But Muley Hassan, better instructed in the usages of courts, instantly sent orders to respect the person and freedom of an ambassador while in his court; and so Don Juan departed safely by the way that he had come.
The night attack on Jaén followed the defiance borne by Don Juan—a cruel onslaught on a defenceless town, the fierce old Muley Hassan turning a deaf ear to all remonstrance.
This was succeeded by the no less cruel assault of the sovereigns on the castle of Alhama near Granada (described in the ballad Ay de mi Alhama), by Ponce de Leon, Marqués de Cadiz, one of Ferdinand’s most valiant captains; and the long Moorish war, destined to last ten years, began in earnest.
