Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada, from the mss. of Fray Antonio AgapidaIrving, Washington
History
Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada, from the mss. of Fray Antonio Agapida
Irving, Washington
Granada (Spain : Reino) -- History -- Spanish Conquest, 1476-1492
The king particularly noted the prowess of two Moorish cavaliers,
alike in arms and devices, and whom by their bearing and attendance he
perceived to be commanders of the enemy. They were the two brothers,
the alcaydes of Illora and Moclin. Wherever they turned they carried
confusion and death into the ranks of the Christians, but they fought
with desperation rather than valor. The count de Cabra and his brother
Don Martin de Cordova pressed forward with eagerness against them, but,
having advanced too precipitately, were surrounded by the foe and in
imminent danger. A young Christian knight, seeing their peril, hastened
with his followers to their relief. The king recognized him for Don Juan
de Aragon, count of Ribargoza, his own nephew, for he was illegitimate
son of the duke of Villahermosa, illegitimate brother of King Ferdinand.
The splendid armor of Don Juan and the sumptuous caparison of his steed
rendered him a brilliant object of attack. He was assailed on all sides
and his superb steed slain under him, yet still he fought valiantly,
bearing for a time the brunt of the fight and giving the exhausted
forces of the count de Cabra time to recover breath.
Seeing the peril of these troops and the general obstinacy of the fight,
the king ordered the royal standard to be advanced, and hastened with
all his forces to the relief of the count de Cabra. At his approach
the enemy gave way and retreated toward the bridge. The two Moorish
commanders endeavored to rally their troops and animate them to defend
this pass to the utmost: they used prayers, remonstrances, menaces, but
almost in vain. They could only collect a scanty handful of cavaliers;
with these they planted themselves at the head of the bridge and
disputed it inch by inch. The fight was hot and obstinate, for but few
could contend hand to hand, yet many discharged crossbows and arquebuses
from the banks. The river was covered with the floating bodies of the
slain. The Moorish band of cavaliers was almost entirely cut to pieces;
the two brothers fell, covered with wounds, upon the bridge they had
so resolutely defended. They had given up the battle for lost, but had
determined not to return alive to ungrateful Granada.
When the people of the capital heard how devotedly they had fallen, they
lamented greatly their deaths and extolled their memory: a column was
erected to their honor in the vicinity of the bridge, which long went by
the name of “the Tomb of the Brothers.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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