The Alhambra . hrough the streets of Cordova the people were amazedat beholding a hermit bearing a cross at the head of a warlikemultitude; but when they learnt that a miraculous victory wasto be effected and Granada destroyed, labourers and artisansthrew by the implements of their handicrafts and joined in thecrusade; while a mercenary rabble followed on with a view ofplunder. 4oS THE ALUAMBRA A number of cavaliers of rank who lacked faith in thepromised miracle, and dreaded the consequences of thisunprovoked irruption into the country of the Moor, assembledat the bridge of the Guadalquivir a
The Alhambra . hrough the streets of Cordova the people were amazedat beholding a hermit bearing a cross at the head of a warlikemultitude; but when they learnt that a miraculous victory wasto be effected and Granada destroyed, labourers and artisansthrew by the implements of their handicrafts and joined in thecrusade; while a mercenary rabble followed on with a view ofplunder. 4oS THE ALUAMBRA A number of cavaliers of rank who lacked faith in thepromised miracle, and dreaded the consequences of thisunprovoked irruption into the country of the Moor, assembledat the bridge of the Guadalquivir and endeavoured to dissuadethe grand master from crossing. He was deaf to prayers,expostulations, or menaces ; his followers were enraged at thisopposition to the cause of the faith ; they put an end to theparley by their clamours; the cross was again reared andborne triumphantly across the bridge. The multitude increased as it proceeded ; by the time thegrand master had reached Alcala la Real, which stands on a. iSi^ mountain overlooking the A^ega of Granada, upwards of fivethousand men on foot had joined his standard. At Alcala came forth Alonzo Fernandez de Cordova, Lordof Aguilar, his brother Diego Fernandez, Marshal of Castile,and other cavaliers of valour and experience Placing them-selves in the way of the grand master, What madness is this,Don ?vlartin ? said they ; the Moorish king has two hundredthousand foot soldiers and five thousand horse within his walls ;what can you and your handful of cavaliers and your noisyrabble do against such force ? Bethink you of the disasterswhich have befallen other Christian commanders who have CRUSADE OF THE GRAND MASTER OF ALCANTARA 409 crossed these rocky borders with ten times your force. Think,too, of the mischief that will be brought upon this kingdom byan outrage of the kind committed by a man of your rank andimportance, a grand master of Alcantara. Pause, we entreatyou, while the truce is yet unbroken. Await within the borderst
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublisherlondon, bookyear190
