Chapter C
HOW THE CASTILIAN SOVEREIGNS TOOK POSSESSION OF GRANADA.
Queen Isabella having joined the king, the royal pair, followed by
a triumphant host, passed up the road by the Hill of Martyrs, and
thence to the main entrance of the Alhambra. The grand cardinal
awaited them under the lofty arch of the great Gate of Justice,
accompanied by Don Gutierrez de Cardenas and Aben Comixa. Here
King Ferdinand gave the keys which had been delivered up to him
into the hands of the queen; they were passed successively into
the hands of the prince Juan, the grand cardinal, and finally into
those of the count de Tendilla, in whose custody they remained,
that brave cavalier having been named alcayde of the Alhambra
and captain-general of Granada.
The sovereigns did not remain long in the Alhambra on this first
visit, but, leaving a strong garrison there under the count de
Tendilla to maintain tranquillity in the palace and the subjacent
city, returned to the camp at Santa Fe.
We must not omit to mention a circumstance attending the surrender
of the city which spoke eloquently to the hearts of the victors. As
the royal army had advanced 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 Moorish 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 squadrons of the army singing
hymns of jubilee.
*Abarca, lib. sup.; Zurita, etc.
The sovereigns forebore to enter the city until it should be fully
occupied by their troops and public tranquillity ensured. All this
was done under the vigilant superintendence of the count de
Tendilla, assisted by the marques of Villena, and the glistening of
Christian helms and lances along the walls and bulwarks, and the
standards of the faith and of the realm daunting from the towers,
told that the subjugation of the city was complete. The proselyte
prince, Cid Hiaya, now known by the Christian appellation of Don
Pedro de Granada Vanegas,* was appointed chief alguazil of the city,
and had charge of the Moorish inhabitants, and his son, lately the
prince Alnayar, now Alonso de Granada Vanegas, was appointed
admiral of the fleet.
*Cid Hiaya was made cavalier of the order of Santiago. He and his
son intermarried with the Spanish nobility, and the marqueses of
Compotejar are among their descendants. Their portraits and the
portraits of their grandsons are to be seen in one of the rooms of
the Generalife at Granada.
It was on the sixth of January, the Day of Kings and festival of the
Epiphany, that the sovereigns made their triumphant entry with grand
military parade. First advanced, we are told, a splendid escort of
cavaliers in burnished armor and superbly mounted. Then followed
the prince Juan, glittering with jewels and diamonds; on each side of
him, mounted on mules, rode the grand cardinal, clothed in purple,
Fray Hernando de Talavera, bishop of Airla and the archbishop-elect
of Granada. To these succeeded the queen and her ladies, and the
king, managing in galliard style, say the Spanish chroniclers, a proud
and mettlesome steed (un caballo arrogante). Then followed the
army in shining columns, with flaunting banners and the inspiring
clamor of military music. 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 be attributed, moved along with
hearts swelling with holy exultation, but with chastened and downcast
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 steeds 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 fervor of his spirit he supplicated from heaven a continuance
of its grace and that this glorious triumph might be perpetuated.*
The prayer of the pious monarch was responded to by the people,
and even his enemies were for once convinced of his sincerity.
*The words of Fray Antonio Agapida are little more than an echo
of those of the worthy Jesuit father Mariana (1. 25, c. 18).
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 splendor 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.*
*Garibay, Compend. Hist., lib. 40, c. 42. The existence of this
gateway and the story connected with it are perhaps known to few,
but were identified in the researches made to verify this history.
The gateway is at the bottom of a tower at some distance from the
main body of the Alhambra. The tower had been rent and ruined by
gunpowder at the time when the fortress was evacuated by the French.
Great masses lie around half covered by vines and fig trees. A poor
man, by the name of Mateo Ximenes, who lives in one of the halls
among the ruins of the Alhambra, where his family has resided for
many generations, pointed out to the author the gateway, still
closed up with stones. He remembered to have heard his father and
grandfather say that it had always been stopped up, and that out of
it King Boabdil had gone when he surrendered Granada. The route of
the unfortunate king may be traced thence across the garden of the
convent of Los Martyros, and down a ravine beyond, through a street
of gypsy caves and hovels, by the gate of Los Molinos, and so on to
the Hermitage of St. Sebastian. None but an antiquarian, however,
will be able to trace it unless aided by the humble historian of the
place, Mateo Ximenes.
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, 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 eight hundred and
ninety-seventh year of the Hegira, or flight of Mahomet, whom
may God confound! saith the pious Agapida.
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