The result was so successful that Cisneros was confirmed in the conviction that he was indeed on the right track, and the humble Fra Fernando was deeply impressed. The majority of the “Alfaquis,” whether intimidated by a consciousness of approaching storms, or moved by the Primate’s arguments and gifts, accepted conversion, bringing with them to the font those who looked to them for spiritual guidance. On a single day three thousand candidates were said to have presented themselves for baptism, a number so great that the ordinary individual ablution proved impossible and the kneeling crowd had to be sprinkled with holy water from a brush. The stricter Mahometans protested angrily that the Archbishop’s methods were a violation of the terms of surrender that had guaranteed them the free exercise of their religion without any undue influence; whereupon Cisneros, equally irritated at this opposition, seized and imprisoned its ringleader, a certain Zegri Azaator. Strict confinement in fetters, under the charge of a Castilian official called Leon, soon led the prisoner to repent of his temerity and to express a desire for baptism, with the rueful admission that if “this lion,” as he referred to his gaoler, were let loose in Granada few would be able to resist his arguments. Such a remark could only add fuel to the Archbishop of Toledo’s already ardent belief in the efficacy of strong measures; and from this time the old toleration and confidence vanished for ever. The new spirit may be seen in Cisneros’s scornful criticism of Fra Fernando’s scheme for translating the scriptures completely into Arabic, as he had done with the liturgy and catechism. “Will you,” he asked, “cast pearls before swine? or can they in their ignorance fail to interpret the Word of God to their own destruction?” Determined that at any rate the Moors should not continue their heretical studies, he began to make inquiries as to Arabic literature; and, as a result of this inquisition, instituted _autos-de-fé_ of illuminated manuscripts, priceless because they were often unique. Out of the many thousand treasures of eastern lore that perished in the flames, a few hundred treatises on medicine were alone saved to grace the shelves of the Toledan library at Alcalá de Henares.