[18] The adalid was a guide, or scout, whose business it was to make himself acquainted with the enemy's country, and to guide the invaders into it. Much dispute has arisen respecting the authority and functions of this officer. Some writers regard him as an independent leader, or commander; and the Dictionary of the Academy defines the term adalid by these very words. The Siete Partidas, however, explains at length the peculiar duties of this officer, conformably to the account I have given. (Ed. de la Real Acad. (Madrid, 1807,) part. 2, tit. 2, leyes 1-4.) Bernaldez, Pulgar, and the other chroniclers of the Granadine war, repeatedly notice him in this connection. When he is spoken of as a captain, or leader, as he sometimes is in these and other ancient records, his authority, I suspect, is intended to be limited to the persons who aided him in the execution of his peculiar office.—It was common for the great chiefs, who lived on the borders, to maintain in their pay a number of these adalides, to inform them of the fitting time and place for making a foray. The post, as may well be believed, was one of great trust and personal hazard.
[19] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, p. 203.—L. Marineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 173.—Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 320.
[20] Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 36.—Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decades, ii. lib. 2, cap. 2.
The title of adelantado implies in its etymology one preferred or placed before others. The office is of great antiquity; some have derived it from the reign of St. Ferdinand in the thirteenth century, but Mendoza proves its existence at a far earlier period. The adelantado was possessed of very extensive judicial authority in the province or district in which he presided, and in war was invested with supreme military command. His functions, however, as well as the territories over which he ruled, have varied at different periods. An adelantado seems to have been generally established over a border province, as Andalusia for example. Marina discusses the civil authority of this officer, in his Teoría, tom. ii. cap. 23. See also Salazar de Mendoza, Dignidades, lib. 2, cap. 15.
[21] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 60.—Rades y Andrada, Las Tres
Ordenes, fol. 71.—Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 320.—Zuñiga, Annales de
Sevilla, fol. 395.—Lebrija, Rerum Gestarum Decades, ii. lib. 2, cap. 2.—
Oviedo, Quincuagenas, MS., bat. 1, quinc. 1, dial. 36.
[22] Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. iii. p. 217.—Cardonne, Hist. d'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. iii. pp. 264-267.—Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 60.
[23] Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. iii. p. 217.—Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, p. 204.—Rades y Andrada, Las Tres Ordenes, fol. 71, 72.
[24] Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. pp. 552, 553.—Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, p. 205.—Zurita, Anales, tom. iv. fol. 321.
[25] Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, p. 205.—Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. p. 636.
[26] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 60.—Pulgar, Reyes Católicos, ubi supra.—Cardonne, Hist. d'Afrique et d'Espagne, tom. iii. pp. 264-267.