Mr. Irving, in his beautiful Spanish Sketch-book, "The Alhambra," devotes a chapter to mementos of Boabdil, in which he traces minutely the route of the deposed monarch after quitting the gates of his capital. The same author, in the Appendix to his Chronicle of Granada, concludes a notice of Abdallah's fate with the following description of his person. "A portrait of Boabdil el Chico is to be seen in the picture gallery of the Generalife. He is represented with a mild, handsome face, a fair complexion, and yellow hair. His dress is of yellow brocade, relieved with black velvet; and he has a black velvet cap, surmounted with a crown. In the armory of Madrid are two suits of armor said to have belonged to him, one of solid steel, with very little ornament; the morion closed. From the proportions of these suits of armor, he must have been of full stature and vigorous form." Note, p. 398.
[22] Senarega, Commentarii de Rebus Genuensibus, apud Muratori, Rerum Italicarum Scriptores, (Mediolani, 1723-51,) tom. xxiv. p. 531.—It formed the subject of a theatrical representation before the court at Naples, in the same year. This drama, or Farsa, as it is called by its distinguished author, Sannazaro, is an allegorical medley, in which Faith, Joy, and the false prophet Mahomet play the principal parts. The difficulty of a precise classification of this piece, has given rise to warmer discussion among Italian critics, than the subject may be thought to warrant. See Signorelli, Vicende della Coltura nelle due Sicilie, (Napoli, 1810,) tom. iii. pp. 543 et seq.
[23] "Somewhat about this time, came letters from Ferdinando and Isabella, king and queen of Spain; signifying the final conquest of Granada from the Moors; which action, in itself so worthy, King Ferdinando, whose manner was, never to lose any virtue for the showing, had expressed and displayed in his letters, at large, with all the particularities and religious punctos and ceremonies, that were observed in the reception of that city and kingdom; showing amongst other things, that the king would not by any means in person enter the city until he had first aloof seen the Cross set up upon the greater tower of Granada, whereby it became Christian ground. That likewise, before he would enter, he did homage to God above, pronouncing by an herald from the height of that tower, that he did acknowledge to have recovered that kingdom by the help of God Almighty, and the glorious Virgin, and the virtuous apostle St. James, and the holy father Innocent VIII., together with the aids and services of his prelates, nobles, and commons. That yet he stirred not from his camp, till he had seen a little army of martyrs, to the number of seven hundred and more Christians, that had lived in bonds and servitude, as slaves to the Moors, pass before his eyes, singing a psalm for their redemption; and that he had given tribute unto God, by alms and relief extended to them all, for his admission into the city. These things were in the letters, with many more ceremonies of a kind of holy ostentation.
"The king, ever willing to put himself into the consort or quire of all religious actions, and naturally affecting much the king of Spain, as far as one king can affect another, partly for his virtues, and partly for a counterpoise to France; upon the receipt of these letters, sent all his nobles and prelates that were about the court, together with the mayor and aldermen of London, in great solemnity to the church of Paul; there to hear a declaration from the lord chancellor, now cardinal. When they were assembled, the cardinal, standing upon the uppermost step, or halfpace, before the quire, and all the nobles, prelates, and governors of the city at the foot of the stairs, made a speech to them; letting them know that they were assembled in that consecrated place to sing unto God a new song. For that, said he, these many years the Christians have not gained new ground or territory upon the infidels, nor enlarged and set farther the bounds of the Christian world. But this is now done by the prowess and devotion of Ferdinando and Isabella, kings of Spain; who have, to their immortal honor, recovered the great and rich kingdom of Granada, and the populous and mighty city of the same name from the Moors, having been in possession thereof by the space of seven hundred years, and more; for which this assembly and all Christians are to render laud and thanks to God, and to celebrate this noble act of the king of Spain; who in this is not only victorious but apostolical, in the gaining of new provinces to the Christian faith. And the rather for that this victory and conquest is obtained without much effusion of blood. Whereby it is to be hoped, that there shall be gained not only new territory, but infinite souls to the Church of Christ, whom the Almighty, as it seems, would have live to be converted. Herewithal he did relate some of the most memorable particulars of the war and victory. And, after his speech ended, the whole assembly went solemnly in procession, and Te Deum was sung." Lord Bacon, History of the Reign of King Henry VII., in his Works, (ed. London, 1819,) vol. v. pp. 85, 86.—See also Hall, Chronicle, p. 453.
[24] The African descendants of the Spanish Moors, unable wholly to relinquish the hope of restoration to the delicious abodes of their ancestors, continued for many generations, and perhaps still continue, to put up a petition to that effect in their mosques every Friday. Pedraza, Antiguedad de Granada, fol. 7.
[25] Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1492.
Don Henrique de Guzman, duke of Medina Sidonia, the ancient enemy, and, since the commencement of the Moorish war, the firm friend of the marquis of Cadiz, died the 28th of August, on the same day with the latter.
[26] Zuñiga, Annales de Sevilla, p. 411.—Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 104.
The marquis left three illegitimate daughters by a noble Spanish lady, who all formed high connections. He was succeeded in his titles and estates, by the permission of Ferdinand and Isabella, by Don Rodrigo Ponce de Leon, the son of his eldest daughter, who had married with one of her kinsmen. Cadiz was subsequently annexed by the Spanish sovereigns to the crown, from which it had been detached in Henry IV.'s time, and considerable estates were given as an equivalent, together with the title of Duke of Arcos, to the family of Ponce de Leon.