The Story of Majorca and MinorcaMarkham, Clements R. (Clements Robert), Sir
History
The Story of Majorca and Minorca
Markham, Clements R. (Clements Robert), Sir
Balearic Islands (Spain) -- History
The house in which his brave antagonist the Amír Abu Yahye had taken
refuge was pointed out to King Jayme. He went there, accompanied by
his cousin En Nuño. When he entered the room, the Amír, who was in a
white burnous and quilted coat, stood up and tendered his submission.
The King received it with courtesy, promised the Amír his life, and
treated him with consideration, giving him in charge to two of his
nobles. En Jayme found the Amír’s son, a boy aged about fourteen, in
the ‘Almudaina.’ He adopted the young Moorish prince, converted him,
and eventually granted him a considerable estate in Aragon, where he
married the fair Eva de Roldan and became Baron of Hillueca and Gotor.
Having placed a strong guard over the treasury in the ‘Almudaina,’
the King, quite worn out by the fatigue of so many days of anxiety
and fighting, retired to rest in the Moorish palace. On the following
morning the city was given up to sack, and the spoils were enormous,
consisting of great quantities of gold and silver in many shapes, rich
clothing, arms, horses, and a thousand other forms of riches. The
soldiers were well repaid for their labours. The sacking of the town
was allowed to proceed for eight days continuously. As many as 180
Christian captives were found and liberated. Efforts were then made to
bury the dead, but they were ineffectual, and a terrible pestilence
broke out. One of the first victims was the Count of Ampurias; many
other leading nobles perished, and great ravages were made among the
soldiers before the pestilence subsided.
The Catalan force had been much reduced by losses during the siege, by
some having returned home, and by the pestilence, and no reinforcements
had arrived. Yet the King insisted upon attacking a large body of Moors
who had taken refuge in the mountains. Fortunately, the impregnable
castle of Alaro, which he left on his right as he advanced, had been
secured by his ally Benahabet, and was not in the hands of the Moors.
The King led his men to the skirts of the mountains, at a place called
Buñola, where he appears to have sustained a serious reverse. The
Catalans fed before the mountaineers, and never stopped until they
reached Benahabet’s town of Inca, near the centre of the island. The
King followed the fugitives with only forty attendant knights, and
sternly upbraided them for their cowardice. He then returned to Palma
with his beaten troops.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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