UPRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 CALIFORNIA 
 
LEGENDS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CONQUEST OF SPAIN 
 
 BY 
 
 THE AUTHOR OF "THE SKETCH-BOOK. 
 
 LONDON: 
 JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 
 
 MDCCCXXXVI. 
 
Af 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 FEW events in history have been so signal 
 and striking in their main circumstances, 
 and so overwhelming and enduring in 
 their consequences, as that of the con 
 quest of Spain by the Saracens ; yet there 
 are few where the motives, characters, 
 and actions of the agents have been en 
 veloped in more doubt and contradiction. 
 As in the memorable story of the Fall of 
 Troy, we have to make out, as well as 
 we can, the veritable details through the 
 mists of poetic fiction ; yet poetry has 
 so combined itself with, and lent its 
 magic colouring to, every fact, that to 
 
 A3, 
 
 726 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 strip it away, would be to reduce the 
 story to a meagre skeleton, and rob it of 
 all its charms. The storm of Moslem in 
 vasion that swept so suddenly over the 
 peninsula, silenced for a time the faint 
 voice of the Muse, and drove the sons of 
 learning from their cells. The pen was 
 thrown aside to grasp the sword and 
 spear ; and men were too much taken 
 up with battling against the evils which 
 beset them on every side, to find time or 
 inclination to record them. 
 
 When the nation had recovered in 
 some degree from the effects of this 
 astounding blow, or rather, had become 
 accustomed to the tremendous reverse 
 which it produced, and sage men sought 
 to inquire and write the particulars, it 
 was too late to ascertain them in their 
 
PREFACE. Vll 
 
 exact verity. The gloom and melan 
 choly that had overshadowed the land, 
 had given birth to a thousand supersti 
 tious fancies ; the woes and terrors of 
 the past were clothed with supernatural 
 miracles and portents, and the actors in 
 the fearful drama had already assumed 
 the dubious characteristics of romance. 
 Or if a writer from among the con 
 querors undertook to touch upon the 
 theme, it was embellished with all the 
 wild extravagances of an oriental ima 
 gination ; which afterwards stole into the 
 graver works of the monkish historians. 
 
 Hence the earliest chronicles which 
 treat of the downfal of Spain are apt to 
 be tinctured with those saintly miracles 
 which savour of the pious labours of 
 the cloister, or those fanciful fictions 
 A 4 
 
Till PREFACE. 
 
 that betray their Arabian authors. Yet, 
 from these apocryphal sources, the most 
 legitimate and accredited Spanish histo 
 ries have taken their rise, as pure rivers 
 may be traced up to the fens and mantled 
 pools of a morass. It is true, the authors, 
 with cautious discrimination, have dis 
 carded those particulars too startling for 
 belief, and have culled only such as, 
 from their probability and congruity, 
 might be safely recorded as historical 
 facts ; yet scarce one of these but has 
 been connected in the original with some 
 romantic fiction, and, even in its divorced 
 state, bears traces of its former alliance. 
 
 To discard, however, every thing wild 
 arid marvellous in this portion of Spanish 
 history, is to discard some of its most 
 beautiful, instructive, and national fea- 
 
PREFACE. IX 
 
 tures ; it is to judge of Spain by the 
 standard of probability suited to tamer 
 and more prosaic countries. Spain is 
 virtually a land of poetry and romance, 
 where every-day life partakes of adven 
 ture, and where the least agitation or 
 excitement carries every thing up into 
 extravagant enterprise and daring ex- 
 ploit. The Spaniards, in all ages, have 
 been of swelling and braggart spirit, soar 
 ing in thought, pompous in word, and 
 valiant, though vainglorious, in deed. 
 Their heroic aims have transcended the 
 cooler conceptions of their neighbours, 
 and their reckless daring has borne them 
 on to achievements which prudent enter 
 prise could never have accomplished. 
 Since the time, too, of the conquest and 
 occupation of their country by the Arabs, 
 a strong infusion of oriental magnificence 
 A 5 
 
X PREFACE* 
 
 has entered into the national character, 
 and rendered the Spaniard distinct from 
 every other nation of Europe. 
 
 In the following pages, therefore, the 
 author has ventured to dip more deeply 
 into the enchanted fountains of old 
 Spanish chronicle, than has usually been 
 done by those who, in modern times, 
 have treated of the eventful period of the 
 conquest; but, in so doing, he trusts he 
 will illustrate more fully the character of 
 the people and the times. He has 
 thought proper to throw these records 
 into the form of legends, not claiming 
 for them the authenticity of sober his 
 tory, yet giving nothing that has not 
 historical foundation. All the facts 
 herein contained, however extravagant 
 some of them may be deemed, will be 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 found in the works of sage and reverend 
 chroniclers of yore, growing side by side 
 with long acknowledged truths, and 
 might be supported by learned and im 
 posing references in the margin. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 LEGEND OF DON RODERICK. 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Page 
 
 Of the ancient Inhabitants of Spain. Of the 
 Misrule of Witiza the Wicked - - - 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Rise of Don Roderick. His Government 1 1 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Of the Loves of Roderick and the Princess 
 Elyata - - 18 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Of Count Julian - V . - 27 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The Story of Florinda - - - - -31 
 
XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Page 
 
 Don Roderick receives an extraordinary Em 
 bassy - . . ... 44 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Story of the marvellous and portentous Tower 50 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Count Julian. His Fortunes in Africa. 
 He hears of the Dishonour of his Child. 
 His Conduct thereupon - - 66 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Secret Visit of Count Julian to the Arab 
 Camp. First Expedition of Taric el Tu- 
 erto - 78 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Letter of Muza to the Caliph. Second Ex 
 pedition of Taric el Tuerto - - 85 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Measures of Don Roderick on hearing of the 
 Invasion. Expedition of Ataulpho. Vi 
 sion of Taric ----*- 94 
 
CONTENTS. XV 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Page 
 Battle of Calpe. Fate of Ataulpho - - 102 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Terror of the Country. Roderick rouses 
 himself to Arms - - 112 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 March of the Gothic Army. Encampment 
 on the Banks of the Guadalete. Mysteri 
 ous Predictions of a Palmer. Conduct of 
 Pelistes thereupon - - 121 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Skirmishing of the Armies. Pelistes and his 
 Son. Pelistes and the Bishop - 129 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Traitorous Message of Count Julian - - 136 
 
 CHAPTER XVIL 
 Last Day of the Battle - 141 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 The Field of Battle after the Defeat. The 
 Fate of Roderick - ; - ; - - 150 
 
XVI CONTENTS. 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS TO THE FOREGOING LEGEND. 
 
 Page 
 
 The Tomb of Roderick - 158 
 
 The Cave of Hercules - - - 160 
 
 LEGEND OF THE SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Consternation of Spain. Conduct of the Con 
 querors. Missives between Taric and Muza 173 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Capture of Granada Subjugation of the 
 
 Alpuxarra Mountains - 181 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Expedition of Magued against Cordova. 
 Defence of the Patriot Pelistes - - - 1 92 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Defence of the Convent of St. George by 
 Pelistes - 198 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Meeting between the Patriot Pelistes and the 
 Traitor Julian C 207 
 
CONTENTS. 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Page 
 
 How Taric el Tuerto captured the City of 
 Toledo through the Aid of the Jews, and 
 how he found the famous Talismanic Table 
 of Solomon - - - _ . -213 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Muza ben Nozier His Entrance into Spain, 
 
 and Capture of Carmona - .si . -223 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 Muza marches against the City of Seville - 230 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Muza besieges the City of Merida - " . 233 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Expedition of Abdalasis against Seville and 
 the Land of Tadmir " - 24-5 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Muza arrives at Toledo. Interview between 
 him and Taric - . 259 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Muza prosecutes the Scheme of Conquest. 
 Siege of Saragossa. Complete Subjugation 
 of Spain. - . . 266 
 
XV11I CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Page 
 
 Feud between the Arab Generals. They are 
 summoned to appear before the Caliph at 
 Damascus. Reception of Taric - - 273 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Muza arrives at Damascus. His Interview 
 with the Caliph. The Table of Solomon. 
 A rigorous Sentence - 282 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Conduct of Abdalasis as Emir of Spain - 289 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Loves of Abdalasis and Exilona - 296 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Fate of Abdalasis and Exilona. Death of 
 Muza - - - - - 305 
 
 LEGEND OF COUNT JULIAN AND HIS 
 
 FAMILY - - - - 313 
 
 Note to the preceding Legend - - 339 
 
THE 
 
 LEGEND OF DON RODERICK. 
 
THE 
 
 LEGEND OF DON RODERICK.* 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 OF THE ANCIENT INHABITANTS OF SPAIN. OF 
 
 THE MISRULE OF W1TIZA THE WICKED. 
 
 SPAIN, or Iberia, as it was called in ancient 
 days, has been a country harassed from the 
 earliest times by the invader. The Celts, 
 the Greeks, the Phoenicians, the Cartha- 
 
 * Many of the facts in this legend are taken from 
 an old chronicle, written in (quaint and antiquated * 
 ^Spanish, and professing to be a~~translation from the 
 Arabian chronicle of the Moor Rasis, by Moham 
 med, a Moslem writer, and Gil Parez, a Spanish 
 priest. It is supposed to be a piece of literary mo 
 saic work, made up from both Spanish and Arabian 
 chronicles : yet from this work most of the Spanish 
 historians have drawn their particulars relative to 
 the fortunes of Don Roderick. 
 
THE LEGEND OF 
 
 ginians, by turns, or simultaneously, in 
 fringed its territories ; drove the native 
 Iberians from their rightful homes, and es 
 tablished colonies and founded cities in the 
 land. It subsequently fell into the all-grasp 
 ing power of Rome, remaining for some 
 time a subjugated province ; and when that 
 gigantic empire crumbled into pieces, the 
 Suevi, the Alani, and the Vandals, those 
 barbarians of the north, overran and ravaged 
 this devoted country, and portioned out the 
 soil among them. 
 
 Their sway was not of long duration. In 
 the fifth century the Goths, who were then 
 the allies of Rome, undertook the reconquest 
 of Iberia, and succeeded, after a desperate 
 struggle of three years duration. They drove 
 before them the barbarous hordes, their 
 predecessors ; intermarried and incorporated 
 themselves with the original inhabitants ; and 
 founded a powerful and splendid empire,, 
 comprising the Iberian peninsula, the ancient 
 Narbonnaise, afterwards called Gallia Gotica, 
 or Gothic Gaul, and a part of the African 
 
DON RODERICK. 3 
 
 coast called Tingitania. A new nation was, 
 in a manner, produced by this mixture of 
 the Goths and Iberians. Sprung from a 
 union of warrior races, reared and nurtured 
 amidst the din of arms, the Gothic Spaniards, 
 if they may so be termed, were a warlike, 
 unquiet, yet high-minded and heroic people. 
 Their simple and abstemious habits, their 
 contempt for toil and suffering, arid their love 
 of daring enterprise, fitted them for a soldier s 
 life. So addicted were they to war that, 
 \\shen they had no external foes to contend 
 with, they fought with one another ; and, 
 when engaged in battle, says an old chro 
 nicler, the very thunders and lightnings of 
 heaven could not separate them.* 
 
 For two centuries and a half the Gothic 
 power remained unshaken, and the sceptre 
 was wielded by twenty-five successive kings. 
 The crown was elective, in a council of pala 
 tines, composed of the bishops and nobles : 
 who, while they swore allegiance to the 
 
 * Florian de Ocampo, lib. iii. c. 12. Justin Abrer. 
 Trog. Pomp. lib. xliv. Bleda. Cronica, lib. ii. c. S. 
 B 2 
 
4 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 newly-made sovereign, bound him by a re 
 ciprocal oath to be faithful to his trust. 
 Their choice was made from among the 
 people, subject only to one condition, that 
 the king- should be of pure Gothic blood. 
 But though the crown was elective in princi 
 ple, it gradually became hereditary from 
 usage, and the power of the sovereign grew 
 to be almost absolute. The king was com- 
 mander-in-chief of the armies ; the whole 
 patronage of the kingdom was in his hands , 
 he summoned and dissolved the national 
 councils ; he made and revoked laws accord 
 ing to his pleasure ; and, having ecclesiasti 
 cal supremacy, he exercised a sway even over 
 the consciences of his subjects. 
 
 The Goths, at the time of their inroad, 
 were stouf adherents to the Arian doctrines ; 
 but after a time they embraced the Catholic 
 faith, which was maintained by the native 
 Spaniards free from many of the gross su 
 perstitions of the church at Rome; and this 
 unity of faith contributed more than any thing 
 else to blend and harmonise the two races 
 
DON RODERICK. 5 
 
 into one. The bishops and other clergy were 
 exemplary in their lives, and aided to pro 
 mote the influence of the laws and maintain 
 the authority of the state. The fruits of 
 regular and secure government were mani 
 fest in the advancement of agriculture, com 
 merce, and the peaceful arts, and in the 
 increase of wealth, luxury, and refinement ; 
 but there was a gradual decline of the simple, 
 hardy, and warlike habits that had distin 
 guished the nation in its semi-barbarous 
 days. 
 
 Such was the state of Spain when, in the 
 year of Redemption 701, Witiza was elected 
 to the Gothic throne. The beginning of his 
 reign gave promise of happy days to Spain. 
 He redressed grievances, moderated the tri 
 butes of his subjects, and conducted himself 
 with mingled mildness and energy in the 
 administration of the laws. In a little while, 
 however, he threw off the mask, and showed 
 himself in his true nature, cruel and 
 luxurious. 
 
 Two of his relatives, sons of a preceding 
 B 3 
 
6 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 king, awakened his jealousy for the security 
 of his throne. One of them, named Favila, 
 duke of Cantabria, he put to death, and 
 would have inflicted the same fate upon his 
 son Pelayo, but that the youth was beyond 
 his reach, being preserved by Providence for 
 the future salvation of Spain. The other 
 object of his suspicion was Theodofredo, who 
 lived retired from court. The violence of 
 Witiza reached him even in his retirement. 
 His eyes were put out, and he was immured 
 within a castle at Cordova. Roderick, the 
 youthful son of Theodofredo, escaped to 
 Italy, where he received protection from the 
 Romans. 
 
 Witiza, now considering himself secure 
 upon the throne, gave the reins to his licen 
 tious passions ; and soon, by his tyranny and 
 sensuality, acquired the appellation of Witiza 
 the Wicked. Despising the old Gothic con 
 tinence, and yielding to the example of the 
 sect of Mahomet, which suited his lascivious 
 temperament, he indulged in a plurality of 
 wives and concubines, encouraging his sub- 
 
DON RODERICK. 7 
 
 jects to do the same. Nay, he even sought to 
 gain the sanction of the church to his excesses ; 
 promulgating a law by which the clergy were 
 released from their vows of celibacy, and per 
 rnitted to marry and to entertain paramours. 
 
 The sovereign pontiff Constantine threat 
 ened to depose and excommunicate him, unless 
 he abrogated this licentious law ; but Witiza 
 set him at defiance, threatening, like his 
 Gothic predecessor Alaric, to assail the eter 
 nal city with his troops, and make spoil of 
 her accumulated treasures.* " We will 
 adorn our damsels," said he, " with the 
 jewels of Rome, and replenish our coffers 
 from the mint of St. Peter." 
 
 Some of the clergy opposed themselves to 
 the innovating spirit of the monarch, and 
 endeavoured, from the pulpits, to rally the 
 people to the pure doctrines of their faith ; 
 but they were deposed from their sacred 
 office, ^and banished as seditious mischief- 
 makers. The church of Toledo continued 
 
 * Chron. de Luitprando, 709. Abarca Anales 
 de Aragon (el Mahometismo, fbl. 5.) 
 
 B 4t 
 
8 THE LEGEND OP 
 
 refractory ; the archbishop Sindaredo, it is 
 true, was disposed to accommodate himself 
 to the corruptions of the times, but the pre 
 bendaries battled intrepidly against the new 
 laws of the monarch, and stood manfully in 
 defence of their vows of chastity. " Since 
 the church of Toledo will not yield itself to 
 our will," said Witiza, " it shall have two 
 husbands." So saying, he appointed his 
 own brother Oppas, at that time Archbishop 
 of Seville, to take a seat with Sindaredo in 
 the episcopal chair of Toledo, and made^him 
 Primate of Spain. He was a priest after 
 his own heart, and seconded him in all his 
 profligate abuses. 
 
 It was in vain the denunciations of the 
 church were fulminated from the chair of 
 St. Peter ; Witiza threw off all allegiance to 
 the Roman pontiff, threatening with pain of 
 death those who should obey the papa! 
 mandates. " We will suffer no foreign eccle 
 siastic with triple crown," said he, " to> 
 domineer over our dominions." 
 
 The Jews had been banished from the 
 
DON RODERICK. 9 
 
 country during the preceding reign, but 
 Witiza permitted them to return, and even 
 bestowed upon their synagogues privileges of 
 which he had despoiled the churches. The 
 children of Israel, ever since the time when 
 they borrowed the jewels of gold and the 
 jewels of silver from their neighbours, on 
 preparing for their memorable flight out of 
 Egypt, have been curious dealers in gold 
 and silver and precious stones : on this oc 
 casion, therefore, they were enabled, it is 
 said, to repay the monarch for his protection 
 by bags of money, and caskets of sparkling 
 gems, the rich product of their oriental com 
 merce. 
 
 The kingdom at this time enjoyed external 
 peace, but there were symptoms of internal 
 discontent. Witiza took the alarm ; he re 
 membered the ancient turbulence of the 
 nation, and its proneness to internal feuds. 
 Issuing secret orders, therefore, in all di 
 rections, he dismantled most of the cities, 
 and demolished the castles and fortresses 
 that might serve as rallying points for the 
 B 5 
 
10 THE LEGEND OP 
 
 factious. He disarmed the people also, and 
 converted the weapons of war into the im 
 plements of peace. It seemed, in fact, as if 
 the millenium were dawning upon the land ; 
 for the sword was beaten into a ploughshare, 
 and the spear into a pruning hook. 
 
 While thus the ancient martial fire of the 
 nation was extinguished, its morals like 
 wise were corrupted. The altars were aban 
 doned, the churches closed, wide disorder 
 and sensuality prevailed throughout the land \ 
 so that, according to the old chroniclers, 
 within the compass of a few short years, 
 " Witiza the Wicked taught all Spain to 
 
 sin." 
 
DON RODERICK. 11 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE RISE OF DON RODERICK. HIS GOVERN 
 MENT. 
 
 WOE to the ruler who founds his hope of 
 sway on the weakness or corruption of the 
 people ! The very measures taken by Wit- 
 iza to perpetuate his power ensured his down 
 fall. While the whole nation, under his 
 licentious rule, was sinking into vice and 
 effeminacy, and the arm of war was un 
 strung, the youthful Roderick, son of Theo- 
 dofredo, was training up for action in the 
 stern but wholesome school of adversity. He 
 instructed himself in the use of arms ; be 
 came adroit and vigorous by varied exercises ; 
 learned to despise all danger ; and inured 
 himself to hunger and watchfulness, and the 
 rigour of the seasons. 
 
 His merits and misfortunes procured him 
 many friends among the Romans ; and 
 B 6 
 
1 THE LEGEND OP 
 
 when, being arrived at a fitting age, he tm- 
 dertook to revenge the wrongs of his father 
 and his kindred, a host of brave and hardy 
 soldiers flocked to his standard. With these 
 he made his sudden appearance in Spain. 
 The friends of his house, and the disaffected 
 of all classes, hastened to join him j and he 
 advanced rapidly, and without opposition, 
 through an unarmed and enervated land. 
 
 Witiza saw too late the evil he had brought 
 upon himself. He made a hasty levy, and 
 took the field with a scantily equipped and 
 undisciplined host, but was easily routed and 
 made prisoner, and the whole kingdom sub 
 mitted to Don Roderick. 
 
 The ancient city of Toledo, the royal re 
 sidence of the Gothic kings, was the scene 
 of high festivity and solemn ceremonial on 
 the coronation of the victor. Whether he 
 was elected to the throne according to the 
 Gothic usage, or seized it by the right of 
 conquest, is a matter of dispute among his 
 torians ; but all agree that the nation sub 
 mitted cheerfully to his sway, and looked 
 
DON RODERICK. 13 
 
 forward to prosperity and happiness under 
 their newly elevated monarch. His appear 
 ance and character seemed to justify the 
 anticipation. He was in the splendour of 
 youth, and of a majestic presence. His soul 
 was bold and daring, and elevated by lofty 
 desires. He had a sagacity that penetrated 
 the thoughts of men, and a magnificent spirit 
 that won all hearts. Such is the picture 
 which ancient writers give of Don Roderick, 
 when, with all the stern and simple virtues 
 unimpaired which he had acquired in ad 
 versity and exile, and flushed with the tri 
 umph of a pious revenge, he ascended the 
 Gothic throne. 
 
 Prosperity, however, is the real touch 
 stone of the human heart. No sooner did 
 Roderick find himself in possession of the 
 crown, than the love of power, and the 
 jealousy of rule, were awakened in his breast. 
 His first measure was against Witiza, who 
 was brought in chains into his presence. 
 Roderick beheld the captive monarch with 
 an unpitying eye, remembering only his 
 
14- THE LEGEND OF 
 
 wrongs and cruelties to his father. " Let 
 the evils he has inflicted on others be visited 
 upon his own head," said he : " as he did 
 unto Theodofredo, even so be it done unto 
 him." So the eyes of Witiza were put out, 
 and he was thrown into the same dungeon 
 at Cordova in which Theodofredo had lan 
 guished. There he passed the brief remnant 
 of his days, in perpetual darkness, a prey to 
 wretchedness and remorse. 
 
 Roderick now cast an uneasy and sus 
 picious eye upon Evan and Siseburto, the 
 two sons of Witiza. Fearful lest they should 
 foment some secret rebellion, he banished 
 them the kingdom. They took refuge in 
 the Spanish dominions in Africa, where they 
 were received and harboured by Requila, 
 governor of Tangier, out of gratitude for 
 favours which he had received from their 
 late father. There they remained, to brood 
 over their fallen fortunes, and to aid in 
 working out the future woes of Spain. 
 
 Their uncle Oppas, bishop of Seville, who 
 had been made co-partner, by Witiza, in the 
 
DON RODERICK. 15 
 
 arch^episcopal chair at Toledo, would have 
 likewise fallen under the suspicion of the 
 king ; but he was a man of consummate art 
 and vast exterior sanctity, and won upon 
 the good graces of the monarch. He was 
 suffered, therefore, to retain his sacred office 
 at Seville ; but the see of Toledo was given 
 in charge to the venerable Urbino ; and the 
 law of Witiza was revoked, that dispensed 
 the clergy from their vows of celibacy. 
 
 The jealousy of Roderick for the security 
 of his crown was soon again aroused, and 
 his measures were prompt and severe* Hav 
 ing been informed that the governors of 
 certain castles and fortresses in Castile and 
 Andalusia had conspired against him, he 
 caused them to be put to death, and their 
 strongholds to be demolished. He now 
 went on to imitate the pernicious policy of 
 his predecessor ; throwing down walls and 
 towers, disarming the people, and thus in 
 capacitating them from rebellion. A few 
 cities were permitted to retain their fortifica 
 tions, but these were intrusted to Alcaydes, 
 
16 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 in whom he had especial confidence : the 
 greater part of the kingdom was left de 
 fenceless. The nobles, who had been roused 
 to temporary manhood during the recent stir 
 of war, sunk back into the inglorious state 
 of inaction which had disgraced them during 
 the reign of Witiza, passing their time in 
 feasting, and dancing to the sound of loose 
 and wanton minstrelsy.* It was scarcely 
 possible to recognise, in these idle wassailers 
 and soft voluptuaries, the descendants of the 
 stern and frugal warriors of the frozen north ; 
 who had braved flood and mountain, and 
 heat and cold, and had battled their way to 
 empire across half a world in arms. 
 
 They surrounded their youthful monarch, 
 it is true, with a blaze of military pomp. 
 Nothing could surpass the splendour of their 
 arms, which were embossed and enamelled, 
 and enriched with gold and jewels and cu 
 rious devices ; nothing could be more gal 
 lant and glorious than their array it was 
 
 * Mariana, Hist. Esp. lib. vi. c. 21. 
 
DON RODERICK. 17 
 
 all plume and banner and silken pageantry, 
 the gorgeous trappings for tilt and tourney 
 and courtly revel ; but the iron soul of war 
 was wanting. 
 
 How rare it is to learn wisdom from the 
 misfortunes of others ! With the fate of 
 Witiza full before his eyes, Don Roderick 
 indulged in the same pernicious errors, and 
 was doomed, in like manner, to prepare the 
 way for his own perdition. 
 
18 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 OF THE LOVES OF RODERICK AND THE PRINCESS 
 ELYATA. 
 
 As yet the heart of Roderick, occupied by 
 the struggles of his early life, by warlike 
 enterprises, and by the inquietudes of newly- 
 gotten power, had been insensible to the 
 charms of women ; but in the present volup 
 tuous calm the amorous propensities of his 
 nature assumed their sway. There are di 
 vers accounts of the youthful beauty who 
 first found favour in his eyes, and was ele 
 vated by him to the throne. We follow, 
 in our legend, the details of an Arabian 
 chronicler*, authenticated by a Spanish 
 poet, t Let those who dispute our facts pro 
 duce better authority for their contradiction. 
 
 * Perdida de Espafia por Abulcacim Tarif Aben- 
 tarique, lib. i. 
 f Lope de Vega. 
 
DON RODERICK, 19 
 
 Among the few fortified places that had 
 not been dismantled by Don Roderick was 
 the ancient city of Denia, situated on the 
 Mediterranean coast, and defended on a 
 rock-built castle that overlooked the sea. 
 
 The Alcayde of the castle, with many of 
 the people of Denia, was one day on his 
 knees in the chapel, imploring the Virgin to 
 allay a tempest which was strewing the coast 
 with wrecks, when a sentinel brought word 
 that a Moorish cruiser was standing for the 
 land. The Alcayde gave orders to ring the 
 alarm bells, light signal fires on the hill tops, 
 and rouse the country; for the coast was 
 subject to cruel maraudings from the Barbary 
 cruisers. 
 
 In a little while the horsemen of the 
 neighbourhood were seen pricking along the 
 beach, armed with such weapons as they 
 could find ; and the Alcayde and his scanty 
 garrison descended from the hill. In the 
 meantime the Moorish bark came rolling 
 and pitching towards the land. As it drew 
 near, the rich carving and gilding with which 
 
20 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 it was decorated, its silken bandaroles, and 
 banks of crimson oars, showed it to be no 
 warlike vessel, but a sumptuous galleot, 
 destined for state and ceremony. It bore 
 the marks of the tempest : the masts were 
 broken, the oars shattered, and fragments of 
 snowy sails and silken awnings were flutter 
 ing in the blast. 
 
 As the galleot grounded upon the sand, 
 the impatient rabble rushed into the surf to 
 capture and make spoil ; but were awed 
 into admiration and respect by the appear 
 ance of the illustrious company on board. 
 There were Moors of both sexes sumptuously 
 arrayed, and adorned with precious jewels, 
 bearing the demeanour of persons of lofty 
 rank. Among them shone conspicuous a 
 youthful beauty, magnificently attired, to 
 whom all seemed to pay reverence. 
 
 Several of the Moors surrounded her with 
 drawn swords, threatening death to any that 
 approached ; others sprang from the bark, 
 and, throwing themselves on their knees 
 before the Alcayde, implored him, by his 
 
DON RODERICK. 21 
 
 honour and courtesy as a knight, to protect 
 a royal virgin from injury and insult. 
 
 "You behold before yon/ said they, " the 
 only daughter of the King of Algiers, the 
 betrothed bride of the son of the King of 
 Tunis. We were conducting her to the 
 court of her expecting bridegroom, when 
 a tempest drove us from our course, and 
 compelled us to take refuge on your coast. 
 Be not more cruel than the tempest, but 
 deal nobly with that which even sea and 
 storm have spared. 
 
 The Alcayde listened to their prayers. 
 He conducted the princess and her train to 
 the castle, where every honour due to her 
 rank was paid her. Some of her ancient 
 attendants interceded for her liberation, pro 
 mising countless sums to be paid by her 
 father for her ransom ; but the Alcayde 
 turned a deaf ear to all their golden offers. 
 "She is a royal captive," said he; "it 
 belongs to my sovereign alone to dispose of 
 her." After she had reposed, therefore, 
 for some days at the castle, and recovered 
 
THE LEGEND OF 
 
 from the fatigue and terror of the seas, he 
 caused her to be conducted, with all her 
 train, in magnificent state to the court of 
 Don Roderick. 
 
 The beautiful Elyata* entered Toledo more 
 like a triumphant sovereign than a captive. 
 A chosen band of Christian horsemen, splen 
 didly armed, appeared to wait upon her as a 
 mere guard of honour. She was surrounded 
 by the Moorish damsels of her train, and 
 followed by her own Moslem guards, all 
 attired with the magnificence that had been 
 intended to grace her arrival at the court of 
 Tunis. The princess was arrayed in bridal 
 robes, woven in the most costly looms of the 
 orient ; her diadem sparkled with diamonds, 
 and was decorated with the rarest plumes of 
 the bird of paradise ; and even the silken 
 trappings of her palfrey, which swept the 
 ground, were covered with pearls and pre 
 cious stones. As this brilliant cavalcade 
 crossed the bridge of the Tagus, all Toledo 
 
 * By some she is called Zara. 
 
DON RODERICK. 23 
 
 poured forth to behold it ; and nothing was 
 heard throughout the city but praises of the 
 wonderful beauty of the princess of Algiers. 
 King Roderick came forth, attended by the 
 chivalry of his court, to receive the royal 
 captive. His recent voluptuous life had dis 
 posed him for tender and amorous affections, 
 and, at the first sight of the beautiful Elyata, 
 he was enraptured with her charms. Seeing 
 her face clouded with sorrow and anxiety, 
 he soothed her with gentle and courteous 
 words, and, conducting her to a royal palace, 
 "Behold," said he, " thy habitation, where 
 no one shall molest thee ; consider thyself at 
 home in the mansion of thy father, and 
 dispose of any thing according to thy will." 
 Here the princess passed her time, with 
 the female attendants who had accompanied 
 her from Algiers ; and no one but the king 
 was permitted to visit her, who daily became 
 more and more enamoured of his lovely cap 
 tive, and sought, by tender assiduity, to gain 
 her affections. The distress of the princess 
 at her captivity was soothed by this gentle 
 
24i THE LEGEND OF 
 
 treatment. She was of an age when sorrow 
 cannot long hold sway over the heart. Ac 
 companied by her youthful attendants, she 
 ranged the spacious apartments of the palace, 
 and sported among the groves and alleys of 
 its garden. Every day the remembrance of 
 the paternal home grew less and less painful, 
 and the king became more and more amiable 
 in her eyes ; and when, at length, he offered 
 to share his heart and throne with her, she 
 listened with downcast looks and kindling 
 blushes, but with an air of resignation. 
 
 One obstacle remained to the complete 
 fruition of the monarch s wishes, and this 
 was the religion of the princess. Roderick 
 forthwith employed the Archbishop of Toledo 
 to instruct the beautiful Elyata in the mys 
 teries of the Christian faith. The female 
 intellect is quick in perceiving the merits of 
 new doctrines : the archbishop, therefore, 
 soon succeeded in converting, not merely the 
 princess, but most of her attendants ; and a 
 day was appointed for their public baptism. 
 The ceremony was performed with great 
 
DON RODERICK. &5 
 
 pomp and solemnity, in the presence of all 
 the nobility and chivalry of the court. The 
 princess and her damsels, clad in white, 
 walked on foot to the cathedral, while nu 
 merous beautiful children, arrayed as angels, 
 strewed the path with flowers ; and the 
 archbishop, meeting them at the portal, re 
 ceived them, as it were, into the bosom of 
 the church. The princess abandoned her 
 Moorish appellation of Elyata, and was bap 
 tised by the name of Exilona, by which she 
 was thenceforth called, and has generally 
 been known in history. 
 
 The nuptials of Roderick and the beautiful 
 convert took place shortly afterwards, and 
 were celebrated with great magnificence. 
 There were jousts, and tourneys, and ban 
 quets, and other rejoicings, which lasted 
 twenty days, and were attended by the prin 
 cipal nobles from all parts of Spain. After 
 these were over, such of the attendants of 
 the princess as refused to embrace Christi 
 anity, and desired to return to Africa, were 
 dismissed with munificent presents j and an 
 c 
 
%6 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 embassy was sent to the king of Algiers,, 
 to inform him of the nuptials of his 
 daughter, and to proffer him the friendship 
 of King Roderick.* 
 
 * " Como esta Infanta era muy hermosa, y el 
 Rey [Don Rodrigo] dispuesta y gentil hombre, 
 entro por medio el amor y aficion, y junto con el re- 
 galo con que la avia mandado hospedar y servir ful 
 causa que el rey persuadio esta Infanta, que si se 
 tornava a su ley de Christiano la tomaria por muger, 
 y que la haria senora de sus Reynos. Con esta 
 persuasion ella fue contenta, y aviendose vuelto 
 Christiana, se caso con ella, y se celebraron sus bo- 
 das con muchas fiestas y regozijos, como era razon." 
 Abulcasim, Conq st de Espan, cap, 3, 
 
DON RODERICK. 27 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 OF COUNT JULIAN. 
 
 FOR a time Don Roderick lived happily with 
 his young and beautiful queen, and Toledo 
 was the seat of festivity and splendour. The 
 principal nobles throughout the kingdom re 
 paired to his court to pay him homage, and 
 to receive his commands ; and none were 
 more devoted in their reverence than those 
 who were obnoxious to suspicion, from their 
 connection with the late king. 
 
 Among the foremost of these was Count 
 Julian, a man destined to be infamously re 
 nowned in the dark story of his country s 
 woes. He was of one of the proudest Gothic 
 families, lord of Consuegra and Algeziras, 
 and connected by marriage with Witiza and 
 the Bishop Oppas ; his wife, the Countess 
 Frandina, being their sister. In consequence 
 of this connection, and of his own merits, he 
 c 2 
 
28 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 had enjoyed the highest dignities and 
 mands : being one of the Espatorios, or 
 royal sword-bearers ; an office of the greatest 
 confidence about the person of the sovereign.* 
 He had, moreover, been intrusted with the 
 military government of the Spanish posses 
 sions on the African coast of the strait, which 
 at that time were threatened by the Arabs of 
 the East, the followers of Mahomet, who 
 were advancing their victorious standard to 
 the extremity of Western Africa. Count 
 Julian established his seat of government at 
 Ceuta, the frontier bulwark, and one of the 
 far-famed gates of the Mediterranean Sea. 
 Here he boldly faced, and held in check, the 
 torrent of Moslem invasion. 
 
 Don Julian was a man of an active, but 
 irregular genius, and a grasping ambition ; 
 he had a love for power and grandeur, in 
 
 * Condes Espatorios ; so called from the drawn 
 swords of ample size and breadth, with which they 
 kept guard in the antechambers of the Gothic kings* 
 Comes Spathariorum, custodum corporis Regis Pro* 
 fectus. Hunc et Propospatharium appellatum ex-* 
 istiinor Patr. Pant, de Offk. Goth, 
 
DON RODERICK. 29 
 
 which he was joined by his haughty countess ; 
 and they could ill brook the downfall of their 
 house as threatened by the fate of Witiza. 
 They had hastened, therefore, to pay their 
 court to the newly elevated monarch, and to 
 assure him of their fidelity to his interests. 
 
 Roderick was readily persuaded of the 
 sincerity of Count Julian ; he was aware of 
 his merits as a soldier and a governor, and 
 continued him in his important command ; 
 honouring him with many other marks of 
 implicit confidence. Count Julian sought to 
 confirm this confidence by every proof of de 
 votion. It was a custom among the Goths 
 to rear many of the children of the most 
 illustrious families in the royal household. 
 They served as pages to the king, and hand 
 maids and ladies of honour to the queen, and 
 were instructed in all manner of accomplish 
 ments befitting their gentle blood. When 
 about to depart for Ceuta, to resume his 
 command, Don Julian brought his daughter 
 Florinda to present her to the sovereigns. 
 She was a beautiful virgin, that had not as 
 c 3 
 
30 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 yet attained to womanhood. "1 confide 
 her to your protection," said he to the king, 
 "to be unto her as a father ; and to have 
 her trained in the paths of virtue. I can 
 leave with you no dearer pledge of my 
 loyalty." 
 
 King Roderick received the timid and 
 blushing maiden into his paternal care ; pro 
 mising to watch over her happiness with a 
 parent s eye, and that she should be enrolled 
 among the most cherished attendants of the 
 queen. With this assurance of the welfare 
 of his child, Count Julian departed, well 
 pleased, for his government at Ceuta. 
 
DON RODERICK. SI 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE STORY OF FLORINDA. 
 
 THE beautiful daughter of Count Julian was 
 received with great favour by the queen 
 Exilona, and admitted among the noble dam 
 sels that attended upon her person. Here 
 she lived in honour and apparent security, 
 and surrounded by innocent delights,. To 
 gratify his queen, Don Roderick had built 
 for her rural recreation a palace without the 
 walls of Toledo, on the banks of the Tagus. 
 It stood in the midst of a garden, adorned 
 after the luxurious style of the East. The 
 air was perfumed by fragrant shrubs and 
 flowers ; the groves resounded with the song 
 of the nightingale ; while the gush of foun 
 tains and waterfalls, and the distant murmur 
 of the Tagus, made it a delightful retreat 
 during the sultry days of summer. The 
 charm of perfect privacy also reigned through- 
 c 4 
 
THE LEGEND OF 
 
 out the place ; for the garden walls were high, 
 and numerous guards kept watch without to 
 protect it from all intrusion. 
 
 In this delicious abode, more befitting an 
 oriental voluptuary than a Gothic king, Don 
 Roderick was accustomed to while away 
 much of that time which should have been 
 devoted to the toilsome cares of government. 
 The very security and peace which he had 
 produced throughout his dominions, by his 
 precautions to abolish the means and ha 
 bitudes of war, had effected a disastrous 
 change in his character. The hardy and 
 heroic qualities which had conducted him to 
 the throne, were softened in the lap of in 
 dulgence. Surrounded by the pleasures of 
 an idle and effeminate court, and beguiled by 
 the example of his degenerate nobles, he 
 gave way to a fatal sensuality that had lain 
 dormant in his nature during the virtuous days 
 of his adversity. The mere love of female 
 beauty had first enamoured him of Exilona ; 
 and the same passion, fostered by voluptuous 
 idleness, now betrayed him into the commis- 
 
"DON RODERICK. 33 
 
 si on of an act fatal to himself and Spain. 
 The following is the story of his error, as 
 gathered from an old chronicle and legend. 
 
 In a remote part of the palace was an 
 apartment devoted to the queen. It was 
 like an eastern harem, shut up from the foot 
 of man, and where the king himself but 
 rarely entered. It had its own courts, and 
 gardens, and fountains, where the queen was 
 wont to recreate herself with her damsels, as 
 she had been accustomed to do in the jealous 
 privacy of her father s palace. 
 
 One sultry day, the king, instead of taking 
 his siesta, or mid-day slumber, repaired to 
 this apartment to seek the society of the 
 queen. In passing through a small oratory, 
 he was drawn by the sound of female voices 
 to a casement overhung with myrtles and 
 jessamines. It looked into an interior gar 
 den, or court, set out with orange trees, in 
 the midst of which was a marble fountain, 
 surrounded by a grassy bank, enamelled with 
 flowers. 
 
 It was the high noontide of a summer day. 
 c 5 
 
34 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 when, in sultry Spain, the landscape trembles 
 to the eye, and all nature seeks repose, ex 
 cept the grasshopper, that pipes his lulling 
 note to the herdsman as he sleeps beneath 
 the shade. 
 
 Around the fountain were several of the 
 damsels of the queen, who, confident of the 
 sacred privacy of the place, were yielding in 
 that cool retreat to the indulgence prompted 
 by the season and the hour. Some lay asleep 
 on the flowery bank ; others sat on the mar 
 gin of the fountain, talking and laughing, as 
 they bathed their feet in its limpid waters, 
 and King Roderick beheld delicate limbs 
 shining through the wave, that might rival 
 the marble in whiteness. 
 
 Among the damsels was one who had 
 come from the Barbary coast with the queen. 
 Her complexion had the dark tinge of Mau 
 ritania, but it was clear and transparent, and 
 the deep rich rose blushed through the lovely 
 brown. Her eyes were black and full of 
 fire, and flashed from under long silken eye 
 lashes. 
 
DON RODERICK. 35 
 
 A sportive contest arose among the maid 
 ens, as to the comparative beauty of the 
 Spanish and Moorish forms ; but the Mauri- 
 tanian damsel revealed limbs of voluptuous 
 symmetry that seemed to defy all rivalry. 
 
 The Spanish beauties were on the point 
 of giving *up the contest, when they be 
 thought themselves of the young Florin da, 
 the daughter of Count Julian, who lay on 
 the grassy bank, abandoned to a summer 
 slumber. The soft glow of youth and health 
 mantled on her cheek ; her fringed eyelashes 
 scarcely covered their sleeping orbs ; her 
 moist and ruby lips were lightly parted, just 
 revealing a gleam of her ivory teeth ; while 
 her innocent bosom rose and fell beneath her 
 boddice, like the gentle swelling and sinking 
 of a tranquil sea. There was a breathing 
 tenderness and beauty in the sleeping virgin, 
 that seemed to send forth sweetness like the 
 flowers around her. 
 
 " Behold," cried her companions exult- 
 ingly, " the champion of Spanish beauty!" 
 
 In their playful eagerness they half dis- 
 c 6 
 
36 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 robed the innocent Florinda before she was 
 aware. She awoke in time, however, to 
 escape from their busy hands ; but enough 
 of her charms had been revealed to convince 
 the monarch that they were not to be rivalled 
 by the rarest beauties of Mauritania. 
 
 From this day the heart of Roderick was 
 inflamed with a fatal passion. He gazed on 
 the beautiful Florinda with fervid desire, and 
 sought to read in her looks whether there 
 was levity or wantonness in her bosom ; but 
 the eye of the damsel ever sunk beneath his 
 gaze, and remained bent on the earth in 
 virgin modesty. 
 
 It was in vain he called to mind the sacred 
 trust reposed in him by Count Julian, and 
 the promise he had given to watch over his 
 daughter with paternal care ; his heart was 
 vitiated by sensual indulgence, and the con 
 sciousness of power had rendered him selfish 
 in his gratifications. 
 
 Being one evening in the garden where 
 the queen was diverting herself with her 
 damsels, and coming to the fountain where 
 
DON RODERICK. 37 
 
 he had beheld the innocent maidens at their 
 sport, he could no longer restrain the passion 
 that raged within his breast. Seating him 
 self beside the fountain, he called Florinda 
 to him to draw forth a thorn which had 
 pierced his hand. The maiden knelt at his 
 feet to examine his hand, and the touch of 
 her slender fingers thrilled through his veins. 
 As she knelt, too, her amber locks fell in 
 rich ringlets about her beautiful head, her 
 innocent bosom palpitated beneath the crim 
 son boddice, and her timid blushes increased 
 the effulgence of her charms. 
 
 Having examined the monarch s hand in 
 vain, she looked up in his face with artless 
 perplexity. 
 
 " Senior," said she, " I can find no thorn, 
 nor any sign of wound." 
 
 Don Roderick grasped her hand and 
 pressed it to his heart. " It is here, lovely 
 Florinda !" said he, " It is here ! and thou 
 alone canst pluck it forth ! " 
 
 " My lord ! " exclaimed the blushing and 
 astonished maiden. 
 
38 THE LEGEND OP 
 
 " Florinda !" said Don Roderick, " dost 
 thou love me ?" 
 
 " Senior," said she, " my father taught 
 me to love and reverence you. He confided 
 me to your care as one who would be as a 
 parent to me, when he should be far distant, 
 serving your majesty with life and loyalty. 
 May God incline your majesty ever to pro 
 tect me as a father." So saying, the maiden 
 dropped her eyes to the ground, and con 
 tinued kneeling ; but her countenance had 
 become deadly pale, and as she knelt she 
 trembled. 
 
 " Florinda," said the king, " either thou 
 dost not or thou wilt not understand me. I 
 would have thee love me, not as a father, 
 nor as a monarch, but as one who adores 
 thee. Why dost thou start ? No one shall 
 know our loves ; and, moreover, the love of 
 a monarch inflicts no degradation like the 
 love of a common man riches and honours 
 attend upon it. I will advance thee to rank 
 and dignity, and place thee above the proud 
 est females of my court. Thy father, too, 
 
DON RODERICK. 39 
 
 shall be more exalted and endowed than any 
 noble in my realm." 
 
 The soft eye of Florinda kindled at these 
 words. " Senior," said she, " the line I 
 spring from can receive no dignity by means 
 so vile ; and my father would rather die than 
 purchase rank and power by the dishonour of 
 his child. But I see," continued she, " that 
 your majesty speaks in this manner only to 
 try me. You may have thought me light 
 and simple, and unworthy to attend upon 
 the queen. I pray your majesty to pardon 
 me, that I have taken your pleasantry in 
 such serious part." 
 
 In this way the agitated maiden sought to 
 evade the addresses of the monarch ; but still 
 her cheek was blanched, and her lip quivered 
 as she spake. 
 
 The king pressed her hand to his lips with 
 fervour. " May ruin seize me," cried he, 
 " if I speak to prove thee ! My heart, my 
 kingdom, are at thy command. Only be 
 mine, and thou shalt rule absolute mistress 
 of myself and my domains." 
 
40 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 The damsel rose from the earth where 
 she had hitherto knelt, and her whole coun 
 tenance glowed with virtuous indignation. 
 " My lord," said she, " I am your subject, 
 and in your power ; take my life if it be 
 your pleasure ; but nothing shall tempt me to 
 commit a crime which would be treason to 
 the queen, disgrace to my father, agony to 
 my mother, and perdition to myself." With 
 these words she left the garden, and the king, 
 for the moment, was too much awed by her 
 indignant virtue to oppose her departure. 
 
 We shall pass briefly over the succeeding 
 events of the story of Florinda, about which 
 so much has been said and sung by chronicler 
 and bard : for the sober page of history 
 should be carefully chastened from all scenes 
 that might inflame a wanton imagination ; 
 leaving them to poems and romances, and 
 such-like highly seasoned works of fantasy 
 and recreation. 
 
 Let it suffice to say, that Don Roderick 
 pursued his suit to the beautiful Florinda, 
 his passion being more and more inflamed 
 
DON RODERICK. 41 
 
 by the resistance of the virtuous damsel. 
 At length, forgetting what was due to help 
 less beauty, to his own honour as a knight, 
 and his word as a sovereign, he triumphed 
 over her weakness by base and unmanly 
 violence. 
 
 There are not wanting those who affirm 
 that the hapless Florinda lent a yielding ear 
 to the solicitations of the monarch, and her 
 name has been treated with opprobrium in 
 several of the ancient chronicles and legendary 
 ballads that have transmitted, from gener 
 ation to generation, the story of the woes of 
 Spain. In very truth, however, she appears 
 to have been a guiltless victim, resisting, as 
 far as helpless female could resist, the arts 
 and intrigues of a powerful monarch, who 
 had nought to check the indulgence of his 
 will, and bewailing her disgrace with a poi 
 gnancy that shows how dearly she had prized 
 her honour. 
 
 In the first paroxysm of her grief she 
 wrote a letter to her father, blotted with her 
 tears, and almost incoherent from her agita- 
 
THE LEGEND OF 
 
 tion. " Would to God, my father," said she, 
 " that the earth had opened and swallowed 
 me ere I had been reduced to write these 
 lines. I blush to tell thee, what it is not 
 proper to conceal. Alas, my father ; thou 
 hast intrusted thy lamb to the guardianship 
 of the lion. Thy daughter has been dis 
 honoured, the royal cradle of the Goths pol 
 luted, and our lineage insulted and disgraced. 
 Hasten, my father, to rescue your child from 
 the power of the spoiler, and to vindicate the 
 honour of your house ! " 
 
 When Florinda had written these lines, 
 she summoned a youthful esquire, who had 
 been a page in the service of her father. 
 " Saddle thy steed," said she, " and if thou 
 dost aspire to knightly honour, or hope for 
 lady s grace if thou hast fealty for thy lord, 
 or devotion to his daughter speed swiftly 
 upon my errand. Rest not, halt not, spare 
 not the spur ; but hie thee day and night 
 until thou reach the sea ; take the first bark, 
 and haste with sail and oar to Ceuta, nor 
 pause until thou give this letter to the count 
 
DON RODERICK. 43 
 
 my father." The youth put the letter in his 
 bosom. " Trust me, lady," said he, " I will 
 neither halt nor turn aside, nor cast a look 
 behind, until I reach Count Julian." He 
 mounted his fleet steed, sped his way across 
 the bridge, and soon left behind him the 
 verdant valley of the Tagus. 
 
44 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 DON RODERICK RECEIVES AN EXTRAORDINARY 
 EMBASSY. 
 
 THE heart of Don Roderick was not so 
 depraved by sensuality, but that the wrong 
 he had been guilty of toward the innocent 
 Florinda, and the disgrace he had inflicted 
 on her house, weighed heavy on his spirits, 
 and a cloud began to gather on his once 
 clear and un wrinkled brow. 
 
 Heaven, at this time, say the old Spanish 
 chronicles, permitted a marvellous intimation 
 of the wrath with which it intended to visit 
 the monarch and his people, in punishment 
 of their sins ; nor are we, say the same or 
 thodox writers, to startle, and withhold our 
 faith, when we meet in the page of discreet 
 and sober history with these signs and por 
 tents, which transcend the probabilities of 
 ordinary life ; for the revolutions of empires 
 
BON RODERICK. 45 
 
 and the downfall of mighty kings are awful 
 events, that shake the physical as well as the 
 moral world, and are often announced by 
 forerunning marvels and prodigious omens. 
 With such-like cautious preliminaries do the 
 wary but credulous historiographers of yore 
 usher in a marvellous event of prophecy and 
 enchantment, linked in ancient story with 
 the fortunes of Don Roderick, but which 
 modern doubters would fain hold up as an 
 apocryphal tradition of Arabian origin. 
 
 Now, so it happened, according to the 
 legend, that about this time, as King 
 Roderick was seated one day on his throne, 
 surrounded by his nobles, in the ancient city 
 of Toledo, two men of venerable appearance 
 entered the hall of audience. Their snowy 
 beards descended to their breasts, and their 
 gray hairs were bound with ivy. They were 
 arrayed in white garments of foreign or 
 antiquated fashion, which swept the ground* 
 and were cinctured with girdles, wrought 
 with the signs of the zodiac, from which 
 were suspended enormous bunches of keys of 
 
46 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 every variety of form. Having approached 
 the throne and made obeisance : " Know, O 
 King," said one of the old men, " that in 
 days of yore, when Hercules of Libya, sur- 
 named the strong, had set up his pillars at 
 the ocean strait, he erected a tower near to 
 this ancient city of Toledo. He built it of 
 prodigious strength, and finished it with 
 magic art, shutting up within it a fearful 
 secret, never to be penetrated without peril 
 and disaster. To protect this terrible mys 
 tery he closed the entrance to the edifice with 
 a ponderous door of iron, secured by a great 
 lock of steel ; and he left a command that 
 every king who should succeed him should 
 add another lock to the portal ; denouncing 
 woe and destruction on him who should 
 eventually unfold the secret of the tower. 
 
 66 The guardianship of the portal was given 
 to our ancestors, and has continued in our 
 family, from generation to generation, since 
 the days of Hercules. Several kings, from 
 time to time, have caused the gate to be 
 thrown open, and have attempted to enter, 
 
DON RODERICK. 47 
 
 but have paid dearly for their temerity. 
 Some have perished within the threshold, 
 others have been overwhelmed with horror 
 at tremendous sounds, which shook the 
 foundations of the earth, and have hastened 
 to reclose the door, and secure it with its 
 thousand locks. Thus, since the days of 
 Hercules, the inmost recesses of the pile have 
 never been penetrated by mortal man, and a 
 profound mystery continues to prevail over 
 this great enchantment. This, O king, is 
 all we have to relate ; and our errand is to 
 entreat thee to repair to the tower and affix 
 thy lock to the portal, as has been done by 
 all thy predecessors." Having thus said, 
 the ancient men made a profound reverence 
 arid departed from the presence chamber.* 
 
 Don Roderick remained for some time 
 lost in thought after the departure of the 
 men : he then dismissed all his court, ex 
 cepting the venerable Urbino, at that time 
 
 * Perdida de Espana por Abulcasim Tarif Aben- 
 tarique, lib. i. c. 6. Cronica del Rey Don Rodrigo 
 por el moro Rasis, lib. i. c. 1. Bleda, Cron. cap. vii. 
 
48 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 archbishop of Toledo. The long white beard 
 of this prelate bespoke his advanced age, 
 and his overhanging eyebrows showed him 
 a man full of wary counsel. 
 
 " Father," said the king, " I have an 
 earnest desire to penetrate the mystery of 
 this tower." The worthy prelate shook his 
 hoary head : " Beware, my son," said he ; 
 " there are secrets hidden from man for his 
 good. Your predecessors for many gener 
 ations have respected this mystery, and 
 have increased in might and empire. A 
 knowledge of it, therefore, is not material 
 to the welfare of your kingdom. Seek not 
 then to indulge a rash and unprofitable cu 
 riosity, which is interdicted under such awful 
 
 menaces." 
 
 " Of what importance," cried the king, 
 " are the menaces of Hercules, the Lybian p 
 was he not a pagan ? and can his enchant 
 ments have aught avail against a believer in 
 our holy faith ? Doubtless, in this tower 
 are locked up treasures of gold and jewels, 
 amassed in days of old, the spoils of mighty 
 
DON RODERICK. 49 
 
 kings, the riches of the pagan world. My 
 coffers are exhausted ; I have need of sup 
 ply ; and surely it would be an acceptable 
 act in the eyes of Heaven, to draw forth this 
 wealth which lies buried under profane and 
 necromantic spells, and consecrate it to reli 
 gious purposes." 
 
 The venerable archbishop still continued 
 to remonstrate, but Don Roderick heeded 
 not his counsel, for he was led on by his 
 malignant star. " Father," said he, "it is 
 in vain you attempt to dissuade me. My 
 resolution is fixed. To-morrow I will ex 
 plore the hidden mystery, or rather the 
 hidden treasures of this tower, " 
 
THE LEGEND OF 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 STORY OF THE MARVELLOUS AND PORTENTOUS- 
 TOWER. 
 
 THE morning sun shone brightly upon the 
 cliff-built towers of Toledo, when King 
 Roderick issued out of the gate of the 
 city, at the head of a numerous train of 
 courtiers and cavaliers, and crossed the 
 bridge that bestrides the deep rocky bed of 
 the Tagus. The shining cavalcade wound 
 up the road that leads among the mountains, 
 and soon came in sight of the necromantic 
 tower. 
 
 Of this renowned edifice marvels are 
 related by the ancient Arabian and Spanish 
 chroniclers ; " and I doubt much," adds the 
 venerable Agpaida, " whether many readers 
 will not consider the whole as a cunningly 
 devised fable, sprung from an oriental ima 
 gination ; but it is not for me to reject a fact 
 
DON RODERICK. 51 
 
 which is recorded by all those writers who 
 are the fathers of our national history : a 
 fact, too, which is as well attested as most of 
 the remarkable events in the story of Don 
 Roderick. None but light and inconsiderate 
 minds," continues the good friar, "do hastily 
 reject the marvellous. To the thinking mind 
 the whole world is enveloped in mystery, and 
 every thing is full of type and portent. To 
 such a mind the necromantic tower of Toledo 
 will appear as one of those wondrous monu 
 ments of the olden time ; one of those 
 Egyptian and Chaldaic piles, storied with 
 hidden wisdom and mystic prophecy, which 
 have been devised in past ages, when man 
 yet enjoyed an intercourse with high and 
 spiritual natures, and when human foresight 
 partook of divination." 
 
 This singular tower was round, and of 
 great height and grandeur ; erected upon a 
 lofty rock, and surrounded by crags and 
 precipices. The foundation was supported 
 by four brazen lions, each taller than a 
 cavalier on horseback. The walls were 
 
2 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 built of small pieces of jasper, and various 
 colouretl marbles, not larger than a man s 
 hand ; so subtilely joined, however, that, 
 but for their different hues, they might be 
 taken for one entire stone. They were 
 arranged with marvellous cunning, so as 
 to represent battles and warlike deeds of 
 times and heroes long since passed away ; 
 and the whole surface was so admirably 
 polished that the stones were as lustrous 
 as glass, and reflected the rays of the sun 
 with such resplendent brightness as to dazzle 
 all beholders.* 
 
 King Roderick and his courtiers arrived 
 wondering and amazed, at the foot of the 
 rock. Here there was a narrow arched 
 way cut through the living stone ; the only 
 entrance to the tower. It was closed by a 
 massive iron gate, covered with rusty locks 
 of divers workmanship, and in the fashion 
 
 * From the minute account of the good friar, 
 drawn from the ancient chronicles, it would appear 
 that the walls of the tower were pictured in mosai 
 work. 
 
DON RODERICK. 53 
 
 of different centuries, which had been affixed 
 by the predecessors of Don Roderick. On 
 either side of the portal stood the two ancient 
 guardians of the tower, laden with the keys 
 appertaining to the locks, 
 
 The king alighted, and, approaching the 
 portals, ordered the guardians to unlock the 
 gate. The hoary-headed men drew back 
 with terror. "Alas!" cried they, "what 
 is it your majesty requires of us. Would 
 you have the mischiefs of this tower un 
 bound, and let loose to shake the earth to its 
 foundations ? " 
 
 The venerable archbishop Urbino likewise 
 implored him not to disturb a mystery which 
 had been held sacred from generation to 
 generation, within the memory of man ; and 
 which even Csesar himself, when sovereign 
 of Spain, had not ventured to invade. The 
 youthful cavaliers, however, were eager to 
 pursue the adventure, and encouraged him 
 in his rash curiosity. 
 
 " Come what come may," exclaimed Don 
 Roderick, " I am resolved to penetrate the 
 D 3 
 
54f THE LEGEND OF 
 
 mystery of this tower." So saying, he again 
 commanded the guardians to unlock the por 
 tal. The ancient men obeyed with fear and 
 trembling, but their hands shook with age, 
 and when they applied the keys, the locks 
 were so rusted by time, or of such strange 
 workmanship, that they resisted their feeble 
 efforts ; whereupon the young cavaliers 
 pressed forward and lent their aid. Still the 
 locks were so numerous and difficult, that 
 with all their eagerness and strength a great 
 part of the day was exhausted before the 
 whole of them could be mastered. 
 
 When the last bolt had yielded to the key, 
 the guardians and the reverend archbishop 
 again entreated the king to pause and reflect. 
 " Whatever is within this tower," said they, 
 " is as yet harmless, and lies bound under a 
 mighty spell : venture not then to open a door 
 which may let forth a flood of evil upon the 
 land." But the anger of the king was roused, 
 and he ordered that the portal should be in 
 stantly thrown open. In vain, however, did 
 one after another exert his strength - ? and 
 
BON RODERICK. 55 
 
 equally in vain did the cavaliers unite their 
 forces, and apply their shoulders to the gate : 
 though there was neither bar nor bolt re 
 maining, it was perfectly immoveable. 
 
 The patience of the king was now ex 
 hausted, and he advanced to apply his hand ; 
 scarcely, however, did he touch the iron 
 gate, when it swung slowly open, uttering, 
 as it were, a dismal groan, as it turned 
 reluctantly upon its hinges. A cold, damp 
 wind issued forth, accompanied by a tem 
 pestuous sound. The hearts of the ancient 
 guardians quaked within them, and their 
 knees smote together ; but several of the 
 youthful cavaliers rushed in, eager to gratify 
 their curiosity, or to signalise themselves in 
 this redoubtable enterprise. They had scarcely 
 advanced a few paces, however, when they 
 recoiled, overcome by the baleful air, or by 
 some fearful vision.* Upon this, the king 
 ordered that fires should be kindled to dispel 
 the darkness, and to correct the noxious and 
 
 * Bleda, Cronica., cap, 7- 
 D 4 
 
56 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 long imprisoned air : he then led the way 
 into the interior ; but, though stout of heart, 
 he advanced with awe and hesitation. 
 
 After proceeding a short distance* he en 
 tered a hall, or antechamber, on the opposite 
 side of which was a door ; and before it, on 
 a pedestal, stood a gigantic figure, of the 
 colour of bronze, and of a terrible aspect. 
 It held a huge mace, which it whirled in 
 cessantly, giving such cruel and resounding 
 blows upon the earth as to prevent all further 
 entrance* 
 
 The king paused at sight of this appalling 
 figure ; for whether it were a jiving being, or 
 a statue of magic artifice, he could not tell. 
 On its breast was a scroll, whereon was in 
 scribed in large letters, " I do my duty."* 
 After a little while Roderick plucked up 
 heart, and addressed it with great solemnity : 
 " Whatever thou be," said he, "know that 
 I come not to violate this sanctuary, but to- 
 inquire into the mystery it contains I 
 
 * Bleda, Cronica, cap.?. 
 
DON RODERICK. 57 
 
 conjure thee, therefore, to let me pass in 
 safety." 
 
 Upon this the figure paused with uplifted 
 mace, and the king and his train passed un 
 molested through the door. 
 
 They now entered a vast chamber, of a 
 rare and sumptuous architecture, difficult to 
 be described. The walls were incrusted with 
 the most precious gems, so joined together 
 as to form one smooth and perfect surface. 
 The lofty dome appeared to be self-supported, 
 and was studded with gems, lustrous as the 
 stars of the firmament. There was neither 
 wood, nor any other common or base mate 
 rial to be seen throughout the edifice. There 
 were no windows or other openings to admit 
 the day, yet a radiant light was spread 
 throughout the place, which seemed to shine 
 from the walls, and to render every object 
 distinctly visible. 
 
 In the centre of this hall stood a table of 
 
 alabaster, of the rarest workmanship, on 
 
 which was inscribed in Greek characters, that 
 
 Hercules Alcides, the Theban Greek, had 
 
 D 5 
 
58 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 founded this tower in the year of the world 
 three thousand and six. Upon the table 
 stood a golden casket, richly set round with 
 precious stones, and closed with a lock of 
 mother-of-pearl j and on the lid were in 
 scribed the following words : - 
 
 ft In this coffer is contained the mystery 
 of the tower* The hand of none but a king 
 can open it ; but let him beware ! for mar 
 vellous events will be revealed to him, which 
 are to take place before his death." 
 
 King Roderick boldly seized upon the 
 casket. The venerable archbishop laid his 
 hand upon his arm, and made a last remon 
 stranee. " Forbear, my son!" said he; 
 " desist while there is yet time. Look not 
 Into the mysterious decrees of Providence. 
 God has hidden them in mercy from our 
 sight, and it is impious to rend the veil by 
 which they are concealed." 
 
 " What have I to dread from a knowledge 
 of the future ? " replied Roderick, with an 
 air of haughty presumption. " If good be 
 destined me, I shall enjoy it by anticipation ; 
 
DON RODERICK. 5$ 
 
 if evil, I shall arm myself to meet it." So 
 saying, he rashly broke the lock. 
 
 Within the coffer he found nothing but 
 a linen cloth, folded between two tablets of 
 copper. On unfolding it, he beheld painted 
 on it figures of men on horseback, of fierce 
 demeanour, clad in turbans and robes of 
 various colours, after the fashion of the 
 Arabs, with scimitars hanging from their 
 necks, and crossbows at their saddle backs, 
 and they carried banners and pennons with 
 divers devices. Above them was inscribed 
 in Greek characters, " Rash monarch ! be 
 hold the men who are to hurl thee from thy 
 throne, and subdue thy kingdom ! " 
 
 At sight of these things the king was 
 troubled in spirit, and dismay fell upon his 
 attendants. While they were yet regarding 
 the paintings, it seemed as if the figures 
 began to move, and a faint sound of warlike 
 tumult arose from the cloth, with the clash 
 of cymbal and bray of trumpet, the neigh of 
 steed and shout of army ; but all was heard 
 indistinctly, as if afar off , or in a reverie or 
 
 D 6 
 
6Q THE LEGEND OF 
 
 dream. The more they gazed, the plainer 
 became the motion, and the louder the noise ; 
 and the linen cloth rolled forth, and am 
 plified and spread out, as it were, a mighty 
 banner, and filled the hall, and mingled with 
 the air, until its texture was no longer 
 visible, or appeared as a transparent cloud : 
 and the shadowy figures became all in mo 
 tion, and the din and uproar became fiercer 
 and fiercer ; and whether the whole were an 
 animated picture, or a vision, or an array of 
 embodied spirits, conjured up by supernatural 
 power, no one present could tell. They be 
 held before them a great field of battle, where 
 Christians and Moslems were engaged in 
 deadly conflict. They heard the rush and 
 tramp of steeds, the blast of trump and 
 clarion, the clash of cymbal, and the stormy 
 din of a thousand drums. There was the 
 clash of swords, and maces, and battle-axes, 
 with the whistling of arrows, and the hurling 
 of darts and lances. The Christians quailed 
 before the foe ; the infidels pressed upon 
 them and put them to utter rout ; the stan- 
 
DON RODERICK. 61 
 
 dard of the cross was cast down, the banner 
 of Spain was trodden under foot, the air 
 resounded with shouts of triumph, with yells 
 of fury, and with the groans of dying men. 
 Amidst the flying squadrons, King Roderick 
 beheld a crowned warrior, whose back was 
 turned towards him, but whose armour and 
 device were his own, and who was mounted 
 on a white steed that resembled his own 
 war horse Orelia. In the confusion of the 
 flight, the warrior was dismounted, and was 
 no longer to be seen, and Orelia galloped 
 wildly through the field of battle without a 
 rider. 
 
 Roderick stayed to see no more, but rushed 
 from the fatal hall, followed by his terrified 
 attendants. They fled through the outer 
 chamber, where the gigantic figure with the 
 whirling mace had disappeared from his pe* 
 destal ; and on issuing into the open air, they 
 found the two ancient guardians of the tower 
 lying dead at the portal, as though they had 
 been crushed by some mighty blow. All 
 nature, which had been clear and serene, was 
 
62 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 now in wild uproar. The heavens were 
 darkened by heavy clouds ; loud bursts of 
 thunder rent the air, and the earth was 
 deluged with rain and rattling hail. 
 
 The king ordered that the iron portal 
 should be closed ; but the door was immove- 
 able, and the cavaliers were dismayed by the 
 tremendous turmoil and the mingled shouts 
 and groans that continued to prevail within. 
 The king and his train hastened back to To 
 ledo, pursued and pelted by the tempest. The 
 mountains shook and echoed with the thunder, 
 trees were uprooted and blown down, and the 
 Tagus raged and roared and flowed above its 
 banks. It seemed to the affrighted courtiers 
 as if the phantom legions of the tower had 
 issued forth and mingled with the storm ; for 
 amidst the claps of thunder and the howling 
 of the wind, they fancied they heard the 
 sound of the drums and trumpets, the shouts 
 of armies and the rush of steeds. Thus beaten 
 by tempest, and overwhelmed with horror, the 
 king and his courtiers arrived at Toledo, 
 clattering across the bridge of the Tagus, 
 
DON RODERICK. 63 
 
 and entering the gate in headlong con* 
 fusion, as though they had been pursued by 
 an enemy. 
 
 In the morning the heavens were again 
 serene, and all nature was restored to tran* 
 quillity. The king, therefore, issued forth 
 with his cavaliers and took the road to the 
 tower, followed by a great multitude, for he 
 was anxious once more to close the iron door> 
 and shut up those evils that threatened to 
 overwhelm the land. But lo I on coming in 
 sight of the tower, a new wonder met their 
 eyes. An eagle appeared high in the air, 
 seeming to descend from heaven. He bore 
 in his beak a burning brand, and lighting on 
 the summit of the tower, fanned the fire with 
 his wings. In a little while the edifice burst 
 forth into a blaze as though it had been built 
 of rosin, and the flames mounted into the air 
 with a brilliancy more dazzling than the sun ; 
 nor did they cease until every stone was con 
 sumed and the whole was reduced to a heap 
 of ashes. Then there came a vast flight of 
 birds, small of size and sable of hue, darken- 
 
64 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 ing the sky like a cloud ; and they descended 
 and wheeled in circles round the ashes, 
 causing so great a wind with their wings that 
 the whole was borne up into the air and scat 
 tered throughout all Spain, and wherever a 
 particle of those ashes fell it was as a stain of 
 blood. It is furthermore recorded by ancient 
 men and writers of former days, that all those 
 on whom this dust fell were afterwards slain 
 in battle, when the country was conquered by 
 the Arabs, and that the destruction of this 
 necromantic tower was a sign and token of 
 the approaching perdition of Spain. 
 
 " Let all those," concludes the cautious 
 friar, " who question the verity of this most 
 marvellous occurrence, consult those admirable 
 sources of our history, the chronicle of the 
 Moor Rasis, and the work entitled, * The Fall 
 of Spain, written by the Moor, Abulcasim 
 Tarif Abentarique. Let them consult, more 
 over, the venerable historian Bleda, and the 
 cloud of other Catholic Spanish writers, who 
 have treated of this event, and they will find 
 I have related nothing that has not been 
 
DON RODERICK. 65 
 
 printed and published under the inspection 
 and sanction of our holy mother church. 
 God alone knoweth the truth of these things ; 
 I speak nothing but what has been handed 
 down to me from times of old." 
 
66 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 CHAPTER VIIL 
 
 COUNT JULIAN. HIS FORTUNES IN AFRICA. 
 HE HEARS OF THE DISHONOUR OF HIS CHILD. 
 HIS CONDUCT THEREUPON. 
 
 THE course of our legendary narration now 
 returns to notice the fortunes of Count Julian, 
 after his departure from Toledo, to resume 
 his government on the coast of Barbary. He 
 left the Countess Frandina at Algeziras, his 
 paternal domain, for the province under his 
 command was threatened with invasion. In 
 fact, when he arrived at Ceuta he found his 
 post in imminent danger from the all-con 
 quering Moslems. The Arabs of the East, 
 the followers of Mahomet, having subjugated 
 several of the most potent oriental kingdoms, 
 had established their seat of empire at Da 
 mascus, where, at this time, it was filled by 
 Waled Almanzoi;, surnamed " the Sword of 
 God." From thence the tide of Moslem 
 
DON RODERICK. 
 
 conquest had rolled on to the shores of the 
 Atlantic ; so that all Almagreb, or Western 
 Africa, had submitted to the standard of the 
 prophet, with the exception of a portion of 
 Tingitania, lying along the straits ; being the 
 province held by the Goths of Spain, and 
 commanded by Count Julian. The Arab 
 invaders were a hundred thousand strong, 
 most of them veteran troops, seasoned in 
 warfare and accustomed to victory. They 
 were led by an old Arab general, Muza ben 
 Nosier, to whom was confided the govern 
 ment of Almagreb ; most of which he had 
 himself conquered. The ambition of this 
 veteran was to make the Moslem conquest 
 complete, by expelling the Christians from 
 the African shores ; with this view his 
 troops menaced the few remaining Gothic 
 fortresses of Tingitania, while he himself 
 sat down in person before the walls of Ceuta. 
 The Arab chieftain had been rendered con 
 fident by continual success, and thought no 
 thing could resist his arms* and the sacred 
 standard of the prophet. Impatient of the 
 
68 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 tedious delays of a siege, he led his troops 
 boldly against the rock-built towers of Ceuta, 
 and attempted to take the place by storm. 
 The onset was fierce, and the struggle des 
 perate : the swarthy sons of the desert were 
 light and vigorous, and of fiery spirits ; but 
 the Goths, inured to danger on this frontier, 
 retained the stubborn valour of their race, so 
 impaired among their brethren in Spain. 
 They were commanded, too, by one skilled 
 in warfare and ambitious of renown. After 
 a vehement conflict, the Moslem assailants 
 were repulsed from all points, and driven 
 from the walls. Don Julian sallied forth, 
 and harassed them in their retreat ; and so 
 severe was the carnage, that the veteran 
 Musa was fain to break up his camp, and 
 retire confounded from the siege. 
 
 The victory at Ceuta resounded through 
 out Tingitania, and spread universal joy. 
 On every side were heard shouts of exultation 
 * mingled with praises of Count Julian. He 
 was hailed by the people, wherever he went, 
 as their deliverer, and blessings were invoked 
 
DON RODERICK. 69 
 
 upon his head. The heart of Count Julian 
 was lifted up, and his spirit swelled within 
 him 5 but it was with noble and virtuous 
 pride, for he was conscious of having merited 
 the blessings of his country. 
 
 In the midst of his exultation, and while 
 the rejoicings of the people were yet sound 
 ing in his ears, the page arrived who bore 
 the letter from his unfortunate daughter. 
 
 " What tidings from the king ?" said the 
 count, as the page knelt before him : "None, 
 my lord," replied the youth, "but I bear 
 a letter sent in all haste by the Lady Flo- 
 rinda." 
 
 He took the letter from his bosom and 
 presented it to his lord. As Count Julian 
 read it, his countenance darkened and fell. 
 "This/ said he, bitterly, "is my reward for 
 serving a tyrant ; and these are the honours 
 heaped on me by my country, while fighting 
 its battles in a foreign land. May evil over 
 take me, and infamy rest upon my name, if 
 I cease until I have full measure of revenge." 
 
 Count Julian was vehement in his pas 
 
70 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 sions, and took no counsel in his wrath. 
 His spirit was haughty in the extreme, but 
 destitute of true magnanimity, and when 
 once wounded turned to gall and venom. A 
 dark and malignant hatred entered into his 
 soul, not only against Don Roderick, but 
 against all Spain : he looked upon it as the 
 scene of his disgrace, a land in which his 
 family was dishonoured : and, in seeking to 
 avenge the wrongs he had suffered from his 
 sovereign, he meditated against his native 
 country one of the blackest schemes of trea 
 son that ever entered into the human heart. 
 
 The plan of Count Julian was to hurl 
 King Roderick from his throne, and to 
 deliver all Spain into the hands of the in 
 fidels. In concerting and executing this 
 treacherous plot, it seemed as if his whole 
 nature was changed; every lofty and gene 
 rous sentiment was stifled, and he stooped to 
 the meanest dissimulation. His first object 
 was to extricate his family from the power 
 of the king, and to remove it from Spain 
 before his treason should be known ; his 
 
DON RODERICK. 71 
 
 next, to deprive the country of its remaining 
 means of defence against an invader. 
 
 With these dark purposes at heart, but 
 with an open and serene countenance, he 
 crossed to Spain, and repaired to the court 
 at Toledo. Wherever he came he was hailed 
 with acclamations as a victorious general, 
 and appeared in the presence of his sovereign 
 radiant with the victory at Ceuta. Conceal 
 ing from King Roderick his knowledge of 
 the outrage upon his house, he professed 
 nothing but the most devoted loyalty and 
 affection. 
 
 The king loaded him with favours ; seek 
 ing to appease his own conscience by heaping 
 honours upon the father in atonement of the 
 deadly wrong inflicted upon his child. He 
 regarded Count Julian, also, as a man able 
 and experienced in warfare, and took his 
 advice in all matters relating to the military 
 affairs of the kingdom. The count magni 
 fied the dangers that threatened the frontier 
 under his command, and prevailed upon the 
 king to send thither the best horses and arms 
 
7# THE LEGEND OF 
 
 remaining from the time of Witiza, there 
 being no need of them in the centre of Spain 
 in its present tranquil state. The residue, 
 at his suggestion, was stationed on the fron 
 tiers of Gallia ; so that the kingdom was left 
 almost wholly without defence against any 
 sudden irruption from the south. 
 
 Having thus artfully arranged his plans, 
 and all things being prepared for his return 
 to Africa, he obtained permission to with 
 draw his daughter from the court, and leave 
 her with her mother, the Countess Frandina, 
 who, he pretended, lay dangerously ill at 
 Algeziras. Count Julian issued out of the 
 gate of the city, followed by a shining band 
 of chosen followers, while beside him, on a 
 palfrey, rode the pale and weeping Florinda. 
 The populace hailed and blessed him as he 
 passed, but his heart turned from them with 
 loathing. As he crossed the bridge of the 
 Tagus, he looked back with a dark brow 
 upon Toledo, and raised his mailed hand and 
 shook it at the royal palace of King Rode 
 rick, which crested the rocky height. " A 
 
DON RODERICK. 73 
 
 father s curse," said he, "be upon thee and 
 thine ! May desolation fall upon thy dwelling, 
 and confusion and defeat upon thy realm ! " 
 
 In his journeyings through the country, 
 he looked round him with a malignant eye - y 
 the pipe of the shepherd, and the song of 
 the husbandman, were as discord to his soul; 
 every sight and sound of human happiness 
 sickened him at heart, and, in the bitterness 
 of his spirit, he prayed that he might see 
 the whole scene of prosperity laid waste with 
 fire and sword by the invader. 
 
 The story of domestic outrage and dis 
 grace had already been made known to the 
 Countess Frandina. When the hapless Flo- 
 rinda came in presence of her mother, she 
 fell on her neck, and hid her face in her 
 bosom, and wept ; but the countess shed 
 never a tear, for she was a woman haughty 
 of spirit and strong of heart. She looked 
 her husband sternly in the face. " Perdition 
 light upon thy head," said she, "if thou 
 submit to this dishonour. For my own 
 part, woman as I am, I will assemble the 
 
 E 
 
74r THE LEGEND OF 
 
 followers of my house, nor rest until rivers 
 of blood have washed away this stain." 
 
 " Be satisfied," replied the count ; "ven 
 geance is on foot, and will be sure and 
 ample." 
 
 Being now in his own domains, sur 
 rounded by his relatives and friends, Count 
 Julian went on to complete his web of 
 treason. In this he was aided by his brother- 
 in-law, Oppas, the bishop of Seville : a man 
 dark and perfidious as the night, but devout 
 in demeanour, and smoothly plausible in 
 council. This artful prelate had contrived 
 to work himself into the entire confidence of 
 the king, and had even prevailed upon him 
 to permit his nephews, Evan and Siseburto, 
 the exiled sons of Witiza, to return into 
 Spain. They resided in Andalusia, and 
 were now looked to as fit instruments in the 
 present traitorous conspiracy. 
 
 By the advice of the bishop, Count Julian 
 called a secret meeting of his relatives and 
 adherents on a wild rocky mountain, not far 
 from Consuegra, and which still bears the 
 
DON RODERICK. 75 
 
 Moorish appellation of "La Sierra de Cal- 
 derm," or the mountain of treason.* When 
 all were assembled, Count Julian appeared 
 among them, accompanied by the bishop and 
 by the Countess Frandina. Then gathering 
 around him those who were of his blood and 
 kindred, he revealed the outrage that had 
 been offered to their house. He represented 
 to them that Roderick was their legitimate 
 enemy ; that he had dethroned Witiza, their 
 relation, and had now stained the honour of 
 one of the most illustrious daughters of their 
 line. The Countess Frandina seconded his 
 words. She was a woman majestic in person 
 and eloquent of tongue ; and being inspired 
 by a mother s feelings, her speech aroused 
 the assembled cavaliers to fury. 
 
 The count took advantage of the excite 
 ment of the moment to unfold his plan. The 
 main object was to dethrone Don Roderick, 
 and give the crown to the sons of the late 
 King Witiza. By this means they would 
 
 * Bleda, cap. 5. 
 E 2 
 
76 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 visit the sins of the tyrant upon his head y 
 and, at the same time, restore the regal 
 honours to their line. For this purpose their 
 own force would be sufficient ; but they might 
 procure the aid of Muza ben Nosier, the 
 Arabian general, in Mauritania, who would 
 no doubt gladly send a part of his troops 
 into Spain to assist in the enterprise. 
 
 The plot thus suggested by Count Julian 
 received the unholy sanction of Bishop Oppas, 
 who engaged to aid it secretly with all his 
 influence and means : for he had great wealth 
 and possessions, and many retainers. The 
 example of the reverend prelate determined 
 all who might otherwise have wavered, and 
 they bound themselves by dreadful oaths to 
 be true to the conspiracy. Count Julian 
 undertook to proceed to Africa, and seek the 
 camp of Muza, to negotiate for his aid, while 
 the bishop was to keep about the person of 
 King Roderick, and lead him into the net 
 prepared for him. 
 
 All things being thus arranged, Count 
 Julian gathered together his treasure, and 
 
DON RODERICK. 77 
 
 taking his wife and daughter and all his 
 household, abandoned the country he meant 
 to betray ; embarking at Malaga for Ceuta. 
 The gate in the wall of that city, through 
 which they went forth, continued for ages to 
 bear the name of Puerto, de la Cava, or the 
 gate of the harlot ; for such was the oppro 
 brious and unmerited appellation bestowed 
 by the Moors on the unhappy Florinda. * 
 
 * Bleda, cap. 4-. 
 
 E 3 
 
78 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 SECRET VISIT OF COUNT JULIAN TO THE ARAB 
 
 CAMP. FIRST EXPEDITION OF TARIC EL 
 
 TUERTO. 
 
 WHEN Count Julian had placed his family 
 in security in Ceuta, surrounded by soldiery 
 devoted to his fortunes, he took with him a 
 few confidential followers, and departed in 
 secret for the camp of the Arabian Emir, 
 Muza ben Nosier. The camp was spread 
 out in one of those pastoral valleys which lie 
 at the feet of the Barbary hills, with the 
 great range of the Atlas mountains towering 
 in the distance. In the motley army here 
 assembled were warriors of every tribe and 
 nation, that had been united by pact or con 
 quest in the cause of Islam. There were 
 those who had followed Muza from the 
 fertile regions of Egypt, across the deserts 
 of Barca, and those who had joined his 
 
DON RODERICK. 79 
 
 standard from among the sun-burnt tribes 
 of Mauritania. There were Saracen and 
 Tartar, Syrian and Copt, and swarthy Moor ; 
 sumptuous warriors from the civilised cities 
 of the east, and the gaunt and predatory 
 rovers of the desert. The greater part of 
 the army, however, was composed of Arabs ; 
 but differing greatly from the first rude 
 hordes that enlisted under the banner of 
 Mahomet. Almost a century of continual 
 wars with the cultivated nations of the east 
 had rendered them accomplished warriors ; 
 and the occasional sojourn in luxurious 
 countries and populous cities, had acquainted 
 them with the arts and habits of civilised 
 life. Still the roving, restless, and predatory 
 habits of the genuine son of Ishmael pre 
 vailed, in defiance of every change of clime 
 or situation. 
 
 Count Julian found the Arab conqueror 
 Muza surrounded by somewhat of oriental 
 state and splendour. He was advanced in 
 life, but of a noble presence, and concealed 
 his age by tinging his hair and beard with 
 E 4 
 
80 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 henna. The count assumed an air of soldier 
 like frankness and decision when he came 
 into his presence. " Hitherto," said he, 
 " we have been enemies ; but I come to thee 
 in peace, and it rests with thee to make me 
 the most devoted of thy friends. I have no 
 longer country or king. Roderick the Goth 
 is an usurper, and my deadly foe ; he has 
 wounded my honour in the tenderest point, 
 and my country affords me no redress. Aid 
 me in my vengeance, and I will deliver all 
 Spain into thy hands : a land far exceeding 
 In fertility and wealth all the vaunted regions 
 thou hast conquered in Tingitania." 
 
 The heart of Muza leaped with joy at 
 these words, for he was a bold and ambitious 
 conqueror, and, having overrun all western 
 Africa, had often cast a wistful eye to the 
 mountains of Spain, as he beheld them 
 brightening beyond the waters of the strait. 
 Still he possessed the caution of a veteran, 
 and feared to engage in an enterprise of 
 such moment, and to carry his arms into 
 another division of the globe, without the 
 
DON RODERICK. 81 
 
 approbation of his sovereign. Having drawn 
 from Count Julian the particulars of his 
 plan, and of the means he possessed to carry 
 it into effect, he laid them before his con 
 fidential counsellors and officers, and de 
 manded their opinion. " These words of 
 Count Julian," said he, " may be false and 
 deceitful ; or he may not possess the power 
 to fulfil his promises. The whole may be a 
 pretended treason to draw us on to our 
 destruction. It is more natural that he 
 should be treacherous to us than to his 
 country." 
 
 Among the generals of Muza was a gaunt 
 swarthy veteran, scarred with wounds ; a 
 very Arab, whose great delight was roving 
 and desperate enterprise ; and who cared for 
 nothing beyond his steed, his lance, and 
 his scimitar. He was a native of Damascus ; 
 his name was Taric ben Zeyad ; but, from 
 having lost an eye, he was known among the 
 Spaniards by the appellation of Taric el 
 Tuerto, or Taric the one-eyed. 
 
 The hot blood of this veteran Ishmaelite 
 E 5 
 
8 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 was in a ferment when he heard of a new 
 country to invade, and vast regions to sub 
 due ; and he dreaded lest the cautious hesi 
 tation of Muza would permit the glorious 
 prize to escape them. "You speak doubt- 
 ingly," said he, " of the words of this 
 Christian cavalier, but their truth is easily to 
 be ascertained. Give me four galleys and a 
 handful of men, and I will depart with this 
 Count Julian, skirt the Christian coast, and 
 bring thee back tidings of the land, and of 
 his means to put it in our power." 
 
 The words of the veteran pleased Muza 
 ben Nosier, and he gave his consent ; and 
 Taric departed with four galleys and five 
 hundred men, guided by the traitor Julian.* 
 This first expedition of the Arabs against 
 Spain took place, according to certain his 
 torians, in the year of our Lord seven hundred 
 and twelve ; though others differ on this 
 point, as indeed they do upon almost every 
 
 * Beuter, Cron. Gen. de Espana, lib. i. c. 28, 
 Marmol. Descrip. de Africa, lib. ii. c. 10. 
 
DON RODERICK. 83 
 
 point in this early period of Spanish history. 
 The date to which the judicious chroniclers 
 incline is that of seven hundred and ten, in 
 the month of July. It would appear from 
 some authorities, also, that the galleys of 
 Taric cruised along the coasts of Andalusia 
 and Lusitania, under the feigned character of 
 merchant barks : nor is this at all impro 
 bable, while they were seeking merely to 
 observe the land, and get a knowledge of 
 the harbours. Wherever they touched, Count 
 Julian despatched emissaries, to assemble his 
 friends and adherents at an appointed place. 
 They gathered together secretly at Gezira 
 Alhadra, that is to say, the Green Island ; 
 where they held a conference with Count 
 Julian in presence of Taric ben Zeyad.* 
 Here they again avowed their readiness to 
 flock to his standard whenever it should 
 be openly raised, and made known their 
 various preparations for a rebellion. Taric 
 was convinced, by all that he had seen and 
 
 * Bleda, Cron. c. 5. 
 E 6 
 
84. THE LEGEND OF 
 
 heard, that Count Julian had not deceived 
 them; either as to his disposition or his 
 means to betray his country. Indulging his 
 Arab inclinations, he made an inroad into the 
 land, collected great spoil and many captives, 
 and bore off his plunder in triumph to Muza, 
 as a specimen of the riches to be gained by 
 the conquest of the Christian land.* 
 
 * Conde, Hist. Dom, Arab. part. i. c. 8. 
 
DON RODERICK. 85 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 LETTER OF MUZA TO THE CALIPH SECOND 
 
 EXPEDITION OF TARIC EL TUERTO. 
 
 ON hearing the tidings brought by Taric el 
 Tuerto, and beholding the spoil he had 
 collected, Muza wrote a letter to the Caliph 
 Waled Almanzor, setting forth the traitorous 
 proffer of Count Julian, and the probability, 
 through his means, of making a successful 
 invasion of Spain. " A new land," said he, 
 " spreads itself out before our delighted eyes, 
 and invites our conquest : a land, too, that 
 equals Syria in the fertility of its soil, and 
 the serenity of its sky ; Yemen, or Arabia 
 the Happy, in its delightful temperature ; 
 India, in its flowers and spices ; Hegias, in 
 its fruits and flowers ; Cathay, in its precious 
 minerals ; and Aden, in the excellence of its 
 ports and harbours ! It is populous also, 
 and wealthy ; having many splendid cities, 
 
86 THE LEGEND OP 
 
 and majestic monuments of ancient art. 
 What is to prevent this glorious land from 
 becoming the inheritance of the faithful ? 
 Already we have overcome the tribes of 
 Berbery, of Zab, of Derar, of Zaara, Maza- 
 muda, and Sus ; and the victorious standard 
 of Islam floats on the towers of Tangier. 
 But four leagues of sea separate us from the 
 opposite coast. One word from my sove 
 reign, and the conquerors of Africa will pour 
 their legions into Andalusia, rescue it from 
 the domination of the unbeliever, and subdue 
 it to the law of the Koran."* 
 
 The Caliph was overjoyed with the. con 
 tents of the letter. " God is great!" ex 
 claimed he, " and Mahomet is his prophet ! 
 It has been foretold by the ambassador of 
 God, that his law should extend to the 
 ultimate parts of the west, and be carried by 
 the sword into new and unknown regions. 
 Behold, another land is opened for the 
 triumphs of the faithful ! It is the will of 
 
 * Conde, part i. c. 8. 
 
DOX RODERICK. 87 
 
 Allah, and be his sovereign will obeyed ! " 
 So the Caliph sent missives to Muza, author 
 ising him to undertake the conquest. 
 
 Upon this there was a great stir of pre 
 paration ; and numerous vessels were assem 
 bled and equipped at Tangier, to convey the 
 invading army across the Straits. Twelve 
 thousand men were chosen for this expedi 
 tion : most of them light Arabian troops, 
 seasoned in warfare, and fitted for hardy and 
 rapid enterprise. Among them were many 
 horsemen, mounted on fleet Arabian steeds. 
 The whole was put under the command of 
 the veteran, Taric el Tuerto, or the one-eyed, 
 in whom Muza reposed implicit confidence, 
 as in a second self. Taric accepted the 
 command with joy : his martial fire was 
 roused at the idea of having such an army 
 under his sole command, and such a country 
 to overrun ; and he secretly determined 
 never to return unless victorious. 
 
 He chose a dark night to convey his 
 troops across the Straits of Hercules ; and, 
 by break of day, they began to disembark at 
 
88 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 Tarifa, before the country had time to take the 
 alarm. A few Christians hastily assembled 
 from the neighbourhood, and opposed their 
 landing, but were easily put to flight. Taric 
 stood on the sea-side, and watched until the 
 last squadron had landed j and all the horses, 
 armour, and munitions of war, were brought 
 on shore : he then gave orders to set fire to 
 the ships. The Moslems were struck with 
 terror when they beheld their fleet wrapped 
 in flames and smoke, and sinking beneath 
 the waves. " How shall we escape," ex 
 claimed they, " if the fortune of war should 
 be against us?" " There is no escape for 
 the coward !" cried Taric : "the brave man 
 thinks of none : your only chance is victory." 
 " But how, without ships, shall we ever 
 return to our homes?" "Your home," 
 replied Taric, " is before you ; but you 
 must win it with your swords." 
 
 While Taric was yet talking with his 
 followers, says one of the ancient chroniclers, 
 a Christian female was described, waving 
 a white pennon on a reed, in signal of 
 
DON RODERICK. 89 
 
 peace. On being brought into the presence 
 of Taric she prostrated herself before him. 
 " Senior," said she, " I am an ancient 
 woman ; and it is now full sixty years, past 
 and gone, since, as I was keeping vigils one 
 winter s night by the fireside, I heard my 
 father, who was an exceeding old man, read 
 a prophecy, said to have been written by a 
 holy friar ; and this was the purport of the 
 prophecy : that a time would arrive when 
 our country would be invaded and conquered 
 by a people from Africa, of a strange garb, 
 a strange tongue, and a strange religion. 
 They were to be led by a strong and valiant 
 captain, who would be known by these 
 signs : on his right shoulder he would have 
 a hairy mole, and his right arm would be 
 much longer than the left ; and of such 
 length as to enable him to cover his knee 
 with his hand without bending his body." 
 
 Taric listened to the old beldame with 
 grave attention ; and, when she had con 
 cluded, he laid bare his shoulder, and lo ! 
 there was the mole as it had been described ; 
 
90 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 his right arm, also, was, in verity, found to 
 exceed the other in length, though not to 
 the degree that had been mentioned. Upon 
 this the Arab host shouted for joy, and felt 
 assured of conquest.* 
 
 The discreet Antonio Agapida, though he 
 records this circumstance as it is set down 
 in ancient chronicle, yet withholds his belief 
 from the pretended prophecy, considering 
 the whole a cunning device of Taric to 
 increase the courage of his troops. " Doubt 
 less," says he, " there was a collusion 
 between this ancient sybil and the crafty son 
 of Ishmael ; for these infidel leaders were 
 full of damnable inventions, to work upon the 
 superstitious fancies of their followers, and to 
 inspire them with a blind confidence in the 
 success of their arms." 
 
 Be this as it may, the veteran Taric took 
 advantage of the excitement of his soldiery, 
 and led them forward to gain possession of 
 
 * Perdida de Espana, por Abulcasim Tarif Aben- 
 tarique, lib. i. c. 7. 
 
DON RODERICK. 91 
 
 a stronghold, which was, in a manner, the 
 key to all the adjacent country. This was a 
 lofty mountain, or promontory, almost sur 
 rounded by the sea ; and connected with the 
 mainland by a narrow isthmus. It was 
 called the rock of Calpe, and, like the 
 opposite rock of Ceuta, commanded the 
 entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. Here, 
 in old times, Hercules had set up one of 
 his pillars, and the city of Heraclea had been 
 built. 
 
 As Taric advanced against this promon 
 tory, he was opposed by a hasty levy of the 
 Christians, who had assembled under the 
 banner of a Gothic noble of great power and 
 importance, whose domains lay along the 
 mountainous coast of the Mediterranean. 
 The name of this Christian cavalier was 
 Theodomir, but he has universally been call 
 ed Tadmir by the Arabian historians ; and 
 is renowned as being the first commander 
 that made any stand against the inroad of 
 the Moslems. He was about forty years of 
 age ; hardy, prompt, and sagacious ; and 
 
92 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 had all the Gothic nobles been equally vigi 
 lant and shrewd in their defence, the banner 
 of Islam would never have triumphed over 
 the land. 
 
 Theodomir had but seventeen hundred 
 men under his command, and these but 
 rudely armed ; yet he made a resolute stand 
 against the army of Taric, and defended the 
 pass to the promontory with great valour. 
 He was, at length, obliged to retreat ; and 
 Taric advanced, and planted his standard on 
 the rock of Calpe, and fortified it as his 
 stronghold, and as the means of securing an 
 entrance into the land. To commemorate 
 his first victory, he changed the name of the 
 promontory, and called it Gibel Taric, or 
 the mountain of Taric ; but, in process of 
 time, the name has gradually been altered to 
 Gibraltar. 
 
 In the meantime, the patriotic chieftain, 
 Theodomir, having collected his routed forces, 
 encamped with them on the skirts of the 
 mountains, and summoned the country round 
 to join his standard. He sent off missives, 
 
DON RODERICK. 93 
 
 in all speed, to the king ; imparting, in brief 
 and blunt terms, the news of the invasion, 
 and craving assistance with equal frankness. 
 " Senior," said he, in his letter, " the legions 
 of Africa are upon us, but whether they come 
 from heaven or earth I know not. They 
 seem to have fallen from the clouds, for they 
 have no ships. We have been taken by 
 surprise, overpowered by numbers, and 
 obliged to retreat ; and they have fortified 
 themselves in our territory. Send us aid, 
 senior, with instant speed ; or, rather, come 
 yourself to our assistance." * 
 
 * Conde, part i. c. 9. 
 
94 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 MEASURES OF DON RODERICK ON HEARING OF 
 
 THE INVASION. EXPEDITION OF ATAULFHO. 
 
 VISION OF TARIC. 
 
 WHEN Don Roderick heard that legions of 
 turbaned troops had poured into the land 
 from Africa, he called to mind the visions 
 and predictions of the necromantic tower, 
 and great fear came upon him. But, though 
 sunk from his former hardihood and virtue, 
 though enervated by indulgence, and de 
 graded in spirit by a consciousness of crime, 
 he was resolute of soul, and roused himself 
 to meet the coming danger. He summoned 
 a hasty levy of horse and foot, amounting to 
 forty thousand ; but now were felt the effects 
 of the crafty council of Count Julian, for the 
 best of the horses and armour intended for 
 the public service had been sent into Africa, 
 and were really in possession of the traitors. 
 
DON RODERICK. 9<5 
 
 Many nobles, it is true, took the field with 
 the sumptuous array with which they had 
 been accustomed to appear at tournaments 
 and jousts ; but most of their vassals were 
 destitute of weapons, and cased in cuirasses 
 of leather, or suits of armour almost con 
 sumed by rust. They were without disci 
 pline or animation ; and their horses, like 
 themselves, pampered by slothful peace, were 
 little fitted to bear the heat, the dust, and 
 toil, of long campaigns. 
 
 This army Don Roderick put under the 
 command of his kinsman Ataulpho, a prince 
 of the royal blood of the Goths, and of a 
 noble and generous nature ; and he ordered 
 him to march with all speed to meet the foe, 
 and to recruit his forces on the way with the 
 troops of Theodomir. 
 
 In the meantime, Taric el Tuerto had re 
 ceived large re-enforcements from Africa, and 
 the adherents of Count Julian, and all those 
 discontented with the sway of Don Roderick, 
 had flocked to his standard ; for many were 
 deceived by the representations of Count 
 
96 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 Julian, and thought that the Arabs had come 
 to aid him in placing the sons of Witiza 
 upon the throne. Guided by the count, the 
 troops of Taric penetrated into various parts 
 of the country, and laid waste the land ; 
 bringing back loads of spoil to their strong 
 hold at the rock of Calpe. 
 
 The prince Ataulpho marched with his 
 army through Andalusia, and was joined by 
 Theodomir with his troops ; he met with 
 various detachments of the enemy foraging 
 the country, and had several bloody skir 
 mishes ; but he succeeded in driving them 
 before him, and they retreated to the rock of 
 Calpe, where Taric lay gathered up with the 
 main body of his army. 
 
 The prince encamped not far from the bay 
 which spreads itself out before the promon 
 tory. In the evening he despatched the 
 veteran Theodomir, with a trumpet, to de 
 mand a parley of the Arab chieftain, who 
 received the envoy in his tent, surrounded 
 by his captains. Theodomir was frank and 
 abrupt in speech, for the most of his life 
 
DON RODERICK. 97 
 
 had been passed far from courts. He 
 delivered, in round terms, the message of 
 the Prince Ataulpho ; upbraiding" the Arab 
 general with his wanton invasion of the land, 
 and summoning him to surrender his army, 
 or to expect no mercy. 
 
 The single eye of Taric el Tuerto glowed 
 like a coal of fire at this message. " Tell 
 your commander," replied he, " that I have 
 crossed the strait to conquer Spain, nor will 
 I return until I have accomplished my pur 
 pose. Tell him I have men skilled in war, 
 and armed in proof, with whose aid I trust 
 soon to give a good account of his rabble 
 host." 
 
 A murmur of applause passed through 
 the assemblage of Moslem captains. Theo- 
 domir glanced on them a look of defiance, 
 but his eye rested on a renegado Christian, one 
 of his own, ancient comrades, and a relation of 
 Count Julian. "As to you, Don Grey 
 beard," said he, "you who turn apostate in 
 your declining age, I here pronounce you a 
 traitor to your God, your king, and country ; 
 F 
 
98 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 and stand ready to prove it this instant upon 
 your body, if field be granted me." 
 
 The traitor knight was stung with rage 
 at these words, for truth rendered them 
 piercing to the heart. He would have im 
 mediately answered to the challenge, but 
 Taric forbade it, and ordered that the Chris 
 tian envoy should be conducted from the 
 camp. " J Tis well," replied Theodomir ; 
 " God will give me the field which you 
 deny. Let yon hoary apostate look to him 
 self to-morrow in the battle, for I pledge 
 myself to use my lance upon no other foe 
 until it has shed his blood upon the native 
 soil he has betrayed." So saying, he left 
 the eamp ; nor could the Moslem chieftains 
 help admiring the honest indignation of this 
 patriot knight, while they secretly despised 
 his renegado adversary. 
 
 The ancient Moorish chroniclers relate 
 many awful portents, and strange and mys 
 terious visions, which appeared to the com 
 manders of either army during this anxious 
 night. Certainly it was a night of fearful 
 
DON RODERICK. 99 
 
 suspense, and Moslem and Christian looked 
 forward with doubt to the fortune of the 
 coming day. The Spanish sentinel walked 
 his pensive round, listening- occasionally to 
 the vague sounds from the distant rock of 
 Calpe, and eyeing it as the mariner eyes the 
 thunder cloud, pregnant with terror and des 
 truction. The Arabs, too, from their lofty 
 cliffs beheld the numerous camp-fires of the 
 Christians gradually lighted up, and saw 
 that they were a powerful host ; at the same 
 time the night breeze brought to their ears 
 the sullen roar of the sea which separated 
 them from Africa. When they considered 
 their perilous situation, an army on one side, 
 with a whole nation aroused to re-enforce It, 
 and on the other an impassable sea, the 
 spirits of many of the warriors were cast 
 down, and they repented the day when they 
 had ventured into this hostile land. 
 
 Taric marked their despondency, but said 
 nothing. Scarce had the first streak of 
 morning light trembled along the sea, how 
 ever, when he summoned his principal war- 
 F 2 
 
100 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 riors to his tent. "Be of good cheer," said 
 he : " Allah is with us, and has sent his 
 prophet to give assurance of his aid. Scarce 
 had I retired to my tent last night, when a 
 man of a majestic and venerable presence 
 stood before me. He was taller by a palm 
 than the ordinary race of men : his flowing 
 beard was of a golden hue, and his eyes 
 were so bright that they seemed to send forth 
 flashes of fire. I have heard the Emir Ba- 
 hamet, and other ancient men, describe the 
 prophet, whom they had seen many times 
 while on earth, and such was his form and 
 lineament. Fear nothing, O Taric, from 
 the morrow, said he, I will be with thee in 
 the fight. Strike boldly, then, and conquer. 
 Those of thy followers who survive the battle 
 will have this land for an inheritance ; for 
 those who fall, a mansion in paradise is pre 
 pared, and immortal houris await their com 
 ing. He spake and vanished ; I heard a 
 strain of celestial melody, and my tent was 
 filled with the odours of Arabia the Happy." 
 "Such," say the Spanish chroniclers, "was 
 
DON RODERICK. 101 
 
 another of the arts by which this arch son of 
 Ishmael sought to animate the hearts of his 
 followers;" and the pretended vision had 
 been recorded by the Arabian writers as a 
 veritable occurrence. Marvellous, indeed, 
 was the effect produced by it upon the infidel 
 soldiery, who now cried out with eagerness 
 to be led against the foe. 
 
 F 3 
 
102 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 BATTLE OF CALPE. FATE OF ATAULPHO. 
 
 THE grey summits of the rock of Calpe 
 brightened with the first rays of morning, as 
 the Christian arrny issued forth from its 
 encampment. The Prince Ataulpho rode 
 from squadron to squadron, animating his 
 soldiers for the battle. " Never should we 
 sheath our swords," said he, " while these 
 infidels have a footing in the land. They 
 are pent up within yon rocky mountain, we 
 must assail them in their rugged hole. We 
 have a long day before us : let not the setting 
 sun shine upon one of their host, who is not 
 a fugitive, a captive, or a corpse." 
 
 The words of the prince were received 
 with shouts, and the army moved towards 
 the promontory. As they advanced, they 
 heard the clash of cymbals and the bray of 
 trumpets, and the rocky bosom of the moun- 
 
DON RODERICK. 103 
 
 tain glittered with helms and spears and 
 scimitars ; for the Arabs, inspired with fresh 
 confidence by the words of Taric, were sal 
 lying forth, with flaunting banners, to the 
 combat. 
 
 The gaunt Arab chieftain stood upon a 
 rock as his troops marched by ; his buckler 
 was at his back, and he brandished in his 
 hand a double-pointed spear. Calling upon 
 the several leaders by their names, he ex 
 horted them to direct their attacks against 
 the Christian captains, and especially against 
 Ataulpho ; "for the chiefs being slain," said 
 he, " their followers will vanish from before 
 us like the morning mist." 
 
 The Gothic nobles were easily to be dis 
 tinguished by the splendour of their arms ; 
 but the Prince Ataulpho was conspicuous 
 above all the rest for the youthful grace and 
 majesty of his appearance, and the bravery 
 of his array. He was mounted on a superb 
 Andalusian charger, richly caparisoned with 
 crimson velvet, embroidered with gold. His 
 surcoat was of like colour and adornment, 
 F 4 
 
W4f THE LEGEND OF 
 
 and the plumes that waved above his bur 
 nished helmet were of the purest white. 
 Ten mounted pages, magnificently attired, 
 followed him to the field, but their duty was 
 not so much to fight as to attend upon 
 their lord, and to furnish him with steed or 
 weapon. 
 
 The Christian troops, though irregular 
 and undisciplined, were full of native cour 
 age ; for the old warrior spirit of their 
 Gothic sires still glowed in their bosoms. 
 There were two battalions of infantry, but 
 Ataulpho stationed them in the rear ; " for 
 God forbid," said he, " that foot soldiers 
 should have the place of honour in the bat 
 tle, when I have so many valiant cavaliers." 
 As the armies drew nigh to each other, 
 however, it was discovered that the advance 
 of the Arabs was composed of infantry. 
 Upon this the cavaliers checked their steeds, 
 and requested that the foot soldiery might 
 advance and disperse this losel crew, hold 
 ing it beneath their dignity to contend with 
 pedestrian foes. The prince, however, com- 
 
DON RODERICK. 105 
 
 manded them to charge j upon which, put 
 ting spurs to their steeds, they rushed upon 
 the foe. 
 
 The Arabs stood the shock manfully, re 
 ceiving the horses upon the points of their 
 lances ; many of the riders were shot down 
 with bolts from cross-bows, or stabbed with 
 the poniards of the Moslems. The cavaliers 
 succeeded, however, in breaking into the 
 midst of the battalion and throwing it into 
 confusion, cutting down some with their 
 swords, transpiercing others with their 
 spears, and trampling many under the hoofs 
 of their horses. At this moment, they were 
 attacked: by a band of Spanish horsemen, the 
 recreant partisans of Count Julian. Their 
 assault bore hard upon their countrymen, 
 who were disordered by the contest with the 
 foot soldiers, and many a loyal Christian 
 knight fell beneath the sword of an un 
 natural foe. 
 
 The foremost among these recreant war 
 riors was the renegado cavalier whom Theo- 
 domir had challenged in the tent of Taric. 
 F 5 
 
106 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 He dealt his blows about him with a powerful 
 arm and with malignant fury, for nothing 
 is more deadly than the hatred of an apostate. 
 In the midst of his career he was espied by 
 the hardy Theodomir, who came spurring to 
 the encounter : " Traitor/ cried he, "I have 
 kept my vow. This lance has been held 
 sacred from all other foes to make a passage 
 for thy perjured soul." The renegado had 
 been renowned for prowess before he became 
 a traitor to his country, but guilt will sap 
 the courage of the stoutest heart. When he 
 beheld Theodomir rushing upon him, he 
 would have turned and fled ; pride alone 
 withheld him ; and, though an admirable 
 master of defence, he lost all skill to ward 
 the attack of his adversary. At the first 
 assault the lance of Theodomir pierced him 
 through and through ; he fell to the earth, 
 gnashed his teeth as he rolled in the dust, 
 but yielded his breath without uttering a 
 word. 
 
 The battle now became general, and lasted 
 throughout the morning with varying success. 
 
DON RODERICK. 107 
 
 The stratagem of Taric, however, began to 
 produce its effect. The Christian leaders and 
 most conspicuous cavaliers were singled out, 
 and severally assailed by overpowering num 
 bers. They fought desperately, and per 
 formed miracles of prowess ; but fell, one by 
 one, beneath a thousand wounds. Still the 
 battle lingered on throughout a great part of 
 the day ; and as the declining sun shone 
 through the clouds of dust, it seemed as if 
 the conflicting hosts were wrapped in smoke 
 and fire. 
 
 The Prince Ataulpho saw that the fortune 
 of battle was against him. He rode about 
 the field calling out the names of the bravest 
 of his knights, but few answered to his call ; 
 the rest lay mangled on the field. With 
 this handful of warriors he endeavoured to 
 retrieve the day, when he was assailed by 
 Tenderos, a partisan of Count Julian, at the 
 head of a body of recreant Christians. At 
 sight of this new adversary, fire flashed from 
 the eyes of the prince, for Tenderos had been 
 brought up in his father s palace. " Well 
 v 6 
 
108 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 dost thou, traitor ! " cried he, " to attack 
 the son of thy lord, who gave thee bread ; 
 thou, who hast betrayed thy country and thy 
 God!" 
 
 So saying, he seized a lance from one of 
 his pages, and charged furiously upon the 
 apostate ; but Tenderos met him in mid 
 career, and the lance of the prince was 
 shivered upon his shield. Ataulpho then 
 grasped his mace, which hung at his saddle 
 bow, and a doubtful fight ensued. Tenderos 
 was powerful of frame and superior in the 
 use of his weapons, but the curse of treason 
 seemed to paralyse his arm. He wounded 
 Ataulpho slightly between the greaves of his 
 armour, but the prince dealt a blow with 
 his mace that crushed through helm and 
 skull, and reached the brains ; and Tenderos 
 fell dead to the earth, his armour rattling as 
 he fell. 
 
 At the same moment a javelin, hurled by 
 an Arab, transpierced the horse of Ataulpho, 
 which sunk beneath him. The prince seized 
 the reins of the steed of Tenderos ; but the 
 
DON RODERICK. 109 
 
 faithful animal, as though he knew him to be 
 the foe of his late lord, reared and plunged, 
 and refused to let him mount. The prince, 
 however, used him as a shield to ward off the 
 press of foes : while, with his sword, he 
 defended himself against those in front of 
 him. Taric ben Zeyad arrived at the scene 
 of conflict, and paused, for a moment, in 
 admiration of the surpassing prowess of the 
 prince : recollecting, however, that his fall 
 would be a death-blow to his army, he spur 
 red upon him, and wounded him severely 
 with his scimitar. Before he could repeat 
 his blow, Theodomir led up a body of 
 Christian cavaliers to the rescue, and Taric 
 was parted from his prey by the tumult of 
 of the fight. The prince sank to the earth, 
 covered with wounds, and exhausted by the 
 loss of blood. A faithful page drew him 
 from under the hoofs of the horses, and, 
 aided by a veteran soldier, an ancient vassal 
 of Ataulpho, conveyed him to a short dis 
 tance from the field of battle, by the side of a 
 small stream that gushed out from among 
 
110 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 rocks. They stanched the blood that flowed 
 from his wounds, and washed the dust from 
 his face, and laid him beside the fountain. 
 The page sat at his head, and supported it 
 on his knees ; and the veteran stood at his 
 feet, with his brow bent, and his eyes full of 
 sorrow. The prince gradually revived, and 
 opened his eyes. " How fares the battle?" 
 said he. " The struggle is hard," replied 
 the soldier, " but the day may yet be ours." 
 The prince felt that the hour of his death 
 was at hand, and ordered that they should 
 aid him to rise upon his knees. They sup 
 ported him between them, and he prayed 
 fervently for a short time, when, finding his 
 strength declining, he beckoned the veteran 
 to sit down beside him on the rock. Con 
 tinuing to kneel, he confessed himself to that 
 ancient soldier ; having no priest or friar to 
 perform that office in this hour of extremity. 
 When he had so done, he sunk again upon 
 the earth, and pressed it with his lips, as if 
 he would take a fond farewell of his beloved 
 country. The page would then have raised 
 
DON RODERICK. Ill 
 
 his head, but found that his lord had yielded 
 up the ghost. 
 
 A number of Arab warriors, who came to 
 the fountain to slake their thirst, cut off the 
 head of the prince, and bore it in triumph to 
 Taric, crying, " Behold the head of the 
 Christian leader ! " Taric immediately or 
 dered that the head should be put upon the 
 end of a lance, together with the surcoat of 
 the prince, and borne about the field of battle, 
 with the sound of trumpets, atabels, and 
 cymbals. 
 
 When the Christians beheld the surcoat, 
 and knew the features of the prince, they 
 were struck with horror, and heart and hand 
 failed them. Theodomir endeavoured in vain 
 to rally them ; they threw by their weapons 
 and fled ; and they continued to fly, and 
 the enemy to pursue and slay them, until the 
 darkness of the night. The Moslems then 
 returned, and plundered the Christian camp, 
 where they found abundant spoil. 
 
THE LEGEND OF 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 TERROR OF THE COUNTRY. RODERICK ROUSES 
 HIMSELF TO ARMS. 
 
 THE scattered fugitives of the Christain 
 army spread terror throughout the land. 
 The inhabitants of the towns and villages 
 gathered around them as they applied at 
 their gates for food, or laid themselves 
 down, faint and wounded, beside the public 
 fountains. When they related the tale of 
 their defeat, old men shook their heads and 
 groaned, and the women uttered cries and 
 lamentations. So strange and unlooked-for 
 a calamity filled them with consternation and 
 despair ; for it was long since the alarm of 
 war had sounded in their land : and this 
 was a warfare that carried chains and slavery, 
 and all kinds of horrors, in its train. 
 
 Don Roderick was seated with his beau 
 teous queen, Exilona, in the royal palace 
 which crowned the rocky summit of Toledo, 
 
DON RODERICK. 113 
 
 when the bearer of ill-tidings came galloping 
 over the bridge of the Tagus. " What 
 tidings from the army?" demanded the 
 king, as the panting messenger was brought 
 into his presence. " Tidings of great woe !" 
 exclaimed the soldier. " The prince has 
 fallen in battle. I saw his head and surcoat 
 upon a Moorish lance ; and the army was 
 overthrown and fled ! " 
 
 At hearing these words, Roderick covered 
 his face with his hands, and for some time 
 sat in silence ; and all his courtiers stood 
 mute and aghast, and no one dared to speak 
 a word. In that awful space of time passed 
 before his thoughts all his errors and his 
 crimes, and all the evil that had been 
 predicted in the necromantic tower. His 
 mind was filled with horror and confusion, 
 for the hour of his destruction seemed at 
 hand : but he subdued his agitation by his 
 strong and haughty spirit ; and, when he 
 uncovered his face, no one could read on his 
 brow the trouble and agony of his heart. 
 Still, every hour brought fresh tidings of 
 
114 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 disaster. Messenger after messenger came 
 spurring into the city, distracting it with 
 new alarmSr The infidels, they said, were 
 strengthening themselves in the land ; host 
 after host were pouring in from Africa : the 
 sea coast of Andalusia glittered with spears 
 and scimitars. Bands of turbaned horsemen 
 had overrun the plains of Sidonia, even 
 to the banks of the Guadiana. Fields were 
 laid waste, towns and cities plundered, the 
 inhabitants carried into captivity, and the 
 whole country lay in smoking desolation. 
 
 Roderick heard all these tidings with an 
 undaunted aspect ; nor did he ever again 
 betray sign of consternation : but the anxiety 
 of his soul was evident in his warlike pre 
 parations. He issued orders that every 
 noble and prelate of his kingdom should put 
 himself at the head of his retainers, and 
 take the field ; and that every man capable 
 of bearing arms should hasten to his stand 
 ard, bringing whatever horse, and mule, and 
 weapon he possessed : and he appointed the 
 plain of Cordova for the place where the 
 
DON RODERICK. 115 
 
 army was to assemble. Throwing by, then, 
 all the trappings of his late slothful and 
 voluptuous life, and arming himself for war 
 like action, he departed from Toledo at the 
 head of his guard, composed of the flower of 
 the youthful nobility. His queen, Exilona, 
 accompanied him ; for she craved permission 
 to remain in one of the cities of Andalusia, 
 that she might be near her lord in this time 
 of peril. 
 
 Among the first who appeared to hail the 
 arrival of the king at Cordova, was the 
 Bishop Oppas, the secret partisan of the 
 traitor Julian. He brought with him his 
 two nephews, Evan and Siseburto, the sons 
 of the late king Witiza ; and a great host of 
 vassals and retainers, all well armed and 
 appointed, for they had been furnished, by 
 Count Julian, with a part of the arms sent 
 by the king to Africa. The bishop was 
 smooth of tongue, and profound in his 
 hypocrisy : his pretended zeal and devotion, 
 and the horror with which he spoke of the 
 treachery of his kinsman, imposed upon the 
 
116 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 credulous spirit of the king, and he was 
 readily admitted into his most secret council. 
 The alarm of the infidel invasion had 
 spread throughout the land, and roused the 
 Gothic valour of the inhabitants. On re 
 ceiving the oders of Roderick, every town 
 and hamlet, every mountain and valley, had 
 sent forth its fighting men, and the whole 
 country was on the march towards Anda 
 lusia. In a little while there were gathered 
 together, on the plain of Cordova, near fifty 
 thousand horsemen, and a countless host of 
 foot-soldiers. The Gothic nobles appeared 
 in burnished armour, curiously inlaid, and 
 adorned with chains and jewels of gold, anc 
 ornaments of precious stones, and silkez 
 scarfs, and surcoats of brocade, or velvet 
 richly embroidered ; betraying the luxury and 
 ostentation with which they had declined 
 from the iron hardihood of their warlike 
 sires. As to the common people, some had 
 lances and shields and swords and cross 
 bows, but the greater part were unarmed, or 
 provided merely with slings, and clubs 
 
DON RODERICK. 117 
 
 studded with nails, and with the iron im 
 plements of husbandry ; and many had 
 made shields for themselves from the doors 
 and windows of their habitations. They 
 were a prodigious host, and appeared, say 
 the Arabian chroniclers, like an agitated sea ; 
 but, though brave in spirit, they possessed 
 no knowledge of warlike art, and were in 
 effectual through lack of arms and discipline. 
 Several of the most ancient and experi 
 enced cavaliers, beholding the state of the 
 army, advised Don Roderick to await the 
 arrival of more regular troops, which were 
 stationed in Iberia, Cantabria, and Gallia 
 Gothica ; but this counsel was strenuously 
 opposed by the Bishop Oppas ; who urged 
 the king to march immediately against the 
 infidels. " As yet," said he, " their number 
 is but limited ; but every day new hosts 
 arrive, like flocks of locusts, from Africa. 
 They will augment faster than we ; they are 
 living, too, at our expense, and, while we 
 pause, both armies are consuming the sub 
 stance of the land." 
 
118 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 King Roderick listened to the crafty 
 counsel of the bishop, and determined to 
 advance without delay. He mounted his 
 war horse, Orelia, and rode among his troops 
 assembled on that spacious plain, and where- 
 ever he appeared he was received with accla 
 mations ; for nothing so arouses the spirit of 
 the soldier as to behold his sovereign in 
 arms. He addressed them in words calcu 
 lated to touch their hearts and animate their 
 courage. " The Saracens," said he, " are 
 ravaging our land, and their object is our 
 conquest. Should they prevail, your very 
 existence as a nation is at an end. They 
 will overturn your altars ; trample on the 
 cross ; lay waste your cities ; carry off your 
 wives and daughters, and doom yourselves 
 and sons to hard and cruel slavery. No 
 safety remains for you but in the prowess of 
 your arms. For my own part, as I am 
 your king, so will 1 be your leader, and will 
 be the foremost to encounter every toil and 
 danger." 
 
 The soldiery answered their monarch with 
 
DON RODERICK. 119 
 
 loud acclamations, and solemnly pledged 
 themselves to fight to the last gasp in defence 
 of their country and their faith. The king then 
 arranged the order of their march : all those 
 who were armed with cuirasses and coats of 
 mail were placed in the front and rear ; the 
 centre of the army was composed of a pro 
 miscuous throng, without body armour, and 
 but scantily provided with weapons. 
 
 When they were about to march, the king 
 called to him a noble cavalier named Ra- 
 miro, and delivering him the royal standard, 
 charged him to guard it well for the honour 
 of Spain ; scarcely, however, had the good 
 knight received it in his hand, when he 
 fell dead from his horse, and the staff of 
 the standard was broken in twain. Many 
 ancient courtiers who were present looked 
 upon this as an evil omen, and counselled the 
 king not to set forward on his march that 
 day ; but, disregarding all auguries and por 
 tents, he ordered the royal banner to be put 
 upon a lance, and gave it in charge of an 
 other standard bearer : then commanding the 
 
120 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 trumpets to be sounded, he departed at the 
 head of his host to seek the enemy. 
 
 The field where this great army assembled 
 was called, from the solemn pledge given by 
 the nobles and the soldiery, El campo de la 
 verdad; or, The field of Truth ; a name, says 
 the sage chronicler Abul Cassim, which it 
 bears even to the present day. * 
 
 * La Perdida de Espaiia, cap. 9. Bleda, lib. ii. 
 c. 8. 
 
DON RODERICK. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 MARCH OF THE GOTHIC ARMY. ENCAMPMENT 
 
 ON THE BANKS OF THE GUADALETE. MYSTE 
 RIOUS PREDICTIONS OF A PALMER. CONDUCT 
 
 OF PELISTES THEREUPON. 
 
 THE hopes of Andalusia revived, as this 
 mighty host stretched in lengthened lines 
 along its fertile plains ; from morn until 
 night it continued to pour along, with sound 
 of drum and trumpet ; it was led on by the 
 proudest nobles and bravest cavaliers of the 
 land, and, had it possessed arms and dis 
 cipline, might have undertaken the conquest 
 of the world. 
 
 After a few days march, Don Roderick 
 arrived in sight of the Moslem army, en 
 camped on the banks of the Guadalete*, 
 where that beautiful stream winds through 
 
 * This name was given to it subsequently by the 
 Arabs. It signifies the River of Death. Vide Pe- 
 druza, Hist. Granad. p. 3. c. 1. 
 G 
 
THE LEGEND OF 
 
 the fertile land of Xeres. The infidel host 
 was far inferior in number to the Christians ; 
 but then it was composed of hardy and dex 
 terous troops, seasoned to war, and admir 
 ably armed. The camp shone gloriously in 
 the setting sun, and resounded with the clash 
 of cymbal, the note of the trumpet, and the 
 neighing of fiery Arabian steeds. There 
 were swarthy troops from every nation of 
 the African coast, together with legions from 
 Syria and Egypt, while the light Bedouins 
 were careering about the adjacent plain. 
 What grieved and incensed the spirits of the 
 Christian warriors, however, was to behold, 
 a little apart from the Moslem host, an en 
 campment of Spanish cavaliers, with the 
 banner of Count Julian waving above their 
 tents. They were ten thousand in number, 
 valiant and hardy men, the most experienced 
 of Spanish soldiery, most of them having 
 served in the African wars ; they were well 
 armed and appointed also, with the weapons 
 of which the count had beguiled his sove 
 reign ; and it was a grievous sight to behold 
 
DON RODERICK. 
 
 such good soldiers arrayed against their 
 country and their faith. 
 
 The Christians pitched their tents about 
 the hour of vespers, at a short league distant 
 from the enemy, and remained gazing with 
 anxiety and awe upon this barbaric host that 
 had caused such terror and desolation in the 
 land : for the first sight of a hostile encamp 
 ment in a country disused to war, is terrible 
 to the newly enlisted soldier. A marvellous 
 occurrence is recorded by the Arabian chro 
 niclers as having taken place in the Christian 
 camp ; but discreet Spanish writers relate it 
 with much modification, and consider it a 
 stratagem of the wily Bishop Oppas, to 
 sound the loyalty of the Christian cavaliers. 
 
 As several leaders of the army were seated 
 with the bishop in his tent, conversing on the 
 dubious fortunes of the approaching contest, 
 an ancient pilgrim appeared at the entrance. 
 He was bowed down with years, his snowy 
 beard descended to his girdle, and he sup 
 ported his tottering steps with a palmer s 
 staff. The cavaliers rose and received him 
 G 2 
 
124 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 with great reverence as he advanced within 
 the tent. Holding up his withered hand, 
 " Woe, woe to Spain!" exclaimed he, "for 
 the vial of the wrath of heaven is ahout to 
 be poured out. Listen, warriors, and take 
 warning. Four months since, having per 
 formed my pilgrimage to the sepulchre of 
 our Lord in Palestine, I was on my return 
 towards my native land. Wearied and way 
 worn, I lay down one night to sleep beneath 
 a palm tree, by the side of a fountain, when 
 I was awakened by a voice saying unto me, 
 in soft accents, * Son of sorrow, why sleepest 
 thou ? I opened my eyes, and beheld one 
 of a fair and beauteous countenance, in 
 shining apparel and with glorious wings, 
 standing by the fountain ; and I said, Who 
 art thou who callest upon me in this deep 
 hour of the night? 
 
 " Fear not, replied the stranger, c I am 
 an angel from heaven, sent to reveal unto 
 thee the fate of thy country. Behold the 
 sins of Roderick have come up before God, 
 and his anger is kindled against him, and he 
 
DON RODERICK. 
 
 has given him up to be invaded and de 
 stroyed. Hasten then to Spain, and seek 
 the camp of thy countrymen. Warn them 
 that such only shall be saved as shall aban 
 don Roderick ; but those who adhere to him 
 shall share his punishment, and shall fall 
 under the sword of the invader. 
 
 The pilgrim ceased, and passed forth from 
 the tent ; certain of the cavaliers followed 
 him to detain him, that they might converse 
 further with him about these matters, but he 
 was no where to be found. The sentinel 
 before the tent said, " I saw no one come 
 forth, but it was as if a blast of wind passed 
 by me, and there was a rustling as of dry 
 leaves." 
 
 The cavaliers remained looking upon each 
 other with astonishment. The Bishop Oppas 
 sat with his eyes fixed upon the ground, and 
 shadowed by his overhanging brow. At 
 length, breaking silence, in a low and falter 
 ing voice, " Doubtless," said he, " this mes 
 sage is from God ; and since he has taken 
 compassion upon us, and given us notice of 
 G 3 
 
126 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 his impending- judgment, it behoves us to 
 hold grave council, and determine how best 
 we may accomplish his will and avert his 
 displeasure." 
 
 The chiefs still remained silent, as men 
 confounded. Among them WBS a veteran 
 noble named Pelistes. He had distinguished 
 himself in the African wars, fighting side by 
 side with Count Julian, but the latter had 
 never dared to tamper with his faith, for he 
 knew his stern integrity. Pelistes had 
 brought with him to the camp his only son, 
 who had never drawn a sword expect in 
 tourney. When the young man saw that 
 the veterans held their peace, the blood 
 mantled in his cheek, and, overcoming his 
 modesty, he broke forth with a generous 
 warmth : "I know not, cavaliers," said he, 
 "what is passing in your minds, but I believe 
 this pilgrim to be an envoy from the devil ; 
 for none else could have given such dastard 
 and perfidious counsel. For my own part, 
 I stand ready to defend my king, my country, 
 and my faith. I know no higher duty than 
 
DON RODERICK. 12? 
 
 this, and if God thinks fit to strike me dead 
 in the performance of it, his sovereign will 
 be done!" 
 
 When the young man had risen to speak, 
 liis father had fixed his eyes upon him with 
 a grave and stern demeanour, leaning upon 
 a two-handed sword. As soon as the youth 
 had finished, Pelistes embraced him with a 
 father s fondness. " Thou hast spoken well, 
 my son," said he ; " if I held my peace at 
 the counsel of this losel pilgrim, it was but 
 to hear thy opinion, and to learn whether 
 thou wert worthy of thy lineage and of the 
 training I had given thee. Hadst thou coun 
 selled otherwise than thou hast done, hadst 
 thou shown thyself craven and disloyal, so 
 help me God, I would have struck off thy 
 head with this weapon which I hold in my 
 hand. But thou hast counselled like a loyal 
 and a Christian knight, and I thank God for 
 having given me a son worthy to perpetuate 
 the honours of my line. As to this pilgrim, 
 be he saint or be he devil, I care not ; this 
 much I promise, that if I am to die in de- 
 G 4 
 
128 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 fence of my country and my king, my life 
 shall be a costly purchase to the foe. Let 
 each man make the same resolve, and I trust 
 we shall yet prove the pilgrim a lying pro 
 phet." The words of Pelistes roused the 
 spirits of many of the cavaliers ; others, 
 however, remained full of anxious foreboding, 
 and when this fearful prophecy was rumoured 
 about the camp, as it presently was by the 
 emissaries of the bishop, it spread awe and 
 dismay among the soldiery. 
 
DON RODERICK. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 SKIRMISHING OF THE ARMIES. PELISTES AND 
 
 HIS SON. PELISTES AND THE BISHOP. 
 
 ON the following day, the two armies re 
 mained regarding each other with wary but 
 menacing aspect. About noontide, King 
 Roderick sent forth a chosen force of five 
 hundred horse and two hundred foot, the best 
 armed of his host, to skirmish with the 
 enemy, that, by gaining some partial advan 
 tage, they might raise the spirits of the 
 army. They were led on by Theodomir, 
 the same Gothic noble who had signalised 
 himself by first opposing the invasion of the 
 Moslems. 
 
 The Christian squadrons paraded with fly 
 ing pennons in the valley which lay between 
 the armies. The Arabs were not slow in 
 answering their defiance. A large body of 
 horsemen sallied forth to the encounter, to- 
 G 5 
 
130 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 gether with three hundred of the followers 
 of Count Julian. There was hot skirmish 
 ing about the field, and on the banks of the 
 river ; many gallant feats were displayed on 
 either side, and many valiant warriors were 
 slain. As the night closed in, the trumpets 
 from either camp summoned the troops to 
 retire from the combat. In this day s action 
 the Christians suffered greatly in the loss of 
 their distinguished cavaliers ; for it is the 
 noblest spirits who venture most, and lay 
 themselves open to danger ; and the Moslem 
 soldiers had instructions to single out the 
 leaders of the adverse host. All this is said 
 to have been devised by the perfidious Bishop 
 Oppas, who had secret communications with 
 the enemy, while he influenced the councils 
 of the king ; arid who trusted that by 
 this skirmishing warfare the power of the 
 Christian troops would be cut off, and the 
 rest disheartened. 
 
 On the following morning, a larger force 
 was ordered out to skirmish, and such of the 
 soldiery as were unarmed were commanded 
 
DON RODERICK. 131 
 
 to stand ready to seize the horses and strip 
 off the armour of the killed and wounded. 
 Among the most illustrious of the warriors 
 who fought that day was Pelistes, the Gothic 
 nohle who had so sternly checked the tongue 
 of the Bishop Oppas. He led to the field a 
 large body of his own vassals and retainers, 
 and of cavaliers trained up in his house, who 
 had followed him to the wars in Africa, and 
 who looked up to him more as a father than 
 a chieftain. Beside him was his only son, 
 who now for the first time was fleshing his 
 sword in battle. The conflict that day was 
 more general and bloody than the day pre 
 ceding ; the slaughter of the Christian war 
 riors was immense, from their lack of defen 
 sive armour ; and as nothing could prevent 
 the flower of the Gothic chivalry from spur 
 ring to the combat, the field was strewed 
 with the bodies of the youthful nobles. None 
 suffered more, however, than the warriors of 
 Pelistes. Their leader himself was bold and 
 hardy, and prone to expose himself to danger ; 
 but years and experience had moderated his 
 G 6 
 
THE LEGEND OF 
 
 early fire ; his son, however, was eager to 
 distinguish himself in this, his first essay, 
 and rushed with impetuous ardour into the 
 hottest of the battle. In vain his father 
 called to caution him ; he was ever in the 
 advance, and seemed unconscious of the 
 perils that surrounded him. The cavaliers 
 and vassals of his father followed him with 
 devoted zeal, and many of them paid for 
 their loyalty with their lives. When the 
 trumpets sounded in the evening for retreat, 
 the troops of Pelistes were the last to reach 
 the camp. They came slowly and mourn 
 fully, and much decreased in number. Their 
 veteran commander was seated on his war- 
 horse, but the blood trickled from the 
 greaves of his armour. His valiant son 
 was borne on the shields of his vassals ; 
 when they laid him on the earth near to 
 where the king was standing, they found 
 that the heroic youth had expired of his 
 wounds. The cavaliers surrounded the 
 body and gave utterance to their grief ; 
 but the father restrained his agony, and 
 
DON RODERICK. 133 
 
 looked on with the stern resignation of a 
 soldier. 
 
 Don Roderick surveyed the field of battle 
 with a rueful eye, for it was covered with 
 the mangled bodies of his most illustrious 
 warriors ; he saw, too, with anxiety, that 
 the common people, unused to war, and un- 
 sustained by discipline, were harassed by 
 incessant toils and dangers, and were cooling 
 in their zeal and courage. 
 
 The crafty bishop Oppas marked the in 
 ternal trouble of the king, and thought a 
 favourable moment had arrived to sway 
 him to his purpose. He called to his mind 
 the various portents and prophecies which had 
 forerun their present danger. " Let not my 
 lord the king," said he, " make light of 
 these mysterious revelations, which appear to 
 be so disastrously fulfilling. The hand of 
 Heaven appears to be against us. Destruc 
 tion is impending over our heads. Our 
 troops are rude and unskilful, but slightly 
 armed, and much cast down in spirit. 
 Better is it that we should make a treaty 
 
THE LEGEND OF 
 
 with the enemy, and, by granting 1 part of 
 his demands, prevent the utter ruin of our 
 country. If such counsel be acceptable to 
 my lord the king, I stand ready to depart 
 upon an embassy to the Moslem camp." 
 
 Upon hearing these words, Pelistes, who 
 had stood in mournful silence, regarding the 
 dead body of his son, burst forth with honest 
 indignation. " By this good sword," said 
 he, " the man who yields such dastard 
 counsel deserves death from the hand of his 
 countrymen rather than from the foe ; and, 
 were it not for the presence of the king, may 
 I forfeit salvation if I would not strike him 
 dead upon the spot." 
 
 The bishop turned an eye of venom upon 
 Pelistes. " My lord," said he, " I, too, bear 
 a weapon, and know how to wield it. Were 
 the king not present you would not dare to 
 menace, nor should you advance one step 
 without my hastening to meet you." 
 
 The king interposed between the jarring 
 nobles, and rebuked the impetuosity of 
 Pelistes, but at the same time rejected the 
 
DON RODERICK. 135 
 
 counsel of the bishop. " The event of this 
 conflict," said he, "is in the hand of God ; 
 but never shall my sword return to its scab 
 bard while an infidel invader remains within 
 the land." 
 
 He then held a council with his captains, 
 and it was determined to offer the enemy 
 general battle on the following day. A 
 herald was despatched defying Taric ben 
 Zeyad to the contest, and the defiance was 
 gladly accepted by the Moslem chieftain.* 
 Don Roderick then formed the plan of ac 
 tion, and assigned to each commander his 
 several station, after which he dismissed his 
 officers, and each one sought his tent, to 
 prepare by diligence or repose for the next 
 day s eventful contest. 
 
 * Bleda, Cronica. 
 
136 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 TRAITOROUS MESSAGE OF COUNT JULIAN. 
 
 TARIC BEN ZEYAD had been surprised by the 
 valour of the Christian cavaliers in the recent 
 battles, and at the number and apparent de 
 votion of the troops which accompanied the 
 king to the field. The confident defiance of 
 Don Roderick increased his surprise. When 
 the herald had retired, he turned an eye of 
 suspicion on Count Julian. " Thou hast re 
 presented thy countrymen," said he, " as 
 sunk in effeminacy and lost to all generous 
 impulse : yet I find them fighting with the 
 courage and the strength of lions. Thou 
 hast represented thy king as detested by his 
 subjects, and surrounded by secret treason, 
 but I behold his tents whitening the hills 
 and dales, while thousands are hourly flock 
 ing- to his standard. Woe unto thee if thou 
 
 CT 
 
DON RODERICK. 137 
 
 hast dealt deceitfully with us, or betrayed us 
 with guileful words." 
 
 Don Julian retired to his tent in great 
 trouble of mind, and fear came upon him 
 that the Bishop Oppas might play him false ; 
 for it is the lot of traitors ever to distrust 
 each other. He called to him the same page 
 who had brought him the letter from Flo- 
 rinda, revealing the story of her dishonour. 
 
 " Thou knowest, my trusty page," said 
 he, " that I have reared thee in my house 
 hold, and cherished thee above all thy com 
 panions. If thou hast loyalty and affection 
 for thy lord, now is the time to serve him. 
 Hie thee to the Christian camp, and find thy 
 way to the tent of the Bishop Oppas. If 
 any one ask thee who thou art, tell them 
 thou art of the household of the bishop, and 
 bearer of missives from Cordova. When 
 thou art admitted to the presence of the 
 bishop, show him this ring, and he will com 
 mune with thee in secret. Then tell him 
 Count Julian greets him as a brother, and 
 demands how the wrongs of his daughter 
 
138 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 Florinda are to be redressed. Mark well 
 his reply, and bring it word for word. Have 
 thy lips closed, but thine eyes and ears open ; 
 and observe every thing of note in the camp 
 of the king. So speed thee on thy errand 
 away, away!" 
 
 The page hastened to saddle a Barbary 
 steed, fleet as the wind, and of a jet black 
 colour, so as not to be easily discernible in 
 the night. He girded on a sword and 
 dagger, slung an Arab bow with a quiver of 
 arrows at his side, and a buckler at his 
 shoulder. Issuing out of the camp, he 
 sought the banks of the Guadalete, and pro 
 ceeded silently along its stream, which re 
 flected the distant fires of the Christian camp. 
 As he passed by the place which had been 
 the scene of the recent conflict, he heard, 
 from time to time, the groan of some ex 
 piring warrior who had crawled among the 
 reeds on the margin of the river ; and some 
 times his steed stepped cautiously over the 
 mangled bodies of the slain. The young 
 page was unused to the sights of war, and 
 
DON RODERICK, 139 
 
 his heart beat quick within him. He was 
 hailed by the sentinels as he approached the 
 Christian camp, and, on giving the reply 
 taught him by Count Julian, was conducted 
 to the tent of the Bishop Oppas. 
 
 The bishop had not yet retired to his couch. 
 When he beheld the ring of Count Julian, and 
 heard the words of his message, he saw that 
 the page was one in whom he might confide. 
 " Hasten back to thy lord," said he, " and 
 tell him to have faith in me, and all shall go 
 well. As yet I have kept my troops out of 
 the combat. They are all fresh, well armed, 
 and well appointed. The king has confided 
 to myself, aided by the princes Evan and 
 Siseburto, the command of a wing of the 
 army. To-morrow, at the hour of noon, 
 when both armies are in the heat of action, 
 we will pass over with our forces to the 
 Moslems. But I claim the compact made 
 with Taric ben Zeyacl, that my nephews be 
 placed in dominion over Spain, and tributary 
 only to the Caliph of Damascus." With 
 this traitorous message the page departed. 
 
140 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 He led his black steed by the bridle to pre 
 sent less mark for observation, as he went 
 stumbling along near the expiring fires of 
 the camp. On passing the last outpost, 
 when the guards were half slumbering on 
 their arms, he was overheard and summoned, 
 but leaped lightly into the saddle and put spurs 
 to his steed. An arrow whistled by his ear, 
 and two more stuck in the target which he 
 had thrown upon his back. The clatter of swift 
 hoofs echoed behind him, but he had learnt 
 of the Arabs to fight and fly. Plucking a 
 shaft from his quiver, and turning and rising 
 in the stirrups as his courser galloped at full 
 speed, he drew the arrow to the head and 
 launched it at his pursuer. The twang of 
 the bow-string was followed by the crash of 
 armour, and a deep groan, as the horseman 
 tumbled to the earth. The page pursued his 
 course without further molestation, and ar 
 rived at the Moslem camp before the break 
 of day. 
 
DON RODERICK. 141 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 LAST DAY OF THE BATTLE. 
 
 A LIGHT had burned throughout the nighe 
 in the tent of the king, and anxious thoughts 
 and dismal visions troubled his repose. If 
 he fell into a slumber, he beheld in his 
 dreams the shadowy phantoms of the necro 
 mantic tower, or the injured Florinda, pale 
 and dishevelled, imprecating the vengeance 
 of Heaven upon his head. In the mid- 
 watches of the night, when all was silent 
 except the footstep of the sentinel, pacing 
 before his tent, the king rose from his couch, 
 and walking forth looked thoughtfully upon 
 the martial scene before him. The pale 
 crescent of the moon hung over the Moorish 
 camp, and dimly lighted up the windings of 
 the Guadalete. The heart of the king was 
 heavy and oppressed ; but he felt only for 
 himself, says Antonio Agapida, he thought 
 
THE LEGEND OF 
 
 nothing of the perils impending over the 
 thousands of devoted subjects in the camp 
 below him ; sleeping, as it were, on the 
 margin of their graves. The faint clatter of 
 distant hoofs, as if in rapid flight, reached 
 the monarch s ear, but the horsemen were 
 not to be descried. At that very hour, and 
 along the shadowy banks of that river, here 
 and there gleaming with the scanty moon 
 light, passed the fugitive messenger of Count 
 Julian, with the plan of the next day s trea 
 son. 
 
 The day had not yet dawned, when the 
 sleepless and impatient monarch summoned 
 his attendants and arrayed himself for the 
 field. He then sent for the venerable Bishop 
 Urbino, who had accompanied him to the 
 camp, and, laying aside his regal crown, he 
 knelt with head uncovered, and confessed 
 his sins before the holy man. After this a 
 solemn mass was performed in the royal 
 tent, and the eucharist administered to the 
 monarch. When these ceremonies were 
 concluded, he besought the archbishop to 
 
DON RODERICK. 143 
 
 depart forthwith for Cordova, there to await 
 the issue of the battle, and to be ready to 
 bring forward reinforcements and supplies. 
 The archbishop saddled his mule and de 
 parted just as the faint blush of morning 
 began to kindle in the east. Already the 
 camp resounded with the thrilling call of the 
 trumpet, the clank of armour, and the tramp 
 and neigh of steeds. As the archbishop 
 passed through the camp, he looked with a 
 compassionate heart on this vast multitude, 
 of whom so many were soon to perish. The 
 w r arriors pressed to kiss his hand, and many 
 a cavalier full of youth and fire received his 
 benediction, who was to lie stiff and cold 
 before the evening. 
 
 When the troops were marshalled for the 
 field, Don Roderick prepared to sally forth 
 in the state and pomp with which the Gothic 
 kings were wont to go to battle. He was 
 arrayed in robes of gold brocade ; his sandals 
 were embroidered with pearls and diamonds ; 
 he had a sceptre in his hand, and he wore 
 a regal crown resplendent with inestimable 
 
THE LEGEND OF 
 
 jewels. Thus gorgeously apparelled, he as 
 cended a lofty chariot of ivory, the axle-trees 
 of which were of silver, and the wheels 
 and pole covered with plates of burnished 
 gold. Above his head was a canopy of cloth 
 of gold embossed with armorial devices, and 
 studded with precious stones. * This sump 
 tuous chariot was drawn by milk-white 
 horses, with caparisons of crimson velvet, 
 embroidered with pearls. A thousand youth 
 ful cavaliers surrounded the car ; all of the 
 noblest blood and bravest spirit ; all knighted 
 by the king s own hand, and sworn to defend 
 him to the last. 
 
 When Roderick issued forth in this re 
 splendent state, says an Arabian writer, sur 
 rounded by his guards in gilded armour and 
 waving plumes and scarfs and surcoats of 
 a thousand dyes, it was as if the sun were 
 emerging in the dazzling chariot of the day 
 from amidst the glorious clouds of morning. 
 
 As the royal car rolled along in front of 
 
 * Eutrand. Chron. an. Christ. 714. 
 
DON RODERICK. 145 
 
 the squadrons, the soldiers shouted with ad 
 miration. Don Roderick waved his sceptre, 
 and addressed them from his lofty throne, 
 reminding them of the horror and desolation 
 which had already been spread through the 
 land by the invaders. He called upon them 
 to summon up the ancient valour of their 
 race, and avenge the blood of their brethren. 
 " One day of glorious fighting," said he, 
 " and this infidel horde will be driven into 
 the sea, or will perish beneath your swords. 
 Forward bravely to the fight ; your families 
 are behind you praying for your success ; 
 the invaders of your country are before you ; 
 God is above to bless his holy cause, and 
 your king leads you to the fit ld." The army 
 shouted with one accord, " Forward to the 
 foe, and death be his portion who shuns the 
 encounter ! " 
 
 The rising sun began to shine along the 
 glistening waters of the Guadalete as the 
 Moorish army, squadron after squadron, 
 came sweeping down a gentle declivity to the 
 sound of martial music. Their turbans and 
 H 
 
146 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 robes, of various dyes and fashions, gave a 
 splendid appearance to their host ; as they 
 marched, a cloud of dust arose and partly 
 hid them from the sight, but still there 
 would break forth flashes of steel and gleams 
 of burnished gold, like rays of vivid light 
 ning ; while the sound of drum and trumpet, 
 and the clash of Moorish cymbal, were as 
 the warlike thunder within that stormy cloud 
 of battle. 
 
 As the armies drew near each other the 
 sun disappeared among gathering clouds, 
 and the gloom of the day was increased by 
 the columns of dust which rose from either 
 host. At length the trumpet sounded for 
 the encounter. The battle commenced with 
 showers of arrows, stones, and javelins. The 
 Christian foot-soldiers fought to disadvantage, 
 the greater part being destitute of helm or 
 buckler. A battalion of light Arabian horse 
 men, led by a Greek renegado named 
 Magued el Rumi, careered in front of the 
 Christian line, launching their darts, and then 
 wheeling off beyond the reach of the missiles 
 
DON RODERICK. 14/7 
 
 hurled after them. Theodomir now brought 
 up his seasoned troops into the action, 
 seconded by the veteran Pelistes, and in a 
 little while the battle became furious and 
 promiscuous. It was glorious to behold the 
 old Gothic valour shining forth in this hour 
 of fearful trial. Wherever the Moslems fell, 
 the Christians rushed forward, seized upon 
 their horses, and stripped them of their 
 armour and their weapons. They fought 
 desperately and successfully, for they fought 
 for their country and their faith. The battle 
 raged for several hours ; the field was 
 strown with slain, and the Moors, overcome 
 by the multitude and fury of their foes, be 
 gan to falter. 
 
 When Taric beheld his troops retreating 
 before the enemy, he threw himself before 
 them, and, rising in his stirrups, " Oh, 
 Moslems ! conquerors of Africa ! " cried he, 
 " whither would you fly ? The sea is be 
 hind you, the enemy before ; you have no 
 hope but in your valour and the help of 
 God. Do as I do, and the day is ours ! " 
 H 2 
 
148 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 With these words he put spurs to his 
 horse and sprang among the enemy, striking 
 to right and left, cutting down and destroy 
 ing, while his steed, fierce as himself, tram 
 pled upon the foot-soldiers, and tore them 
 with his teeth. At this moment a mighty 
 shout arose in various parts of the field ; the 
 noontide hour had arrived. The Bishop 
 Oppas with the two princes, who had hitherto 
 kept their bands out of the fight, suddenly 
 went over to the enemy, and turned their 
 weapons upon their astonished countrymen. 
 From that moment the fortune of the day 
 was changed, and the field of battle became 
 a scene of wild confusion and bloody mas 
 sacre. The Christians knew not whom to 
 contend with, or whom to trust. It seemed 
 as if madness had seized upon their friends 
 and kinsmen, and that their worst enemies 
 were among themselves. 
 
 The courage of Don Roderick rose with 
 his danger. Throwing off the cumbrous 
 robes of royalty, and descending from his 
 car, he sprang upon his steed Orelia, grasped 
 
DON RODERICK. 149 
 
 his lance and buckler, and endeavoured to 
 rally his retreating troops. He was sur 
 rounded and assailed by a multitude of his 
 own traitorous subjects, but defended himself 
 with wondrous prowess. The enemy thick 
 ened around him ; his loyal band of cava 
 liers were slain, bravely fighting in his de 
 fence ; the last that was seen of the king was 
 in the midst of the enemy, dealing death at 
 every blow. 
 
 A complete panic fell upon the Christians ; 
 they threw away their arms and fled in all 
 directions. They were pursued with dread 
 ful slaughter, until the darkness of the night 
 rendered it impossible to distinguish friend 
 from foe. Taric then called off his troops 
 from the pursuit, and took possession of the 
 royal camp ; and the couch which had been 
 pressed so uneasily on the preceding night 
 by Don Roderick, now yielded sound repose 
 to his conqueror.* 
 
 * This battle is called indiscriminately by histo 
 rians the battle of Guadalete, or Xeres, from the 
 neighbourhood of that city. 
 
 H 3 
 
150 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE FIELD OF BATTLE AFTER THE DEFEAT. 
 
 THE FATE OF RODERICK. 
 
 ON the morning after the battle, the Arab 
 leader, Taric ben Zeyad, rode over the 
 bloody field of the Guadalete, strewed with 
 the ruins of those splendid armies, which 
 had so lately passed like glorious pageants 
 along the river banks. There Moor and 
 Christian, horseman and horse, lay gashed 
 with hideous wounds ; and the river, still 
 red with blood, was filled with the bodies of 
 the slain. The gaunt Arab was as a wolf 
 roaming through the fold he had laid waste. 
 On every side his eye revelled on the ruin of 
 the country, on the wrecks of haughty Spain. 
 There lay the flower of her youthful chivalry, 
 mangled and destroyed, and the strength of 
 her yeomanry prostrated in the dust. The 
 Gothic noble lay confounded with his vassals ; 
 
DON RODERICK. 151 
 
 the peasant with the prince ; all ranks and 
 dignities were mingled in one bloody mas 
 sacre. 
 
 When Taric had surveyed the field, he 
 caused the spoils of the dead and the plunder 
 of the camp to be brought before him. The 
 booty was immense. There were massy 
 chains, and rare jewels of gold ; pearls and 
 precious stones ; rich silks and brocades, and 
 all other luxurious decorations in which the 
 Gothic nobles had indulged in the latter times 
 of their degeneracy. A vast amount of 
 treasure was likewise found, which had been 
 brought by Roderick for the expenses of the 
 war. 
 
 Taric then ordered that the bodies of the 
 Moslem warriors should be interred ; as for 
 those of the Christians, they were gathered in 
 heaps, and vast pyres of wood were formed, 
 on which they were consumed. The flames 
 of these pyres rose high in the air, and were 
 seen afar off in the night ; and when the 
 Christians beheld them from the neighbour 
 ing hills they beat their breasts and tore their 
 H 4 
 
THE LEGEND OF 
 
 hair, and lamented over them as over the 
 funeral fires of their country. The carnage 
 of that hattle infected the air for two whole 
 months, and bones were seen lying in heaps 
 upon the field for more than forty years ; 
 nay, when ages had past and gone, the hus- 
 handman, turning up the soil, would still find 
 fragments of Gothic cuirasses and helms> 
 and Moorish scimitars, the relics of that 
 dreadful fight. 
 
 For three days the Arabian horsemen pur 
 sued the flying Christians, hunting them over 
 the face of the country ; so that but a scanty 
 number of that mighty host escaped to tell 
 the tale of their disaster. 
 
 Taric ben Zeyad considered his victory in 
 complete so long as the Gothic monarch 
 survived ; he proclaimed great rewards, 
 therefore, to whomsoever should bring Rode 
 rick to him, dead or alive. A diligent search 
 was accordingly made in every direction, but 
 for a long time in vain ; at length a soldier 
 brought to Taric the head of a Christian 
 warrior, on which was a cap decorated with 
 
DON RODERICK. 153 
 
 feathers and precious stones. The Arab 
 leader received it as the head of the unfortu 
 nate Roderick, and sent it, as a trophy of 
 his victory, to Muza ben Nosier, who, in 
 like manner, transmitted it to the caliph at 
 Damascus. The Spanish historians, however, 
 have always denied its identity. 
 
 A mystery has ever hung, and ever must 
 continue to hang, over the fate of King Ro 
 derick, in that dark and doleful day of Spain. 
 Whether he went down amidst the storm of 
 battle, and atoned for his sins and errors by 
 a patriot grave, or whether he survived to 
 repent of them in hermit exile, must remain 
 matter of conjecture and dispute. The 
 learned Archbishop Rodrigo, who has re 
 corded the events of this disastrous field, 
 affirms that Roderick fell beneath the venge 
 ful blade of the traitor Julian, and thus 
 expiated with his blood his crime against the 
 hapless Florinda ; but the archbishop stands 
 alone in his record of the fact. It seems 
 generally admitted that Orelia, the favourite 
 war-horse of Don Roderick, was found en- 
 
154 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 tangled in a marsh on the borders of the 
 Guadalete, with the sandals and mantle and 
 royal insignia of the king lying close by him. 
 The river at this place ran broad and deep, 
 and was encumbered with the dead bodies of 
 warriors and steeds ; it has been supposed, 
 therefore, that he perished in the stream ; 
 but his body was not found within its 
 waters. 
 
 When several years had passed away, and 
 men s minds, being restored to some degree 
 of tranquillity, began to occupy themselves 
 about the events of this dismal day, a rumour 
 arose that Roderick had escaped from the 
 carnage on the banks of the Guadalete, and 
 was still alive. It was said, that having 
 from a rising ground caught a view of the 
 whole field of battle, and seen that the day 
 was lost, and his army flying in all directions, 
 he likewise sought his safety in flight. It is 
 added, that the Arab horsemen, while scour 
 ing the mountains in quest of fugitives, found 
 a shepherd arrayed in the royal robes, and 
 brought him before the conqueror, believing 
 
DON RODERICK. 155 
 
 him to be the king himself. Count Julian soon 
 dispelled the error. On heing questioned, the 
 trembling rustic declared, that while tending 
 his sheep in the folds of the mountains, there 
 came a cavalier on a horse wearied and spent 
 and ready to sink beneath the spur ; that the 
 cavalier with an authoritative voice and me 
 nacing air commanded him to exchange gar 
 ments with him, and clad himself in his rude 
 garb of sheep-skin, and took his crook and 
 his scrip of provisions, and continued up the 
 rugged defiles of the mountains leading to 
 wards Castile, until he was lost to view.* 
 
 This tradition was fondly cherished by 
 many, who clung to the belief in the exist 
 ence of their monarch as their main hope for 
 the redemption of Spain. It was even af 
 firmed that he had taken refuge, with many 
 of his host, in an island of the " Ocean sea," 
 from whence he might yet return, once more 
 to elevate his standard, and battle for the 
 recovery of his throne. 
 
 * Bleda, Cron. lib. ii. c. 9. Abulcasim Tarif 
 Abentarique, lib. i. c. 10. 
 
 H 6 
 
156 THE LEGEND OF 
 
 Year after year, however, elapsed, and 
 nothing was heard of Don Roderick ; yet, 
 like Sebastian of Portugal, and Arthur of 
 England, his name continued to be a rallying 
 point for popular faith, and the mystery of 
 his end to give rise to romantic fables. At 
 length, when generation after generation had 
 sunk into the grave, and near two centuries 
 had passed and gone, traces were said to be 
 discovered that threw a light on the final 
 fortunes of the unfortunate Roderick. At 
 that time, Don Alphonso the Great, King 
 of Leon, had wrested the city of Viseo in 
 Lusitania from the hands of the Moslems. 
 As his soldiers were ranging about the city 
 and its environs, one of them discovered 
 in a field, outside of the walls, a small 
 chapel or hermitage, with a sepulchre in 
 front, on which was inscribed this epitaph in 
 Gothic characters : 
 
 HIC REQUIESCIT RUDERICUS, 
 ULTIMUS REX GOTHORUM. 
 
 Here lies Roderick, 
 The last king of the Goths. 
 
DON RODERICK. 157 
 
 It has been believed by many that this was 
 the veritable tomb of the monarch, and that 
 in this hermitage he had finished his days in 
 solitary penance. The warrior, as he con 
 templated the supposed tomb of the once 
 haughty Roderick, forgot all his faults and 
 errors, and shed a soldier s tear over his 
 memory ; but when his thoughts turned to 
 Count Julian, his patriotic indignation broke 
 forth, and with his dagger he inscribed a 
 rude malediction on the stone. 
 
 " Accursed," said he, " be the impious 
 and headlong vengeance of the traitor Julian. 
 He was a murderer of his king ; a destroyer 
 of his kindred ; a betrayer of his country. 
 May his name be bitter in every mouth, and 
 his memory infamous to all generations." 
 
 Here ends the legend of Don Roderick. 
 
158 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 FOREGOING LEGEND. 
 
 THE TOMB OF RODERICK. 
 
 THE venerable Sebastiano, Bishop of Sala 
 manca, declares that the inscription on the 
 tomb at Viseo, in Portugal, existed in his 
 time, and that he had seen it. A particular 
 account of the exile and hermit life of Rode 
 rick is furnished by Berganza, on the au 
 thority of Portuguese chronicles. 
 
 Algunos historiadores Portugueses asse- 
 guran, que el Rey Rodrigo, perdida la bat 
 talia, huyo a tierra de Merida, y se recogio 
 en el monasterio de Cauliniano, en donde, 
 arrepentido de sus culpas, procuro confessar- 
 las con muchas lagrimas. Deseando mas 
 retiro^ y escogiendo por companero a un 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 159 
 
 monge llamado Roman, y elevando la Imagen 
 de Nazareth, que Cyriaco monge de nacion 
 griego avra traido de Jerusalem al monas- 
 terio de Cauliniano, se subio a un monte muy 
 aspero, que estaba sobre el mar, junto al 
 lugar de Pederneyra. Vivio Rodrigo en 
 compania de el monge en el hueco de una 
 gruta por espacio de un aiio ; despues se passo 
 a la ermita de san Miguel, que estaba cerca 
 de Viseo, en donde murio y fue sepultado. 
 
 Puedese ver esta relacion en las notas de 
 Don Thomas Tamayo sobre Paulo deacano. 
 El chronicon de san Millan, que llega hasta 
 el afio 883, deze que, hasta su tiempo, si 
 ignora el fin del Rey Rodrigo. Pocos anos 
 despues el Rey Don Alonzo el Magno, avi- 
 endo ganado la ciudad de Viseo, encontro en 
 una iglesia el epitafio que en romance dize 
 aqui yaze Rodrigo, ultimo Rey de los Godos. 
 Berganza, 1.1. c. 13. 
 
160 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 THE CAVE OF HERCULES. 
 
 As the story of the necromantic tower is 
 one of the most famous as well as least credi 
 ble points in the history of Don Roderick, it 
 may be well to fortify or buttress it by some 
 account of another marvel of the city of To 
 ledo. This ancient city, which dates its ex 
 istence almost from the time of the flood, 
 claiming as its founder Tubal, the son of 
 Japhet, and grandson of Noah *, has been 
 the warrior hold of many generations, and 
 a strange diversity of races. It bears traces 
 of the artifices and devices of its various occu 
 pants, and is full of mysteries and subjects 
 for antiquarian conjecture and perplexity. It 
 is built upon a high rocky promontory, with 
 the Tagus brawling round its base, and is 
 overlooked by cragged and precipitous hills. 
 These hills abound with clefts and caverns ; 
 and the promontory itself, on which the city 
 
 * Salazar, Hist. Gran. Cardinal. Prologo, vol. i. 
 plan i. 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 161 
 
 is built, bears traces of vaults and subterrane 
 ous habitations, which are occasionally dis 
 covered under the ruins of ancient houses, 
 or beneath the churches and convents. 
 
 These are supposed by some to have been 
 the habitations or retreats of the primitive 
 inhabitants ; for it was the custom of the an 
 cients, according- to Pliny, to make caves in 
 high and rocky places, and live in them 
 through fear of floods ; and such a precau 
 tion, says the worthy Don Pedro de Roxas, 
 in his history of Toledo, was natural enough 
 among the first Toledans, seeing that they 
 founded their city shortly after the deluge, 
 while the memory of it was still fresh in their 
 minds. 
 
 Some have supposed these secret caves 
 and vaults to have been places of concealment 
 of the inhabitants and their treasure, during 
 times of war and violence ; or rude temples 
 for the performance of religious ceremonies 
 in times of persecution. There are not 
 wanting other, and grave writers, who give 
 them a still darker purpose. In these caves, 
 
162 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 say they, were taught the diabolical mysteries 
 of magic ; and here were performed those 
 infernal ceremonies and incantations, horrible 
 in the eyes of God and man. " History," 
 says the worthy Don Pedro de Roxas, " is 
 full of accounts that the magi taught and per 
 formed their magic and their superstitious 
 rites in profound caves and secret places ; 
 because, as this art of the devil was prohibited 
 from the very origin of Christianity, they 
 always sought for hidden places in which to 
 practise it." In the time of the Moors this 
 art, we are told, was publicly taught at their 
 universities, the same as astronomy, philo 
 sophy, and mathematics, and at no place was 
 it cultivated with more success than at Toledo. 
 Hence this city has ever been darkly re 
 nowned for mystic science ; insomuch that 
 the magic art was called by the French, and 
 by other nations, the Arte Toledana. 
 
 Of all the marvels, however, of this 
 ancient, picturesque, romantic, and necro 
 mantic city, none in modern times surpass 
 the cave of Hercules, if we may take the ac- 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 163 
 
 count of Don Pedro de Roxas for authentic. 
 The entrance to this cave is within the 
 church of San Gines, situated in nearly the 
 highest part of the city. The portal is secured 
 by massive doors, opening within the walls 
 of the church, but which are kept rigorously 
 closed. The cavern extends under the city 
 and beneath the bed of the Tagus to the 
 distance of three leagues beyond. It is, in 
 some places, of rare architecture, built of 
 small stones curiously wTought, and sup 
 ported by columns and arches. 
 
 In the year 1-546 an account of this 
 cavern was given to the archbishop and 
 cardinal Don Juan Martinez Siliceo, who, 
 desirous of examining it, ordered the en 
 trance to be cleaned. A number of persons 
 furnished with provisions, lanterns, and cords, 
 then went in, and having proceeded about 
 half a league, came to a place where there 
 was a kind of chapel or temple, having a 
 table or altar, with several statues of bronze 
 in niches or on pedestals. 
 > v While they were regarding this mysterious 
 
164 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 scene of ancient worship or incantation, one 
 of the statues fell, with a noise that echoed 
 through the cavern, and smote the hearts 
 of the adventurers with terror. Recovering 
 from their alarm they proceeded onward, but 
 were soon again dismayed by a roaring and 
 rushing sound that increased as they ad 
 vanced. It was made by a furious and tur 
 bulent stream, the dark waters of which were 
 too deep and broad and rapid to be crossed. 
 By this time their hearts were so chilled they 
 could not seek any other passage by which 
 they might advance ; so they turned back 
 and hastened out of the cave. It was night 
 fall when they sallied forth, and they, were 
 so much affected by the terror they had un 
 dergone, and by the cold and damp air of the 
 cavern, to which they were the more sensible 
 from its being in the summer, that all of 
 them fell sick, and several of them died. 
 Whether the archbishop was encouraged to 
 pursue his research and gratify his curiosity, 
 the history does not mention. 
 
 Alonzo Telles de Meneses, in his history 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 1 65 
 
 of the world, records, that not long before 
 his time a boy of Toledo, being threatened 
 with punishment by his master, fled and took 
 refuge in this cave. Fancying his pursuer 
 at his heels, he took no heed of the obscurity 
 or coldness of the cave, but kept groping and 
 blundering forward, until he came forth at 
 three leagues distance from the city. 
 
 Another and very popular story of this 
 cave, current among the common people, 
 was, that in its remote recesses lay concealed 
 a great treasure of gold, left there by the 
 Romans. Whoever would reach this pre 
 cious hoard must pass through several caves 
 or grottos ; each having its particular terror, 
 and all under the guardianship of a ferocious 
 dog, who has the key of all the gates, and 
 watches day and night. At the approach of 
 any one, he shows his teeth, and makes a 
 hideous growling ; but no adventurer after 
 wealth has had courage to brave a contest 
 with this terrific cerberus. 
 
 The most intrepid candidate on record was 
 a poor man who had lost his all, and had 
 
166 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 those grand incentives to desperate enterprise, 
 a wife and a large family of children. Hear 
 ing the story of this cave, he determined to 
 venture alone in search of the treasure. He 
 accordingly entered, and wandered many 
 hours, bewildered, about the cave. Often 
 would he have returned, but the thoughts of 
 his wife and children urged him on. At 
 length he arrived near to the place where he 
 supposed the treasure lay hidden ; but here, 
 to his dismay, he beheld the floor of the 
 cavern strown with human bones ; doubtless 
 the remains of adventurers like himself, who 
 had been torn to pieces. 
 
 Losing all courage, he now turned and 
 sought his way out of the cave. Horrors 
 thickened upon him as he fled. He beheld 
 direful phantoms glaring and gibbering 
 around him, and heard the sound of pursuit 
 in the echoes of his footsteps. He reached 
 his home overcome with affright ; several 
 hours elapsed before he could recover speech 
 to tell his story, and he died on the following 
 day. 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. l6*J 
 
 The judicious Don Pedro de Roxas holds 
 the account of the huried treasure for fabu 
 lous, but the adventure of this unlucky man 
 for very possible ; being led on by avarice, 
 or rather the hope of retrieving a desperate 
 fortune. He, moreover, pronounces his 
 dying, shortly after coming forth, as very 
 probable ; because the darkness of the cave, 
 its coldness, the fright at finding the bones, 
 the dread of meeting the imaginary dog, all 
 joining to operate upon a man who was past 
 the prime of his days, and enfeebled by 
 poverty and scanty food, might easily cause 
 his death. 
 
 Many have considered this cave as in 
 tended originally for a sally or retreat from 
 the city in case it should be taken ; an 
 opinion rendered probable, it is thought, by 
 its grandeur and great extent. 
 
 The learned Salazar de Mendoza, however, 
 in his history of the grand cardinal of Spain, 
 affirms it as an established fact, that it was 
 first wrought out of the rock by Tubal, the 
 son of Japhet, and grandson of Noah ; and 
 
168 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 afterwards repaired and greatly augmented 
 by Hercules the Egyptian, who made it his 
 habitation after he had erected his pillars at 
 the straits of Gibraltar. Here, too, it is said, 
 he read magic to his followers, and taught 
 them those supernatural arts by which he ac 
 complished his vast achievements. Others 
 think that it was a temple dedicated to 
 Hercules ; as was the case, according to 
 Pomponius Mela, with the great cave in the 
 rock of Gibraltar ; certain it is, that it has 
 always borne the name of " The Cave of 
 Hercules." 
 
 There are not wanting some who have 
 insinuated that it was a work dating from 
 the time of the Romans, and intended as 
 a cloaca or sewer of the city ; but such a 
 grovelling insinuation will be treated with 
 proper scorn by the reader, after the nobler 
 purposes to which he has heard this marvel 
 lous cavern consecrated. 
 
 From all the circumstances here adduced 
 from learned and reverend authors, it will 
 be perceived that Toledo is a city fruitful of 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 169 
 
 marvels, and that the necromantic tower of 
 Hercules has more solid foundation than 
 most edifices of similar import in ancient 
 history. 
 
 The writer of these pages will venture to 
 add the result of his personal researches re 
 specting the far famed cavern in question. 
 Rambling about Toledo in the year 1826, in 
 company with a small knot of antiquity 
 hunters, among whom was an eminent British 
 painter*, and an English noblemant, who 
 has since distinguished himself in Spanish 
 historical research, we directed our steps to 
 the church of San Gines, and inquired for 
 the portal of the secret cavern. The sacris 
 tan was a voluble and communicative man, 
 and one not likely to be niggard of his tongue 
 about any thing he knew, or slow to boast of 
 any marvel pertaining to his church ; but he 
 professed utter ignorance of the existence of 
 any such portal. He remembered to have 
 heard, however, that immediately under the 
 
 * Mr. D. W kie. t Lord Mali n. 
 
170 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 entrance to the church there was an arch of 
 mason work, apparently the upper part of 
 some subterranean portal ; but that all had 
 been covered up, and a pavement laid down 
 thereon ; so that whether it led to the 
 magic cave or the necromantic tower remains 
 a mystery, and so must remain until some 
 monarch or archbishop shall again have cou 
 rage and authority to break the spell. 
 
LEGEND 
 
 OP THE 
 
 SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 
 
LEGEND 
 
 SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN.* 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 CONSTERNATION OF SPAIN. CONDUCT OF THE 
 
 CONQUERORS. MISSIVES BETWEEN TARIC AND 
 
 MUZ A. 
 
 THE overthrow of King Roderick and his 
 army on the banks of the Guadalete, threw . 
 open all southern Spain to the inroads of 
 the moslems. The whole country fled be 
 fore them ; villages and hamlets were 
 hastily abandoned ; the inhabitants placed 
 
 * In this legend most of the facts respecting the 
 Arab inroads into Spain are on the authority of 
 Arabian writers ; who had the most accurate means 
 of information. Those relative to the Spaniards are 
 chiefly from old Spanish chronicles. It is to be re 
 marked that the Arab accounts have most the air 
 of verity, and the events, as they relate them, are 
 in the ordinary course of common life. The Spanish 
 accounts, on the contrary, are full of the marvel 
 lous ; for there were no greater romancers than the 
 monkish chroniclers. 
 
 i 3 
 
174 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 their aged and infirm, their wives and chil 
 dren, and their most precious effects, on 
 mules and other beasts of burden, and, driv 
 ing before them their flocks and herds, made 
 for distant parts of the land ; for the fast 
 nesses of the mountains, and for such of the 
 cities as yet possessed walls and bulwarks. 
 Many gave out, faint and weary, by the way, 
 and fell into the hands of the enemy ; others, 
 at the distant sight of a turban or a Moslem 
 standard, or on hearing the clangour of a 
 trumpet, abandoned their flocks and herds, 
 and hastened their flight with their families. 
 If their pursuers gained upon them, they 
 threw by their household goods and whatever 
 was of burden, and thought themselves for 
 tunate to escape, naked and destitute, to a 
 place of refuge. Thus the roads were 
 covered with scattered flocks and herds, and 
 with spoil of all kind. 
 
 The Arabs, however, were not guilty of 
 wanton cruelty or ravage ; on the contrary, 
 they conducted themselves with a moderation 
 but seldom witnessed in more civilised con 
 querors. Taric el Tuerto, though a thorough 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 1 75 
 
 man of the sword, and one whose whole 
 thoughts were warlike, yet evinced wonderful 
 judgment and discretion. He checked the 
 predatory habits of his troops with a rigorous 
 hand. They were forbidden, under pain of 
 severe punishment, to molest any peaceable 
 and unfortified towns, or any unarmed and un 
 resisting people who remained quiet in their 
 homes. No spoil was permitted to be made 
 excepting in fields of battle, in camps of rout 
 ed foes, or in cities taken by the sword. 
 
 Taric had little need to exercise his seve 
 rity ; his orders were obeyed through love, 
 rather than fear, for he was the idol of his 
 soldiery. They admired his restless and 
 daring spirit, which nothing could dismay. 
 His gaunt and sinewy form, his fiery eye, 
 his visage seamed with scars, were suited to 
 the hardihood of his deeds ; and when 
 mounted on his foaming steed, careering the 
 field of battle with quivering lance or flashing 
 scimitar, his Arabs would greet him with 
 shouts of enthusiasm. But what endeared 
 him to them more than all was his soldier- 
 i 4 
 
176 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 like contempt of gain. Conquest was his 
 only passion ; glory the only reward he covet 
 ed. As to the spoil of the conquered, he 
 shared it freely among his followers, and 
 squandered his own portion with open-handed 
 generosity. 
 
 While Taric was pushing his triumphant 
 course through Andalusia, tidings of his 
 stupendous victory on the banks of the 
 Guadalete were carried to Muza ben Nozier. 
 Messengers after messengers arrived, vying 
 who should most extol the achievements of 
 the conqueror and the grandeur of the con 
 quest. " Taric," said they, " has over 
 thrown the whole force of the unbelievers in 
 one mighty battle. Their king is slain ; 
 thousands and tens of thousands of their 
 warriors are destroyed ; the whole land lies 
 at our mercy ; and city after city is sur 
 rendering to the victorious arms of Taric." 
 
 The heart of Muza ben Nozier sickened at 
 these tidings, and, instead of rejoicing at the 
 success of the cause of Islam, he trembled 
 with jealous fear lest the triumphs of Taric 
 in Spain should eclipse his own victories in 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 177 
 
 Africa. He despatched missives to the 
 Caliph Waled Almanzor, informing him of 
 these new conquests, but taking the whole 
 glory to himself, and making no mention of 
 the services of Taric ; or, at least, only 
 mentioning him incidentally as a subordinate 
 commander. "The battles," said he, "have 
 been terrible as the day of judgment; but, by 
 the aid of Allah, we have gained the victory." 
 
 He then prepared in all haste to cross over 
 into Spain and assume the command of the 
 conquering army ; and he wrote a letter in 
 advance to interrupt Taric in the midst of his 
 career. "Wherever this letter may find 
 thee," said he, "I charge thee halt with thy 
 army and await my coming. Thy force is 
 inadequate to the subjugation of the land, and 
 by rashly venturing, thou mayst lose every 
 thing. I will be with thee speedily, with a 
 reinforcement of troops competent to so great 
 an enterprise." 
 
 The letter overtook the veteran Taric while 
 in the full glow of triumphant success ; 
 having overrun some of the richest part of 
 I 5 
 
178 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 Andalusia, and just received the surrender 
 of the city of Ecija. As he read the letter, the 
 blood mantled in his sunburnt cheek and fire 
 kindled in his eye; for he penetrated the 
 motives of Muza. He suppressed his wrath, 
 however, and turning with a bitter expression 
 of forced composure to his captains, " Un 
 saddle your steeds," said he, " and plant 
 your lances in the earth ; set up your tents 
 and take your repose : for we must await 
 the coming of the Wali with a mighty force 
 to assist us in our conquest*" 
 
 The Arab warriors broke forth with loud 
 murmurs at these words : " What need have 
 we of aid," cried they, " when the whole 
 country is flying before us ; and what better 
 commander can we have than Taric to lead 
 us on to victory ? " 
 
 Count Julian also, who was present, now 
 hastened to give his traitorous counsel. 
 
 " Why pause," cried he, " at this precious 
 moment ? The great army of the Goths is 
 vanquished, and their nobles are slaughtered 
 or dispersed. Follow up your blow before 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 179 
 
 the land can recover from its panic. Over 
 run the provinces, seize upon the cities, make 
 yourself master of the capital, and your con 
 quest is complete." * 
 
 The advice of Julian was applauded by all 
 the Arab chieftains, who were impatient of 
 any interruption in their career of conquest. 
 Taric was easily persuaded to what was the 
 wish of his heart. Disregarding the letter 
 of Muza, therefore, he prepared to pursue his 
 victories. For this purpose he ordered a re 
 view of his troops on the plain of Ecija. Some 
 were mounted on steeds which they had 
 brought from Africa ; the rest he supplied 
 with horses taken from the Christians. He 
 repeated his general orders, that they should 
 inflict no wanton injury, nor plunder any 
 place that offered no resistance. They were 
 forbidden also to encumber themselves with 
 booty, or even with provisions ; but were to 
 scour the country with all speed, and seize 
 upon all its fortresses and strong-holds. 
 
 * Conde, p. i. c. 10. 
 I 6 
 
180 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 He then divided his host into three several 
 armies. One he placed under the command 
 of the Greek renegado, Magued el Rumi, a 
 man of desperate courage ; and sent it 
 against the ancient city of Cordova. Another 
 was sent against the city of Malaga, and was 
 led by Zayd ben Kesadi, aided by the Bishop 
 Oppas. The third was led by Taric himself, 
 and with this he determined to make a wide 
 sweep through the kingdom.* 
 
 * Cronica de Espana, de Alonzo el Sabio, p. iiL 
 c. 1. 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 181 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 CAPTURE OF GRANADA. SUBJUGATION OP THE 
 ALPUXARRA MOUNTAINS. 
 
 THE terror of the arms of Taric ben Zeyad 
 went before him ; and, at the same time, the 
 report of his lenity to those who submitted 
 without resistance. Wherever he appeared 
 the towns, for the most part, sent forth some 
 of their principal inhabitants to proffer a sur 
 render ; for they were destitute of fortifica 
 tions, and their fighting men had perished in 
 battle. They were all received into allegi 
 ance to the caliph, and were protected from 
 pillage or molestation. 
 
 After marching some distance through 
 the country, he entered one day a vast and 
 beautiful plain, interspersed with villages, 
 adorned with groves and gardens, watered 
 by winding rivers, and surrounded by lofty 
 mountains. It was the famous vega, or 
 
LEGEND OF THE 
 
 plain of Granada, destined to be for ages the 
 favourite abode of the Moslems. When the 
 Arab conquerors beheld this delicious vega, 
 they were lost in admiration ; for it seemed 
 as if the prophet had given them a paradise 
 on earth, as a reward for their services in his 
 cause. 
 
 Taric approached the city of Granada, 
 which had a formidable aspect, seated on 
 lofty hills and fortified with Gothic walls and 
 towers, and with the red castle or citadel, 
 built in times of old by the Phoenicians or 
 the Romans. As the Arab chieftain eyed 
 the place, he was pleased with its stern war 
 rior look, contrasting with the smiling beauty 
 of its vega, and the freshness and voluptuous 
 abundance of its hills and valleys. He 
 pitched his tents before its walls, and made 
 preparations to attack it with all his force. 
 
 The city, however, bore but the semblance 
 of power. The flower of its youth had 
 perished in the battle of the Guadalete ; 
 many of the principal inhabitants had fled to 
 the mountains, and few remained in the city 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 183 
 
 excepting- old men, women, and children, and 
 a number of Jews, which last were well dis 
 posed to take part with the, conquerors. The 
 city, therefore, readily capitulated, and was 
 received into vassalage on favourable terms. 
 The inhabitants were to retain their property, 
 their laws, and their religion ; their churches 
 and priests were to be respected ; and no 
 other tribute was required of them than such 
 as they had been accustomed to pay to their 
 Gothic kings. 
 
 On taking possession of Granada, Taric 
 garrisoned the towers and castles, and left 
 as alcayde, or governor, a chosen warrior 
 named Betiz Aben Habuz, a native of Ara 
 bia Felix, who had distinguished himself by 
 his valour and abilities. This alcayde sub 
 sequently made himself king of Granada, 
 and built a palace on one of its hills ; the 
 remains of which may be seen at the present 
 day.* 
 
 * The house shown as the ancient residence of 
 Aben Habuz is called La Casa del Gallo, or the 
 house of the weathercock ; so named, says Pe- 
 
184 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 Even the delights of Granada had no 
 power to detain the active and ardent Taric. 
 To the east of the city he beheld a lofty chain 
 of mountains, towering to the sky, and 
 crowned with shining snow. These were 
 the " Mountains of the Sun and Air ;" and 
 the perpetual snows on their summits gave 
 birth to streams that fertilised the plains. 
 In their bosoms, shut up among cliffs and 
 precipices, were many small valleys of great 
 
 draza, in his History of Granada, from a bronze 
 figure of an Arab horseman, armed with lance and 
 buckler, which once surmounted it, and which varied 
 with every wind. On this warlike weathercock was 
 inscribed, in Arabic characters, 
 
 " Dice el sabio Aben Habuz 
 Que asi se defiende el Andaluz." 
 
 In this way, says Aben Habuz the wise, 
 The Andalusian his foe defies." 
 
 The Casa del Gallo, even until within twenty 
 years, possessed two great halls beautifully decorated 
 with Morisco reliefs. It then caught fire, and was 
 so damaged as to require to be nearly rebuilt. It 
 is now a manufactory of coarse canvas, and has no 
 thing of the Moorish character remaining. It com 
 mands a beautiful view of the city and the Vega, 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 185 
 
 beauty and abundance. The inhabitants were 
 a bold and hardy race, who looked upon their 
 mountains as everlasting fortresses that could 
 never be taken. The inhabitants of the sur 
 rounding country had fled to these natural 
 fastnesses for refuge, and driven thither their 
 flocks and herds. 
 
 Taric felt that the dominion he had ac 
 quired of the plains would be insecure until 
 he had penetrated and subdued these haughty 
 mountains. Leaving Aben Habuz, therefore, 
 in command of Granada, he marched with 
 his army across the vega, and entered the 
 folds of the sierra, which stretch towards the 
 south. The inhabitants fled with affright on 
 hearing the Moorish trumpets, or beholding 
 the approach of the turbaned horsemen, and 
 plunged deeper into the recesses of their 
 mountains. As the army advanced, the 
 roads became more and more rugged and 
 difficult ; sometimes climbing great rocky 
 heights, and at other times descending ab 
 ruptly into deep ravines, the beds of winter 
 torrents. The mountains were strangely 
 
186 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 wild and sterile ; broken into cliffs and pre 
 cipices of variegated marble. At their feet 
 were little valleys enamelled with groves and 
 gardens, interlaced with silver streams, and 
 studded with villages and hamlets ; but all 
 deserted by their inhabitants. No one ap 
 peared to dispute the inroad of the Moslems, 
 who continued their march with increasing 
 confidence, their pennons fluttering from 
 rock and cliff, and the valleys echoing to the 
 din of trumpet, drum, and cymbal. At 
 length they came to a defile where the moun 
 tains seemed to have been rent asunder to 
 make way for a foaming torrent. The nar 
 row and broken road wound along the dizzy 
 edge of precipices, until it came to where a 
 bridge was thrown across the chasm. It 
 
 o 
 
 was a fearful and gloomy pass ; great beet 
 ling cliffs overhung the road, and the torrent 
 roared below. This awful defile has ever 
 been famous in the warlike history of those 
 mountains, by the name, in former times, of 
 the Barranco de Tocos, and at present of the 
 bridge of Tablete. The Saracen army en- 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 187 
 
 tered fearlessly into the pass ; a part had 
 already crossed the bridge, and was slowly 
 toiling up the rugged road on the opposite 
 side, when great shouts arose, and every 
 cliff appeared suddenly peopled with furious 
 foes. In an instant a deluge of missiles of 
 every sort was rained upon the astonished 
 Moslems. Darts, arrows, javelins, and stones, 
 came whistling down, singling out the most 
 conspicuous cavaliers ; and at times great 
 masses of rock, bounding and thundering 
 along the mountain side, crushed whole ranks 
 at once, or hurled horses and riders over the 
 edge of the precipices. 
 
 It was in vain to attempt to brave this 
 mountain warfare. The enemy were beyond 
 the reach of missiles, and safe from pursuit ; 
 and the horses of the Arabs were here an 
 incumbrance rather than an aid. The trum 
 pets sounded a retreat, and the army retired 
 in tumult and confusion, harassed by the 
 enemy until extricated from the defile. Taric, 
 who had beheld cities and castles surrender 
 ing without a blow, was enraged at being 
 
188 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 braved by a mere horde of mountain boors, 
 and made another attempt to penetrate the 
 mountains, but was again waylaid and op 
 posed with horrible slaughter. 
 
 The fiery son of Ishmael foamed with rage 
 at being thus checked in his career and 
 foiled in his revenge. He was on the point 
 of abandoning the attempt, and returning to 
 the vega, when a Christian boor sought his 
 camp, and was admitted to his presence* 
 The miserable wretch possessed a cabin and 
 a little patch of ground among the moun 
 tains, and offered, if these should be pro 
 tected from ravage, to inform the Arab com 
 mander of a way by which troops of horse 
 might be safely introduced into the bosom of 
 the sierra, and the whole subdued. The 
 name of this caitiff was Fandino, and it de 
 serves to be perpetually recorded with igno 
 miny. His case is an instance how much it 
 is in the power, at times, of the most insig 
 nificant being to do mischief, and how all 
 the valour of the magnanimous and the 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 189 
 
 brave may be defeated by the treason of the 
 selfish and the despicable. 
 
 Instructed by this traitor, the Arab com 
 mander caused ten thousand foot soldiers and 
 four thousand horsemen, commanded by a 
 valiant captain, named Ibrahim Albuxarra, 
 to be conveyed by sea to the little port of 
 Adra, at the Mediterranean foot of the moun 
 tains. Here they landed, and, guided by 
 the traitor, penetrated to the heart of the 
 sierra, laying every thing waste. The 
 brave mountaineers, thus hemmed in between 
 two armies, destitute of fortresses and with 
 out hope of succour, were obliged to capitu 
 late ; but their valour was not without avail, 
 for never, even in Spain, did vanquished 
 people surrender on prouder or more honour 
 able terms. We have named the wretch who 
 betrayed his native mountains : let us equally 
 record the name of him whose pious patriot 
 ism saved them from desolation. It was 
 the reverend Bishop Centerio. While the 
 warriors rested on their arms in grim and 
 
190 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 menacing 1 tranquillity among the cliffs, this 
 venerable prelate descended to the Arab 
 tents in the valley, to conduct the capitula 
 tion. In stipulating for the safety of his 
 people, he did not forget that they were 
 brave men, and that they still had weapons 
 in their hands. He obtained conditions ac 
 cordingly. It was agreed that they should 
 be permitted to retain their houses, lands, 
 and personal effects ; that they should be 
 unmolested in their religion, and their tem 
 ples and priests respected ; and that they 
 should pay no other tribute than such as 
 they had been accustomed to render to their 
 kings. Should they prefer to leave the 
 country and remove to any part of Christen 
 dom, they were to be allowed to sell their 
 possessions ; and to take with them the 
 money, and all their other effects.* 
 
 Ibrahim Albuxarra remained in command 
 of the territory, and the whole sierra, or chain 
 
 * Pedraza, Hist. Granada, p. iii. e. 2. Bleda, 
 Cronica, lib. ii. c. 10. 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 1Q1 
 
 of mountains, took his name, which has since 
 been slightly corrupted into that of the 
 Alpuxarras. The subjugation of this rugged 
 region, however, was for a long time incom 
 plete ; many of the Christians maintained a 
 wild arid hostile independence, living in green 
 glens and scanty valleys among the heights ; 
 and the sierra of the Alpuxarras has, in all 
 ages, been one of the most difficult parts of 
 Andalusia to be subdued. 
 
192 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 EXPEDITION OF MAGUED AGAINST CORDOVA.- 
 DEFENCE OF THE PATRIOT PELISTES. 
 
 WHILE the veteran Taric was making this 
 wide circuit through the land, the expedi 
 tion under Magued the renegado proceeded 
 against the city of Cordova. The inhabitants 
 of that ancient place had beheld the great 
 army of Don Roderick spreading like an in 
 undation over the plain of the Guadalquivir, 
 and had felt confident that it must sweep the 
 infidel invaders from the land. What then 
 was their dismay, when scattered fugitives, 
 wild with horror and affright, brought them 
 tidings of the entire overthrow of that mighty 
 host, and the disappearance of the king ! 
 In the midst of their consternation, the 
 Gothic noble, Pelistes, arrived at their gates, 
 haggard with fatigue of body and anguish 
 of mind, and leading a remnant of his devoted 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 193 
 
 cavaliers, who had survived the dreadful 
 battle of the Guadalete. The people of 
 Cordova knew the valiant and steadfast 
 spirit of Pelistes, and rallied round him as a 
 last hope. " Roderick is fallen," cried they, 
 " and we have neither king nor captain : be 
 unto us as a sovereign ; take command of 
 our city, and protect us in this hour of peril ! " 
 The heart of Pelistes was free from am 
 bition, and was too much broken by grief to 
 be flattered by the offer of command ; but he 
 felt above every thing for the woes of his 
 country, and was ready to assume any des 
 perate service in her cause. "Your city," 
 said he, " is surrounded by walls and towers, 
 and may yet check the progress of the foe. 
 Promise to stand by me to the last, and I will 
 undertake your defence." The inhabitants 
 all promised implicit obedience and devoted 
 zeal : for what will not the inhabitants of a 
 wealthy city promise and profess in a mo 
 ment of alarm ? The instant, however, that 
 they heard of the approach of the Moslem 
 troops, the wealthier citizens packed up their 
 
 K 
 
194 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 effects and fled to the mountains, or to the 
 distant city of Toledo. Even the monks 
 collected the riches of their convents and 
 churches, and fled. Pelistes, though he saw 
 himself thus deserted by those who hafl the 
 greatest interest in the safety of the city, yet 
 determined not to abandon its defence. He 
 had still his faithful though scanty band of 
 cavaliers, and a number of fugitives of the 
 army; in all amounting to about four hundred 
 men. He stationed guards, therefore, at the 
 gates and in the towers, and made every pre 
 paration for a desperate resistance. 
 
 In the mean time, the army of Moslems 
 and apostate Christians advanced, under the 
 command of the Greek renegado, Magued, 
 and guided by the traitor Julian. While 
 they were yet at some distance from the city, 
 their scouts brought to them a shepherd, 
 whom they had surprised on the banks of the 
 Guadalquivir. The trembling hind was an 
 inhabitant of Cordova, and revealed to them 
 the state of the place, and the weakness of 
 ks garrison. 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 195 
 
 "And the walls and gates," said Magued, 
 "are they strong and well guarded ?" 
 
 " The walls are high, and of wondrous 
 strength," replied the shepherd; "and soldiers 
 hold watch at the gates by day and night. 
 But there is one place where the city may be 
 secretly entered. In a part of the wall, not 
 far from the bridge, the battlements are 
 broken, and there is a breach at some height 
 from the ground. Hard by stands a fig 
 tree, by the aid of which the wall may easily 
 be scaled." 
 
 Having received this information, Magued 
 halted with his army, and sent forward 
 several renegado Christians, partisans of 
 Count Julian, who entered Cordova as if 
 flying before the enemy. On a dark and 
 tempestuous night, the Moslems approached 
 to the end of the bridge which crosses the 
 Guadalquivir, and remained in ambush.. 
 Magued took a small party of chosen men, 
 and, guided by the shepherd, forded the 
 stream, and groped silently along the wall to 
 the place where stood the fig tree. The 
 K 2 
 
196 LEGEHD OF THE 
 
 traitors, who had fraudulently entered the 
 city, were ready on the wall to render assist 
 ance. Magued ordered his followers to 
 make use of the long folds of their turbans 
 instead of cords, and succeeded without diffi 
 culty in clambering into the breach. 
 
 Drawing their scimitars, they now hastened 
 to the gate which opened towards the bridge ; 
 the guards, suspecting no assault from within, 
 were taken by surprise, and easily over 
 powered ; the gate was thrown open, and the 
 army that had remained in ambush rushed 
 over the bridge, and entered without oppo 
 sition. 
 
 The alarm had by this time spread 
 throughout the city ; but already a torrent of 
 armed men was pouring through the streets. 
 Pelistes sallied forth with his cavaliers and 
 such of the soldiery as- he could collect, and 
 endeavoured to repel the foe ; but every 
 effort was in vain. The Christians were 
 slowly driven from street to street, and 
 square to square, disputing every inch of 
 ground j until, finding another body of the 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 197 
 
 enemy approaching to attack them in rear, 
 they took refuge in a convent, and succeeded 
 in throwing to and barring the ponderous 
 doors. The Moors attempted to force the 
 gates, but were assailed with such showers of 
 missiles from the windows and battlements 
 that they were obliged to retire. Pelistes 
 examined the convent, and found it admirably 
 calculated for defence. It was of great ex 
 tent, with spacious courts and cloisters. The 
 gates were massive, and secured with bolts 
 and bars ; the walls were of great thickness ; 
 the windows high and grated ; there was a 
 great tank or cistern of water, and the friars, 
 who had fled from the city, had left behind 
 a good supply of provisions. Here, then, 
 Pelistes proposed to make a stand, and to en 
 deavour to hold out until sucour should ar 
 rive from some other city. His proposition 
 was received with shouts by his loyal cava 
 liers ; not one of whom but was ready to lay 
 down his life in the service of his commander. 
 
 K 3 
 
198 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 DEFENCE OF THE CONVENT OF ST. GEORGE BY 
 PELISTES. 
 
 FOR three long and anxious months did the 
 good knight Pelistes and his cavaliers defend 
 their sacred asylum against the repeated 
 assaults of the infidels. The standard of the 
 true faith was constantly displayed from the 
 loftiest tower, and a fire blazed there through 
 out the night, as signals of distress to the sur 
 rounding country. The watchman from his 
 turret kept a wary look out over the land, 
 hoping in every cloud of dust to descry the 
 glittering helms of Christian warriors. The 
 country, however, was forlorn and aban 
 doned, or if perchance a human being was 
 perceived, it was some Arab horseman, 
 careering the plain of the Guadalquivir as 
 fearlessly as if it were his native desert. 
 By degrees the provisions of the convent 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 199 
 
 were consumed, and the cavaliers had to slay 
 their horses, one by one, for food. They 
 suffered the wasting miseries of famine with 
 out a murmur, and always met their com 
 mander with a smile. Pelistes, however, 
 read their sufferings in their wan and ema 
 ciated countenances, and felt more for them 
 than for himself. He was grieved at heart 
 that such loyalty and valour should only lead 
 to slavery or death, and resolved to make 
 one desperate attempt for their deliverance. 
 Assembling them one day in the court of the 
 convent, he disclosed to them his purpose. 
 
 " Comrades and brothers in arms," said 
 he, "it is needless to conceal danger from 
 brave men. Our case is desperate : our 
 countrymen either know not or heed not our 
 situation, or have not the means to help us. 
 There is but one chance of escape ; it is full 
 of peril, and, as your leader, I claim the 
 right to brave it. To-morrow at break of 
 day I will sally forth and make for the city 
 gates at the moment of their being opened ; 
 no one will suspect a solitary horseman ; I 
 K 4 
 
200 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 shall be taken for one of those recreant Chris 
 tians who have basely mingled with the 
 enemy. If I succeed in getting out of the 
 city, I will hasten to Toledo for assistance. 
 In all events I shall be back in less than 
 twenty days. Keep a vigilant look out to 
 ward the nearest mountain. If you behold 
 five lights blazing upon its summit, be as 
 sured I am at hand with succour, and prepare 
 yourselves to sally forth upon the city as 1 
 attack the gates. Should I fail in obtaining 
 aid, I will return to die with you." 
 
 When he had finished, his warriors would 
 fain have severally undertaken the enterprise, 
 and they remonstrated against his exposing 
 himself to such peril ; but he was not to be 
 shaken from his purpose. On the following 
 morning, ere the break of day, his horse was 
 . t ed forth, caparisoned, into the court of the 
 convent, and Pelistes appeared in complete 
 armour. Assembling his cavaliers in the 
 chapel, he prayed with them for some time 
 before the altar of the holy Virgin. Then 
 rising, and standing in the midst of them, 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 01 
 
 * God knows, my companions," said he, 
 * whether we have any longer a country ; if 
 not, better were we in our graves. Loyal 
 and true have ye been to me, and loyal have 
 ye been to my son, even to the hour of his 
 death ; and grieved am I that I have no 
 other means of proving my love for you, 
 than by adventuring my worthless life for 
 your deliverance. All I ask of you before I 
 go, is a solemn promise to defend yourselves 
 to the last like brave men and Christian cava 
 liers, and never to renounce your faith, or 
 throw yourselves on the mercy of the renegado 
 Magued, or the traitor Julian." They all 
 pledged their words, and took a solemn oath 
 to the same effect before the altar. 
 
 Pelistes then embraced them one by one, 
 and gave them his benediction, and as he did 
 so his heart yearned over them, for he felt 
 towards them, not merely as a companion in 
 arms and as a commander, but as a father ; 
 and he took leave of them as if he had been 
 going to his death. The warriors, on their 
 K 5 
 
LEGEND OF THE 
 
 part, crowded round him in silence, kissing 
 his hands and the hem of his surcoat, and 
 many of the sternest shed tears. 
 
 The grey of the dawning had just streaked 
 the east, when Pelistes took lance in hand, 
 hung his shield about his neck, and, mount 
 ing his steed, issued quietly forth from a 
 postern of the convent. He paced slowly 
 through the vacant streets, and the tramp of 
 his steed echoed afar in that silent hour ; 
 but no one suspected a warrior, moving 
 thus singly and tranquilly in an armed city, 
 to be an enemy. He arrived at the gate 
 just at the hour of opening ; a foraging 
 party was entering with cattle and with 
 beasts of burthen, and he passed unheeded 
 through the throng. As soon as he was 
 out of sight of the soldiers who guarded the 
 gate, he quickened his pace, and at length, 
 galloping at full speed; succeeded in gain 
 ing the mountains. Here he paused, and 
 alighted at a solitary farm-house to breathe 
 his panting steed ; but had scarce put foot 
 to ground when he heard the distant sound 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 203 
 
 of pursuit, and beheld a horseman spurring 
 up the mountain. 
 
 Throwing himself again upon his steed, 
 he abandoned the road and galloped across 
 the rugged heights. The deep dry channel 
 of a torrent checked his career, and his 
 horse, stumbling upon the margin, rolled with 
 his rider to the bottom. Pelistes was sorely 
 bruised by the fall, and his whole visage 
 was bathed in blood. His horse, too, was 
 maimed and unable to stand, so that there 
 was no hope of escape. The enemy drew 
 near, and proved to be no other than Ma- 
 gued the renegado general, who had per 
 ceived him as he issued forth from the city, 
 and had followed singly in pursuit. " Well 
 met, senor alcayde!" exclaimed he, "and 
 overtaken in good time. Surrender your 
 self my prisoner." 
 
 Pelistes made no other reply than by 
 drawing his sword, bracing his shield, and 
 preparing for defence. Magued, though an 
 apostate, and a fierce warrior, possessed 
 some sparks of knightly magnanimity. See- 
 K 6 
 
204 LEGEND Of THE 
 
 ing his adversary dismounted, he disdained 
 to take him at a disadvantage, but, alighting* 
 tied his horse to a tree. 
 
 The conflict that ensued was desperate 
 and doubtful, for seldom had two warriors 
 met so well matched or of equal prowess. 
 Their shields were hacked to pieces, the 
 ground was strewed with fragments of their 
 armour, and stained with their blood. They 
 paused repeatedly to take breath ; regarding 
 each other with wonder and admiration. 
 Pelistes, however, had been previously in 
 jured by his fall, and fought to great dis 
 advantage. The renegado perceived it, and 
 sought not to slay him, but to take him 
 alive. Shifting his ground continually, he 
 wearied his antagonist, who was growing 
 weaker and weaker from the loss of blood. At 
 length Pelistes seemed to summon up all his 
 remaining strength to make a signal blow ; 
 it was skilfully parried, and he fell prostrate 
 upon the ground. The renegado ran up, 
 and, putting his foot upon his sword, and the 
 point of his scimitar to his throat, called 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 205 
 
 upon him to ask his life ; but Pelistes lay 
 without sense, and as one dead. Magued 
 then unlaced the helmet of his vanquished 
 enemy, and seated himself on a rock beside 
 him, to recover breath. In this situation 
 the warriors were found by certain Moorish 
 cavaliers, who marvelled much at the traces 
 of that stern and bloody combat. 
 
 Finding there was yet life in the Christian 
 knight, they laid him upon one of their 
 horses, and, aiding Magued to remount his 
 steed, proceeded slowly to the city. As the 
 convoy passed by the convent, the cavaliers 
 looked forth and beheld their commander 
 borne along bleeding and a captive. Furious 
 at the sight, they sallied forth to the rescue, 
 but were repulsed by a superior force, and 
 driven back to the great portal of the church. 
 The enemy entered pell-mell with them, 
 fighting from aisle to aisle, from altar to 
 altar, and in the courts and cloisters of the 
 convent. The greater part of the cavaliers 
 died bravely, sword in hand; the rest were 
 disabled with wounds and made prisoners. 
 
206 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 The convent, which was lately their castle, 
 was now made their prison, and in after-times, 
 in commemoration of this event, was conse 
 crated by the name of St. George of the 
 Captives. 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 207 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 MEETING BETWEEN THE PATRIOT FELISTES AND 
 THE TRAITOR JULIAN. 
 
 THE loyalty and prowess of the good knight 
 Pelistes had gained him the reverence even 
 of his enemies. He was for a long time 
 disabled by his wounds, during which he 
 was kindly treated by the Arab chieftains, 
 who strove by every courteous means to 
 cheer his sadness and make him forget that 
 he was a captive. When he was recovered 
 from his wounds they gave him a magnifi 
 cent banquet, to testify their admiration of 
 his virtues. 
 
 Pelistes appeared at the banquet clad in 
 sable armour, and with a countenance pale 
 and dejected ; for the ills of his country ever 
 more preyed upon his heart. Among the 
 assembled guests was Count Julian, who 
 held a high command in the Moslem army, 
 
LEGEND OF THE 
 
 and was arrayed in garments of mingled 
 Christian and Morisco fashion. Pelistes 
 had been a close and bosom friend of Julian 
 in former times, and had served with him in 
 the wars in Africa; but when the Count 
 advanced to accost him with his wonted 
 amity, he turned away in silence and deigned 
 not to notice him ; neither, during the whole 
 of the repast, did he address to him ever a 
 word, but treated him as one unknown* 
 
 When the banquet was nearly at a close, 
 the discourse turned upon the events of the 
 war ; and the Moslem chieftains, in great 
 courtesy, dwelt upon the merits of many of 
 the Christian cavaliers who had fallen in 
 battle, and all extolled the valour of those 
 who had recently perished in the defence of 
 the convent. Pelistes remained silent for 
 a time, and checked the grief which swelled 
 within his bosom as he thought of his de 
 voted cavaliers. At length, lifting up his 
 voice, " Happy are the dead," said he, " for 
 they rest in peace, and are gone to receive 
 the reward of their piety and valour ! I 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 209 
 
 could mourn over the loss of my companions 
 in arms, but they have fallen with honour, 
 and are spared the wretchedness I feel in 
 witnessing the thraldom of my country. I 
 have seen my only son, the pride and hope 
 of my age, cut down at my side ; I have 
 beheld kindred friends and followers falling 
 one by one around me, and have become so 
 seasoned to those losses that I have ceased to 
 weep. Yet there is one man over whose 
 loss I will never cease to grieve. He was 
 the loved companion of my youth, and the 
 steadfast associate of my graver years. He 
 was one of the most loyal of Christian 
 knights. As a friend he was loving and 
 sincere ; as a warrior his achievements were 
 above all praise. What has become of him, 
 alas ! I know not. If fallen in battle, and I 
 knew where his bones were laid, whether 
 bleaching on the plains of Xeres, or buried 
 in the waters of the Guadalete, I would seek 
 them out and enshrine them as the relics 
 of a sainted patriot. Or if, like many of 
 his companions in arms, he should be driven 
 
LEGEND OF THE 
 
 to wander in foreign lands, I would join 
 him in his hapless exile, and we would 
 mourn together over the desolation of our 
 country ! " 
 
 Even the hearts of the Arab warriors were 
 touched by the lament of the good Pelistes, 
 and they said "Who was this peerless 
 friend, in whose praise thou art so fervent ? " 
 
 " His name," replied Pelistes, "was Count 
 Julian." 
 
 The Moslem warriors stared with surprise. 
 " Noble cavalier," exclaimed they, " has 
 grief disordered thy senses ? Behold thy 
 friend living, and standing before thee, and 
 yet thou dost not know him ! This, this is 
 Count Julian ! " 
 
 Upon this, Pelistes turned his eyes upon 
 the count, and regarded him for a time, with 
 a lofty and stern demeanour ; and the counte 
 nance of Julian darkened, and was troubled, 
 and his eye sank beneath the regard of that 
 loyal and honourable cavalier. And Pelistes 
 said, " In the name of God, I charge thee, 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 
 
 man unknown ! to answer. Dost thou pre 
 sume to call thyself Count Julian?" 
 
 The count reddened with anger at these 
 words. " Pelistes," said he, " what means 
 this mockery ? Thou knowest me well ; thou 
 knowest me for Count Julian ? " 
 
 "I know .thee for a base impostor!" 
 cried Pelistes. " Count Julian was a noble 
 Gothic knight ; but thou appearest in mon 
 grel Moorish garb. Count Julian was a 
 Christian, faithful and devout ; but I behold 
 in thee a renegado and an infidel. Count 
 Julian was ever loyal to his king, and fore 
 most in his country s cause : were he living, 
 he would be the first to put shield on neck 
 and lance in rest, to clear the land of her 
 invaders : but thou art a hoary traitor ! thy 
 hands are stained with the royal blood of the 
 Goths, and thou hast betrayed thy country 
 and thy God. Therefore, I again repeat, 
 man unknown ! if thou sayest thou art Count 
 Julian, thou liest ! My friend, alas ! is dead ; 
 and thou art some fiend from hell, which 
 
LEGEND OF THE 
 
 has taken possession of his body to dis 
 honour his memory and render him an ab 
 horrence among- men ! " So saying, Pelistes 
 turned his back upon the traitor, and went 
 forth from the banquet ; leaving Count 
 Julian overwhelmed with confusion, and an 
 object of scorn to all the Moslem cavaliers. 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 HOW TARIC EL TUERTO CAPTURED THE CITY OP 
 TOLEDO THROUGH THE AID OF THE JEWS, AND 
 HOW HE FOUND THE FAMOUS TALISMANIC 
 TABLE OF SOLOMON. 
 
 WHILE these events were passing in Cor 
 dova, the one-eyed Arab general, Taric el 
 Tuerto, having subdued the city and vega of 
 Granada, and the Mountains of the Sun and 
 Air, directed his march into the interior of 
 the kingdom to attack the ancient city of 
 Toledo, the capital of the Gothic kings. So 
 great was the terror caused by the rapid con 
 quests of the invaders, that, at the very 
 rumour of their approach, many of the in 
 habitants, though thus in the very citadel of 
 the kingdom, abandoned it and fled to the 
 mountains with their families. Enough re 
 mained, however, to have made a formid 
 able defence ; and, as the city was seated on 
 a lofty rock, surrounded by massive walls 
 
LEGEND OF THE 
 
 and towers, and almost girdled by the Tagus, 
 it threatened a long resistance. The Arab 
 warriors pitched their tents in the vega, on 
 the borders of the river, and prepared for a 
 tedious siege. 
 
 One evening, as Taric was seated in his 
 tent meditating on the mode in which he 
 should assail this rock-built city, certain of 
 the patroles of the camp brought a stranger 
 before him. " As we were going our 
 rounds," said they, " we beheld this man 
 lowered down with cords from a tower, and 
 he delivered himself into our hands, praying 
 to be conducted to thy presence, that he 
 might reveal to thee certain things important 
 for thee to know." 
 
 Taric fixed his eyes upon the stranger: 
 he was a Jewish rabbi, with a long beard 
 which spread upon his gabardine, and de 
 scended even to his girdle. " What hast 
 thou to reveal ?" said he to the Israelite. 
 " What I have to reveal," replied the other, 
 " is for thee alone to hear : command then, 
 I entreat thee, that these men withdraw." 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 215 
 
 When they were alone he addressed Taric in 
 Arabic: "Know, O leader of the host of 
 Islam," said he, " that I am sent to thee on 
 the part of the children of Israel resident in 
 Toledo. We have been oppressed and in 
 sulted by the Christians in the time of their 
 prosperity, and now that they are threatened 
 with siege, they have taken from us all our 
 provisions and our money ; they have com 
 pelled us to work like slaves, repairing their 
 walls ; and they oblige us to bear arms and 
 guard a part of the towers. We abhor their 
 yoke, and are ready, if thou wilt receive us as 
 subjects, and permit us the free enjoyment of 
 our religion and our property, to deliver the 
 towers we guard into thy hands, and to give 
 thee safe entrance into the city." 
 
 The Arab chief was overjoyed at this pro 
 position, and he rendered much honour to 
 the rabbi, and gave orders to clothe him in 
 a costly robe, and to perfume his beard with 
 essences of a pleasant odour, so that he was 
 the most sweet smelling of his tribe ; and 
 he said, " Make thy words good, and put 
 
LEGEND OF THE 
 
 me in possession of the city, and I will do all 
 and more than thou hast required, and will 
 bestow countless wealth upon thee and thy 
 brethren." 
 
 Then a plan was devised between them by 
 which the city was to be betrayed and given 
 up. " But how shall I be secured," said he, 
 " that all thy tribe will fulfil what thou hast 
 engaged, and that this is not a stratagem to 
 get me and my people into your power ?" 
 
 " This shall be thy assurance," replied the 
 rabbi : " ten of the principal Israelites will 
 come to this tent and remain as hostages." 
 
 " It is enough," said Taric ; and he made 
 oath to accomplish all that he had promised ; 
 and the Jewish hostages came and delivered 
 themselves into his hands. 
 
 On a dark night, a chosen band of Moslem 
 warriors approached the part of the walls 
 guarded by the Jews, and were secretly ad 
 mitted into a postern gate and concealed 
 within a tower. Three thousand Arabs were 
 at the same time placed in ambush among 
 rocks and thickets, in a place on the opposite 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 217 
 
 side of the river, commanding a view of the 
 city. On the following morning Taric ra 
 vaged the gardens of the valley, and set fire 
 to the farm-houses, and then, breaking up 
 his camp, inarched off as if abandoning the 
 siege. 
 
 The people of Toledo gazed with astonish 
 ment from their walls at the retiring squa 
 drons of the enemy, and scarcely could credit 
 their unexpected deliverance ; before night, 
 there was not a turban nor a hostile lance to 
 be seen in the vega. They attributed it all 
 to the special intervention of their patron 
 saint, Leocadia ; and the following day being 
 Palm Sunday, they sallied forth in proces 
 sion, man, woman, and child, to the church 
 of that blessed saint, which is situated with 
 out the walls, that they might return thanks 
 for her marvellous protection. 
 
 When all Toledo had thus poured itself 
 forth, and was marching with cross and relic 
 and solemn chaunt towards the chapel, the 
 Arabs, who had been concealed in the tower, 
 rushed forth and barred the gates of the city. 
 
 L 
 
LEGEND OF THE 
 
 While some guarded the gates, others- dis 
 persed themselves about the streets, slaying 
 all who made resistance ; and others kindled 
 a fire and made a column of smoke on the 
 top of the citadel. At sight of this signal 
 the Arabs, in ambush beyond the river, rose 
 with a great shout, and attacked the multi 
 tude who were thronging to the church of 
 St. Leocadia. There was a great massacre, 
 although the people were without arms, and 
 made no resistance ; and it is said, in ancient 
 chronicles, that it was the apostate Bishop 
 Oppas who guided the Moslems to their 
 prey, and incited them to this slaughter. 
 The pious reader, says Fray Antonio Aga- 
 pida, will be slow to believe such turpitude ; 
 but there is nothing more venomous than the 
 rancour of an apostate priest ; for the best 
 things in this world, when corrupted, become 
 the worst and most banefuL 
 
 Many of the Christians had taken refuge 
 within the church, and had barred the doors ; 
 but Oppas commanded that fire should be set 
 to the portals, threatening to put every one 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 219 
 
 within to the sword. Happily the veteran 
 Taric arrived just in time to stay the fury 
 of this reverend renegado. He ordered the 
 trumpets to call off the troops from the car 
 nage, and extended grace to all the surviving 
 inhabitants. They were permitted to remain 
 in quiet possession of their homes and effects, 
 paying only a moderate tribute ; and they 
 were allowed to exercise the rites of their 
 religion in the existing churches, to the num 
 ber of seven, but were prohibited from erect 
 ing any others. Those who preferred to 
 leave the city were suffered to depart in 
 safety, but not to take with them any of their 
 wealth. 
 
 Immense spoil was found by Taric in the 
 alcazar, or royal castle, situated on a rocky 
 eminence, in the highest part of the city. 
 Among the regalia treasured up in a secret 
 chamber, were twenty-five regal crowns of 
 fine gold, garnished with jacynths, amethysts, 
 diamonds, and other precious stones. These 
 were tlie crowns of the different Gothic kings 
 
LEGEND OF THE 
 
 who had reigned in Spain ; it having been 
 the usage, on the death of each king, to 
 deposit his crown in this treasury, inscribing 
 on it his name and age.* 
 
 When Taric was thus in possession of the 
 city, the Jews came to him in procession, 
 with songs and dances, and the sound of 
 timbrel and psaltry, hailing him as their lord, 
 and reminding him of his promises. 
 
 The son of Ishmael kept his word with 
 the children of Israel : they were protected 
 in the possession of all their wealth, and the 
 exercise of their religion ; and were, more 
 over, rewarded with jewels of gold, and 
 jewels of silver, and much monies.t 
 
 A subsequent expedition was led by Taric 
 against Guadalaxara, which surrendered 
 without resistance : he moreover captured 
 the city of Medina Celi, where he found an 
 
 * Conde, Hist, de las Arabes en Espana, c. 12. 
 
 f The stratagem of the Jews of Toledo is re 
 corded briefly by Bishop Lucas de Tuy, in his chro 
 nicle, but is related at large in the chronicle of the 
 Moor Rasis. 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 
 
 inestimable table which had formed a part 
 of the spoil taken at Rome by Alaric, at the 
 time that the sacred city was conquered by 
 the Goths. It was composed of one single 
 and entire emerald, and possessed talismanic 
 powers ; for tradition affirms that it was the 
 work of genii, and had been wrought by 
 them for King Solomon the Wise, the son of 
 David. This marvellous relic was carefully 
 preserved by Taric, as the most precious of 
 all his spoils, being intended by him as a 
 present to the caliph ; and in commemoration 
 of it, the city was called by the Arabs, Me 
 dina Almeyda ; that is to say, " The City of 
 the Table."* 
 
 * According to Arabian legends, this table was a 
 mirror revealing all great events ; insomuch that by 
 looking on it the possessor might behold battles and 
 sieges and feats of chivalry, and all actions worthy 
 of renown ; and might thus ascertain the truth of all 
 historic transactions. It was a mirror of history, 
 therefore, and had very probably aided King Solo 
 mon in acquiring that prodigious knowledge and 
 wisdom for which he was renowned. 
 
 L 3 
 
2S2 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 Having made these and other conquests of 
 less importance, and having collected great 
 quantities of gold and silver, and rich stuffs 
 and precious stones, Taric returned with his 
 booty to the royal city of Toledo. 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN". 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 MUZA BEN NOZIER. - HIS ENTRANCE INTO SPAIN, 
 AND CAPTURE OF CARMONA. 
 
 us leave for a season the bold Taric in 
 his triumphant progress from city to city, 
 while we turn our eyes to Muza ben Nozier, 
 the renowned emir of Almagreb, and the 
 eommander-m-chief of the Moslem forces of 
 the west. When that jealous chieftain had 
 despatched his letter commanding Taric to 
 pause and await his coming, he immediately 
 made every preparation to enter Spain with 
 a powerful reinforcement, and to take com 
 mand of the conquering army. He left his 
 eldest son, Abdalasis, in Caervan, with au 
 thority over Almagreb, or Western Africa. 
 This Abdalasis was in the flower of his 
 youth, and beloved by the soldiery for the 
 magnanimity and the engaging affability 
 which graced his courage. 
 
LEGEND OF THE 
 
 Muza ben Nozier crossed the strait of 
 Hercules with a chosen force of ten thousand 
 horse and eight thousand foot, Arabs and 
 Africans. He was accompanied by his two 
 sons, Meruan and Abdelola, and by nume 
 rous illustrious Arabian cavaliers of the tribe 
 of Koreish. He landed his shining legions 
 on the coast of Andalusia, and pitched his 
 tents near to the Guadiana. There first he 
 received intelligence of the disobedience of 
 Taric to his orders, and that, without waiting 
 his arrival, the impetuous chieftain had con 
 tinued his career, and with his light Arab 
 squadrons had overrun and subdued the 
 noblest provinces and cities of the kingdom. 
 
 The jealous spirit of Muza was still more 
 exasperated by these tidings : he looked upon 
 Taric no longer as a friend and coadjutor, 
 but as an invidious rival, the decided enemy 
 of his glory ; and he determined on his ruin. 
 His first consideration, however, was to se 
 cure to himself a share in the actual conquest 
 of the land, before it should be entirely sub 
 jugated. 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 
 
 Taking guides, therefore, from among 
 his Christian captives, he set out to subdue 
 such parts of the country as had not been 
 visited by Taric. The first place which he 
 assailed was the ancient city of Carmona : it 
 was not of great magnitude, but was forti 
 fied with high walls and massive towers, and 
 many of the fugitives of the late army had 
 thrown themselves into it. 
 
 The Goths had by this time recovered 
 from their first panic ; they had become ac 
 customed to the sight of Moslem troops, 
 and their native courage had been roused by 
 danger. Shortly after the Arabs had en 
 camped before their walls, a band of cavaliers 
 made a sudden sally one morning before the 
 break of day, fell upon the enemy by sur 
 prise, killed above three hundred of them in 
 their tents, and effected their retreat into the 
 city ; leaving twenty of their number dead, 
 covered with honourable wounds, and in the 
 very centre of the camp. 
 
 On the following day they made another 
 sally, and fell on a different quurter of the 
 
LEGEND OF THE 
 
 encampment : but the Arabs were on their 
 guard, and met them with superior numbers. 
 After fighting fiercely for a time, they were 
 routed, and fled full speed for the city, with 
 the Arabs hard upon their traces. The 
 guards within feared to open the gate, lest 
 with their friends they should admit a tor 
 rent of enemies. Seeing themselves thus 
 shut out, the fugitives determined to die like 
 brave soldiers rather than surrender. Wheel 
 ing suddenly round, they opened a path 
 through the host of their pursuers, fought 
 their way back to the camp, and raged about 
 it with desperate fury until they were all 
 slain, after having killed above eight hundred 
 of the enemy.* 
 
 Muza now ordered that the place should 
 be taken by storm. The Moslems assailed 
 it on all sides, but were vigorously resisted ; 
 many were slain by showers of stones, arrows, 
 and boiling pitch, and many who had mount 
 ed with scaling ladders were thrown headlong 
 
 * Abulcasim. Perdita de Espana, lib. i. c. 13. 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 
 
 jfrom the battlements. The alcayde, Galo, 
 aided solely by two men, defended a tower 
 and a portion of the wall ; killing and 
 wounding, with a cross-bow, more than 
 eighty of the enemy. The attack lasted 
 above half a day, when the Moslems were 
 repulsed with the loss of fifteen hundred men. 
 
 Muza was astonished and exasperated at 
 meeting with such formidable resistance from 
 so small a city ; for it was one of the few 
 places, during that memorable conquest, 
 where the Gothic valour shone forth with its 
 proper lustre. While the Moslem army lay 
 encamped before the place, it was joined by 
 Magued the renegado and Count Julian the 
 traitor, with one thousand horsemen ; most 
 of them recreant Christians, base betrayers 
 of their country, and more savage in their 
 warfare than the Arabs of the desert. To 
 find favour in the eyes of Muza, and to 
 evince his devotion to the cause, the count 
 undertook, by wily stratagem, to put this 
 gallant city in his power. 
 
 One evening, just at twilight, a number of 
 L 6 
 
228 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 Christians, habited as travelling merchants? 
 arrived at one of the gates, conducting a 
 train of mules laden with arms and warlike 
 munitions. " Open the gate quickly," cried 
 they ; " we bring supplies for the garrison, 
 but the Arabs have discovered, and are in 
 pursuit of us." The gate was thrown open ; 
 the merchants entered with their beasts of 
 burden, and were joyfully received. Meat 
 and drink were placed before them ; and after 
 they had refreshed themselves they retired to 
 the quarters allotted to them. 
 
 These pretended merchants were Count 
 Julian and a number of his partisans. At 
 the hour of midnight they stole forth silent 
 ly, and, assembling together, proceeded to 
 what was called the Gate of Cordova. Here 
 setting suddenly upon the unsuspecting 
 guards, they put them to the edge of the 
 sword, and, throwing open the gates, admitted 
 a great body of the Arabs. The inhabitants 
 were roused from their sleep by sound of 
 drum and trumpet, and the clattering of 
 horses. The Arabs scoured the streets ; a 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 229 
 
 horrible massacre was commenced, in which 
 none were spared but such of the females as 
 were young and beautiful, and fitted to grace 
 the harems of the conquerors. The arrival 
 of Muza put an end to the pillage and the 
 slaughter, and he granted favourable terms 
 to the survivors. Thus the valiant little city 
 of Carmona, after nobly resisting the open 
 assaults of the infidels, fell a victim to the 
 treachery of apostate Christians.* 
 
 * Cron. Gen. de Espana, por Alonzo el Sabio, 
 p. iii. c. 1. 
 
230 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 MUZA MARCHES AGAINST THE CITY OF SEVILLE. 
 
 AFTER the capture of Carmona, Muza de 
 scended into a noble plain, covered with 
 fields of grain, with orchards and gardens, 
 through which glided the soft-flowing Gua 
 dalquivir. On the borders of the river stood 
 the ancient city of Seville, surrounded by 
 Roman walls, and defended by its golden 
 tower. Understanding from his spies that 
 the city had lost the flower of its youth in the 
 battle of the Guadalete, Muza anticipated but 
 a faint resistance. A considerable force, 
 however, still remained within the place, and 
 what they wanted in numbers they made up 
 in resolution. For some days they withstood 
 the assaults of the enemy, and defended their 
 walls with great courage. Their want of 
 warlike munitions, however, and the superior 
 force and skill of the besieging army, left 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. %3l 
 
 the m no hope of being able to hold out long. 
 There were two youthful cavaliers of un 
 common valour in the city. They assembled 
 the warriors, and addressed them. " We 
 cannot save the city," said they, " but at 
 least we may save ourselves, and preserve so 
 many strong arms for the service of our 
 country. Let us cut our way through the 
 infidel force and gain some secure fortress, 
 from whence we may return with augmented 
 numbers for the rescue of the city." 
 
 The advice of the young cavaliers was 
 adopted. In the dead of the night the 
 garrison assembled, to the number of about 
 three thousand ; the most part mounted on 
 horseback. Suddenly sallying from one of 
 the gates, they rushed in a compact body 
 upon the camp of the Saracens, which was 
 negligently guarded ; for the Moslems ex 
 pected no such act of desperation. The 
 camp was a scene of great carnage and con 
 fusion ; many were slain on both sides ; the 
 two valiant leaders of the Christians fell 
 covered with wounds, but the main body 
 
LEGEND OF THE 
 
 succeeded in forcing their way through the 
 centre of the army, and in making their re 
 treat to Beja in Lusitania. 
 
 Muza was at a loss to know the meaning 
 of this desperate sally. In the morning he 
 perceived the gates of the city wide open. 
 A number of ancient and venerable men pre 
 sented themselves at his tent, offering sub 
 mission and imploring mercy ; for none were 
 left in the place but the old, the infirm, and 
 the miserable. Muza listened to them with 
 compassion, and granted their prayer ; and 
 the only tribute he exacted was three 
 measures of wheat and three of barley from 
 each house or family. He placed a garrison 
 of Arabs in the city, and left there a number 
 of Jews to form a body of population. 
 Having thus secured two important places in 
 Andalusia, he passed the boundaries of the 
 province, and advanced with great martial 
 pomp into Lusitania. 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 233 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 MUZA BESIEGES THE CITY OF MERIDA. 
 
 THE army of Muza was now augmented to 
 about eighteen thousand horsemen ; but he 
 took with him but few foot soldiers, leaving 
 them to garrison the conquered towns. He 
 met with no resistance on his entrance into 
 Lusitania. City after city laid its keys at 
 his feet, and implored to be received in 
 peaceful vassalage. One city alone prepared 
 for vigorous defence, the ancient Merida, a 
 place of great extent, uncounted riches, and 
 prodigious strength. A noble Goth named 
 Sacarus was the governor ; a man of con 
 summate wisdom, patriotism, and valour. 
 Hearing of the approach of the invaders, 
 he gathered within the walls all the people 
 of the surrounding country, with their horses 
 and mules, their flocks and herds, and most 
 precious effects. To insure for a long time 
 
LEGEND OF THE 
 
 a supply of bread, he filled the magazines 
 with grain, and erected windmills on the 
 churches. This done, he laid waste the 
 surrounding country to a great extent, so 
 that a besieging army would have to encamp 
 in a desert. 
 
 When Muza came in sight of this mag 
 nificent city, he was struck with admiration. 
 He remained for some time gazing in silence 
 upon its mighty walls and lordly towers, its 
 vast extent, and the stately palaces and tem 
 ples with which it was adorned. " Surely," 
 cried he, at length, " all the people of the 
 earth have combined their power and skill 
 to embellish and aggrandise this city. Allah 
 Achbar ! Happy will he be who shall have 
 the glory of making such a conquest ! " 
 
 Seeing that a place so populous and so 
 strongly fortified would be likely to maintain 
 a long and formidable resistance, he sent 
 messengers to Africa to his son Abdalasis, 
 to collect all the forces that could be spared 
 from the garrisons of Mauritania, and to 
 hasten and reinforce him. 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 235 
 
 While Muza was forming his encamp 
 ment, deserters from the city brought him 
 word that a chosen band intended to sally 
 forth at midnight and surprise his camp. 
 The Arab commander immediately took 
 measures to receive them with a counter 
 surprise. Having formed his plan, and com 
 municated it to his principal officers, he 
 ordered that, throughout the day, there 
 should be kept up an appearance of negligent 
 confusion in his encampment. The outposts 
 were feebly guarded ; fires were lighted in 
 various places, as if preparing for feasting ; 
 bursts of music and shouts of revelry re 
 sounded from different quarters, and the 
 whole camp seemed to be rioting in careless 
 security on the plunder of the land. As the 
 night advanced, the fires were gradually 
 extinguished, and silence ensued, as if the 
 soldiery had sunk into deep sleep after the 
 carousal. 
 
 In the mean time, bodies of troops had 
 been secretly and silently marched to rein 
 force the outposts 5 and the renegado Ma- 
 
286 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 gued, with a numerous force, had formed an 
 ambuscade in a deep stone quarry by which 
 the Christians would have to pass. These 
 preparations being made, they awaited the 
 approach of the enemy in breathless silence. 
 
 About midnight, the chosen force intended 
 for the sally assembled, and the command 
 was confided to Count Tendero, a Gothic 
 cavalier of tried prowess. After having 
 heard a solemn mass, and received the bene 
 diction of the priest, they marched out of 
 the gate with all possible silence. They 
 were suffered to pass the ambuscade in the 
 quarry without molestation : as they ap 
 proached the Moslem camp, every thing 
 appeared quiet ; for the foot soldiers were 
 concealed in slopes and hollows, and every 
 Arab horseman lay in his armour beside his 
 steed. The sentinels on the outposts waited 
 until the Christians were close at hand, and 
 then fled in apparent consternation. 
 
 Count Tendero gave the signal for assault, 
 and the Christians rushed confidently for 
 ward. In an instant an uproar of drums, 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 237 
 
 trumpets, and shrill war cries burst forth 
 from every side. An army seemed to spring- 
 up from the earth ; squadrons of horse came 
 thundering on them in front, while the 
 quarry poured forth legions of armed war 
 riors in their rear. 
 
 The noise of the terrific conflict that took 
 place was heard on the city walls, and 
 answered by shouts of exultation ; for the 
 Christians thought it rose from the terror 
 and confusion of the Arab camp. In a little 
 while, however, they were undeceived by 
 fugitives from the fight, aghast with terror, 
 and covered with wounds. " Hell itself," 
 cried they, " is on the side of these infidels ; 
 the earth casts forth warriors and steeds to 
 aid them. We have fought, not with men, 
 but devils ! " 
 
 The greater part of the chosen troops who 
 had sallied were cut to pieces in that scene 
 of massacre, for they had been confounded 
 by the tempest of battle which suddenly 
 broke forth around them. Count Tendero 
 fought with desperate valour, and fell covered 
 
238 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 with wounds. His body was found the next 
 morning, lying among the slain, and trans 
 pierced with half a score of lances. The 
 renegado Magued cut off his head and tied 
 it to the tail of his horse, and repaired with 
 this savage trophy to the tent of Muza ; but 
 the hostility of the Arab general was of a 
 less malignant kind. He ordered that the 
 head and body should be placed together 
 upon a bier, and treated with becoming re 
 verence. 
 
 In the course of the day, a train of priests 
 and friars came forth from the city to request 
 permission to seek for the body of the count. 
 Muza delivered it to them, with many soldier 
 like encomiums on the valour of that good 
 cavalier. The priests covered it with a pall 
 of cloth of gold, and bore it back in melan 
 choly procession to the city, where it was 
 received with loud lamentations. 
 
 The siege was now pressed with great 
 vigour, and repeated assaults were made, 
 but in vain. Muza saw at length that the 
 walls were too high to be scaled, and the 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 239 
 
 gates too strong to be burst open without 
 the aid of engines ; and he desisted from the 
 attack until machines for the purpose could 
 be constructed. The governor suspected 
 from this cessation of active warfare, that 
 the enemy flattered themselves to reduce the 
 place by famine ; he caused, therefore, large 
 baskets of bread to be thrown from the wall, 
 and sent a messenger to Muza to inform him 
 that if his army should be in want of bread, 
 he would supply it, having sufficient corn in 
 his granaries for a ten years siege.* 
 
 The citizens, however, did not possess 
 the undaunted spirit of their governor. 
 When they found that the Moslems were 
 constructing tremendous engines for the de 
 struction of their walls, they lost all courage, 
 and, surrounding the governor in a clamor 
 ous multitude, compelled him to send forth 
 persons to capitulate. 
 
 The ambassadors came into the presence of 
 Muza with awe ; for they expected to find a 
 
 * Bleda, Cronica, lib. ii. c. 11. 
 
240 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 fierce and formidable warrior in one who had 
 filled the land with terror : but, to their 
 astonishment, they beheld an ancient and 
 venerable man, with white hair, a snowy 
 beard, and a pale emaciated countenance. 
 He had passed the previous night without 
 sleep, and had been all day in the field : he 
 was exhausted, therefore, by watchfulness and 
 fatigue ; and his garments were covered with 
 dust. 
 
 "What a devil of a man is this," mur 
 mured the ambassadors one to another, " to 
 undertake such a siege when on the verge of 
 the grave ! Let us defend our city the best 
 way we can ; surely we can hold out longer 
 than the life of this greybeard." 
 
 They returned to the city, therefore, scof 
 fing at an invader who seemed fitter to lean 
 on a crutch than wield a lance ; and the 
 terms offered by Muza, which would other 
 wise have been thought favourable, were 
 scornfully rejected by the inhabitants. A 
 few days put an end to this mistaken con 
 fidence. Abdalasis, the son of Muza, arrived 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 
 
 from Africa, at the head of his reinforce 
 ment : he brought seven thousand horsemen, 
 and a host of Barbary archers ; and made a 
 glorious display as he marched into the 
 camp. The arrival of this youthful warrior 
 was hailed with great acclamations ; so much 
 had he won the hearts of the soldiery by the 
 frankness, and suavity, and generosity of his 
 conduct. Immediately after his arrival, a 
 grand assault was made upon the city ; and 
 several of the huge battering engines being 
 finished, they were wheeled up, and began 
 to thunder against the walls. 
 
 The unsteady populace were again seized 
 with terror ; and, surrounding their governor 
 with fresh clamours, obliged him to send 
 forth ambassadors a second time to treat of 
 a surrender. When admitted to the presence 
 of Muza, the ambassadors could scarcely 
 believe their eyes ; or that this was the same 
 withered, white-headed old man, of whom 
 they had lately spoken with scoffing. His 
 hair and beard were tinged of a ruddy 
 brown ; his countenance was refreshed by 
 M 
 
LEGEND OF THE 
 
 repose, and flushed with indignation ; and 
 he appeared a man in the matured vigour of 
 his days. The ambassadors were struck 
 with awe. " Surely," whispered they, one 
 to the other, " this must be either a devil or 
 a magician, who can thus make himself old 
 and young at pleasure ! " 
 
 Muza received them haughtily. " Hence! " 
 said he, " and tell your people I grant them 
 the same terms 1 have already proffered, 
 provided the city be instantly surrendered ; 
 but, by the head of Mahomet, if there be any 
 further delay not one mother s son of ye 
 shall receive mercy at my hands ! " 
 
 The deputies returned into the city pale 
 and dismayed. "Go forth! go forth!" 
 cried they, " and accept whatever terms are 
 offered : of what avail is it to fight against 
 men who can renew their youth at pleasure ? 
 Behold, we left the leader of the infidels an 
 old and feeble man, and to-day we find him 
 youthful and vigorous ! " * 
 
 * Conde, p. i. c. 13. Ambrosio de Morales. 
 K. B. In the Chronicle of Spain, composed by 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 43 
 
 The place was, therefore, surrendered 
 forthwith, and Muza entered it in triumph. 
 His terms were merciful. Those who chose 
 to remain were protected in persons, posses 
 sions, and religion : he took the property 
 of those only who abandoned the city, or 
 had fallen in battle j together with all arms 
 and horses, and the treasures and ornaments 
 of the churches. Among these sacred spoils 
 was found a cup, made of a single pearl, 
 which a king of Spain, in ancient times, 
 had brought from the temple of Jerusalem 
 when it was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. 
 This prize was presented by Muza to the 
 caliph, and placed in the principal mosque 
 of the city of Damascus.* 
 
 Muza knew how to esteem merit even in 
 an enemy. When Sacarus, the governor of 
 Merida, appeared before him, he lauded him 
 greatly for the skill and courage he had 
 displayed in the defence of his city ; and, 
 
 order of Alonzo the Wise, this anecdote is given as 
 having happened at the siege of Seville. 
 * Marmol. Descrip. de Africa, t. i. 1. 2. 
 
 M 2 
 
LEGEND OF THE 
 
 taking off his own scimitar, which was of 
 great value, girded it upon him with his 
 own hands. " Wear this," said he, " as a 
 poor memorial of my admiration ; a soldier 
 of such virtue and valour is worthy of far 
 higher honours." 
 
 He would have engaged the governor in 
 his service, or have persuaded him to remain 
 in the city, as an illustrious vassal of the 
 caliph ; but the noble-minded Sacarus refused 
 to bend to the yoke of the conquerors ; nor 
 could he bring himself to reside contentedly 
 in his country, when subjected to the domi 
 nation of the infidels. Gathering together 
 all those who chose to accompany him into 
 exile, he embarked, to seek some country 
 where he might live in peace, and in the 
 free exercise of his religion. What shore 
 these ocean-pilgrims landed upon has never 
 been revealed ; but tradition vaguely gives 
 us to believe that it was some unknown 
 island, far in the bosom of the Atlantic.* 
 
 * Abulcasim, Perdida de Espana, 1. i. c. 13. 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 EXPEDITION OF ABDALASIS AGAINST SEVILLE 
 AND THE "LAND OF TADMIR." 
 
 AFTER the capture of Merida, Muza gave a 
 grand banquet to his captains and distin 
 guished warriors in that magnificent city. 
 At this martial feast were many Arab 
 cavaliers who had been present in various 
 battles ; and they vied with each other in. 
 recounting the daring enterprises in which 
 they had been engaged, and the splendid 
 triumphs they had witnessed. While they 
 talked with ardour and exultation, Abdalasis, 
 the son of Muza, alone kept silence, and sat 
 with a dejected countenance. At length, 
 when there was a pause, he turned to his 
 father, and addressed him with modest ear 
 nestness. " My lord and father," said he, 
 " I blush to hear your warriors recount the 
 toils and dangers they have passed, while I 
 M 3 
 
246 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 have done nothing to entitle me to their 
 companionship. When I return to Egypt,, 
 and present myself before the caliph, he will 
 ask me of my services in Spain ; what battle 
 I have gained ; what town or castle I have 
 taken. How shall I answer him ? If you 
 love me, then, as your son, give me a com 
 mand ; intrust to me an enterprise ; and let 
 me acquire a name worthy to be mentioned 
 among men." 
 
 The eyes of Muza kindled with joy at 
 finding Abdalasis thus ambitious of renown 
 in arms. "Allah be praised!" exclaimed 
 he j " the heart of my son is in the right 
 place. It is becoming in youth to look 
 upward, and be aspiring. Thy desire, 
 Abdalasis, shall be gratified/ 
 
 An opportunity at that very time pre 
 sented itself, to prove the prowess and dis 
 cretion of the youth. During the siege of 
 Merida, the Christian troops which had taken 
 refuge at Beja had reinforced themselves 
 from Penaflor, and, suddenly returning, had 
 presented themselves before the gates of the 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 
 
 city of Seville.* Certain of the Christian 
 inhabitants threw open the gates and admit 
 ted them. The troops rushed to the alcazar, 
 took it by surprise, and put many of the 
 Moslem garrison to the sword : the residue 
 made their escape, and fled to the Arab camp 
 before Merida, leaving Seville in the hands 
 of the Christians. 
 
 The veteran Muza, now that the siege of 
 Merida was at an end, was meditating the 
 recapture and punishment of Seville at the 
 very time when Abdalasis addressed him. 
 " Behold, my son," exclaimed he, " an enter 
 prise worthy of thy ambition! Take with 
 thee all the troops thou hast brought from 
 Africa; reduce the city of Seville again to 
 subjection, and plant thy standard upon its 
 alcazar. But stop not there : carry thy con 
 quering sword into the southern parts of 
 Spain : thou wilt find there a harvest of 
 glory yet to be reaped." 
 
 * Espinosa. Antq. y Grand, de Seville, lib. ii 
 c.3. 
 
 M 4) 
 
LEGEND OF THE 
 
 Abdalasis lost no time in departing upois 
 this enterprise. He took with him Count 
 Julian, Magued el Rumi, and the Bishop 
 Oppas, that he might benefit by their know 
 ledge of the country. When he came in 
 sight of the fair city of Seville, seated like a 
 queen in the midst of its golden plain, with 
 the Guadalquivir flowing beneath its walls, 
 he gazed upon it with the admiration of a 
 lover, and lamented in his soul that he had 
 to visit it as an avenger. His troops, how 
 ever, regarded it with wrathful eyes, think 
 ing only of its rebellion and of the massacre 
 of their countrymen in the alcazar. 
 
 The principal people of the city had taken 
 no part in this gallant but fruitless insurrec 
 tion ; and now, when they beheld the army 
 of Abdalasis encamped upon the banks of the 
 Guadalquivir, would fain have gone forth to 
 make explanations, and intercede for mercy. 
 The populace, however, forbade any one to 
 leave the city, and, barring the gates, pre 
 pared to defend themselves to the last. 
 
 The place was attacked with resistless 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 249 
 
 fury. The gates were soon burst open ; the 
 Moslems rushed in, panting for revenge. 
 They confined not their slaughter to the 
 soldiery in the alcazar, but roamed through 
 every street, confounding the innocent with 
 the guilty in one bloody massacre, and it was 
 with the utmost difficulty that Abdalasis 
 could at length succeed in staying their san 
 guinary career.* 
 
 The son of Muza proved himself as mild 
 in conquest as he had been intrepid in as 
 sault. The moderation and benignity of his 
 conduct soothed the terrors of the vanquished, 
 and his wise precautions restored tranquillity. 
 Having made proper regulations for the pro 
 tection of the inhabitants, he left a strong 
 garrison in the place to prevent any future 
 insurrection, and then departed on the fur 
 ther prosecution of his enterprise. 
 
 Wherever he went his arms were victori 
 ous ; and his victories were always charac 
 terised by the same magnanimity. At 
 
 * Conde, p. i. c. 14. 
 
250 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 length he arrived on the confines of that 
 beautiful region comprising lofty and precipi 
 tous mountains and rich, and delicious plains, 
 afterwards known by the name of the king 
 dom of Murcia. All this part of the country 
 was defended by the veteran Theodomir, who, 
 by skilful management, had saved a remnant 
 of his forces after the defeat on the banks of 
 the Guadalete. 
 
 Theodomir was a stanch warrior, but a 
 wary and prudent man. He had experienced 
 the folly of opposing the Arabs in open field, 
 where their cavalry and armour gave them 
 such superiority ; on their approach, there 
 fore, he assembled all his people capable of 
 bearing arms, and took possession of the cliffs 
 and mountain passes. " Here," said he, 
 " a simple goatherd, who can hurl down rocks 
 and stones, is as good as a warrior armed 
 in proof." In this way be checked and 
 harassed the Moslem army in all its move 
 ments ; showering down missiles upon it 
 from overhanging precipices, and waylaying 
 it in narrow and rugged defiles, where a 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. &51 
 
 few raw troops could make stand against a 
 host. 
 
 Theodomir was in a fair way to baffle his 
 foes and oblige them to withdraw from his 
 territories ; unfortunately, however, the wary 
 veteran had two sons with him, young men 
 of hot and heady valour, who considered all 
 this prudence of their father as savouring of 
 cowardice, and who were anxious to try their 
 prowess in the open field. " What glory," 
 said they, "is to be gained by destroying an 
 enemy in this way, from the covert of rocks 
 and thickets ? " 
 
 " You talk like young men," replied the 
 veteran. " Glory is a prize one may fight 
 for abroad, but safety is the object when the 
 enemy is at the door." 
 
 One day, however, the young men suc 
 ceeded in drawing down their father into the 
 plain. Abdalasis immediately seized on the 
 opportunity, and threw himself between the 
 Goths and their mountain fastnesses. Theo 
 domir saw too late the danger into which he 
 was betrayed. " What can our raw troops 
 M 6 
 
LEGEND OF THE 
 
 do," said he, " against those squadrons of 
 horse that move like castles? Let us make 
 a rapid retreat to Orihuela, and defend our 
 selves from behind its walls." 
 
 " Father," said the eldest son, " it is too 
 late to retreat; remain here with the reserve, 
 while my brother and I advance. Fear no 
 thing ; am not I your son, and would I not 
 die to defend you ? " 
 
 " In truth," replied the veteran, " I have 
 my doubts whether you are my son. But if 
 I remain here, and you should all be killed, 
 where then would be my protection? Come," 
 added he, turning to the second son. " I 
 trust that thou art virtually my son ; let us 
 hasten to retreat before it is too late." 
 
 " Father," replied the youngest, " I have 
 not a doubt that I am honestly and tho 
 roughly your son, and as such I honour you ; 
 but I owe duty likewise to my mother, and 
 when I sallied to the war she gave me hei 
 blessing as long as I should act with valour, 
 but her curse should I prove craven and fly 
 the field. Fear nothing, father ; I will de- 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 
 
 fend you while living, and even after you are 
 dead. You shall never fail of an honourable 
 sepulture among your kindred." 
 
 " A pestilence on ye both," cried Theodo- 
 mir, "for a brace of misbegotten madmen ! 
 What care I, think ye, where ye lay my body 
 when I am dead ? One day s existence in a 
 hovel is worth an age of interment in a mar 
 ble sepulchre. Come, my friends," said he, 
 turning to his principal cavaliers, " let us 
 leave these hot-headed striplings and make 
 our retreat ; if we tarry any longer, the 
 enemy will be upon us." 
 
 Upon this the cavaliers and proud hidal- 
 goes drew up scornfully and tossed their 
 heads : " What do you see in us," said they, 
 " that you think we will show our backs to 
 the enemy ? Forward ! was ever the good 
 old Gothic watchword, and with that will 
 we live and die !" 
 
 While time was lost in these disputes, the 
 Moslem army kept advancing, until retreat 
 was no longer practicable. The battle was 
 tumultuous and bloody. Theodomir fought 
 
LEGEND OF THE 
 
 like a lion, but it was all in vain : he saw 
 his two sons cut down, and the greater part 
 of their rash companions, while his raw 
 mountain troops fled in all directions. 
 
 Seeing there was no longer any hope, he 
 seized the bridle of a favourite page who was 
 near him, and who was about spurring for 
 the mountains. "Part not from me," said he, 
 " but do thou at least attend to my counsel, 
 my son ; and, of a truth, I believe thou art 
 my son, for thou art the offspring of one of 
 my handmaids who was kind unto me." And 
 indeed the youth marvellously resembled him. 
 Turning then the reins of his own steed, an^ 
 giving him the spur, he fled amain from the 
 field, followed by the page ; nor did he stop 
 until he arrived within the walls of Orihuela. 
 
 Ordering the gates to be barred and bolted, 
 he prepared to receive the enemy. There 
 were but few men in the city capable of bear 
 ing arms, most of the youth having fallen in 
 the field. He caused the women, therefore, 
 to clothe themselves in male attire, to put on 
 hats and helmets, to take long reeds in their 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. Q55 
 
 hands instead of lances, and to cross their 
 hair upon their chins in semblance of beards. 
 With these troops he lined the walls and 
 towers. 
 
 It was about the hour of twilight that Ab- 
 dalasis approached with his army, but he 
 paused when he saw the w r alls so numerously 
 garrisoned. Then Theodomir took a flag of 
 truce in his hand, and put a herald s tabard 
 on the page, and they two sallied forth to 
 capitulate, and were graciously received by 
 Abdalasis. 
 
 " I come," said Theodomir, "on the be 
 half of the commander of this city, to treat 
 for terms worthy of your magnanimity and 
 of his dignity. You perceive that the city 
 is capable of withstanding a long siege, but 
 he is desirous of sparing the lives of his 
 soldiers. Promise that the inhabitants shall 
 be at liberty to depart unmolested with their 
 property, and the city will be delivered up to 
 you to-morrow morning without a blow ; 
 otherwise we are prepared to fight until not 
 a man be left." 
 
256 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 Abdalasis was well pleased to get so power 
 ful a place upon such easy terms, but 
 stipulated that the garrison should lay down 
 their arms. To this Theodomir readily as 
 sented ; with the exception, however, of the 
 governor and his retinue, which was granted 
 out of consideration for his dignity. The 
 articles of capitulation were then drawn out ; 
 and, when Abdalasis had affixed his name 
 and seal, Theodomir took the pen and wrote 
 his signature. " Behold in me," said he, 
 " the governor of the city ! " 
 
 Abdalasis was pleased with the hardihood 
 of the commander of the place in thus ven 
 turing personally into his power, and enter 
 tained the veteran with still greater honour. 
 When Theodomir returned to the city, he 
 made known the capitulation, and charged 
 the inhabitants to pack up their effects during 
 the night, and be ready to sally forth in the 
 morning. 
 
 At the dawn of day the gates were thrown 
 open, and Abdalasis looked to see a great 
 force issuing forth j but, to his surprise, 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 
 
 beheld merely Theodomir and his page in 
 battered armour, followed by a multitude of 
 old men, women, and children. 
 
 Abdalasis waited until the whole had come 
 forth; then, turning to Theodomir, "Where/ 
 cried he, " are the soldiers whom I saw last 
 evening, lining the walls and towers ? " 
 
 " Soldiers have I none," replied the vete 
 ran. " As to my garrison, behold it before 
 you. With these women did I man my walls ; 
 and this, my page, is my herald, guard, and 
 retinue." 
 
 Upon this the Bishop Oppas and Count 
 Julian exclaimed that the capitulation was a 
 base fraud, and ought not to be complied 
 with ; but Abdalasis relished the stratagem 
 of the old soldier, and ordered that the stipu 
 lations of the treaty should be faithfully per 
 formed. Nay, so high an opinion did he 
 conceive of the subtle wisdom of this com 
 mander, that he permitted him to remain in 
 authority over the surrounding country, on 
 his acknowledging allegiance and engaging 
 to pay tribute to the caliph ; and all that 
 
258 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 part of Spain, comprising the beautiful pro 
 vinces of Murcia and Valencia, was long 
 after known by the Arabic name of its de 
 fender, and is still recorded in Arabian 
 chronicles as " The land of Tadmir." 
 
 Having succeeded in subduing this rich 
 and fruitful region, and having gained great 
 renown for his generosity as well as valour, 
 Abdalasis returned with the chief part of his 
 army to the city of Seville.* 
 
 * Conde, p. i. Cronica del moro Rasis. Cron. 
 Gen. Espana, por Alonzo el Sabio, p. iii. c. 1. 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 259 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 MUZA ARRIVES AT TOLEDO. INTERVIEW 
 
 BETWEEN HIM AND TARIC. 
 
 WHEN Muza ben Nozier had sent his son 
 Abdalasis to subdue Seville, he departed for 
 Toledo, to call Taric to account for his dis 
 obedience to his orders ; for, amidst all his 
 own successes, the prosperous career of that 
 commander preyed upon his mind. What can 
 content the jealous and ambitious heart ? As 
 Muza passed through the land, towns and 
 cities submitted to him without resistance ; 
 he was lost in wonder at the riches of the 
 country, and the noble monuments of art with 
 which it was adorned : when he beheld the 
 bridges, constructed in ancient times by the 
 Romans, they seemed to him the work, not 
 of men, but of genii. Yet all these ad 
 mirable objects only made him repine the 
 more, that he had not had the exclusive glory 
 
260 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 of invading and subduing the land ; and ex 
 asperated him the more against Taric, for 
 having apparently endeavoured to monopolise 
 the conquest. 
 
 Taric heard of his approach, and came 
 forth to meet him at Talavera, accompanied 
 by many of the most distinguished com 
 panions of his victories, and with a train of 
 horses and mules laden with spoils, with 
 which he trusted to propitiate the favour of 
 his commander. Their meeting took place 
 on the banks of the rapid river Tietar, which 
 rises in the mountains of Placencia, and 
 throws itself into the Tagus. Muza, in 
 former days, while Taric had acted as his 
 subordinate and indefatigable officer, had 
 cherished and considered him as a second 
 self ; but now that he had started up to be a 
 rival, he could not conceal his jealousy. 
 When the veteran came into his presence, he 
 regarded him for a moment with a stern and 
 indignant aspect. " Why hast thou dis 
 obeyed my orders ?" said he. " I commanded 
 thee to await my arrival with reinforcements, 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 
 
 but thou hast rashly overrun the country, 
 endangering the loss of our armies and the 
 ruin of our cause." 
 
 " I have acted," replied Taric, " in such 
 manner as I thought would best serve the 
 cause of Islam ; and in so doing I thought to 
 fulfil the wishes of Muza. Whatever I have 
 done has been as your servant. Behold your 
 share, as commander-in-chief, of the spoils 
 which I have collected." So saying, he 
 produced an immense treasure in silver and 
 gold, and costly stuffs, and precious stones, 
 and spread it before Muza. 
 
 The anger of the Arab commander was 
 still more kindled at the sight of this booty, 
 for it proved how splendid had been the 
 victories of Taric ; but he restrained his 
 wrath for the present, and they proceeded 
 together in moody silence to Toledo. When 
 he entered this royal city, . however, and as 
 cended to the ancient palace of the Gothic 
 kings, and reflected that all this had been a 
 scene of triumph to his rival, he could no 
 longer repress his indignation. He de- 
 
LEGEND OF THE 
 
 manded of Taric a strict account of all the 
 riches he had gathered in Spain, even of the 
 presents he had reserved for the caliph ; and, 
 above all, he made him yield up his favourite 
 trophy, the talismanic table of Solomon. 
 When all this was done, he again upbraided 
 him bitterly with his disobedience of orders, 
 and with the rashness of his conduct. 
 " What blind confidence in fortune hast 
 thou shown," said he, " in overrunning such 
 a country, and assailing such powerful cities 
 with thy scanty force ! What madness, to 
 venture every thing upon a desperate chance, 
 when thou knewest I was coming with a 
 force to make the victory secure I All thy 
 success has been owing to mere luck, not to 
 judgment nor generalship." 
 
 He then bestowed high praises upon the 
 other chieftains for their services in the cause 
 of Islam ; but they answered not a word, and 
 their countenances were gloomy and discon 
 tented, for they felt the injustice done to 
 their favourite leader. As to Taric, though 
 his eye burned like fire, he kept his passion 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 263 
 
 within bounds. " I have done the best I 
 could to serve God and the caliph," said he, 
 emphatically ; " my conscience acquits me, 
 and I trust my sovereign will do the same." 
 
 " Perhaps he may," replied Muza bitterly; 
 " but, in the meantime, I cannot confide his 
 interests to a desperado, who is heedless of 
 orders and throws every thing at hazard. 
 Such a general is unworthy to be intrusted 
 with the fate of armies." 
 
 So saying, he divested Taric of his com* 
 mand, and gave it to Magued the renegado. 
 The gaunt Taric still maintained an air of 
 stern composure* His only words were, 
 " The caliph will do me justice!" Muza 
 was so transported with passion at this la 
 conic defiance that he ordered him to be 
 thrown into prison, and even threatened his 
 life. 
 
 Upon this, Magued el Rumi, though he 
 had risen by the disgrace of Taric, had the 
 generosity to speak out warmly in his favour. 
 " Consider," said he, to Muza, " what may 
 be the consequences of this severity. Taric 
 
264 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 has many friends in the army ; his actions, 
 too, have been signal and illustrious, and 
 entitle him to the highest honours and re 
 wards, instead of disgrace and imprison 
 
 ment." 
 
 The anger of Muza, however, was not to 
 be appeased ; and he trusted to justify his 
 measures by despatching missives to the 
 caliph, complaining of the insubordination of 
 Taric, and his rash and headlong conduct. 
 The result proved the wisdom of the caution 
 given by Magued. In the course of a little 
 while Muza received a humiliating letter 
 from the caliph, ordering him to restore 
 Taric to the command of the soldiers " whom 
 he had so gloriously conducted ; " and not 
 to render useless " one of the best swords in 
 Islam!"* 
 
 It is thus the envious man brings hu 
 miliation and reproach upon himself, in 
 endeavouring to degrade a meritorious rival. 
 When the tidings came of the justice ren- 
 
 * Conde, p. i. c. 15. 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 265 
 
 dered by the caliph to the merits of the 
 veteran, there was general joy throughout 
 the army ; and Muza read, in the smiling 
 countenances of every one around him, a 
 severe censure upon his conduct. He con 
 cealed, however, his deep humiliation, and 
 affected to obey the orders of his sovereign 
 with great alacrity : he released Taric from 
 prison, feasted him at his own table, and 
 then publicly replaced him at the head of 
 his troops. The army received its favourite 
 veteran with shouts of joy, and celebrated 
 with rejoicings the reconciliation of the com 
 manders : but the shouts of the soldiery 
 Were abhorrent to the ears of Muza. 
 
266 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 MUZA PROSECUTES THE SCHEME OF CONQUEST. 
 
 SIEGE OF SARAGOSSA. COMPLETE SUBJUGA 
 TION OF SPAIN. 
 
 THE dissensions, which for a time had dis 
 tracted the conquering army, being appeased, 
 and the Arabian generals being apparently 
 once more reconciled, Muza, as commander- 
 in-chief, proceeded to complete the enterprise 
 by subjugating the northern parts of Spain. 
 The same expeditious mode of conquest that 
 had been sagaciously adopted by Taric was 
 still pursued. The troops were lightly armed, 
 and freed from every superfluous incum- 
 brance. Each horseman, beside his arms, 
 carried a small sack of provisions, a copper 
 vessel in which to cook them, and a skin 
 which served him for surcoat and for bed. 
 The infantry carried nothing but their arms. 
 To each regiment or squadron was allowed a 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPRAIN. 267 
 
 limited number of sumpter mules and attend 
 ants ; barely enough to carry their necessary 
 baggage and supplies : nothing was permitted 
 that could needlessly diminish the number of 
 fighting men, delay their rapid movements, 
 or consume their provisions. Strict orders 
 were again issued, prohibiting, on pain of 
 death, all plunder excepting the camp of an 
 enemy, or cities given up to pillage.* 
 
 The armies now took their several lines of 
 march. That under Taric departed towards 
 the north-east ; beating up the country to 
 wards the source of the Tagus, traversing 
 the chain of Iberian or Arragonian moun 
 tains, and pouring down into the plains and 
 valleys watered by the Ebro. It was won 
 derful to see, in so brief a space of time, such 
 a vast and difficult country penetrated and 
 subdued ; and the invading army, like an 
 inundating flood, pouring its streams into the 
 most remote recesses. 
 
 While Taric was thus sweeping the coun- 
 
 * Conde, p. i. c. 15. 
 
 N 2 
 
#68 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 try to the north-east, Muza departed in an 
 opposite direction ; yet purposing to meet 
 him, and to join their forces in the north. 
 Bending his course westwardly, he made a 
 circuit behind the mountains, and then, ad 
 vancing into the open country, displayed his 
 banners before Salamanca, which surrendered 
 without resistance. From hence he continued 
 on towards Astorga, receiving the terrified 
 submission of the land ; then turning up the 
 valley of the Douro, he ascended the course 
 of that famous river towards the east ; 
 crossed the Sierra de Moncayo, and, arriving 
 on the banks of the Ebro, marched down 
 along its stream, until he approached the 
 strong city of Saragossa, the citadel of all 
 that part of Spain. In this place had taken 
 refuge many of the most valiant of the Gothic 
 warriors ; the remnants of armies, and fugi 
 tives from conquered cities. It was one of 
 the last rallying points of the land. When 
 Muza arrived, Taric had already been for 
 some time before the place, laying close 
 siege : the inhabitants were pressed by 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 269 
 
 famine, and had suffered great losses in re 
 peated combats ; but there was a spirit and 
 obstinacy in their resistance surpassing any 
 thing that had yet been witnessed by the in 
 vaders. 
 
 Muza now took command of the siege, 
 and ordered a general assault upon the walls. 
 The Moslems planted their scaling ladders, 
 and mounted with their accustomed intre 
 pidity, but were vigorously resisted ; nor 
 could all their efforts obtain them a footing 
 upon the battlements. While they were thus 
 assailing the walls, Count Julian ordered a 
 heap of combustibles to be placed against one 
 of the gates, and set on fire. The inhabitants 
 attempted in vain from the barbican to extin 
 guish the flames. They burnt so* fiercely, 
 that in a little while the gate fell from the 
 hinges. Count Julian galloped into the city 
 mounted upon a powerful charger, himself 
 and his steed all covered with mail. He was 
 followed by three hundred of his partisans, 
 and supported by Magued, the renegado, 
 with a troop of horse. 
 
 N 3 
 
270 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 The inhabitants disputed every street and 
 public square ; they made barriers of dead 
 bodies, fighting behind these ramparts of 
 their slaughtered countrymen. Every win 
 dow and roof was filled with combatants : 
 the very women and children joined in the 
 desperate fight, throwing down stones and 
 missiles of all kinds, and scalding water, upon 
 the enemy. 
 
 The battle raged until the hour of vespers, 
 when the principal inhabitants held a parley, 
 and capitulated for a surrender. Muza had 
 been incensed at their obstinate resistance, 
 which had cost the lives of so many of his sol 
 diers ; he knew also that in the city were 
 collected the riches of many of the towns of 
 eastern Spain. He demanded, therefore, 
 beside the usual terms, a heavy sum to be paid 
 down by the citizens, called the contribution of 
 blood ; as by this they redeemed themselves 
 from the edge of the sword. The people 
 were obliged to comply. They collected all 
 the jewels of their richest families, and all the 
 ornaments of their temples, and laid them at 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 271 
 
 the feet of Muza ; and placed in his power 
 many of their noblest youths as hostages. 
 A strong garrison was then appointed ; and 
 thus the fierce city of Saragossa was subdued 
 to the yoke of the conqueror. 
 
 The Arab generals pursued their conquests 
 even to the foot of the Pyrenees : Taric then 
 descended along the course of the Ebro, and 
 continued along the Mediterranean coast ; 
 subduing the famous city of Valencia, with 
 its rich and beautiful domains, and carrying 
 the success of his arms even to Denia. 
 
 Muza undertook with his host a wider 
 range of conquest. He overcame the cities 
 of Barcelona, Gerona, and others that lay on 
 the skirts of the eastern mountains : then 
 crossing into the land of the Franks, he cap 
 tured the city of Narbonne ; in a temple of 
 which he found seven equestrian images of 
 silver, which he brought off as trophies of his 
 victory.* Returning into Spain, he scoured 
 its northern regions along Gallicia and the 
 
 * Conde, p. i. c. 16. 
 
 N 4 
 
LEGEND OF THE 
 
 Asturias ; passed triumphantly through Lu- 
 sitania, and arrived once more in Andalusia, 
 covered with laurels, and enriched with im 
 mense spoils. 
 
 Thus was completed the subjugation of 
 unhappy Spain. All its cities and fortresses, 
 and strong holds, were in the hands of the 
 Saracens, excepting some of the wild moun 
 tain tracts that bordered the Atlantic, and 
 extended towards the north. Here, then, the 
 story of the conquest might conclude, but 
 that the indefatigable chronicler, Fray An 
 tonio Agapida, goes on to record the fate of 
 those persons who were most renowned in 
 the enterprise. We shall follow his steps, 
 and avail ourselves of his information, labo 
 riously collected from various sources; and, 
 truly, the story of each of the actors in this 
 great historical drama bears with it its 
 striking moral, and is full of admonition and 
 instruction. 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 273 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 FEUD BETWEEN THE ARAB GENERALS, THEY 
 
 ARE SUMMONED TO APPEAR BEFORE THE CA 
 LIPH AT DAMASCUS. RECEPTION OF TARIC. 
 
 THE heart of Muza ben Nozier was now 
 lifted up, for he considered his glory com 
 plete. He held a sway that might have 
 gratified the ambition of the proudest sove 
 reign, for all western Africa and the newly 
 acquired peninsula of Spain were obedient to 
 his rule ; and he was renowned throughout 
 all the lands of Islam as the great conqueror 
 of the west. But sudden humiliation awaited 
 him in the very moment of his highest tri 
 umph. 
 
 Notwithstanding the outward reconcili 
 ation of Muza and Taric, a deep and im 
 placable hostility continued to exist between 
 them ; and each had busy partisans who 
 N 5 
 
274" LEGEND OF THE 
 
 distracted the armies by their feuds. Let 
 ters were incessantly despatched to Damas 
 cus by either party, exalting the merits of 
 their own leader and decrying his rival. 
 Taric was represented as rash, arbitrary, and 
 prodigal, and as injuring the discipline of 
 the army, by sometimes treating it with ex 
 treme rigour, and at other times giving way 
 to licentiousness and profusion. Muza was 
 lauded as prudent, sagacious, dignified, and 
 systematic in his dealings. The friends of 
 Taric, on the other hand, represented him as 
 brave, generous, and high-minded ; scrupu 
 lous in reserving to his sovereign his right 
 ful share of the spoils, but distributing the 
 rest bounteously among his soldiers, and 
 thus increasing their alacrity in the service. 
 " Muza, on the contrary," said they, " is 
 grasping and insatiable : he levies intolerable 
 contributions, and collects immense treasure, 
 but sweeps it all into his own coffers." 
 
 The caliph was at length wearied out by 
 these complaints, and feared that the safety 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 
 
 of the cause might be endangered by the 
 dissensions of the rival generals. He sent 
 letters, therefore, ordering them to leave 
 suitable persons in charge of their several 
 commands, and appear, forthwith, before 
 him at Damascus. 
 
 Such was the greeting from his sovereign 
 that awaited Muza on his return from 
 the conquest of northern Spain. It was a 
 grievous blow to a man of his pride and 
 ambition ; but he prepared instantly to obey. 
 He returned to Cordova, collecting by the way 
 all the treasures he had deposited in various 
 places. At that city he called a meeting of 
 his principal officers, and of the leaders of 
 the faction of apostate Christians, and made 
 them all do homage to his son Abdalasis, as 
 emir or governor of Spain. He gave this 
 favourite son much sage advice for the regu 
 lation of his conduct, and left with him his 
 nephew Ayub, a man greatly honoured by 
 the Moslems fop his wisdom and discretion ; 
 exhorting Abdalasis to consult him on all 
 occasions, and consider him as his bosom 
 N 6 
 
276 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 counsellor. He made a parting address to 
 his adherents, full of cheerful confidence ; 
 assuring them that he would soon return, 
 loaded with new favours and honours by his 
 sovereign, and enabled to reward them all 
 for their faithful services. 
 
 When Muza sallied forth from Cordova 
 to repair to Damascus, his cavalgada ap 
 peared like the sumptuous pageant of some 
 Oriental potentate ; for he had numerous 
 guards and attendants splendidly armed 
 and arrayed, together with four hundred 
 hostages, who were youthful cavaliers of the 
 noblest families of the Goths, and a great 
 number of captives of both sexes, chosen for 
 their beauty, and intended as presents for 
 the caliph. Then there was a vast train of 
 beasts of burden, laden with the plunder of 
 Spain ; for he took with him all the wealth 
 he had collected in his conquests, and all 
 the share that had been set apart for his 
 sovereign. With this display of trophies and 
 spoils, showing the magnificence of the 
 land he had conquered, he looked forward 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 277 
 
 with confidence to silence the calumnies of 
 his foes. 
 
 As he traversed the valley of the Guadal 
 quivir, he often turned and looked back wist- 
 fully upon Cordova ; and, at the distance of 
 a league, when about to lose sight of it, he 
 checked his steed upon the summit of a hill, 
 and gazed for a long time upon its palaces 
 and towers. " O Cordova!" exclaimed he, 
 " great and glorious art thou among cities, 
 and abundant in all delights. With grief 
 and sorrow do I part from thee ; for sure I 
 am it would give me length of days to abide 
 within thy pleasant walls ! " When he had 
 uttered these words, say the Arabian chroni* 
 cles, he resumed his wayfaring ; but his eyes 
 were bent upon the ground, and frequent 
 sighs bespoke the heaviness of his heart. 
 
 Embarking at Cadiz, he passed over to 
 Africa with all his people and effects, to 
 regulate his government in that country. 
 He divided the command between his sons 
 Abdelola and Meruan, leaving the former 
 in Tangier, and the latter in Cairvan. Thus 
 
LEGEND OF THE 
 
 having secured, as he thought, the power and 
 prosperity of his family, by placing all his 
 sons as his lieutenants in the country he had 
 conquered, he departed for Syria, bearing 
 with him the sumptuous spoils of the west. 
 
 While Muza was thus disposing of his 
 commands, and moving cumbrously under 
 the weight of wealth, the veteran Taric 
 was more speedy and alert in obeying 
 the summons of the caliph. He knew the 
 importance, where complaints were to be 
 heard, of being first in presence of the judge; 
 beside, he was ever ready to march at a 
 moment s warning, and had nothing to im 
 pede him in his movements. The spoils he 
 had made in his conquests had either been 
 shared among his soldiers, or yielded up to 
 Muza, or squandered away with open-handed 
 profusion. He appeared in Syria with a 
 small train of war-worn followers, and had 
 no other trophies to show than his battered 
 armour, and a body seamed with scars. He 
 was received, however, with rapture by the 
 multitude, who crowded to behold one of 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 279 
 
 those conquerors of the west, whose wonder 
 ful achievements were the theme of every 
 tongue. They were charmed with his gaunt 
 and martial air, his hard sunburnt features, 
 and his scathed eye. " All hail," cried they, 
 " to the sword of Islam, the terror of the 
 unbelievers ! Behold the true model of a 
 warrior, who despises gain, and seeks for 
 nought but glory ! " 
 
 Taric was graciously received by the 
 caliph, who asked tidings of his victories. 
 He gave a soldier-like account of his ac 
 tions, frank and full, without any feigned 
 modesty, yet without vainglory. " Comman 
 der of the faithful," said he, "I bring thee 
 no silver, nor gold, nor precious stones, nor 
 captives ; for what spoils I did not share with 
 my soldiers I gave up to Muza as my com 
 mander. How I have conducted myself, the 
 honourable warriors of thy host will tell thee ; 
 nay, let our enemies, the Christians, be asked 
 if I have ever shown myself cowardly, or 
 cruel, or rapacious." 
 
LEGEND OF THE 
 
 " What kind of people are these Chris 
 tians?" demanded the caliph. 
 
 " The Spaniards," replied Taric, " are 
 lions in their castles, eagles in their saddles, 
 but mere women when on foot. When 
 vanquished they escape like goats to the 
 mountains, for they need not see the ground 
 they tread on." 
 
 " And tell me of the Moors of Barbary." 
 " They are like Arabs in the fierceness 
 and dexterity of their attacks, and in their 
 knowledge of the stratagems of war ; they 
 resemble them, too, in feature, in fortitude, 
 and hospitality ; but they are the most per 
 fidious people upon earth, and never regard 
 promise or plighted faith." 
 
 "And the people of Afranc ; what sayest 
 thou of them?" 
 
 " They are infinite in number, rapid in 
 the onset, fierce in battle, but confused and 
 headlong in flight." 
 
 " And how fared it with thee among 
 these people ? Did they sometimes vanquish 
 thee?" 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 281 
 
 "Never, by Allah!" cried Taric with 
 honest warmth, "never did a banner of 
 mine fly the field. Though the enemy were 
 two to one, my Moslems never shunned the 
 combat ! " 
 
 The caliph was well pleased with the mar 
 tial bluntness of the veteran, and showed him 
 great honour ; and wherever Taric appeared 
 he was the idol of the populace. 
 
LEGEND OF THE 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 MUZA ARRIVES AT DAMASCUS. HIS INTERVIEW 
 
 WITH THE CALIPH. THE TABLE OF SOLOMON. 
 
 A RIGOROUS SENTENCE. 
 
 SHORTLY after the arrival of Taric el Tuerto 
 at Damascus the caliph fell dangerously ill, 
 insomuch that his life was despaired of. 
 During his illness, tidings were brought that 
 Muza ben Nozier had entered Syria with a 
 vast cavalcade, bearing all the riches and 
 trophies gained in the western conquests. 
 Now Suleiman ben Abdelmelec, brother to 
 the caliph, was successor to the throne ; and 
 he saw that his brother had not long to live, 
 and wished to grace the commencement of 
 his reign by this triumphant display of the 
 spoils of Christendom : he sent messengers, 
 therefore, to Muza, saying, " The caliph is 
 ill, and cannot receive thee at present ; I pray 
 thee tarry on the road until his recovery." 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 283 
 
 Muza, however, paid no attention to the 
 messages of Suleiman, but rather hastened 
 his march to arrive before the death of the 
 caliph. And Suleiman treasured up his con 
 duct in his heart. 
 
 Muza entered the city in a kind of tri 
 umph, with a long train of horses and mules 
 and camels laden with treasure, and with the 
 four hundred sons of Gothic nobles as host 
 ages, each decorated with a diadem and 
 a girdle of gold ; and with one hundred 
 Christian damsels, whose beauty dazzled all 
 beholders. As he passed through the streets 
 he ordered purses of gold to be thrown 
 among the populace, who rent the air with 
 acclamations. " Behold," cried they, " the 
 veritable conqueror of the unbelievers ! Be 
 hold the true model of a conqueror, who 
 brings home wealth to his country ! " And 
 they heaped benedictions on the head of 
 Muza. 
 
 The caliph Walid Almanzor rose from his 
 couch of illness to receive the emir ; who, 
 when he repaired to the palace, filled one of 
 
LEGEND OF THE 
 
 its great courts with treasures of all kinds : 
 the halls, too, were thronged with the youth 
 ful hostages, magnificently attired, and with 
 Christian damsels, lovely as the houries of 
 Paradise. When the caliph demanded an 
 account of the conquest of Spain, he gave it 
 with great eloquence ; but, in describing the 
 various victories, he made no mention of the 
 name of Taric, but spoke as if every thing 
 had been effected by himself. He then pre 
 sented the spoils of the Christians as if they 
 had been all taken by his own hands ; and 
 when he delivered to the caliph the miracu 
 lous table of Solomon, he dwelt with ani 
 mation on the virtues of that inestimable 
 talisman. 
 
 Upon this Taric, who was present, could 
 no longer hold his peace. " Commander 
 of the faithful !" said he, " examine this 
 precious table, if any part be wanting." The 
 caliph examined the table, which was com 
 posed of a single emerald, and he found that 
 one foot was supplied by a foot of gold. 
 The caliph turned to Muza and said, "Where 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 285 
 
 is the other foot of the table ?" Muza an 
 swered, " I know not j one foot was want 
 ing when it came into my hands." Upon 
 this, Taric drew from beneath his robe a 
 foot of emerald of like workmanship to the 
 others, and fitting exactly to the table. " Be 
 hold, O commander of the faithful I " cried 
 he, " a proof of the real finder of the table ; 
 and so is it with the greater part of the 
 spoils exhibited by Muza as trophies of his 
 achievements. It was I who gained them, 
 and who captured the cities in which they 
 were found. If you want proof, demand of 
 these Christian cavaliers here present, most 
 of whom I captured ; demand of those Mos 
 lem warriors who aided me in my battles." 
 
 Muza was confounded for a moment, but 
 attempted to vindicate himself. " I spake," 
 said he, " as the chief of your armies, under 
 whose orders and banners this conquest was 
 achieved. The actions of the soldier are 
 the actions of the commander. In a great 
 victory, it is not supposed that the chief of 
 the army takes all the captives, or kills all 
 
286 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 the slain, or gathers all the booty, though 
 all are enumerated in the records of his tri 
 umph." The caliph, however, was wroth, 
 and heeded not his words. " You have 
 vaunted your own deserts," said he, " and 
 have forgotten the deserts of others ; nay, 
 you have sought to debase another who has 
 loyally served his sovereign : the reward of 
 your envy and covetousness be upon your 
 head ! " So saying, he bestowed a great 
 part of the spoils upon Taric and the other 
 chiefs, but gave nothing to Muza ; and the 
 veteran retired amidst the sneers and mur 
 murs of those present. 
 
 In a few days the Galiph Wai id died, 
 and was succeeded by his brother Suleiman. 
 The new sovereign cherished deep resent 
 ment against Muza for having presented 
 himself at court contrary to his command, 
 and he listened readily to the calumnies of 
 his enemies ; for Muza had been too illus 
 trious in his deeds not to have many enemies* 
 All now took courage when they found he 
 was out of favour, and they heaped slanders 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 287 
 
 on his head ; charging him with embezzling 
 much of the share of the booty belonging to 
 the sovereign. The new caliph lent a willing 
 ear to the accusation, and commanded him 
 to render up all that he had pillaged from 
 Spain. The loss of his riches might have 
 been borne with fortitude by Muza, but the 
 stigma upon his fame filled his heart with 
 bitterness. " I have been a faithful servant 
 to the throne from my youth upwards," said 
 he, " and now am I degraded in my old age. 
 I care not for wealth, I care not for life, but 
 let me not be deprived of that honour which 
 God has bestowed upon me ! " 
 
 The caliph was still more exasperated at 
 his repining, and stripped him of his com 
 mands ; confiscated his effects ; fined him 
 two hundred thousand pesants of gold, and 
 ordered that he should be scourged and ex 
 posed to the noontide sun, and afterwards 
 thrown into prison.* The populace, also, 
 reviled and scoffed at him in his misery ; and 
 
 * Conde, p. i. c. 17. 
 
288 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 as they beheld him led forth to the public 
 gaze, and fainting in the sun, they pointed 
 at him with derision, and exclaimed " Be 
 hold the envious man and the impostor : this 
 is he who pretended to have conquered the 
 land of the unbelievers I " 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 CONDUCT OF ABDALASIS AS EMIR OF SPAIN. 
 
 WHILE these events were happening- in Sy 
 ria, the youthful Abdalasis, the son of Muza, 
 remained as emir or governor of Spain. He 
 was of a generous and benignant disposition, 
 but he was open and confiding, and easily 
 led away by the opinions of those he loved. 
 Fortunately his father had left with him, as 
 a bosom counsellor, the discreet Ayub, the 
 nephew of Muza : aided by his advice, he 
 for some time administered the public affairs 
 prudently and prosperously. 
 
 Not long after the departure of his father, 
 he received a letter from him, written while 
 on his journey to Syria ; it was to the follow 
 ing purport : 
 
 " Beloved son ; honour of thy lineage ; 
 Allah guard thee from all harm and peril ! 
 Listen to the words of thy father. Avoid all 
 o 
 
290 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 treachery, though it should promise great 
 advantage ; and trust not in him who coun 
 sels it, even though he should be a brother. 
 The company of traitors put far from thee ; 
 for how canst thou be certain that he who has 
 proved false to others will prove true to thee ? 
 Beware, O my son, of the seductions of 
 love. It is an idle passion which enfeebles 
 the heart, and blinds the judgment : it renders 
 the mighty weak, and makes slaves of princes. 
 If thou shouldst discover any foible of a 
 vicious kind springing up in thy nature, 
 pluck it forth, whatever pang it cost thee. 
 Every error, while new, may easily be weeded 
 out ; but if suffered to take root, it flourishes, 
 and bears seed, and produces fruit an hun 
 dred fold. Follow these counsels, O son of 
 my affections, and thou shalt live secure." 
 
 Abdalasis meditated upon this letter ; for 
 some part of it seemed to contain a mystery 
 which he could not comprehend. He called 
 to him his cousin and counsellor, the discreet 
 Ayub. " What means my father," said he, 
 " in cautioning me against treachery and 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 2QI 
 
 treason ? Does he think my nature so base 
 that it could descend to such means ? " 
 
 Ayub read the letter attentively. " Thy 
 father," said he, " would put thee on thy 
 guard against the traitors Julian and Oppas, 
 and those of their party who surround thee. 
 What love canst thou expect from men who 
 have been unnatural to their kindred ; and 
 what loyalty from wretches who have be 
 trayed their country?" 
 
 Abdalasis was satisfied with the interpret 
 ation, and he acted accordingly. He had 
 long loathed all communion with these men ; 
 for there is nothing which the open, ingenuous 
 nature so much abhors as duplicity and trea 
 son. Policy, too, no longer required their 
 agency ; they had rendered their infamous 
 service, and had no longer a country to 
 betray : but they might turn and betray their 
 employers. Abdalasis, therefore, removed 
 them to a distance from his court, and placed 
 them in situations where they could do no 
 harm ; and he warned his commanders from 
 
LEGEND OP THE 
 
 being in any wise influenced by their coun 
 sels, or aided by their arms. 
 
 He now confided entirely in his Arabian 
 troops, and in the Moorish squadrons from 
 Africa, and with their aid he completed the 
 conquest of Lusitania to the ultimate parts 
 of the Algarbe, or west, even to the shores 
 of the great Ocean sea.* From hence, he 
 sent his generals to overrun all those vast 
 and rugged sierras, which rise like ramparts 
 along the ocean borders of the peninsula ; 
 and they carried the standard of Islam in 
 triumph even to the mountains of Biscay, 
 collecting all manner of precious spoil. 
 
 "It is not enough, O Abdalasis," said 
 Ayub, " that we conquer and rule this coun 
 try with the sword : if we wish our dominion 
 to be secure, we must cultivate the arts 
 of peace, and study to secure the confidence 
 
 * Algarbe, or Algarbia, in Arabic signifies the 
 west, as Axarkia is the east, Algufia the north, and 
 Aquibla the south. This will serve to explain some 
 of the geographical names on the peninsula which 
 are of Arabian origin. 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 
 
 and promote the welfare of the people we 
 have conquered." Abdalasis relished counsel 
 which accorded so well with his own benefi 
 cent nature. He endeavoured, therefore, to 
 allay the ferment and confusion of the con 
 quest ; forbade, under rigorous punishment, 
 all wanton spoil or oppression, and protected 
 the native inhabitants in the enjoyment and 
 cultivation of their lands, and the pursuit 
 of all useful occupations. By the advice 
 of Ayub also, he encouraged great numbers 
 of industrious Moors and Arabs to emigrate! 
 
 r? 
 
 from Africa, and gave them houses and 
 lands ; thus introducing a peaceful Maho 
 metan population into the conquered pro 
 vinces. 
 
 The good effect of the counsels of Ayub 
 were soon apparent. Instead of a sudden 
 but transient influx of wealth, made by the 
 ruin of the land, which left the country deso 
 late, a regular and permanent revenue sprang 
 up, produced by reviving prosperity, and 
 gathered without violence. Abdalasis or 
 dered it to be faithfully collected, and de- 
 o 3 
 
LEGEND OF THE 
 
 posited in coffers by public officers appointed 
 in each province for the purpose ; and the 
 whole was sent by ten deputies to Damascus, 
 to be laid at the feet of the caliph, not as 
 the spoils of a vanquished country, but as the 
 peaceful trophies of a wisely administered 
 government. 
 
 The common herd of warlike adventurers, 
 the mere men of the sword, who had thronged 
 to Spain for the purpose of ravage and ra 
 pine, were disappointed at being thus checked 
 in their career, and at seeing the reign of 
 terror and violence drawing to a close. 
 " What manner of leader is this," said they, 
 " who forbids us to make spoil of the enemies 
 of Islam, and to enjoy the land we have 
 wrested from the unbelievers ?" The parti 
 sans of Julian also whispered their calum 
 nies. " Behold," said they, " with what 
 kindness he treats the enemies of your faith : 
 all the Christians who have borne arms 
 against you, and withstood your entrance 
 into the land, are favoured and protected ; 
 but it is enough for a Christian to have be- 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 
 
 friended the cause of the Moslems to be 
 singled out by Abdalasis for persecution, 
 and to be driven with scorn from his pre 
 
 sence." 
 
 These insinuations fermented the discon 
 tent of the turbulent and rapacious among 
 the Moslems ; but all the friends of peace and 
 order and good government applauded the 
 moderation of the youthful emir. 
 
 o 4 
 
296 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 LOVES OF ABDALASIS AND EXILONA. 
 
 ABDALASIS had fixed his seat of govern 
 ment at Seville, as permitting 1 easy and fre 
 quent communications with the coast of 
 Africa. His palace was of noble architec 
 ture, with delightful gardens extending to 
 the banks of the Guadalquivir. In a part of 
 this palace resided many of the most beauti 
 ful Christian females, who were detained as 
 captives, or rather hostages, to ensure the 
 tranquillity of the country. Those who were 
 of noble rank were entertained in luxury and 
 magnificence ; slaves were appointed to at 
 tend upon them, and they were arrayed in 
 the richest apparel and decorated with the 
 most precious jewels. Those of tender age 
 were taught all graceful accomplishments ; 
 and even where tasks were imposed, they 
 were of the most elegant and agreeable kind. 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 
 
 They embroidered, they sang, they danced, 
 and passed their times in pleasing revelry. 
 Many were lulled by this easy and voluptu 
 ous existence ; the scenes of horror through 
 which they had passed were gradually effaced 
 from their minds, and a desire was often 
 awakened of rendering themselves pleasing 
 in the eyes of their conquerors. 
 
 After his return from his campaign in 
 Lusitania, and during the intervals of public- 
 duty, Abdalasis solaced himself in the repose 
 of this palace, and in the society of these 
 Christian captives. He remarked one among 
 them who ever sat apart ; and neither joined 
 in the labours nor sports of her companions. 
 She was lofty in her demeanour, and the 
 others always paid her reverence ; yet sor 
 row had given a softness to her charms, and 
 rendered her beauty touching to the heart. 
 Abdalasis found her one day in the garden 
 with her companions : they had adorned 
 their heads with flowers, and were singing 
 the songs of their country ; but she sat by 
 
298 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 herself and wept. The youthful emir was 
 moved by her tears, and accosted her in 
 gentle accents. "O fairest of women!" 
 said he, " why dost thou weep, and why is 
 thy heart troubled ? " " Alas !" replied she, 
 " have I not cause to weep, seeing how sad 
 is my condition, and how great the height 
 from which I have fallen ? In me you be 
 hold the wretched Exiloria, but lately the 
 wife of Roderick, and the Queen of Spain, 
 now a captive and a slave ! " And, having 
 said these words, she cast her eyes upon the 
 earth, and her tears began to flow afresh. 
 
 The generous feelings of Abdalasis were 
 aroused at the sight of beauty and royalty in 
 tears. He gave orders that Exilona should 
 be entertained in a style befitting her former 
 rank ; he appointed a train of female attend 
 ants to wait upon her, and a guard of honour 
 to protect her from all intrusion. All the 
 time that he could spare from public con 
 cerns was passed in her society ; and he 
 even neglected his divan, and suffered his 
 counsellors to attend in vain, while he lin- 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 299 
 
 gered in the apartments and gardens of the 
 palace, listening to the voice of Exilona. 
 
 The discreet Ayub saw the danger into 
 which he was falling. " Oh Abdalasis ! " 
 said he, " remember the words of thy father. 
 Beware, my son/ said he, of the seduc 
 tions of love. It renders the mighty weak, 
 and makes slaves of princes ! ; A blush 
 kindled on the cheek of Abdalasis, and he 
 was silent for a moment. " Why," said he, 
 at length, " do you seek to charge me with 
 such weakness ? It is one thing to be in 
 fatuated by the charms of a woman, and 
 another to be touched by her misfortunes. 
 It is the duty of my station to console a 
 princess who has been reduced to the lowest 
 humiliation by the triumphs of our arms. In 
 doing so, I do but listen to the dictates of 
 true magnanimity." 
 
 Ayub was silent, but his brow was clouded ; 
 and for once Abdalasis parted in discontent 
 from his counsellor* In proportion as he 
 was dissatisfied with others or with himself,, 
 he sought the society of Exilona j for there 
 o 6 
 
300 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 was a charm in her conversation that banished 
 every care. He daily became more and more 
 enamoured ; and Exilona gradually ceased to 
 weep, and began to listen with secret pleasure 
 to the words of her Arab lover. When, 
 however, he sought to urge his passion, she 
 recollected the light estimation in which her 
 sex was held by the followers of Mahomet, and 
 assumed a countenance grave and severe. 
 
 " Fortune, " said she, " has cast me at thy 
 feet : behold I am thy captive and thy spoil. 
 But though my person is in thy power, my 
 soul is unsubdued ; and know that, should I 
 lack force to defend my honour, I have reso 
 lution to wash out all stain upon it with my 
 blood. I trust, however, in thy courtesy as 
 a cavalier to respect me in my reverses, 
 remembering what I have been ; and that, 
 though the crown has been wrested from 
 my brow, the royal blood still warms within 
 my veins." * 
 
 * Faxardo, Corona, Gothica, t. i. p. 492. Joan. 
 Mar. de Reb. Hisp. 1. vi. c, 27. 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 301 
 
 The lofty spirit of Exilona, and her proud 
 repulse, served but to increase the passion of 
 Abdalasis. He besought her to unite her 
 destiny with his, and share his state and 
 power, promising that she should have no 
 rival nor co-partner in his heart. Whatever 
 scruples the captive queen might originally 
 have felt to a union with one of the con 
 querors of her lord, and an enemy of her 
 adopted faith, they were easily vanquished ; 
 and she became the bride of Abdalasis. He 
 would fain have persuaded her to return to 
 the faith of her fathers : but though of 
 
 7 o 
 
 Moorish origin, and brought up in the doc 
 trines of Islam, she was too thorough a con 
 vert to Christianity to consent, and looked 
 back with disgust upon a religion that ad 
 mitted a plurality of wives. 
 
 When the sage Ayub heard of the reso 
 lution of Abdalasis to espouse Exilona he 
 was in despair. "Alas, my cousin!" said 
 he, " what infatuation possesses thee ? Hast 
 thou then entirely forgotten the letter of thy 
 father ? Beware my son/ said he, of 
 
302 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 love : it is an idle passion, which enfeebles 
 the heart and blinds the judgment. r But 
 Abdalasis interrupted him with impatience. 
 "My father," said he, "spake but of the 
 blandishments of wanton love ; against these 
 I am secured by my virtuous passion for 
 Exilona." 
 
 Ayub would fain have impressed upon 
 him the dangers he ran of awakening sus 
 picion in the caliph, and discontent among 
 the Moslems, by wedding the queen of the 
 conquered Roderick, and one who was an 
 enemy to the religion of Mahomet ; but the 
 youthful lover only listened to his passion. 
 Their nuptials were celebrated at Seville 
 with great pomp and rejoicings, and he gave 
 his bride the name of Omalisam ; that is to 
 say, she of the precious jewels * ; but she 
 continued to be known among the Christians 
 by the name of Exilona. 
 
 * Conde, p. i. c. 17. 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 303 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 FATE OF ABDALASIS AND EXILONA. DEATH OF 
 MUZA. 
 
 POSSESSION, instead of cooling the passion 
 of Abdalasis, only added to its force ; he 
 became blindly enamoured of his beautiful 
 bride, and consulted her will in all things ; 
 nay, having lost all relish for the advice 
 of the discreet Ayub, he was even guided 
 by the counsels of his wife in the affairs 
 of government. Exilona, unfortunately, had 
 once been a queen, and she could not re 
 member her regal glories without regret. 
 She saw that Abdalasis had great power in 
 the land ; greater even than had been pos 
 sessed by the Gothic kings ; but she con 
 sidered it as wanting in true splendour until 
 his brows should be encircled with the out 
 ward badge of royalty. One day, when they 
 
S04f LEGEND OF THE 
 
 were alone in the palace of Seville, and the 
 heart of Abdalasis was given up to tender 
 ness, she addressed him in fond yet timid 
 accents. " Will not my lord be offended," 
 said she, "if I make an unwelcome re 
 quest ? " Abdalasis regarded her with a smile. 
 " What canst thou ask of me, Exilona," said 
 he, "that it would not be a happiness for 
 rne to grant ? " Then Exilona produced a 
 crown of gold, sparkling with jewels, which 
 had belonged to the king, Don Roderick, 
 and said, " Behold, thou art king in au 
 thority, be so in thy outward state. There 
 is majesty and glory in a crown ; it gives a 
 sanctity to power." Then putting the crown 
 upon his head, she held a mirror before him 
 that he might behold the majesty of his ap 
 pearance. Abdalasis chid her fondly, and 
 put the crown away from him ; but Exilona 
 persisted in her prayer. " Never," said she, 
 "has there been a king in Spain that did 
 not wear a crown." So Abdalasis suffered 
 himself to be beguiled by the blandishments 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 305 
 
 of his wife, and to be invested with the crown 
 and sceptre and other signs of royalty.* 
 
 It is affirmed by ancient and discreet 
 chroniclers, that Abdalasis only assumed this 
 royal state in the privacy of his palace, and 
 to gratify the eye of his youthful bride : but 
 where was a secret ever confined within the 
 walls of a palace ? The assumption of the 
 insignia of the ancient Gothic kings was 
 soon rumoured about, and caused the most 
 violent suspicions. The Moslems had already 
 felt jealous of the ascendancy of this beautiful 
 woman ; and it was now confidently asserted 
 that Abdalasis, won by her persuasions, had 
 secretly turned Christian. 
 
 The enemies of Abdalasis, those whose 
 rapacious spirits had been kept in check by 
 the beneficence of his rule, seized upon this 
 occasion to ruin him. They sent letters to 
 Damascus accusing him of apostacy, and of 
 an intention to seize upon the throne in right 
 
 * Cron. Gen. de Alonzo el Sabio, p. 3. Joan. 
 Mar. de Reb. Hisp. lib. vi. c. 27. Conde, p. i. 
 cap. 19. 
 
306 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 of his wife, Exilona, as widow of the late 
 King Roderick. It was added, that the 
 Christians were prepared to flock to his 
 standard, as the only means of regaining 
 ascendancy in their country. 
 
 These accusations arrived at Damascus 
 just after the accession of the sanguinary 
 Suleiman to the throne, and in the height 
 of his persecution of the unfortunate Muza. 
 The caliph waited for no proofs in confirm 
 ation ; he immediately sent private orders 
 that Abdalasis should be put to death, and 
 that the same fate should be dealt to his two 
 brothers who governed in Africa, as a sure 
 means of crushing the conspiracy of this 
 ambitious family. 
 
 The mandate for the death of Abdalasis 
 was sent to Abhilbar ben Obeidah and Zeyd 
 ben Nabegat, both of whom had been 
 cherished friends of Muza, and had lived 
 in intimate favour and companionship with 
 his son. When they read the fatal parch 
 ment, the scroll fell from their trembling 
 hands. " Can such hostility exist against 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 307 
 
 the family of Muza ?" exclaimed they. " Is 
 this the reward for such great and glorious 
 services ? " The cavaliers remained for some 
 time plunged in horror and consternation. 
 The order, however, was absolute, and left 
 them no discretion. " Allah is great," said 
 they, "and commands us to obey our so 
 vereign." So they prepared to execute the 
 bloody mandate with the blind fidelity of 
 Moslems. / 
 
 It was necessary to proceed with caution. 
 The open and magnanimous character of 
 Abdalasis had won the hearts of a great part 
 of the soldiery, and his magnificence pleased 
 the cavaliers who formed his guard : it was 
 feared, therefore, that a sanguinary opposition 
 would be made to any attempt upon his 
 person. The rabble, however, had been 
 embittered against him from his having re 
 strained their depredations, and because they 
 thought him an apostate in his heart, secretly 
 bent upon betraying them to the Christians. 
 While, therefore, the two officers made vigi 
 lant dispositions to check any movement on 
 
308 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 the part of the soldiery, they let loose the 
 blind fury of the populace, by publishing the 
 fatal mandate. In a moment the city was in 
 a ferment, and there was a ferocious emula 
 tion who should be first to execute the orders 
 of the caliph. 
 
 Abdalasis was at this time at a palace in 
 the country not far from Seville, command 
 ing a delightful view of the fertile plain of 
 the Guadalquivir. Hither he was accus 
 tomed to retire from the tumult of the court, 
 and to pass his time among groves and foun 
 tains, and the sweet repose of gardens, in the 
 society of Exilona. It was the dawn of day, 
 the hour of early prayer, when the furious 
 populace arrived at this retreat. Abdalasis 
 was offering up his orisons in a small mosque 
 which he had erected for the use of the 
 neighbouring peasantry. Exilona was in a 
 chapel in the interior of the palace, where 
 her confessor, a holy friar, was performing 
 mass. They were both surprised at their 
 devotions, and dragged forth by the hands 
 of the rabble. A few guards, who attended 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 309 
 
 at the palace, would have made defence; but 
 they were overawed by the sight of the 
 written mandate of the caliph. 
 
 The captives were borne in triumph to 
 Seville. All the beneficent virtues of Abda- 
 lasis were forgotten ; nor had the charms of 
 Exilona any effect in softening the hearts of 
 the populace. The brutal eagerness to shed 
 blood, which seems inherent in human nature, 
 was awakened; and woe to the victims when 
 that eagerness is quickened by religious hate ! 
 The illustrious couple, adorned with all the 
 graces of youth and beauty, were hurried to 
 a scaffold in the great square of Seville, and 
 there beheaded, amidst the shouts and exe 
 crations of an infatuated multitude. Their 
 bodies were left exposed upon the ground, 
 and would have been devoured by dogs, had 
 they not been gathered at night by some 
 friendly hand, and poorly interred in one of 
 the courts of their late dwelling. 
 
 Thus terminated the loves and lives of 
 Abdalasis and Exilona, in the year of the In 
 carnation seven hundred and fourteen. Their 
 
310 LEGEND OF THE 
 
 names were held sacred as martyrs to the 
 Christian faith : hut many read in their un 
 timely fate a lesson against amhition and 
 vainglory ; having sacrificed real power and 
 substantial rule to the glittering bauble of a 
 crown. 
 
 The head of Abdalasis was embalmed, and 
 enclosed in a casket, and sent to Syria to the 
 cruel Suleiman. The messenger who bore 
 it overtook the caliph as he was performing 
 a pilgrimage to Mecca. Muza was among 
 the courtiers in his train, having been 
 released from prison. On opening the cas 
 ket, and regarding its contents, the eyes of 
 the tyrant sparkled with malignant satisfac 
 tion. Calling the unhappy father to his side : 
 " Muza," said he, " dost thou know this 
 head ? " The veteran recognised the features 
 of his beloved son, and turned his face away 
 with anguish. " Yes I well do I know it," 
 replied he ; " and may the curse of God 
 light upon him who has destroyed a better 
 man than himself." 
 
 Without adding another word, he retired 
 
SUBJUGATION OF SPAIN. 311 
 
 to Mount Deran, a prey to devouring me 
 lancholy. He shortly after received tidings 
 of the death of his two sons, whom he had 
 left in the government of western Africa, 
 and Avho had fallen victims to the jealous 
 suspicions of the caliph. His advanced age 
 was not proof against these repeated blows, 
 and this utter ruin of his late prosperous 
 family; and he sank into his grave, sorrowing 
 and broken-hearted. 
 
 Such was the lamentable end of the con 
 queror of Spain ; whose great achievements 
 were not sufficient to atone, in the eye of his 
 sovereign, for a weakness to which all men 
 ambitious of renown are subject ; and whose 
 triumphs eventually brought persecution upon 
 himself, and untimely death upon his chil 
 dren. 
 
 Here ends the legend of the Subjugation 
 of Spain. 
 
LEGEND 
 
 OP 
 
 COUNT JULIAN AND HIS FAMILY. 
 
LEGEND 
 
 OF 
 
 COUNT JULIAN AND HIS FAMILY. 
 
 IN the preceding legends is darkly sha 
 dowed out a true story of the woes of 
 Spain. It is a story full of wholesome ad 
 monition, rebuking the insolence of human 
 pride, and the vanity of human ambition, and 
 showing the futility of all greatness that is 
 not strongly based on virtue. We have seen, 
 in brief space of time, most of the actors in 
 this historic drama disappearing, one by one, 
 from the scene, and going down, conqueror 
 and conquered, to gloomy and unhonoured 
 graves. It remains to close this eventful his 
 tory, by holding up as a signal warning the 
 fate of the traitor, whose perfidious scheme of 
 vengeance brought ruin on his native land. 
 
 p 
 
316 LEGEND OF 
 
 Many and various are the accounts given 
 in ancient chronicles of the fortunes of Count 
 Julian and his family ; and many are the tra 
 ditions on the subject still extant among the 
 populace of Spain, and perpetuated in those 
 countless ballads sung by peasants and 
 muleteers, which spread a singular charm 
 over the whole of this romantic land. 
 
 He who has travelled in Spain in the true 
 way in which the country ought to be travel 
 led ; sojourning in its remote provinces ; 
 rambling among the rugged defiles and se 
 cluded valleys of its mountains ; and making 
 himself familiar with the people in their out- 
 of-the-way hamlets, and rarely visited neigh 
 bourhoods, will remember many a group of 
 travellers and muleteers, gathered of an even 
 ing around the door or the spacious hearth 
 of a mountain venta, wrapped in their brown 
 cloaks, and listening with grave and profound 
 attention to the long historic ballad of some 
 rustic troubadour, either recited with the 
 true ore rotunda and modulated cadences of 
 Spanish elocution, or chanted to the tink- 
 
COUNT JULIAN AND HIS FAMILY. 317 
 
 ling of a guitar. In this way, he may have 
 heard the doleful end of Count Julian and 
 his family recounted in traditionary rhymes, 
 that have been handed down from generation 
 to generation. The particulars, however, of 
 the following wild legend are chiefly gathered 
 from the writings of the pseudo Moor, Rasis : 
 how far they may be safely taken as historic 
 facts, it is impossible now to ascertain ; we 
 must content ourselves, therefore, with their 
 answering to the exactions of poetic justice. 
 
 As yet every thing had prospered with 
 Count Julian, He had gratified his venge 
 ance ; he had been successful in his treason, 
 and had acquired countless riches from the 
 ruin of his country. But it is not outward 
 success that constitutes prosperity. The tree 
 flourishes with fruit and foliage while blasted 
 and withering at the heart. Wherever he 
 went, Count Julian read hatred in every 
 eye. The Christians cursed him as the 
 cause of all their woe ; the Moslems despised 
 and distrusted him as a traitor. Men whis 
 pered together as he approached, and then 
 p 3 
 
318 LEGEND OF 
 
 turned away in scorn ; and mothers snatched 
 away their children with horror if he offered 
 to caress them. He withered under the exe 
 cration of his fellow men ; and last, and 
 worst of all, he began to loathe himself. He 
 tried in vain to persuade himself that he had 
 but taken a justifiable vengeance : he felt 
 that no personal wrong can justify the crime 
 of treason to one s country. 
 
 For a time, he sought in luxurious in 
 dulgence to soothe, or forget, the miseries of 
 the mind. He assembled round him every 
 pleasure and gratification that boundless 
 wealth could purchase ; but all in vain. He 
 had no relish for the dainties of his board ; 
 music had no charm wherewith to lull his 
 soul, and remorse drove slumber from his 
 pillow. He sent to Ceuta for his wife 
 Frandina, his daughter Florinda, and his 
 youthful son Alarbot ; hoping in the bosom 
 of his family to find that sympathy and 
 kindness which he could no longer meet with 
 in the world. Their presence, however^ 
 brought him no alleviation. Florinda, the 
 
COUNT JULIAN AND HIS FAMILY. 319 
 
 daughter of his heart, for whose sake he 
 had undertaken this signal vengeance, was 
 sinking a victim to its effects. Wherever 
 she went, she found herself a bye-word of 
 shame and reproach. The outrage she had 
 suffered was imputed to her as wantonness, 
 and her calamity was magnified into a crime. 
 The Christians never mentioned her name 
 without a curse, and the Moslems, the gainers 
 by her misfortune, spake of her only by the 
 appellation of Cava, the vilest epithet they 
 could apply to woman. 
 
 But the opprobrium of the world was 
 nothing to the upbraiding of her own heart. 
 She charged herself with all the miseries of 
 these disastrous wars ; the deaths of so many 
 gallant cavaliers ; the conquest and perdition 
 of her country. The anguish of her mind 
 preyed upon the beauty of her person. Her 
 eye, once soft and tender in its expression, 
 became wild and haggard ; her cheek lost 
 its bloom, and became hollow and pallid; 
 and at times there was desperation in her 
 words. When her father sought to embrace 
 p 4 
 
320 LEGEND OF 
 
 her, she withdrew with shuddering from his 
 arms ; for she thought of his treason, and 
 the ruin it had brought upon Spain. Her 
 wretchedness increased after her return to 
 her native country, until it rose to a degree 
 of frenzy. One day when she was walking 
 with her parents in the garden of their 
 palace, she entered a tower, and, having 
 barred the door, ascended to the battlements. 
 From thence she called to them in piercing 
 accents, expressive of her insupportable an 
 guish and desperate determination. " Let 
 this city," said she, " be henceforth called 
 Malacca, in memorial of the most wretched 
 of women, who therein put an end to her 
 days." So saying, she threw herself head 
 long from the tower, and was dashed to pieces. 
 The city, adds the ancient chronicler, re 
 ceived the name thus given it, though after- 
 vvards softened to Malaga, which it still 
 retains, in memory of the tragical end of 
 Florinda. 
 
 The Countess Frandina abandoned this 
 scene of woe, and returned to Ceuta, ac- 
 
COUNT JULIAN AND HIS FAMILY. 
 
 companied by her infant son. She took with 
 her the remains of her unfortunate daughter, 
 and gave them honourable sepulture in a 
 mausoleum of the chapel belonging to the 
 citadel. Count Julian departed for Cartha- 
 gena, where he remained plunged in horror 
 at this doleful event. 
 
 About this time, the cruel Suleiman, 
 having destroyed the family of Muza, had 
 sent an Arab general, named Alahor, to 
 succeed Abdalasis as emir or governor of 
 Spain. The new emir was of a cruel and 
 suspicious nature, and commenced his sway 
 with a stern severity that soon made those 
 under his command look back with regret to 
 the easy rule of Abdalasis. He regarded 
 with an eye of distrust the renegado 
 Christians who had aided in the conquest, 
 and who bore arms in the service of the 
 Moslems ; but his deepest suspicions fell 
 upon Count Julian. " He has been a traitor 
 to his own countrymen," said he : " how can 
 we be sure that he will not prove traitor to 
 
 us?" 
 
 p 5 
 
LEGEND OF 
 
 A sudden insurrection of the Christians 
 who had taken refuge in the Asturian moun 
 tains quickened his suspicions, and inspired 
 him with fears of some dangerous conspiracy 
 against his power. In the height of his 
 anxiety, he bethought him of an Arabian 
 sage named Yuza, who had accompanied 
 him from Africa. This son of sience was 
 withered in form, and looked as if he had 
 outlived the usual term of mortal life. In 
 the course of his studies and travels in the 
 East, he had collected the knowledge and 
 experience of ages ; being skilled in astrology 
 and, it is said, in necromancy, and possessing 
 the marvellous gift of prophecy or divination. 
 To this expounder of mysteries Alahor ap 
 plied, to learn whether any secret treason 
 menaced his safety. 
 
 The astrologer listened with deep attention 
 and overwhelming brow to all the surmises 
 and suspicions of the emir ; then shut himself 
 up to consult his books, and commune with 
 those supernatural intelligences subservient 
 to his wisdom. At an appointed hour, the 
 
COUNT JULIAN AND HIS FAMILY. 323 
 
 emir sought him in his cell. It was filled 
 with the smoke of perfumes : squares and 
 circles and various diagrams were described 
 upon the floor ; and the astrologer was poring 
 over a scroll of parchment covered with 
 cabalistic characters. He received Alahor 
 with a gloomy and sinister aspect ; pretend 
 ing to have discovered fearful portents in the 
 heavens, and to have had strange dreams 
 and mystic visions. 
 
 " O emir," said he, " be on your guard 1 
 Treason is around you, and in your path : 
 your life is in peril. Beware of Count 
 Julian and his family." 
 
 " Enough," said the emir. " They shall 
 all die! Parents and children all shall 
 die!" 
 
 He forthwith sent a summons to Count 
 Julian to attend him in Cordova. The 
 messenger found him plunged in affliction 
 for the recent death of his daughter. The 
 count excused himself, on account of this 
 misfortune, from obeying the commands of 
 the emir in person, but sent several of his 
 p 6 
 
LEGEND OF 
 
 adherents. His hesitation, and the circum 
 stance of his having sent his family across 
 the straits to Africa, were construed by the 
 jealous mind of the emir into proofs of 
 guilt. He no longer doubted his being con 
 cerned in the recent insurrections, and that 
 he had sent his family away, preparatory to 
 an attempt, by force of arms, to subvert the 
 Moslem domination. In his fury, he put to 
 death Siseburto and Evan, the nephews of 
 Bishop Oppas, and sons of the former king, 
 Witiza, suspecting them of taking part in 
 the treason. Thus did they expiate their 
 treachery to their country in the fatal battle 
 of the Gaudalete. 
 
 Alahor next hastened to Carthagena, to 
 seize upon Count Julian. So rapid were 
 his movements that the count had barely 
 time to escape with fifteen cavaliers, with 
 whom he took refuge in the strong castle of 
 Marcuello, among the mountains of Arragon. 
 The emir, enraged to be disappointed of his 
 prey, embarked at Carthagena, and crossed 
 
COUNT JULIAN AND HIS FAMILY. 
 
 the straits to Ceuta, to make captives of the 
 Countess Frandina and her son. 
 
 The old chronicle from which we take 
 this part of our legend presents a gloomy 
 picture of the countess in the stern fortress 
 to which she had fled for refuge ; a picture 
 heightened by supernatural horrors. These 
 latter the sagacious reader will admit or 
 reject, according to the measure of his faith 
 and judgment ; always remembering, that in 
 dark and eventful times, like those in ques 
 tion, involving the destinies of nations, the 
 downfal of kingdoms, and the crimes of 
 rulers and mighty men, the hand of fate is 
 sometimes strangely visible, and confounds 
 the wisdom of the Avorldly wise, by intima 
 tions and portents above the ordinary course 
 of things. With this proviso, we make 110 
 scruple to follow the venerable chronicler in 
 his narration. 
 
 Now so it happened, that the Countess 
 Frandina was seated late at night in her 
 chamber in the city of Ceuta, which stands 
 
326 LEGEND OF 
 
 on a lofty rock, overlooking the sea. She 
 was revolving, in gloomy thought, the late 
 disasters of her family, when she heard a 
 mournful noise, like that of the sea breeze, 
 moaning about the castle walls. Raising her 
 eyes, she beheld her brother, the Bishop 
 Oppas, at the entrance of the chamber. She 
 advanced to embrace him, but he forbade 
 her with a motion of his hand ; and she 
 observed that he was ghastly pale, and that 
 his eyes glared as with lambent flames. 
 
 " Touch me not, sister," said he with a 
 mournful voice, " lest thou be consumed by 
 the fire which rages within me. Guard well 
 thy son, for blood-hounds are upon his track. 
 His innocence might have secured him 
 the protection of Heaven, but our crimes 
 have involved him in our common ruin." 
 He ceased to speak, and was no longer to be 
 seen. His coming and going were alike 
 without noise, and the door of the chamber 
 remained fast bolted. 
 
 On the following morning, a messenger 
 arrived with tidings that the Bishop Oppas 
 
COUNT JULIAN AND HIS FAMILY. 
 
 had been made prisoner in battle by the in 
 surgent Christians of the Asturias, and had 
 died in fetters in a tower of the mountains. 
 The same messenger brought word that the 
 Emir Alahor had put to death several of the 
 friends of Count Julian ; had obliged him to 
 fly for his life to a castle in Arragon ; and 
 was embarking with a formidable force for 
 Ceuta. 
 
 The Countess Frandina, as has already 
 been shown, was of courageous heart ; and 
 danger made her desperate. There were 
 fifty Moorish soldiers in the garrison ; she 
 feared that they would prove treacherous, 
 and take part with their countrymen. Sum 
 moning her officers, therefore, she informed 
 them of their danger, and commanded them 
 to put those Moors to death. The guards 
 sallied forth to obey her orders. Thirty-five 
 of the Moors were in the great square, un 
 suspicious of any danger, when they were 
 severally singled out by their executioners, 
 and, at a concerted signal, killed on the spot. 
 The remaining fifteen took refuge in a tower* 
 
328 LEGEND OF 
 
 They saw the armada of the emir at a dis 
 tance, and hoped to be ahle to hold out until 
 its arrival. The soldiers of the countess 
 saw it also, and made extraordinary efforts 
 to destroy these internal enemies, before they 
 should be attacked from without. They 
 made repeated attempts to storm the tower, 
 but were as often repulsed with severe loss. 
 They then undermined it, supporting* its 
 foundations by stanchions of wood. To 
 these they set fire, and withdrew to a distance, 
 keeping up a constant shower of missiles to 
 prevent the Moors from sallying" forth to 
 extinguish the flames. The stanchions were 
 rapidly consumed ; and when they gave way 
 the tower fell to the ground. Some of the 
 Moors were crushed among the ruins ; others 
 were flung to a distance, and dashed among 
 the rocks : those who survived were in 
 stantly put to the sword. 
 
 The fleet of the emir arrived at Ceuta 
 about the hour of vespers. He landed, but 
 found the gates closed against him. The 
 countess herself spoke to him from a tower, 
 
COUNT JULIAN AND HIS FAMILY. 329 
 
 and set him at defiance. The emir imme 
 diately laid siege to the city. He consulted 
 the astrologer Yuza, who told him that, for 
 seven days, his star would have the ascendant 
 over that of the youth Alarbot ; but after that 
 time the youth would be safe from his power, 
 and would effect his ruin. 
 
 Alahor immediately ordered the city to be 
 assailed on every side, and at length carried 
 it by storm. The countess took refuge with 
 her forces in the citadel, and made a despe 
 rate defence ; but the walls were sapped and 
 mined, and she saw that all resistance would 
 soon be unavailing. Her only thoughts now 
 were to conceal her child. " Surely," said 
 she, " they will not think of seeking him 
 among the dead." She led him, therefore, 
 into the dark and dismal chapel. " Thou art 
 not afraid to be alone in this darkness, my 
 child ? " said she. 
 
 " No, mother, * replied the boy, " dark 
 ness gives silence and sleep." She con 
 ducted him to the tomb of Florinda. " Fear- 
 est thou the dead, my child?" "No, mother, 
 
330 LEGEND OF 
 
 the dead can do no harm, and what should 
 I fear from my sister ? " 
 
 The countess opened the sepulchre. " Lis 
 ten, my son," said she. " There are fierce 
 and cruel people who have come hither to 
 murder thee. Stay here in company with 
 thy sister, and be quiet as thou dost value 
 thy life ! " The boy, who was of a courage 
 ous nature, did as he was bidden, and re 
 mained there all that day, and all the night, 
 and the next day until the third hour. 
 
 In the mean time the walls of the citadel 
 were sapped, the troops of the emir poured 
 in at the breach, and a great part of the gar 
 rison was put to the sword. The countess 
 was taken prisoner and brought before the 
 emir. She appeared in his presence with a 
 haughty demeanour, as if she had been a 
 queen receiving homage ; but when he de 
 manded her son, she faltered, and turned 
 pale, and replied, " My son is with the 
 dead." 
 
 " Countess," said the emir, " I am not 
 to be deceived ; tell me where you have con* 
 
COUNT JULIAN AND HIS FAMILY. 331 
 
 cealed the boy, or tortures shall wring from 
 you the secret." 
 
 " Emir," replied the countess, " may the 
 greatest torments be my portion, both here 
 and hereafter, if what I speak be not the 
 truth ! My darling child lies buried with the 
 dead." 
 
 The emir was confounded by the solem 
 nity of her words ; but the withered astrolo 
 ger, Yuza, who stood by his side regarding 
 the countess from beneath his bushed eye 
 brows, perceived trouble in her countenance 
 and equivocation in her words. " Leave this 
 matter to me," whispered he to Alahor ; " I 
 will produce the child." 
 
 He ordered strict search to be made by 
 the soldiery, and he obliged the countess to 
 be always present. When they came to the 
 chapel, her cheek turned pale and her lip 
 quivered. " This," said the subtle astrolo 
 ger, (( is the place of concealment." 
 
 The search throughout the chapel, how 
 ever, was equally vain, and the soldiers were 
 about to depart, when Yuza remarked a 
 
332 LEGEND OF 
 
 slight gleam of joy in the eye of the countess. 
 " We are leaving our prey behind," thought 
 he ; " the countess is exulting." 
 
 He now called to mind the words of her 
 asseveration, that her child was with the 
 dead. Turning suddenly to the soldiers, he 
 ordered them to search the sepulchres. " If 
 you find him not," said he, " drag forth the 
 bones of that wanton Cava, that they may be 
 burnt, and the ashes scattered to the winds." 
 
 The soldiers searched among the tombs, 
 and found that of Florinda partly open. 
 Within lay the boy in the sound sleep of 
 childhood, and one of the soldiers took him 
 gently in his arms to bear him to the emir. 
 
 When the countess beheld that her child 
 was discovered, she rushed into the presence 
 of Alahor, and, forgetting all her pride, 
 threw herself upon her knees before him. 
 
 "Mercy! mercy!" cried she, in piercing 
 accents, "mercy on my son my only child! 
 O emir ! listen to a mother s prayer, and 
 my lips shall kiss thy feet. As thou art mer 
 ciful to him, so may the most high God have 
 
COUNT JULIAN AND HIS FAMILY. 333 
 
 mercy upon thee, and heap blessings on thy 
 head !" 
 
 "Bear that frantic women hence," said 
 the emir ; " but guard her well." 
 
 The countess was dragged away by the 
 soldiery, without regard to her struggles and 
 her cries, and confined in a dungeon of the 
 citadel. 
 
 The child was now brought to the emir. 
 He had been awakened by the tumult, but 
 gazed fearlessly on the stern countenances of 
 the soldiers. Had the heart of the emir 
 been capable of pity, it would have been 
 touched by the tender youth and innocent 
 beauty of the child ; but his heart was as the 
 nether millstone, and he was bent upon the 
 destruction of the whole family of Julian. 
 Calling to him the astrologer, he gave the 
 child into his charge with a secret command. 
 The withered son of the desert took the boy 
 by the hand, and led him up the winding 
 staircase of a tower. When they reached 
 the summit, Yuza placed him on the battle 
 ments. 
 
334 LEGEND OF 
 
 " Cling not to me, my child/ said he ; 
 "there is no danger." "Father, I fear not," 
 said the undaunted boy; "yet it is a won 
 drous height ! " 
 
 The child looked around with delighted 
 eyes. The breeze blew his curling locks 
 from about his face, and his cheek glowed at 
 the boundless prospect ; for the tower was 
 reared upon that lofty promontory on which 
 Hercules founded one of his pillars. The 
 surges of the sea were heard far below beat 
 ing upon the rocks, the sea-gull screamed 
 and wheeled about the foundations of the 
 tower, and the sails of lofty caraccas were as 
 mere specks on the bosom of the deep. 
 
 " Dost thou know yonder land beyond the 
 blue water ? " said Yuza. 
 
 4 * It is Spain," replied the boy; "it is the 
 land of my father and my mother." 
 
 " Then stretch forth thy hands and bless 
 it, my child," said the astrologer. 
 
 The boy let go his hold of the wall, and, 
 as he stretched forth his hands, the aged son 
 of Ishmael, exerting all the strength of his 
 
COUNT JULIAN AND HIS FAMILY. 335 
 
 withered limbs, suddenly pushed him over 
 the battlements* He fell headlong from the 
 top of that tall tower, and not a bone in his 
 tender frame but was crushed upon the rocks 
 beneath. 
 
 Alahor came to the foot of the winding 
 stairs. 
 
 " Is the boy safe ?" cried he. 
 " He is safe," replied Yuza ; "come and 
 behold the truth with thine own eyes." 
 
 The emir ascended the tower and looked 
 over the battlements, and beheld the body of 
 the child, a shapeless mass, on the rocks far 
 below, and the sea-gulls hovering about it ; 
 and he gave orders that it should be thrown 
 into the sea, which was done. 
 
 On the following morning, the countess 
 was led forth from her dungeon into the pub 
 lic square. She knew of the death of her 
 child, and that her own death was at hand ; 
 but she neither wept nor supplicated. Her 
 hair was dishevelled, her eyes were haggard 
 with watching, and her cheek was as the 
 monumental stone j but there were the 
 
336 LEGEND OF 
 
 remains of commanding beauty in her counte 
 nance; and the majesty of her presence awed 
 even the rabble into respect. 
 
 A multitude of Christian prisoners were 
 then brought forth ; and Alahor cried out 
 " Behold the wife of Count Julian ; be 
 hold one of that traitorous family which has 
 brought ruin upon yourselves and upon your 
 country." And he ordered that they should 
 stone her to death. But the Christians drew 
 back with horror from the deed, and said 
 " In the hand of God is vengeance, let not 
 her blood be upon our heads." Upon this 
 the emir swore, with horrid imprecations, that 
 whoever of the captives refused should him 
 self be stoned to death. So the cruel order 
 was executed, and the Countess Frandina 
 perished by the hands of her countrymen. 
 Having thus accomplished his barbarous 
 errand, the emir embarked for Spain, and or 
 dered the citadel of Ceuta to be set on fire, 
 and crossed the straights at night by the 
 light of its towering flames. 
 
 The death of Count Julian, which took 
 
COUNT JULIAN AND HIS FAMILY. 337 
 
 place not long after, closed the tragic story 
 of his family. How he died remains involved 
 in doubt. Some assert that the cruel Alahor 
 pursued him to his retreat among the 
 mountains, and, having taken him prisoner, 
 beheaded him ; others that the Moors con 
 fined him in a dungeon, and put an end 
 to his life with lingering torments ; while 
 others affirm that the tower of the castle of 
 Marcuello, near Huesca, in Arragon, in 
 which he took refuge, fell on him and 
 crushed him to pieces. All agree that his 
 latter end was miserable in the extreme, and 
 his death violent. The curse of Heaven, 
 which had thus pursued him to the grave, 
 was extended to the very place which had 
 given him shelter : for we are told that the 
 castle is no longer inhabited, on account or 
 the strange and horrible noises that are heard 
 in it ; and that visions of armed men are 
 seen above it in the air ; which are supposed 
 to be the troubled spirits of the apostate 
 Christians who favoured the cause of the 
 traitor. 
 
 a 
 
338 LEGEND OF COUNT JULIAN, ETC. 
 
 Iii after times a stone sepulchre was 
 shown, outside of the chapel of the castle, as 
 the tomb of Count Julian : but the traveller 
 and the pilgrim avoided it, or bestowed upon 
 it a malediction ; and the name of Julian has 
 remained a by-word and a scorn in the land 
 for the warning of all generations. Such 
 ever be the lot of him who betrays his 
 country ! 
 
 Here end the legends of the conquest of 
 Spain. 
 
 Written in the Alhambra, June 10. 1829. 
 
339 
 
 NOTE TO THE PRECEDING LEGEND. 
 
 El licenciado Ardevines (Lib. ii. c. 8.) dize 
 que dichos Duendos caseros, o los del aire, 
 hazen aparacer exercitos y peleas, como Jo 
 que se cuenta por tradicion (y ami algunos 
 personas lo deponen como testigos de vista) 
 de la torre y castello de Marcuello, lugar al 
 pie de las montanas de Aragon (aora inha 
 bitable, por las grandes y espan tables ruidos 
 que en el se oyen) donde se retraxo el Conde 
 Don Julian, causa de la perdicion de Espana ; 
 sobre el qual Castillo, deze se ven en el aire 
 ciertas visiones, como de soldados, que el 
 vulgo dize son los cavalleros y gente que le 
 favorecian. 
 
 Vide " el Ente Dislucidado, por Fray An 
 tonio de Fuentalapena capuchin. Seccion 3. 
 Subseccion 5. Instancia 8. Num. 644. 
 
 As readers unversed in the Spanish lan 
 guage may wish to know the testimony of 
 the worthy and discreet capuchin friar, An- 
 
340 NOTE TO THE PRECEDING LEGEND. 
 
 tonio de Fuentalapena, we subjoin a transla 
 tion of it. 
 
 " The licentiate Ardevines (Book II. 
 chap. 8.) says, that the said house fairies 
 (or familiar spirits), or those of the air, cause 
 the apparitions of armies and battles ; such 
 as those which are related in tradition (and 
 some persons even depose to the truth of 
 them as eye-witnesses) of the town and cas 
 tle of Marcuello, a /ortress at the foot of the 
 mountains of Arragon (at present uninha 
 bitable, on account of the great and fright 
 ful noises heard in it), the place of retreat of 
 Count Don Julian, the cause of the perdition 
 of Spain. It is said that certain apparitions 
 of soldiers are seen in the air, which the 
 vulgar say are those of the courtiers and 
 people who aided him." 
 
 THE END. 
 
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