The king and queen were much annoyed with Ximenes and condemned his zealous precipitancy, but he was clever enough to vindicate his action and bring the sovereigns to believe that it was imperative that the rebellious Moors must be sharply repressed. Now a long conflict began. Forcible conversion became the order of the day; baptism continued to be performed in the gross upon thousands, the alternative being exile, and numbers were actually deported to Barbary in the royal ships. A fierce civil conflict broke out in the Alpujarras beyond Granada, which required a royal army to quell. The object sought was the welfare of the state by producing uniformity of faith. [Illustration: _Peint par Benjamin Constant_ _Photogravure Goupil & C^{ie}._ _The Alhambra Palace, Granada_ The beautiful Moorish stronghold during the time of the supremacy of the Moors was often made the home of slaves captured in near-by frontier towns of Andalusia, who endured hateful bondage under the rule of the Mohammedan monarch. Granada and its palace were finally captured by Ferdinand and Isabella, and the Alhambra is to-day the finest example of Moorish architecture, with its delicate elaboration of detail.] Ximenes found a strenuous supporter in Diego Deza, the inquisitor-general, who was eager to emulate the strictness of his predecessor, Torquemada. Deza was a Dominican who had been at one time professor of theology and confessor to the queen. He was by nature and predilection exactly fitted for his new office upon which he entered with extensive powers. A bull from Pope Alexander VI dated 1499 invested him with the title of "Conservator of the Faith" in Spain.