Muley Hacen, in the meantime, had fallen heir to the ill-luck that seemed to dog the rulers of Granada; for, in his efforts to satisfy the popular demand for Moorish victories, his army suffered in the autumn of 1483 a defeat approaching the disaster of Lucena. The fault did not lie in the calibre of the troops, mainly recruited from the half-savage Berbers who inhabited the mountains in the neighbourhood of Ronda and Malaga, nor with its famous commander Hamet “El Zegri,” who lived but to shed Christian blood. It lay rather, as in the case of the Christian routs at Ajarquia and Loja, in the futility of an isolated expedition, with the enemy everywhere on the watch. Surprised and outnumbered by the levies of Andalusia and the Holy Brotherhood, the Moors after a fierce struggle on the banks of the Lopera broke and fled, leaving many of their generals dead or captured. Hamet “El Zegri” himself escaped, but fifteen of his standards were carried to Vittoria, where the sovereigns celebrated their triumph by illuminations and religious processions.
The battle of Lopera was followed by the reduction of numerous Moorish strongholds on the western frontier, that were now too weak to withstand the Christian advance. Most joyful of all was the recapture of Zahara, whose fall had marked the original outbreak of the war. This triumph won for the Marquis of Cadiz, its principal hero, the title “Duke of Zahara”; but he declined to surrender the name under which he had gained so many laurels, and compromised by styling himself Marquis-Duke of Cadiz.
The culminating moment of the campaign was the capture of Ronda in May, 1485. This town, believed by its defenders impregnable, stood on the summit of a precipice six hundred feet high.
Its walls [says a modern traveller, impressed by the grandeur even of its ruins] are built on the very edge of the cliff and look as weather-beaten and as solid. Indeed one could hardly tell where wall begins and rock ends but for the Moresque arches that span the rents in the face of the cliff to afford a firm basis for the continuous fortification.
RONDA, THE TAJO OR CHASM
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY LACOSTE, MADRID
To this stronghold Hamet “El Zegri” had retired after his crushing defeat at Lopera; but, being informed that the Christians were meditating a second attack on Loja, he hastily sent part of his garrison to assist “El Zagal” in its defence. This did not, however, satisfy his own desire for vengeance, and believing that his enemies were occupied elsewhere he sallied out with a contingent of his fiercest troops to lay waste the Duchy of Medina-Sidonia. His immediate mission was successful; but Hamet “El Zegri” soon found his joy turned to ashes. His cunning had been overreached.
A portion of the Christian army had in truth set out in the direction of Loja; but the main body, under the command of Ferdinand himself, the Marquis-Duke of Cadiz, and other great Castilian generals, only waited till this subterfuge should take effect to march on Ronda. With them went their deadly train of artillery; and soon the walls and towers were battered from three sides, without those within being able to retaliate. Breaches were made, and through these the Castilian chivalry rushed to the assault, driving before them up the streets the diminished garrison. At length a knight, more intrepid than the rest, leaping from roof to roof along the low white houses, planted his banner on the principal mosque. His action completed the enemy’s despair; and on Ferdinand’s offer of generous terms the inhabitants surrendered.
Had they known it, even while they bargained, help was on the way; for Hamet “El Zegri,” driving before him the herds of Medina-Sidonia, was returning across the mountains, when the sound of distant cannon and falling masonry caused him and his men to put spurs to their horses. It was nightfall when they arrived in the neighbourhood of Ronda, and descending from the mountains, sword in hand, attacked the sleeping camp. Up and down the precipitous slopes the battle raged, but, fierce as each onslaught proved, the Castilians beat it back; and “El Zegri,” at length acknowledging his defeat, withdrew in sullen fury. Ronda had fallen, and the western frontier of the Moorish kingdom was in Christian hands.
Such a loss did not help to rebuild Muley Hacen’s military reputation; indeed there was murmuring in Granada that no land could prosper whose ruler was almost in his dotage, unable either to lead his armies or to cope with the work of government. Things would have been different, if only their King had been a hero like his brother Abdallah “El Zagal,” “the Valiant.”