The Fortress (which in early days must have comprised little more than the enceinte of the present ruined castle,) appears to have remained in the undisturbed possession of the Mussulmans for six entire centuries. But Ferdinand the Fourth, at length, breaking through the mountain barrier that defended the diminished territory of the Moors, laid siege to Algesiras, and despatched a force under Don Alonzo Perez de Guzman to
1. attack Gibraltar, which very unexpectedly fell into his hands, A.D. 1309.
2. The Moslems, under Ishmael, King of Granada, failed in an attempt to recover it in 1315.
3. It fell, however, to the powerful army brought over from Africa by Abdul Malik (Aboumelic), son of the Emperor of Fez, who thenceforth assumed the title of King of Gibraltar, 1333.
4. It was besieged the same year by King Alphonso XI.; and again, with as little success, by the same heroic monarch,
5. who died of the plague under its walls, 1349.
It now again remained in the undisputed possession of the Moslems for a considerable period, though it was wrested from the
6. hands of the King of Fez by Jusef, King of Granada, 1411.
7. The Spaniards again ineffectually attempted to possess themselves of it, under Don Henrique de Guzman, Conde de Nicbla, 1436.
8. But it was finally taken from the Moors by Alonzo de Arcos, Alcayde of Tarifa, 1462.