We have now reached the last days of the Morisco rule in Seville. The deliverer, Fernando III., the adored Saint Fernando, came to the throne at an auspicious hour, and upon his accession made ready for war upon the Mohammedans. In 1235 Córdova was taken by Fernando, and Jaén and other towns fell into his hands. Assisted by Aben Alhamar, King of Granada, who had been compelled to yield allegiance to the victorious Fernando, the Christian monarch marched upon Seville. The inhabitants prepared for a stubborn defence. A Moorish fleet guarded the mouth of the Guadalquivir, while the troops of the Almohades awaited attack within the city. Fernando sent war vessels from the Biscayan coast to San Lucar to attack the Moorish fleet. The navy was in the command of Admiral Raymond Boniface (Ramon Bonifaz), and in an engagement the Moorish ships were driven from their position. Bonifaz lived in Seville after the capture of the town. On the front of a house in Placentines, now the shop of a dealer in antiquities, there is this inscription in Spanish and French: '_Esta casa fué cedida por el Santo Rey D. Fernando III. à su almirante D. Ramon Bonifaz cuando conquesto à Sevilla libertando del dominio Sarraceno_.' The infidels next made a stand on land, but failed to overcome the army of Fernando. For fifteen months Seville was besieged. Provisions were brought into the town from the surrounding district of Axarafa, thirty miles long, on the right bank of the Guadalquivir. This highly-cultivated region is said to have contained a hundred fertile farms. Seville was connected with the suburb of Triana (the town of Trajan) by a bridge of boats and a chain bridge. The boat-bridge was broken by Fernando during the siege by launching heavy vessels upon it. But still the defenders held out behind their high, broad walls, driving back the charges of the Christians against the sturdy gates, and raining missiles from the towers. At length, when Triana and Alfarache were in the hold of Fernando's force, and all food supplies cut off, the defenders were forced to yield. On 23rd November Fernando made a triumphal entry. The vanquished ruler, Abdul Hassan, who had proved a most courageous defender, was offered territory and money if he would continue to live in Seville, or in a city of the kingdom of Castile, as a dependent officer of the King. The Moor proudly rejected these terms; he preferred to leave the scene of his defeat, and with thousands of his people he departed for Africa. It is stated that three or four hundred thousand Moors had quitted Seville before its capture. If this is true, only a few Almohades remained in the place. Those who elected to stay were bade to render the same tribute to Fernando as they had been in the habit of paying to their princes. Such as desired to return to their country were offered the means of travelling and protection.