The Alhambra 18

The Alhambra 18

I endeavored to vindicate the memory of the unlucky Boabdil from this

aspersion, and to show that the dissensions which led to the downfall of

the Moorish throne originated in the cruelty of his tiger-hearted

father; but the Moor would admit of no palliation.

 

“Muley Abul Hassan,” said he, “might have been cruel; but he was brave,

vigilant, and patriotic. Had he been properly seconded, Granada would

still have been ours; but his son Boabdil thwarted his plans, crippled

his power, sowed treason in his palace, and dissension in his camp. May

the curse of God light upon him for his treachery!” With these words

the Moor left the Alhambra.

 

The indignation of my turbaned companion agrees with an anecdote related

by a friend, who, in the course of a tour in Barbary, had an interview

with the Pacha of Tetuan. The Moorish governor was particular in his

inquiries about Spain, and especially concerning the favored region of

Andalusia, the delights of Granada, and the remains of its royal palace.

The replies awakened all those fond recollections, so deeply cherished

by the Moors, of the power and splendor of their ancient empire in

Spain. Turning to his Moslem attendants, the Pacha stroked his beard,

and broke forth in passionate lamentations, that such a sceptre should

have fallen from the sway of true believers. He consoled himself,

however, with the persuasion, that the power and prosperity of the

Spanish nation were on the decline; that a time would come when the

Moors would conquer their rightful domains; and that the day was perhaps

not far distant when Mohammedan worship would again be offered up in the

Mosque of Cordova, and a Mohammedan prince sit on his throne in the

Alhambra.

 

Such is the general aspiration and belief among the Moors of Barbary;

who consider Spain, or Andaluz, as it was anciently called, their

rightful heritage, of which they have been despoiled by treachery and

violence. These ideas are fostered and perpetuated by the descendants of

the exiled Moors of Granada, scattered among the cities of Barbary.

Several of these reside in Tetuan, preserving their ancient names, such

as Paez and Medina, and refraining from inter-marriage with any families

who cannot claim the same high origin. Their vaunted lineage is regarded

with a degree of popular deference rarely shown in Mohammedan

communities to any hereditary distinction, excepting in the royal line.

 

These families, it is said, continue to sigh after the terrestrial

paradise of their ancestors, and to put up prayers in their mosques on

Fridays, imploring Allah to hasten the time when Granada shall be

restored to the faithful: an event to which they look forward as fondly

and confidently as did the Christian crusaders to the recovery of the

Holy Sepulchre. Nay, it is added, that some of them retain the ancient

maps and deeds of the estates and gardens of their ancestors at Granada,

and even the keys of the houses; holding them as evidences of their

hereditary claims, to be produced at the anticipated day of restoration.

 

My conversation with the Moors set me to musing on the fate of Boabdil.

Never was surname more applicable than that bestowed upon him by his

subjects of el Zogoybi, or the Unlucky. His misfortunes began almost in

his cradle, and ceased not even with his death. If ever he cherished the

desire of leaving an honorable name on the historic page, how cruelly

has he been defrauded of his hopes! Who is there that has turned the

least attention to the romantic history of the Moorish domination in

Spain, without kindling with indignation at the alleged atrocities of

Boabdil? Who has not been touched with the woes of his lovely and gentle

queen, subjected by him to a trial of life and death, on a false charge

of infidelity? Who has not been shocked by his alleged murder of his

sister and her two children, in a transport of passion? Who has not felt

his blood boil at the inhuman massacre of the gallant Abencerrages,

thirty-six of whom, it is affirmed, he ordered to be beheaded in the

Court of Lions? All these charges have been reiterated in various forms;

they have passed into ballads, dramas, and romances, until they have

taken too thorough possession of the public mind to be eradicated. There

is not a foreigner of education that visits the Alhambra, but asks for

the fountain where the Abencerrages were beheaded; and gazes with

horror at the grated gallery where the queen is said to have been

confined; not a peasant of the Vega or the Sierra, but sings the story

in rude couplets, to the accompaniment of his guitar, while his hearers

learn to execrate the very name of Boabdil.

 

Never, however, was name more foully and unjustly slandered. I have

examined all the authentic chronicles and letters written by Spanish

authors, contemporary with Boabdil; some of whom were in the confidence

of the Catholic sovereigns, and actually present in the camp throughout

the war. I have examined all the Arabian authorities I could get access

to, through the medium of translation, and have found nothing to justify

these dark and hateful accusations. The most of these tales may be

traced to a work commonly called “The Civil Wars of Granada,” containing

a pretended history of the feuds of the Zegries and Abencerrages, during

the last struggle of the Moorish empire. The work appeared originally in

Spanish, and professed to be translated from the Arabic by one Gines

Perez de Hita, an inhabitant of Murcia. It has since passed into various

languages, and Florian has taken from it much of the fable of his

Gonsalvo of Cordova: it has thus, in a great measure, usurped the

authority of real history, and is currently believed by the people, and

especially the peasantry of Granada. The whole of it, however, is a mass

of fiction, mingled with a few disfigured truths, which give it an air

of veracity. It bears internal evidence of its falsity; the manners and

customs of the Moors being extravagantly misrepresented in it, and

scenes depicted totally incompatible with their habits and their faith,

and which never could have been recorded by a Mahometan writer.

 

I confess there seems to me something almost criminal in the wilful

perversions of this work; great latitude is undoubtedly to be allowed to

romantic fiction, but there are limits which it must not pass; and the

names of the distinguished dead, which belong to history, are no more to

be calumniated than those of the illustrious living. One would have

thought, too, that the unfortunate Boabdil had suffered enough for his

justifiable hostility to the Spaniards, by being stripped of his

kingdom, without having his name thus wantonly traduced, and rendered a

by-word and a theme of infamy in his native land, and in the very

mansion of his fathers!

 

If the reader is sufficiently interested in these questions to tolerate

a little historical detail, the following facts, gleaned from what

appear to be authentic sources, and tracing the fortunes of the

Abencerrages, may serve to exculpate the unfortunate Boabdil from the

perfidious massacre of that illustrious line so shamelessly charged to

him. It will also serve to throw a proper light upon the alleged

accusation and imprisonment of his queen.

 

 

 

 

THE ABENCERRAGES

 

 

A grand line of distinction existed among the Moslems of Spain, between

those of Oriental origin and those from Western Africa. Among the former

the Arabs considered themselves the purest race, as being descended from

the countrymen of the Prophet, who first raised the standard of Islam;

among the latter, the most warlike and powerful were the Berber tribes

from Mount Atlas and the deserts of Sahara, commonly known as Moors, who

subdued the tribes of the seacoast, founded the city of Morocco, and for

a long time disputed with the Oriental races the control of Moslem

Spain.

 

Among the Oriental races the Abencerrages held a distinguished rank,

priding themselves on a pure Arab descent from the Beni Seraj, one of

the tribes who were Ansares or Companions of the Prophet. The

Abencerrages flourished for a time at Cordova; but probably repaired to

Granada after the downfall of the Western Caliphat; it was there they

attained their historical and romantic celebrity, being foremost among

the splendid chivalry which graced the court of the Alhambra.

 

Their highest and most dangerous prosperity was during the precarious

reign of Muhamed Nasar, surnamed El Hayzari, or the Left-handed. That

ill-starred monarch, when he ascended the throne in 1423, lavished his

favors upon this gallant line, making the head of the tribe, Jusef Aben

Zeragh, his vizier, or prime minister, and advancing his relatives and

friends to the most distinguished posts about the court. This gave great

offence to other tribes, and caused intrigues among their chiefs.

Muhamed lost popularity also by his manners. He was vain, inconsiderate,

and haughty; disdained to mingle among his subjects; forbade those

jousts and tournaments, the delight of high and low, and passed his time

in the luxurious retirement of the Alhambra. The consequence was a

popular insurrection: the palace was stormed; the king escaped through

the gardens, fled to the sea-coast, crossed in disguise to Africa, and

took refuge with his kinsman, the sovereign of Tunis.

 

Muhamed el Zaguer, cousin of the fugitive monarch, took possession of

the vacant throne. He pursued a different course from his predecessor.

He not only gave fêtes and tourneys, but entered the lists himself, in

grand and sumptuous array; he distinguished himself in managing his

horse, in tilting, riding at the ring, and other chivalrous exercises;

feasted with his cavaliers, and made them magnificent presents.

 

Those who had been in favor with his predecessor, now experienced a

reverse; he manifested such hostility to them that more than five

hundred of the principal cavaliers left the city. Jusef Aben Zeragh,

with forty of the Abencerrages, abandoned Granada in the night, and

sought the court of Juan the king of Castile. Moved by their

representations, that young and generous monarch wrote letters to the

sovereign of Tunis, inviting him to assist in punishing the usurper and

restoring the exiled king to his throne. The faithful and indefatigable

vizier accompanied the bearer of these letters to Tunis, where he

rejoined his exiled sovereign. The letters were successful. Muhamed el

Hayzari landed in Andalusia with five hundred African horse, and was

joined by the Abencerrages and others of his adherents and by his

Christian allies; wherever he appeared the people submitted to him;

troops sent against him deserted to his standard; Granada was recovered

without a blow; the usurper retreated to the Alhambra, but was beheaded

by his own soldiers (1428), after reigning between two and three years.

 

El Hayzari, once more on the throne, heaped honors on the loyal vizier,

through whose faithful services he had been restored, and once more the

line of the Abencerrages basked in the sunshine of royal favor. El

Hayzari sent ambassadors to King Juan, thanking him for his aid, and

proposing a perpetual league of amity. The king of Castile required

homage and yearly tribute. These the left-handed monarch refused,

supposing the youthful king too much engaged in civil war to enforce his

claims. Again the kingdom of Granada was harassed by invasions, and its