[9] Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 90.—Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, lib. 1, pp. 211, 212.—Conde, Dominacion de los Arabes, tom. iii. cap. 42.—Quintana, Españoles Célebres, tom. i. pp. 207-216.—Pulgar, Sumario, p. 193.
Florian has given circulation to a popular error by his romance of "Gonsalve de Cordone," where the young warrior is made to play a part he is by no means entitled to, as hero of the Granadine war. Graver writers, who cannot lawfully plead the privilege of romancing, have committed the same error. See, among others, Varillas, Politique de Ferdinand, p. 3.
[10] Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, p. 214.—Chrónica del Gran Capitan Gonzalo Hernandez de Cordova y Aguilar, (Alcalá de Henares, 1584,) cap. 23.
Another example of his gallantry occurred during the Granadine war, when the fire of Santa Fe had consumed the royal tent, with the greater part of the queen's apparel and other valuable effects. Gonsalvo, on learning the disaster, at his castle of Illora, supplied the queen so abundantly from the magnificent wardrobe of his wife Doña Maria Manrique, as led Isabella pleasantly to remark, that, "the fire had done more execution in his quarters, than in her own." Pulgar, Sumario, p. 187.
[11] Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, p. 214.—Chrónica del Gran Capitan, cap. 23.
[12] Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, lib. 2, cap. 7, 24.—Quintana, Españoles Célebres, tom. i. p. 222.—Chrónica del Gran Capitan, ubi supra.
Giovio, in his biography of Gonsalvo, estimates these forces at 5000 foot and 600 horse, which last in his History he raises to 700. I have followed Zurita, as presenting the more probable statement, and as generally more accurate in all that relates to his own nation. It is a hopeless task to attempt to reconcile the manifold inaccuracies, contradictions, and discrepancies, which perplex the narratives of the writers on both sides, in everything relating to numerical estimates. The difficulty is greatly increased by the extremely vague application of the term lance, as we meet with it, including six, four, three, or even a less number of followers, as the case might be.
[13] Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. lib. 26, cap. 10.—Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, lib. 2, cap. 7.
The occupation of these places by Gonsalvo excited the pope's jealousy, as to the designs of the Spanish sovereigns. In consequence of his remonstrances, the Castilian envoy, Garcilasso de la Vega, was instructed to direct Gonsalvo, that, "in case any inferior places had been since put into his hands, he should restore them; if they were of importance, however, he was first to confer with his own government." King Ferdinand, as Abarca assures his readers, "was unwilling to give cause of complaint to any one, unless he were greatly a gainer by it." Reyes de Aragon, rey 30, cap. 8.—Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, tom. v. lib. 2, cap. 8.
[14] Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, pp. 215-217.—Idem, Hist. sui Temporis, pp. 83-85.—Bembo, Istoria Viniziana, lib. 3, pp. 160, 185.—Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, lib. 2, cap. 8.—Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 2, pp. 88, 92.—Chrónica del Gran Capitan, cap. 25.