for a siege by supplies of artillery and
ammunition. Its ordinary garrison was reinforced by volunteers from the
neighboring towns, and by a corps of African mercenaries, Gomeres, as they
were called, men of ferocious temper, but of tried valor and military
discipline. The command of this important post had been intrusted by El
Zagal to a noble Moor, named Hamet Zeli, whose renown in the present war
had been established by his resolute defence of Ronda. [6]
Ferdinand, while lying before Velez, received intelligence that many of
the wealthy burghers of Malaga were inclined to capitulate at once, rather
than hazard the demolition of their city by an obstinate resistance. He
instructed the marquis of Cadiz, therefore, to open a negotiation with
Hamet Zeli, authorizing him to make the most liberal offers to the alcayde
himself, as well as his garrison, and the principal citizens of the place,
on condition of immediate surrender. The sturdy chief, however, rejected
the proposal with disdain, replying, that he had been commissioned by his
master to defend the place to the last extremity, and that the Christian
king could not offer a bribe large enough to make him betray his trust.
Ferdinand, finding little prospect of operating on this Spartan temper,
broke up his camp before Velez, on the 7th of May, and advanced with his
whole army as far as Bezmillana, a place on the seaboard about two leagues
distant from Malaga. [7]
The line of march now lay through a valley commanded at the extremity
nearest the city by two eminences; the one on the sea-coast, the other
facing the fortress of the Gebalfaro, and forming part of the wild sierra
which overshadowed Malaga on the north. The enemy occupied both these
important positions. A corps of Galicians were sent forward to dislodge
them from the eminence towards the sea. But it failed in the assault, and,
notwithstanding it was led up a second time by the commander of Leon and
the brave Garcilasso de la Vega, [8] was again repulsed by the intrepid
foe.
A similar fate attended the assault on the sierra, which was conducted by
the troops of the royal household. They were driven back on the vanguard,
which had halted in the valley under command of the grand master of St.
James, prepared to support the attack on either side. Being reinforced,
the Spaniards returned to the charge with the most determined resolution.
They were encountered by the enemy with equal spirit. The latter, throwing
away their lances, precipitated themselves on the ranks of the assailants,
making use only of their daggers, grappling closely man to man, till both
rolled promiscuously together down the steep sides of the ravine. No mercy
was asked or shown. None thought of sparing or of spoiling, for hatred,
says the chronicler, was stronger than avarice. The main body of the army,
in the mean while, pent up in the valley, were compelled to witness the
mortal conflict, and listen to the exulting cries of the enemy, which,
after the Moorish custom, rose high and shrill above the din of battle,
without being able to advance a step in support of their companions, who
were again forced to give way before their impetuous adversaries, and fall
back on the vanguard under the grand master of St. James. Here, however,
they speedily rallied; and, being reinforced, advanced to the charge a
third time, with such inflexible courage as bore down all opposition, and
compelled the enemy, exhausted, or rather overpowered by superior numbers,
to abandon his position. At the same time the rising ground on the seaside
was carried by the Spaniards under the commander of Leon and Garcilasso de
la Vega, who, dividing their forces, charged the Moors so briskly in front
and rear, that they were compelled to retreat on the neighboring fortress
of Gebalfaro. [9]
As it was evening before these advantages were obtained, the army did not
defile into the plains around Malaga before the following morning, when
dispositions were made for its encampment. The eminence on the sierra, so
bravely contested, was assigned as the post of greatest danger to the
marquis duke of Cadiz. It was protected by strong works lined with
artillery, and a corps of two thousand five hundred horse and fourteen
thousand foot was placed under the immediate command of that nobleman. A
line of defence was constructed along the declivity from this redoubt to
the seashore. Similar works, consisting of a deep trench and palisades,
or, where the soil was too rocky to admit of them, of an embankment or
mound of earth, were formed in front of the encampment, which embraced the
whole circuit of the city; and the blockade was completed by a fleet of
armed vessels, galleys and caravels, which rode in the harbor under the
command of the Catalan admiral, Requesens, and effectually cut off all
communication by water. [10]
The old chronicler Bernaldez warms at the aspect of the fair city of
Malaga, thus encompassed by Christian legions, whose deep lines,
stretching far over hill and valley, reached quite round from one arm of
the sea to the other. In the midst of this brilliant encampment was seen
the royal pavilion, proudly displaying the united banners of Castile and
Aragon, and forming so conspicuous a mark for the enemy's artillery, that
Ferdinand, after imminent hazard, was at length compelled to shift his
quarters. The Christians were not slow in erecting counter-batteries; but
the work was obliged to be carried on at night, in order to screen them
from the fire of the besieged. [11]
The first operations of the Spaniards were directed against the suburb, on
the land side of the city. The attack was intrusted to the count of
Cifuentes, the nobleman who had been made prisoner in the affair of the
Axarquia, and subsequently ransomed. The Spanish ordnance was served with
such effect, that a practicable breach was soon made in the wall. The
combatants now poured their murderous volleys on each other through the
opening, and at length met on the ruins of the breach. After a desperate
struggle the Moors gave way. The Christians rushed into the enclosure, at
the same time effecting a lodgment on the rampart; and, although a part of
it, undermined by the enemy, gave way with a terrible crash, they still
kept possession of the remainder, and at length drove their antagonists,
who sullenly retreated step by step, within the fortifications of the
city. The lines were then drawn close around the place. Every avenue of
communication was strictly guarded, and every preparation was made for
reducing the town by regular blockade. [12]
In addition to the cannon brought round by water from Velez, the heavier
lombards, which from the difficulty of transportation had been left during
the late Siege at Antequera, were now conducted across roads, levelled for
the purpose, to the camp. Supplies of marble bullets were also brought
from the ancient and depopulated city of Algezira, where they had lain
ever since its capture in the preceding century by Alfonso the Eleventh.
The camp was filled with operatives, employed in the manufacture of balls
and powder, which were stored in subterranean magazines, and in the
fabrication of those various kinds of battering enginery, which continued
in use long after the introduction of gunpowder. [13]
During the early part of the siege, the camp experienced some temporary
inconvenience from the occasional interruption of the supplies transported
by water. Rumors of the appearance of the plague in some of the adjacent
villages caused additional uneasiness; and deserters, who passed into
Malaga, reported these particulars with the usual exaggeration, and
encouraged the besieged to persevere, by the assurance that Ferdinand
could not much longer keep the field, and that the queen had actually
written to advise his breaking up the camp. Under these circumstances,
Ferdinand saw at once the importance of the queen's presence in order to
dispel the delusion of the enemy, and to give new heart to his soldiers.
He accordingly sent a message to Cordova, where she was holding her court,
requesting her appearance in the camp.
Isabella had proposed to join her husband before Velez, on receiving
tidings of El Zagal's march from Granada, and had actually enforced levies
of all persons capable of bearing arms, between twenty and seventy years
of age, throughout Andalusia, but subsequently disbanded them, on learning
the discomfiture of the Moorish army. Without hesitation, she now set
forward, accompanied by the cardinal of Spain and other dignitaries of the
church, together with the infanta Isabella, and a courtly train of ladies
and cavaliers in attendance on her person. She was received at a short
distance from the camp by the marquis of Cadiz and the grand master of St.
James, and escorted to her quarters amidst the enthusiastic greetings of
the soldiery. Hope now brightened every countenance. A grace seemed to be
shed over the rugged features of war; and the young gallants thronged from
all quarters to the camp, eager to win the guerdon of valor from the hands
of those from whom it is most grateful to receive it. [14]
Ferdinand, who had hitherto brought into action only the lighter pieces of
ordnance, from a willingness to spare the noble edifices of the city, now
pointed his heaviest guns against its walls. Before opening his fire,
however, he again summoned the place, offering the usual liberal terms in
case of immediate, compliance, and engaging otherwise, "with the blessing
of God, to make them all slaves"! But the heart of the alcayde was
hardened like that of Pharaoh, says the Andalusian chronicler, and the
people were swelled with vain hopes, so that their ears were closed
against the proposal; orders were even issued to punish with death any
attempt at a parley. On the contrary, they made answer by a more lively
cannonade than before, along the whole line of ramparts and fortresses
which overhung the city. Sallies were also made at almost every hour of
the day and night on every assailable point of the Christian lines, so
that the camp was kept in perpetual alarm. In one of the nocturnal
sallies, a body of two thousand men from the castle of Gebalfaro succeeded
in surprising the quarters of the marquis of Cadiz, who, with his
followers, was exhausted by fatigue and watching, during the two preceding
nights. The Christians, bewildered with the sudden tumult which broke
their slumber, were thrown into the greatest confusion; and the marquis,
who rushed half armed from his tent, found no little difficulty in
bringing them to order, and beating off the assailants, after receiving a
wound in the arm from an arrow; while he had a still narrower escape from
the ball of an arquebus, that penetrated his buckler and hit him below the
cuirass, but fortunately so much spent as to do him no injury. [15]
The Moors were not unmindful of the importance of Malaga, or the gallantry
with which it was defended. They made several attempts to relieve it,
whose failure was less owing to the Christians than to treachery and their
own miserable feuds. A body of cavalry, which El Zagal despatched from
Guadix to throw succors into the beleaguered city, was encountered and cut
to pieces by a superior force of the young king Abdallah, who consummated
his baseness by sending an embassy to the Christian camp, charged with a
present of Arabian horses sumptuously caparisoned to Ferdinand, and of
costly silks and Oriental perfumes to the queen; at the same time
complimenting them on their successes, and soliciting the continuance of
their friendly dispositions towards himself. Ferdinand and Isabella
requited this act of humiliation by securing to Abdallah's subjects the
right of cultivating their fields in quiet, and of trafficking with the
Spaniards in every commodity, save military stores. At this paltry price
did the dastard prince consent to stay his arm, at the only moment when it
could be used effectually for his country. [16]
More serious consequences were like to have resulted from an attempt made
by another party of Moors from Guadix to penetrate the Christian lines.
Part of them succeeded, and threw themselves into the besieged city. The
remainder were cut in pieces. There was one, however, who, making no show
of resistance, was made prisoner without harm to his person. Being brought
before the marquis of Cadiz, he informed that nobleman, that he could make
some important disclosures to the sovereigns. He was accordingly conducted
to the royal tent; but, as Ferdinand was taking his siesta, in the sultry
hour of the day, the queen, moved by divine inspiration, according to the
Castilian historian, deferred the audience till her husband should awake,
and commanded the prisoner to be detained in the adjoining tent. This was
occupied by Doña Beatrix de Bobadilla, marchioness of Moya, Isabella's
early friend, who happened to be at that time engaged in discourse with a
Portuguese nobleman, Don Alvaro, son of the duke of Braganza. [17]
The Moor did not understand the Castilian language, and, deceived by the
rich attire and courtly bearing of these personages, he mistook them for
the king and queen. While in the act of refreshing himself with a glass of
water, he suddenly drew a dagger from beneath the broad folds of his
_albornoz_, or Moorish mantle, which he had been incautiously suffered to
retain, and, darting on the Portuguese prince, gave him a deep wound on
the head; and then, turning like lightning on the marchioness, aimed a
stroke at her, which fortunately glanced without injury, the point of the
weapon being turned by the heavy embroidery of her robes. Before he could
repeat his blow, the Moorish Scaevola, with a fate very different from
that of his Roman prototype, was pierced with a hundred wounds by the
attendants, who rushed to the spot, alarmed by the cries of the
marchioness, and his mangled remains were soon after discharged from a
catapult into the city; a foolish bravado, which the besieged requited by
slaying a Galician gentleman, and sending his corpse astride upon a mule
through the gates of the town into the Christian camp. [18]
This daring attempt on the lives of the king and queen spread general
consternation throughout the army. Precautions were taken for the future,
by ordinances prohibiting the introduction of any unknown person armed, or
any Moor whatever, into the royal quarters; and the bodyguard was
augmented by the addition of two hundred hidalgos of Castile and Aragon,
who, with their retainers, were to keep constant watch over the persons of
the sovereigns.
Meanwhile, the city of Malaga, whose natural population was greatly
swelled by the influx of its foreign auxiliaries, began to be straitened
for supplies, while its distress was aggravated by the spectacle of
abundance which reigned throughout the Spanish camp. Still, however, the
people, overawed by the soldiery, did not break out into murmurs, nor did
they relax in any degree the pertinacity of their resistance. Their
drooping spirits were cheered by the predictions of a fanatic, who
promised that they should eat the grain which they saw in the Christian
camp; a prediction, which came to be verified, like most others that are
verified at all, in a very different sense from that intended or
understood.
The incessant cannonade kept up by the besieging army, in the mean time,
so far exhausted their ammunition, that they were constrained to seek
supplies from the most distant parts of the kingdom, and from foreign
countries. The arrival of two Flemish transports at this juncture, from
the emperor of Germany, whose interest had been roused in the crusade,
afforded a seasonable reinforcement of military stores and munitions.
The obstinate defence of Malaga had given the siege such celebrity, that
volunteers, eager to share in it, flocked from all parts of the Peninsula
to the royal standard. Among others, the duke of Medina Sidonia, who had
furnished his quota of troops at the opening of the campaign, now arrived
in person with a reinforcement, together with a hundred galleys freighted
with supplies, and a loan of twenty thousand doblas of gold to the
sovereigns for the expenses of the war. Such was the deep interest in it
excited throughout the nation, and the alacrity which every order of men
exhibited in supporting its enormous burdens. [19]
The Castilian army, swelled by these daily augmentations, varied in its
amount, according to different estimates, from sixty to ninety thousand
men. Throughout this immense host, the most perfect discipline was
maintained. Gaming was restrained by ordinances interdicting the use of
dice and cards, of which the lower orders were passionately fond.
Blasphemy was severely punished. Prostitutes, the common pest of a camp,
were excluded; and so entire was the subordination, that not a knife was
drawn, and scarcely a brawl occurred, says the historian, among the motley
multitude. Besides the higher ecclesiastics who attended the court, the
camp was well supplied with holy men, priests, friars, and the chaplains
of the great nobility, who performed the exercises of religion in their
respective quarters with all the pomp and splendor of the Roman Catholic
worship; exalting the imaginations of the soldiers into the high
devotional feeling, which became those who were fighting the battles of
the Cross. [20]
Hitherto, Ferdinand, relying on the blockade, and yielding to the queen's
desire to spare the lives of her soldiers, had formed no regular plan of
assault upon the town. But, as the season rolled on without the least
demonstration of submission on the part of the besieged, he resolved to
storm the works, which, if attended by no other consequences, might at
least serve to distress the enemy, and hasten the hour of surrender. Large
wooden towers on rollers were accordingly constructed, and provided with
an apparatus of drawbridges and ladders, which, when brought near to the
ramparts, would open a descent into the city. Galleries were also wrought,
some for the purpose of penetrating into the place, and others to sap the
foundations of the walls. The whole of these operations was placed under
the direction of Francisco Ramirez, the celebrated engineer of Madrid.
But the Moors anticipated the completion of these formidable preparations
by a brisk, well-concerted attack on all points of the Spanish lines. They
countermined the assailants, and, encountering them in the subterraneous
passages, drove them back, and demolished the frame-work of the galleries.
At the same time, a little squadron of armed vessels, which had been
riding in safety under the guns of the city, pushed out and engaged the
Spanish fleet. Thus the battle raged with fire and sword, above and under
ground, along the ramparts, the ocean, and the land, at the same time.
Even Pulgar cannot withhold his tribute of admiration to this
unconquerable spirit in an enemy, wasted by all the extremities of famine
and fatigue. "Who does not marvel," he says, "at the bold heart of these
infidels in battle, their prompt obedience to their chiefs, their
dexterity in the wiles of war, their patience under privation, and
undaunted perseverance in their purposes?" [21]
A circumstance occurred in a sortie from the city, indicating a trait of
character worth recording. A noble Moor, named Abrahen Zenete, fell in
with a number of Spanish children who had wandered from their quarters.
Without injuring them, he touched them gently with the handle of his
lance, saying, "Get ye gone, varlets, to your mothers." On being rebuked
by his comrades, who inquired why he had let them escape so easily, he
replied, "Because I saw no beard upon their chins." "An example of
magnanimity," says the Curate of Los Palacios, "truly wonderful in a
heathen, and which might have reflected credit on a Christian hidalgo."
[22]
But no virtue nor valor could avail the unfortunate Malagans against the
overwhelming force of their enemies, who, driving them back from every
point, compelled them, after a desperate struggle of six hours, to shelter
themselves within the defences of the town. The Christians followed up
their success. A mine was sprung near a tower, connected by a bridge of
four arches with the main works of the place. The Moors, scattered and
intimidated by the explosion, retreated across the bridge, and the
Spaniards, carrying the tower, whose guns completely enfiladed it,
obtained possession of this important pass into the beleaguered city. For
these and other signal services during the siege, Francisco Ramirez, the
master of the ordnance, received the honors of knighthood from the hand of
King Ferdinand. [23]
The citizens of Malaga, dismayed at beholding the enemy established in
their defences, and fainting under exhaustion from a siege which had
already lasted more than three months, now began to murmur at the
obstinacy of the garrison, and to demand a capitulation. Their magazines
of grain were emptied, and for some weeks they had been compelled to
devour the flesh of horses, dogs, cats, and even the boiled hides of these
animals, or, in default of other nutriment, vine leaves dressed with oil,
and leaves of the palm tree, pounded fine, and baked into a sort of cake.
In consequence of this loathsome and unwholesome diet, diseases were
engendered. Multitudes were seen dying about the streets. Many deserted to
the Spanish camp, eager to barter their liberty for bread; and the city
exhibited all the extremes of squalid and disgusting wretchedness, bred by
pestilence and famine among an overcrowded population. The sufferings of
the citizens softened the stern heart of the alcayde, Hamet Zeli, who at
length yielded to their importunities, and, withdrawing his forces into
the Gebalfaro, consented that the Malagans should make the best terms they
could with their conqueror.
A deputation of the principal inhabitants, with an eminent merchant named
Ali Dordux at their head, was then despatched to the Christian quarters,
with the offer of the city to capitulate, on the same liberal conditions
which had been uniformly granted by the Spaniards. The king refused to
admit the embassy into his presence, and haughtily answered through the
commander of Leon, "that these terms had been twice offered to the people
of Malaga, and rejected; that it was too late for them to stipulate
conditions, and nothing now remained but to abide by those which he, as
their conqueror, should vouchsafe to them." [24]
Ferdinand's answer spread general consternation throughout Malaga. The
inhabitants saw too plainly that nothing was to be hoped from an appeal to
sentiments of humanity. After a tumultuous debate, the deputies were
despatched a second time to the Christian camp, charged with propositions
in which concession was mingled with menace. They represented that the
severe response of King Ferdinand to the citizens had rendered them
desperate. That, however, they were willing to resign to him their
fortifications, their city, in short, their property of every description,
on his assurance of their personal security and freedom. If he refused
this, they would take their Christian captives, amounting to five or six
hundred, from the dungeons in which they lay, and hang them like dogs over
the battlements; and then, placing their old men, women, and children in
the fortress, they would set fire to the town, and cut a way for
themselves through their enemies, or fall in the attempt. "So," they
continued, "if you gain a victory, it shall be such a one as shall make
the name of Malaga ring throughout the world, and to ages yet unborn!"
Ferdinand, unmoved by these menaces, coolly replied, that he saw no
occasion to change his former determination; but they might rest assured,
if they harmed a single hair of a Christian, he would put every soul in
the place, man, woman, and child, to the sword.
The anxious people, who thronged forth to meet the embassy on its return
to the city, were overwhelmed with the deepest gloom at its ominous
tidings. Their fate was now sealed. Every avenue to hope seemed closed by
the stern response of the victor. Yet hope will still linger; and,
although there were some frantic enough to urge the execution of their
desperate menaces, the greater number of the inhabitants, and among them
those most considerable for wealth and influence, preferred the chance of
Ferdinand's clemency to certain, irretrievable ruin.
For the last time, therefore, the deputies issued from the gates of the
city, charged with an epistle to the sovereigns from their unfortunate
countrymen, in which, after deprecating their anger, and lamenting their
own blind obstinacy, they reminded their highnesses of the liberal terms
which their ancestors had granted to Cordova, Antequera, and other cities,
after a defence as pertinacious as their own. They expatiated on the fame
which the sovereigns had established by the generous policy of their past
conquests, and, appealing to their magnanimity, concluded with submitting
themselves, their families, and their fortunes to their disposal. Twenty
of the principal citizens were then delivered up as hostages for the
peaceable demeanor of the city until its occupation by the Spaniards.
"Thus," says the Curate of Los Palacios, "did the Almighty harden the
hearts of these heathen, like to those of the Egyptians, in order that
they might receive the full wages of the manifold oppressions which they
had wrought on his people, from the days of King Roderic to the present
time." [25]
On the appointed day, the commander of Leon rode through the gates of
Malaga, at the head of his well-appointed chivalry, and took possession of
the _alcazaba_, or lower citadel. The troops were then posted on their
respective stations along the fortifications, and the banners of Christian
Spain triumphantly unfurled from the towers of the city, where the
crescent had been displayed for an uninterrupted period of nearly eight
centuries.
The first act was to purify the town from the numerous dead bodies, and
other offensive matter, which had accumulated during this long siege, and
lay festering in the streets, poisoning the atmosphere. The principal
mosque was next consecrated with due solemnity to the service of Santa
Maria de la Encarnacion. Crosses and bells, the symbols of Christian
worship, were distributed in profusion among the sacred edifices; where,
says the Catholic chronicler last quoted, "the celestial music of their
chimes, sounding at every hour of the day and night, caused perpetual
torment to the ears of the infidel." [26]
On the eighteenth day of August, being somewhat more than three months
from the date of opening trenches, Ferdinand and Isabella made their
entrance into the conquered city, attended by the court, the clergy, and
the whole of their military array. The procession moved in solemn state up
the principal streets, now deserted, and hushed in ominous silence, to the
new cathedral of St. Mary, where mass was performed; and as the glorious
anthem of the Te Deum rose for the first time within its ancient walls,
the sovereigns, together with the whole army, prostrated themselves in
grateful adoration of the Lord of hosts, who had thus reinstated them in
the domains of their ancestors.
The most affecting incident was afforded by the multitude of Christian
captives, who were rescued from the Moorish dungeons. They were brought
before the sovereigns, with their limbs heavily manacled, their beards
descending to their waists, and their sallow visages emaciated by
captivity and famine. Every eye was suffused with tears at the spectacle.
Many recognized their ancient friends, of whose fate they had long been
ignorant. Some, had lingered in captivity ten or fifteen years; and among
them were several belonging to the best families in Spain. On entering the
presence, they would have testified their gratitude by throwing themselves
at the feet of the sovereigns; but the latter, raising them up and
mingling their tears with those of the liberated captives, caused their
fetters to be removed, and, after administering to their necessities,
dismissed them with liberal presents. [27]
The fortress of Gebalfaro surrendered on the day after the occupation of
Malaga by the Spaniards. The gallant Zegri chieftain, Hamet Zeli, was
loaded with chains; and, being asked why he had persisted so obstinately
in his _rebellion_, boldly answered, "Because I was commissioned to
defend the place to the last extremity; and, if I had been properly
supported, I would have died sooner than surrender now!"
The doom of the vanquished was now to be pronounced. On entering the city,
orders had been issued to the Spanish soldiery, prohibiting them under the
severest penalties from molesting either the persons or property of the
inhabitants. These latter were directed to remain in their respective
mansions with a guard set over them, while the cravings of appetite were
supplied by a liberal distribution of food. At length, the whole
population of the city, comprehending every age and sex, was commanded to
repair to the great courtyard of the alcazaba, which was overlooked on all
sides by lofty ramparts garrisoned by the Spanish soldiery. To this place,
the scene of many a Moorish triumph, where the spoil of the border foray
had been often displayed, and which still might be emblazoned with the
trophy of many a Christian banner, the people of Malaga now directed their
steps. As the multitude swarmed through the streets, filled with boding
apprehensions of their fate, they wrung their hands, and, raising their
eyes to heaven, uttered the most piteous lamentations. "Oh, Malaga," they
cried, "renowned and beautiful city, how are thy sons about to forsake
thee! Could not thy soil, on which they first drew breath, be suffered to
cover them in death? Where is now the strength of thy towers, where the
beauty of thy edifices? The strength of thy walls, alas, could not avail
thy children, for they had sorely displeased their Creator. What shall
become of thy old men and thy matrons, or of thy young maidens delicately
nurtured within thy halls, when they shall feel the iron yoke of bondage?
Can thy barbarous conquerors without remorse thus tear asunder the dearest
ties of life?" Such are the melancholy strains, in which the Castilian
chronicler has given utterance to the sorrows of the captive city. [28]
The dreadful doom of slavery was denounced on the assembled multitude.
One-third was to be transported into Africa in exchange for an equal
number of Christian captives detained there; and all, who had relatives or
friends in this predicament, were required to furnish a specification of
them. Another third was appropriated to reimburse the state for the
expenses of the war. The remainder were to be distributed as presents at
home and abroad. Thus, one hundred of the flower of the African warriors
were sent to the pope, who incorporated them into his guard, and converted
them all in the course of the year, says the Curate of Los Palacios, into
very good Christians. Fifty of the most beautiful Moorish girls were
presented by Isabella to the queen of Naples, thirty to the queen of
Portugal, others to the ladies of her court; and the residue of both sexes
were apportioned among the nobles, cavaliers, and inferior members of the
army, according to their respective rank and services. [29]
As it was apprehended that the Malagans, rendered desperate by the
prospect of a hopeless, interminable captivity, might destroy or secrete
their jewels, plate, and other precious effects, in which this wealthy
city abounded, rather than suffer them to fall into the hands of their
enemies, Ferdinand devised a politic expedient for preventing it. He
proclaimed that he would receive a certain sum, if paid within nine
months, as the ransom of the whole population, and that their personal
effects should be admitted in part payment. This sum averaged about thirty
doblas a head, including in the estimate all those who might die before
the determination of the period assigned. The ransom, thus stipulated,
proved more than the unhappy people could raise, either by themselves, or
agents employed to solicit contributions among their brethren of Granada
and Africa; at the same time, it so far deluded their hopes, that they
gave in a full inventory of their effects to the treasury. By this shrewd
device, Ferdinand obtained complete possession both of the persons and
property of his victims. [30]
Malaga was computed to contain from eleven to fifteen thousand
inhabitants, exclusive of several thousand foreign auxiliaries, within its
gates at the time of surrender. One cannot, at this day, read the
melancholy details of its story, without feelings of horror and
indignation. It is impossible to vindicate the dreadful sentence passed on
this unfortunate people for a display of heroism, which should have
excited admiration in every generous bosom. It was obviously most
repugnant to Isabella's natural disposition, and must be admitted to leave
a stain on her memory, which no coloring of history can conceal. It may
find some palliation, however, in the bigotry of the age, the more
excusable in a woman whom education, general example, and natural distrust
of herself accustomed to rely, in matters of conscience, on the spiritual
guides, whose piety and professional learning seemed to qualify them for
the trust. Even in this very transaction, she fell far short of the
suggestions of some of her counsellors, who urged her to put every
inhabitant without exception to the sword; which, they affirmed, would be
a just requital of their obstinate _rebellion_, and would prove a
wholesome warning to others! We are not told who the advisers of this
precious measure were; but the whole experience of this reign shows, that
we shall scarcely wrong the clergy much by imputing it to them. That their
arguments could warp so enlightened a mind, as that of Isabella, from the
natural principles of justice and humanity, furnishes a remarkable proof
of the ascendency which the priesthood usurped over the most gifted
intellects, and of their gross abuse of it, before the Reformation, by
breaking the seals set on the sacred volume, opened to mankind the
uncorrupted channel of divine truth. [31]
The fate of Malaga may be said to have decided that of Granada. The latter
was now shut out from the most important ports along her coast; and she
was environed on every point of her territory by her warlike foe, so that
she could hardly hope more from subsequent efforts, however strenuous and
united, than to postpone the inevitable hour of dissolution. The cruel
treatment of Malaga was the prelude to the long series of persecutions,
which awaited the wretched Moslems in the land of their ancestors; in that
land, over which the "star of Islamism," to borrow their own metaphor, had
shone in full brightness for nearly eight centuries, but where it was now
fast descending amid clouds and tempests to the horizon.
The first care of the sovereigns was directed towards repeopling the
depopulated city with their own subjects. Houses and lands were freely
granted to such as would settle there. Numerous towns and villages with a
wide circuit of territory were placed under its civil jurisdiction, and it
was made the head of a diocese embracing most of the recent conquests in
the south and west of Granada. These inducements, combined with the
natural advantages of position and climate, soon caused the tide of
Christian population to flow into the deserted city; but it was very long
before it again reached the degree of commercial consequence to which it
had been raised by the Moors. [32]
After these salutary arrangements, the Spanish sovereigns led back their
victorious legions in triumph to Cordova, whence dispersing to their
various homes, they prepared, by a winter's repose, for new campaigns and
more brilliant conquests.
FOOTNOTES
[1] Vedmar, Antiguedad y Grandezas de la Ciudad de Velez, (Granada, 1652,)
fol. 148.--Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. lib. 27, cap. 10.--Pulgar,
Reyes Católicos, part. iii. cap. 70.--Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1487.--
Bleda, Corónica, lib. 5, cap. 14.
[2] Cardonne, Hist. d'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. iii. pp. 292-294.--
Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, ubi supra.--Vedmar, Antiguedad de Velez, fol.
151.
[3] L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 175.--Vedmar, Antiguedad.--de
Velez, fol. 150, 151.--Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 14.
In commemoration of this event, the city incorporated into its escutcheon
the figure of a king on horseback, in the act of piercing a Moor with his
javelin. Vedmar, Antiguedad de Velez, fol. 12.
[4] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 52.--Marmol, Rebelion de
Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 14.
[5] Conde doubts whether the name of Malaga is derived from the Greek
_malakè_, signifying "agreeable," or the Arabic _malka_, meaning "royal."
Either etymology is sufficiently pertinent. (See El Nubiense, Descripcion
de España, p. 186, not.) For notices of sovereigns who swayed the sceptre
of Malaga, see Casiri, Bibliotheca Escurialensis, tom. ii. pp. 41, 56, 99,
et alibi.
[6] Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. iii. p. 237.--Pulgar, Reyes
Católicos, cap. 74.--El Nubiense, Descripcion de España, not., p. 144.
[7] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 82.--Vedmar, Antiguedad de
Velez, fol. 154.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 74.
[8] This cavalier, who took a conspicuous part both in the military and
civil transactions of this reign, was descended from one of the most
ancient and honorable houses in Castile. Hyta, (Guerras Civiles de
Granada, tom. i. p. 399,) with more effrontery than usual, has imputed to
him a chivalrous rencontre with a Saracen, which is recorded of an
ancestor, in the ancient Chronicle of Alonso XI.
"Garcilaso de la Vega
desde alli se ha intitulado,
porque en la Vega hiciera
campo con aquel pagano."
Oviedo, however, with good reason, distrusts the etymology and the story,
as he traces both the cognomen and the peculiar device of the family to a
much older date than the period assigned in the Chronicle. Quincuagenas,
MS., bat. 1, quinc. 3, dial. 43.
[9] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 75.--Salazar de Mendoza, Crón. del Gran
Cardenal, lib. 1, cap. 64.
[10] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 83.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos,
cap. 76.--Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1487.
[11] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, ubi supra.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS.,
ubi supra.
[12] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., lib. 1, epist. 83--Pulgar, Reyes
Católicos, cap. 76.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, cap. 83.--Oviedo,
Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 36.
[13] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 76.
[14] Salazar de Mendoza, Crón. del Gran Cardenal, lib. 1, cap. 64.--
Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. cap. 70.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap.
83.
[15] Bleda, Corónica, lib. 5, cap. 15.--Conde, Dominacion, tom. iv. pp.
237, 238.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 83.--Pulgar, Reyes
Católicos, cap. 79.
[16] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, ubi supra.
During the siege, ambassadors arrived from an African potentate, the king
of Tremecen, bearing a magnificent present to the Castilian sovereigns,
interceding for the Malagans, and at the same time asking protection for
his subjects from the Spanish cruisers in the Mediterranean. The
sovereigns graciously complied with the latter request, and complimented
the African monarch with a plate of gold, on which the royal arms were
curiously embossed, says Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, cap. 84.
[17] This nobleman, Don Alvaro de Portugal, had fled his native country,
and sought an asylum in Castile from the vindictive enmity of John II, who
had been put to death by the duke of Braganza, his elder brother. He was
kindly received by Isabella, to whom he was nearly related, and
subsequently preferred to several important offices of state. His son, the
count of Gelves, married a granddaughter of Christopher Columbus. Oviedo,
Quincuagenas, MS.
[18] Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 23.--Peter Martyr,
Opus Epist., lib. 1, epist. 63.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap.
84.--Bleda, Corónica de los Moros, lib. 5, cap. 15.--L. Marineo, Cosas
Memorables, fol. 175, 176.
[19] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 87-89.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos,
MS., cap. 84.
[20] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 87.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos,
cap. 71.
[21] Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. iii. pp. 237, 238.--Pulgar,
Reyes Católicos, cap. 80.--Caro de Torres, Ordenes Militares, fol. 82, 83.
[22] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 9l.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS.,
cap. 84. The honest exclamation of the Curate brings to mind the similar
encomium of the old Moorish ballad,
"Caballeros Granadinos, Aunque Moros, hijosdalgo."
Hyta, Guerras de Granada, tom. i., p. 257.
[23] There is no older well-authenticated account of the employment of
gunpowder in mining in European warfare, so far as I am aware, than this
by Ramirez. Tiraboschi, indeed, refers, on the authority of another
writer, to a work in the library of the Academy of Siena, composed by one
Francesco Giorgio, architect of the duke of Urbino, about 1480, in which
that person claims the merit of the invention. (Letteratura Italiana, tom.
vi. p. 370.) The whole statement is obviously too loose to warrant any
such conclusion. The Italian historians notice the use of gunpowder mines
at the siege of the little town of Serezanello in Tuscany, by the Genoese,
in 1487, precisely contemporaneous with the siege of Malaga. (Machiavelli,
Istorie Fiorentine, lib. 8.--Guicciardini, Istoria d'Italia, (Milano,
1803,) tom. iii. lib. 6.) This singular coincidence, in nations having
then but little intercourse, would seem to infer some common origin of
greater antiquity. However this may be, the writers of both nations are
agreed in ascribing the first successful use of such mines on any extended
scale to the celebrated Spanish engineer, Pedro Navarro, when serving
under Gonsalvo of Cordova, in his Italian campaigns at the beginning of
the sixteenth century. Guicciardini, ubi supra.--Paolo Giovio, de Vitâ
Magni Gonsalvi, (Vitae Illustrium Virorum, Basiliae, 1578,) lib. 2.--
Aleson, Annales de Navarra, tom. v. lib. 35, cap. 12.
[24] Cardonne, Hist. d'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. iii. p. 296.--L.
Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 175.--Rades y Andrada, Las Tres Ordenes,
fol. 54.--Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 92.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos,
MS., cap. 85.
[25] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 93.--Cardonne, Hist. d'Afrique et
d'Espagne, tom. iii. p. 296.
The Arabic historians state that Malaga was betrayed by Ali Dordux, who
admitted the Spaniards into the castle, while the citizens were debating
on Ferdinand's terms. (See Conde, Domination de los Arabes, tom. iii. cap.
39.) The letter of the inhabitants, quoted at length by Pulgar, would seem
to be a refutation of this. And yet there are good grounds for suspecting
false play on the part of the ambassador Dordux, since the Castilian
writers admit that he was exempted, with forty of his friends, from the
doom of slavery and forfeiture of property, passed upon his fellow-
citizens.
[26] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 85.
[27] Carbajal, whose meagre annals have scarcely any merit beyond that of
a mere chronological table, postpones the surrender till September.
Anales, año 1487.--Marmol, Rebelion de Moriscos, lib. 1, cap. 14.
[28] Bleda, Corónica, lib. 5, cap. 15.
As a counterpart to the above scene, twelve Christian renegades, found in
the city, were transfixed with canes, _acañavereados_, a barbarous
punishment derived from the Moors, which was inflicted by horsemen at full
gallop, who discharged pointed reeds at the criminal, until he expired
under repeated wounds. A number of relapsed Jews were at the same time
condemned to the flames. "These," says Father Abarca, "were the _fêtes_
and illuminations most grateful to the Catholic piety of our sovereigns"!
Abarca, Reyes de Aragon, tom. ii. rey 30, cap. 3.
[29] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, ubi supra.--Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS.,
ubi supra.--Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 62.
[30] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 87.--L. Marineo, Cosas
Memorables, fol. 176.--Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. iii. p. 238.
--Cardonne, Hist. d'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. iii. p. 296.--Carbajal,
Anales, MS., año 1487.
Not a word of comment escapes the Castilian historians on this merciless
rigor of the conqueror towards the vanquished. It is evident that
Ferdinand did no violence to the feelings of his orthodox subjects.
_Tacendo clamant._
[31] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 87.--Bleda, Corónica, lib. 5,
cap. 15.
About four hundred and fifty Moorish Jews were ransomed by a wealthy
Israelite of Castile for 27,000 doblas of gold. A proof that the Jewish
stock was one which thrived amidst persecution.
It is scarcely possible that the circumstantial Pulgar should have omitted
to notice so important a fact as the scheme of the Moorish ransom, had it
occurred. It is still more improbable, that the honest Curate of Los
Palacios should have fabricated it. Any one who attempts to reconcile the
discrepancies of contemporary historians even, will have Lord Orford's
exclamation to his son Horace brought to his mind ten times a day; "Oh!
read me not history, for that I know to be false."
[32] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, cap. 94.--Col. de Céd., tom. vi. no. 321.