Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. I.djvu/528

382 382 WAR OF GRANADA. PART General poli- cy of the war. Incessant eloquence, with the assurance that " his panegyric was superfluous, and that he had perfect confidence that the sovereign of Granada would keep his faith as became a true knight and a king." After cere- monies so humiliating to the Moorish prince, not- withstanding the veil of decorum studiously thrown over them, he set out with his attendants for his capital, escorted by a body of Andalusian horse to the frontier, and loaded with costly presents by the Spanish king, and the general contempt of his court. ^° Notwithstanding the importance of the results in the war of Granada, a detail of the successive steps by which they were achieved would be most tedious and trifling. No siege or single military achievement of great moment occurred until near- ly four years from this period, in 1487 ; although, in the intervening time, a large number of fortress- es and petty towns, together with a very extensive tract of territory, were recovered from the enemy. Without pursuing the chronological order of events, it is probable that the end of history will be best attained by presenting a concise view of the gen- eral policy pursued by the sovereigns in the conduct of the war. The Moorish wars under preceding monarchs had consisted of little else than cavalgadas, or inroads into the enemy's territory, " which, pouring like a torrent over the land, swept away whatever was ^0 Pulgar, Reyes Cat61icos, loc. be used indifTerently by the ancient cit. — Conde, Dominacion de los Spanish writers to represent a Arabes. cap. 36. marauding party, the foray itself, 11 The term cavalgada seems to or the booty taken in it.