Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. I.djvu/525

379 MILITARY POLICY OF THE SOVEREIGNS. 379 Great was the consternation occasioned by the chapter XI. return of the Moorish fugitives to Granada, and ^ - loud was the lament through its populous streets ; for the pride of many a noble house was laid low on that day, and their king (a thing unprecedented in the annals of the monarchy) was a prisoner in the land of the Christians. " The hostile star of Islam," exclaims an Arabian writer, "now scattered its malignant influences over Spain, and the down- fall of the Mussulman empire was decreed." The sultana Zoraya, however, was not of a tem- Moomhem- '1 ' ' bassy to per to waste time in useless lamentation. She was •^"''°^»- aware that a captive king, who held his title by so precarious a tenure as did her son Abdallah, must soon cease to be a king even in name. She ac- cordingly despatched a numerous embassy to Cor- dova, with proffers of such a ransom for the prince's liberation, as a despot only could offer, and few despots could have the authority to enforce. "^ King Ferdinand, who was at Vitoria with the Debates in queen, when he received tidings of the victory of councu. Lucena, hastened to the south to determine on the destination of his royal captive. With some show of magnanimity, he declined an interview with Abdallah, until he should have consented to his liberation. A debate of some warmth occurred in the royal council at Cordova, respecting the policy to be pursued ; some contending that the Moorish monarch was too valuable a prize to be so readily relinquished, and that the enemy, broken by the loss 7 Conde, Dominacion de los Ara- Hist. d'Afrique et d'Espagne, pp. bes, torn. iii. cap. 36. — Cardonne, 271 -274.