History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, the Catholic, vol 2 | Page 7

the
Andalusian cities principally, of the retainers of the great nobility, and
of the well-appointed chivalry which thronged from all quarters of the
kingdom, amounted on this occasion to twelve thousand horse and
forty thousand foot; a number, which sufficiently attests the
unslackened ardor of the nation in the prosecution of the war. On the
7th of April, King Ferdinand, putting himself at the head of this
formidable host, quitted the fair city of Cordova amid the cheering

acclamations of its inhabitants, although these were somewhat damped
by the ominous occurrence of an earthquake, which demolished a part
of the royal residence, among other edifices, during the preceding night.
The route, after traversing the Yeguas and the old town of Antequera,
struck into a wild, hilly country, that stretches towards Velez. The
rivers were so much swollen by excessive rains, and the passes so
rough and difficult, that the army in part of its march advanced only a
league a day; and on one occasion, when no suitable place occurred for
encampment for the space of five leagues, the men fainted with
exhaustion, and the beasts dropped down dead in the harness. At length,
on the 17th of April, the Spanish army sat down before Velez Malaga,
where in a few days they were joined by the lighter pieces of their
battering ordnance; the roads, notwithstanding the immense labor
expended on them, being found impracticable for the heavier. [1]
The Moors were aware of the importance of Velez to the security of
Malaga. The sensation excited in Granada by the tidings of its danger
was so strong, that the old chief, El Zagal, found it necessary to make
an effort to relieve the beleaguered city, notwithstanding the critical
posture in which his absence would leave his affairs in the capital. Dark
clouds of the enemy were seen throughout the day mustering along the
heights, which by night were illumined with a hundred fires.
Ferdinand's utmost vigilance was required for the protection of his
camp against the ambuscades and nocturnal sallies of his wily foe. At
length, however, El Zagal, having been foiled in a well-concerted
attempt to surprise the Christian quarters by night, was driven across
the mountains by the marquis of Cadiz, and compelled to retreat on his
capital, completely baffled in his enterprise. There the tidings of his
disaster had preceded him. The fickle populace, with whom misfortune
passes for misconduct, unmindful of his former successes, now
hastened to transfer their allegiance to his rival, Abdallah, and closed
the gates against him; and the unfortunate chief withdrew to Guadix,
which, with Almeria, Baza, and some less considerable places, still
remained faithful. [2]
Ferdinand conducted the siege all the while with his usual vigor, and
spared no exposure of his person to peril or fatigue. On one occasion,
seeing a party of Christians retreating in disorder before a squadron of
the enemy, who had surprised them while fortifying an eminence near

the city, the king, who was at dinner in his tent, rushed out with no
other defensive armor than his cuirass, and, leaping on his horse,
charged briskly into the midst of the enemy, and succeeded in rallying
his own men. In the midst of the rencontre, however, when he had
discharged his lance, he found himself unable to extricate his sword
from the scabbard which hung from the saddle-bow. At this moment he
was assaulted by several Moors, and must have been either slain or
taken, but for the timely rescue of the marquis of Cadiz, and a brave
cavalier, Garcilasso de la Vega, who, galloping up to the spot with their
attendants, succeeded after a sharp skirmish in beating off the enemy.
Ferdinand's nobles remonstrated with him on this wanton exposure of
his person, representing that he could serve them more effectually with
his head than his hand. But he answered, that "he could not stop to
calculate chances, when his subjects were perilling their lives for his
sake;" a reply, says Pulgar, which endeared him to the whole army. [3]
At length, the inhabitants of Velez, seeing the ruin impending from the
bombardment of the Christians, whose rigorous blockade both by sea
and land excluded all hopes of relief from without, consented to
capitulate on the usual conditions of security to persons, property, and
religion. The capitulation of this place, April 27th, 1487, was followed
by that of more than twenty places of inferior note lying between it and
Malaga, so that the approaches to this latter city were now left open to
the victorious Spaniards. [4]
This ancient city, which, under the Spanish Arabs in the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries, formed the capital of an independent principality,
was second only to the metropolis itself, in the kingdom of Granada. Its
fruitful environs furnished abundant articles of