Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. III.djvu/327

301 UNIVERSITY OF ALCALA. 301 spent in cloistered solitudes, and in the quiet chapter XXI practices of religion, and who now, oppressed with '— infirmities more than usual, had passed the seventieth year of his age. In accomplishino; all this, the cardinal had ex- nisperse- '■ ° veianre perienced greater obstacles than those arising from bodily infirmity or age. His plans had been con- stantly discouraged and thwarted by the nobles, who derided the idea of " a monk fighting the bat- tles of Spain, while the Great Captain was left to stay at home, and count his beads like a hermit." The soldiers, especially those of Italy, as well as their commander Navarro, trained under the ban- ners of Gonsalvo, showed little inclination to serve under their spiritual leader. The king himself was cooled by these various manifestations of discontent. But the storm, which prostrates the weaker spirit, serves only to root the stronger more firmly in its purpose ; and the genius of Ximenes, rising with the obstacles it had to encounter, finally succeeded in triumphing over all, in reconciling the king, dis- appointing the nobles, and restoring obedience and discipline to the army. ^ On the 16th of May, 1509, the fleet wei2:hed sends an •^ ^ army to anchor, and on the following day reached the African port of Mazarquivir. No time was lost in disem- barking ; for the fires on the hill-tops showed that the country was already in alarm. It was proposed lo direct the main attack against a lofty height, or ridge of land, rising between Mazarquivir and Oran, 8 Gomez, De Rebus Gestis, fol. Archetype, lib. 3, cap. 19. — Ber- 100-102. — Robles, Vida de Xi- naldez, Reyes Catolicos, MS., cap. menez, ubi supra. — Quintanilla, 218. Africa.