History of the Moorish Empire in Europe, Vol. 2 (of 3)

by S. P. Scott

The Moorish prisoners were divided into three classes,—one destined to be exchanged for Christians detained in captivity in Africa; the second to be distributed as spoil among the most eminent personages in the army according to rank or merit; and the third to be sold at auction for the benefit of the treasury, to partially defray the expenses of the siege. As an acknowledgment of the aid his endorsement had afforded a war waged in the name of religion, and to get rid of captives whose reputation and character indicated they might prove troublesome, a hundred of the most ferocious Gomeres were presented to the Pope. Fifty of the most comely Moslem damsels were given to the Queen of Naples. Thirty others became the slaves of the Queen of Portugal. Isabella also distributed a large number of these attractive maidens among the ladies of the court, and several of them were retained for her own service in the palace.

Those prominent citizens who had vainly attempted at different times to procure the surrender of Malaga were suffered to retain their property and enjoy their freedom in the condition of tributaries. Ali-Dordux as a recompense for his peculiar services received twenty houses, with many valuable lands and villas, and was appointed alcalde of the Mudejares. The surviving Jews of the city, amounting in all to four hundred and fifty persons, the majority of them women, were ransomed by Abraham Señor, a rich Hebrew, collector for the royal treasury of the Jewish tribute of Castile. Their chattels were received and accounted for in part payment of their ransom, which was twenty thousand doubloons of gold.

Thus ends the mournful story of the capture of Malaga. No similar event in history exhibits in a more striking manner the heroism of the conquered and the perfidy and malevolence of the conquerors. Human valor and self-sacrifice under the most discouraging circumstances could not accomplish more than was effected by the Moslems. No greater disregard for those virtues which appeal most strongly to the human heart—loyalty, patriotism, intrepidity, firmness—or for those sufferings which arouse the chivalrous sympathy of the brave could be shown than was displayed by the triumphant Christians. The honorable terms ever accorded by a magnanimous victor to a courageous but unfortunate foe were insolently refused. The enslavement of an entire community, while not repugnant to the barbarous customs of mediæval warfare, was unusual, and was certainly unmerited by those whose only crime was a resolute defence of home and country. The infamy of the scheme through which they were deluded by false hopes of deliverance from servitude, and, at the same time, despoiled of their possessions, is deserving of the severest reprobation. It was well known to Ferdinand, who fixed the amount and whose influence was no doubt employed in counteracting the efforts of the emissaries of the captives, that the exorbitant ransom could never be paid. Even if the obligation had been discharged, there is little doubt, in view of the subsequent course pursued by the Spanish Crown in similar transactions, that the result would have been the same. The spirit which did not reject with indignation, but could calmly discuss, the deliberate massacre of eleven thousand defenceless persons as a matter of public convenience, would hardly refuse to repudiate a contract when its violation was sanctioned by the plausible and popular suggestions of sacerdotal casuistry. The part taken by the Queen in this disreputable transaction, more characteristic of the arts of a pettifogger than of the justice of a high-minded sovereign, is incapable of excuse or palliation even by the artifices of the most fulsome apologist. Her responsibility was equal to that of her husband. She was fully cognizant of the entire negotiation. A single word from her would have arrested it, but that word was not spoken. Unfortunately for her fame, on this as on many other occasions, she seems to have sacrificed the noblest attributes of her sex to considerations of momentary advantage and spurious morality at the dictation of malignant and intriguing ecclesiastics, whose power as keepers of the royal conscience and whose insidious counsels had already begun to exert a marked and most pernicious influence on the policy of the crown.

In the midst of their reverses the infuriated temper of the Moors of the capital and the consequent insecurity of the throne of Boabdil had become daily more apparent. His frantic appeals for assistance were answered by the despatch of Gonsalvo de Cordova with three thousand men, whose presence awed the malcontents and confirmed for a time the falling power of a monarch whose selfish and short-sighted measures continued to afford the most substantial aid to the enemies of his country. As a recompense for his invaluable services, the subjects of Boabdil passed their lives in comparative peace; their labors were uninterrupted; their harvests ripened and were gathered in security; and their merchants, transporting their wares beyond the frontier, carried on a profitable trade with the cities of Andalusia and Castile. The boundaries of the royal vassal’s domain, constantly growing more narrow through the vicissitudes of revolution, the encroachments of perfidious allies, and the ravages of war, could now be discerned from the battlements of the Alhambra. His name, loaded with the most insulting epithets, was openly cursed in the streets. By a cruel stratagem, worthy of his Christian patron, he suppressed a spirit of rebellion which daily threatened a serious outbreak. Five of the most influential agitators were invited to a conference in the palace. Relying upon the royal word and unsuspicious of treachery they repaired to the Alhambra. Seized and manacled, they were at once delivered to an equal number of executioners, decapitated, and their heads, fixed on pikes, were borne through the city, preceded by a crier, as a suggestive warning to the disaffected. To such atrocious methods was this petty tyrant compelled to resort in order to maintain the existence of his uncertain and tottering authority. While they were temporarily successful, they in fact still further weakened a power based exclusively upon fear. All persons of wealth and consequence who could do so secretly departed from the capital, and the populace, suppressing the grief and indignation they felt on account of the execution of their leaders, awaited impatiently the moment of vengeance. On the other hand, the tireless and impetuous Al-Zagal, taking advantage of the opportunity afforded by the retirement of the Christians, carried ruin and dismay beyond the frontier. The garrison of Nijar was massacred. Cullar was taken and burnt. From Almeria and the towns of its jurisdiction predatory expeditions swept the fertile valleys of Murcia. In the Serrania of Ronda and the Sierra Bermeja the mountaineers revolted, visited with their destructive forays the plains of Andalusia, and repulsed an attack of the Marquis of Cadiz, whose operations were soon afterwards suspended on account of a succession of tornadoes and earthquakes.

Meanwhile, the Spanish King had not been idle. Entering the dominions of Al-Zagal from the side of Murcia,—a territory hitherto remote from the seat of war and consequently exempt from its ravages,—he had brought into subjection a large and important region, together with the towns of Vera, Cuevas, Huescar, and many others, which, at the appearance of the army, surrendered without resistance. Encouraged by his success, he next appeared before Almeria. Unfortunately for his plans, concerted with Moslem traitors in the city who had arranged to betray their trust to the Christians, Al-Zagal had learned of this design, had foiled it with his usual energy, and at that moment the heads of the conspirators were fixed on the battlements of the castle. The force of the Moorish King, which numbered twenty-one thousand, attacked the advance guard of the enemy with irresistible fury, defeated it, and compelled the whole army to retreat. Ferdinand retired towards Baza, closely followed by Al-Zagal. Near that city the Moslem veteran placed an ambush, into which he had no difficulty in decoying the Spaniards. The advance guard was again routed, this time with serious loss, and it required all the efforts of the King and his ablest captains to save the army from destruction. Among the dead was Don Philip of Aragon, nephew of Ferdinand, and many other distinguished officers. The march of the Christians was severely harassed by the enemy’s cavalry as far as the river Guadalquiton, a distance of twenty miles.

In the month of May, 1489, Ferdinand once more invaded the Moorish kingdom with the design of besieging Baza. His plans were well known to Al-Zagal months before they were put into execution, and every possible expedient was employed to counteract them. The entire country was scoured for provisions. The magazines of the city were filled with grain. Its arsenal was stocked with weapons. A stirring appeal from their sovereign summoned to the defence of Baza the veterans of many a hard-fought field, bold mountaineers of the Alpujarras, desperate adventurers who had lost home and kindred by the casualties of war, and hundreds of the gallant cavaliers of Granada, who, weary of inaction, disgusted with their prince, and dreading the imputation of cowardice, were eager to once more draw their swords in the cause of their country and their religion.

The command of Baza was intrusted to Sidi Yahya, one of the ablest and most conspicuous examples of Moslem chivalry produced by the wars of the Reconquest. Of royal lineage and distinguished connections,—for he was at once the nephew and the brother-in-law of Al-Zagal as well as the hereditary prince of Almeria,—he had early exhibited talents for war and diplomacy far beyond his years. A division of ten thousand cavalry organized, equipped, and disciplined by him had attained the highest state of efficiency possible in the rapid evolutions and crafty stratagems which constituted the favorite tactics of Arab warfare. In addition to this force, which in perfection of organization and drill had no equal in the Moorish or Christian armies, Sidi Yahya had at his disposal an equal number of well-armed troops, commanded by experienced generals who had seen service under Al-Zagal and Muley Hassan. The garrison of Baza consisted of ten thousand men, most of them selected for their valor and fidelity from the flower of the Moorish army, and the rest, animated by the memory of past injuries and eager for retaliation, made up in ferocity what they lacked in experience and discipline. In the arrangements for defence everything had been taken into consideration which could either annoy an enemy or deprive him of even the slightest advantage. The suburbs, by which Baza in common with most Andalusian cities was surrounded, were evacuated. The ripened crops were gathered and transported inside the walls. The trees were stripped of their fruits. New passages were opened in the suburban labyrinth of lanes and alleys to facilitate the movements of the garrison and perplex the enemy, who, under similar circumstances, had more than once encountered disaster. The well-fortified city of Baza was of high antiquity, and had been a place of importance even under the Carthaginian domination. It occupied the slope of a lofty hill forming a spur of the sierra, was surrounded by walls of great solidity, and defended by a castle of remarkable strength. Its environs were occupied by groves and gardens, intersected by pathways arched with verdure and bordered by hedges. A fertile valley thirty-two miles long by twelve in width, irrigated by canals, and producing a succession of harvests, displayed at every point evidences of the highest degree of industry. Amidst its luxuriant plantations appeared the white walls of numerous palaces and country-seats, inhabited or frequented by the prominent residents of the city. From the ramparts of the castle more than a thousand towers, distributed over the valley, could be counted, places of refuge for the shepherd and the laborer in case of a sudden alarm or a hostile inroad. The orchards extended more than a mile from the walls of the suburbs, which, constructed rather for enclosure than protection, were low, and composed of rough stones put together with mud and lime.

Arrived before Baza, the great army of the Christians attempted to penetrate the orchards and intrench itself near their inner border. Conscious of the importance of preventing this movement, the garrison issued from the city in force, and a hand-to-hand battle began. Perfectly familiar with the locality, and able to thread at will the maze of intersecting paths darkened by overhanging foliage, fighting on foot against horsemen encumbered with heavy weapons and armor, and more accustomed to such encounters than their adversaries, the Moors readily obtained the advantage. Each tower and house sent forth a stream of deadly missiles. Every hedge concealed a body of enemies ready to fall upon the rear of an advancing column. The confined and perplexing nature of the ground made it impossible to maintain the line of battle, to obey the word of command, and often, amidst the smoke and confusion, to distinguish friend from foe. The result of the struggle was therefore largely dependent on the efforts of individual courage. Each soldier sought an antagonist, and the savage combat terminated only with the death of an enemy. The shady arcades of the forest rang with the reports of musketry, the shouts of the combatants, and the clash of steel upon steel. To add to the horrors of the scene, some towers which had been taken by the Christians, and others, still held by the Moors, were set on fire, and the shrieks of the tortured wretches who occupied them and whose escape was cut off rose high above the din of battle. Many prudent Spanish officers, recognizing the disadvantages under which they labored and apprehensive of a disastrous result, endeavored to withdraw their commands; but, utterly bewildered, and unable to ascertain the direction of the camp, they were forced to participate, against their will, in the dangers of the unequal and uncertain contest. It raged with fury for twelve long hours; the press of reinforcements hindered the retirement of those in the front of the lines, and many unhurt fell from sheer exhaustion. At length, as night was approaching, the superior endurance of the Christians prevailed, and the Moslems, oppressed with fatigue but still undaunted, withdrew to a palisade in the centre of the orchards, leaving to their opponents the doubtful advantage of a bloody and barren victory.

After a short respite, the Moors, under cover of the darkness and aided by the dense foliage which the Spaniards in the obscurity dared not attempt to penetrate, resumed the fight; and until dawn the entire force remained under arms, exposed to a galling fire of balls and arrows discharged at easy range, which they were powerless to check and unable to answer.

With the morning light appeared a scene of desolation where but the day before had been displayed a picture of serenity and peace. The elegant villas had been transformed into shapeless heaps of ashes. Over the ground, trampled like a highway by the feet of thousands, were strewn the melancholy proofs of the obstinacy with which the contest had been waged,—broken weapons, dinted armor, tattered banners, blood-stained garments, and hundreds of bodies distorted by the frightful agonies of death. The grass and the flowers, which so recently presented a pleasing contrast of many colors, had now assumed a uniform, crimson hue. The air was still murky with the smoke of battle, which, absorbed by the mist, the rays of the sun were slow to dissipate. When the Spaniards had collected their wounded and buried their dead their heavy loss was disclosed; and it became apparent that the present position, taken in violation of every consideration of prudence, was untenable. Convinced of his error, Ferdinand at once ordered the camp to be removed to the plain, and, under a continuous fire, the soldiers retired from the spot where the enterprise of its commanders had met with such an inauspicious beginning. A council of war was then held to determine the course to be adopted. A large preponderance of votes favored the abandonment of the undertaking. In his perplexity, Ferdinand, as was his custom in all important emergencies, solicited the opinion of the Queen. Isabella, whose martial spirit and vigorous understanding were averse to countenancing even an appearance of indecision or cowardice, while leaving the determination of the question to the army, plainly indicated her desire that the siege should be prosecuted. Her answer was received with acclamations; the misgivings of the wavering were removed by the confidence of success which now pervaded the camp; and the city, soon invested on all sides, excepting that of the sierra, began to realize that its deliverance, if achieved at all, could only be secured after a severe and protracted struggle. The immense extent of the lines which required to be guarded exceeded the capacity and exhausted the power of even ninety-five thousand men. In order to deprive the Moors of one of their most valuable means of defence, the order was issued to cut down the orchards. This proceeding, of itself one of extreme difficulty, was rendered doubly hazardous by the enemy, who exhausted every resource to prevent its accomplishment. An advance guard of seven thousand men protected those detailed for the work of destruction. The number and size of the trees were so great that the axemen could scarcely advance ten paces in as many hours; and it required the incessant labor of four thousand men forty days to complete the stupendous task. The possession of every foot of ground was stubbornly contested; and, besides the desultory attacks of skirmishers, twice every day the Moors charged the slowly advancing line at several different points, confusing the workmen with their cries, and taxing to the utmost the energy and the resolution of those appointed to defend them. When, finally, every tree had been removed, the line of circumvallation was established. A ditch, protected by palisades, was excavated on the sides towards the valley, and strengthened by fifteen castles built of stone, which were distributed at intervals of three hundred paces along the intrenchments. On the declivity of the sierra a double wall was constructed, so that an attack from any quarter might be repelled. The entire circuit of the fortified line was upward of twelve miles. Thus completely surrounded, the activity of the besieged, hitherto incessant and dangerous, was effectually restrained. An attempt to cut off the water-supply of the city, which was obtained from a spring at the foot of the mountain, was frustrated by the prudent diligence of the Moslems.