Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. I.djvu/556

410 410 WAR OF GRANADA. PART I. were successively carried. A few positions alone remained of sufficient strength to keep the enemy at bay. The most considerable of these was Mal- aga, which from its maritime situation afforded facilities for a communication with the Barbary Moors, that the vigilance of the Castilian cruisers charged with gross inaccuracy. But, in all the subsequent period, it may be received as perfectly au- thentic, and has all the air of im- partiality. Every circumstance re- lating to the conduct of the war, is developed with equal fulness and precision. His manner of narra- tion, though prolix, is perspicuous, and may compare favorably with that of contemporary writers. His sentiments may compare still more advantageously in point of liberal- ity, with those of the Castilian historians of a later age. Pulgar left some other works, of which his commentary on the ancient satire of "Mingo Revul- go," his " Letters," and his " Cla- res Varones," or sketches of il- lustrious men, have alone been published. The last contains noti- ces of the most distinguished indi- viduals of the court of Henry IV., which, although too indiscriminate- ly encomiastic, are valuable subsidi- aries to an accurate acquaintance with the prominent actors of the period. The last and most elegant edition of Pulgar's Chronicle, was published at Valencia in 1780, from the press of Benito Montfort, in large folio. Antonio de Lebrija was one of the most active and erudite schol- ars of this period. He was born in the province of Andalusia, in 1444. After the usual discipline at Salamanca, he went at the age of nineteen to Italy, where he completed his education in the uni- versity of Bologna. He returned to Spain ten years after, richly stored with classical learning and the liberal arts that were then taught in the flourishing schools of Italy. He lost no time in dispens- ing to his countrymen his various acquisitions. He was appointed to the two chairs of grammar and poetry (a thing unprecedented) in the university of Salamanca, and lectured at the same time in these distinct departments. He was sub- sequently preferred by cardinal Ximenes to a professorship in his university of Alcala de Henares, where his services were liberally requited, and where he enjoyed the entire confidence of his distin- guished patron, who consulted him on all matters affecting the inter- ests of the institution. Here he continued, delivering his lectures and expounding the ancient clas- sics to crowded audiences, to the advanced age of seventy-eight, when he was carried off by an at- tack of apoplexy. Lebrija, besides his oral tuition, composed works on a great variety of subjects, philological, historical, theological, &c. His emendation of the sacred text was visited with the censure of the Inquisition, a circumstance which will not oper- ate to his prejudice with posterity. Lebrija was far from being circum- scribed by the narrow sentiments of his age. He was warmed with a generous enthusiasm for letters, which kindled a corresponding flame in the bosoms of his disci- ples, among whom may be reck- oned some of the brightest names in the literary annals of the pe-