The Story of Don John of Austria by Luis Coloma (e books for reading txt) 📖

rank and condition they may be, if within twenty days, counting from the date of this proclamation, they will come and give themselves up, and deliver their persons into the hands of his Majesty and of the Lord D. John of Austria in his name, he will grant them their lives and will order that they shall be heard, and justice done to those who afterwards desire to prove the violence and oppression they have suffered to force them to rebel; and he will act towards the rest with his usual clemency, to these, as to those, who besides giving themselves up, render some signal service, such as beheading or taking prisoner Turks or Berberiscos of those who joined the Moors or other natives of the kingdom who have been captains or leaders of the rebellion and who still persist, not caring to enjoy the grace and mercy that his Majesty offers them.

"Furthermore; to all those who are above fifteen and under fifty who come within the said time to give themselves up and who give into the keeping of his Majesty's ministers, each one a gun or a crossbow with ammunition."

Thousands of this proclamation were scattered throughout the kingdom of Granada, and from the first minute Moors began to present themselves in the camps of D. John and the Duque de Sesa, craving for pardon. All had a cross of red cloth or linen sewn on the left sleeve, so that they might be known from afar and not hurt, as was ordered in one of the articles of the proclamation. Meanwhile the Habaqui fulfilled his promise to obtain leave from Aben Aboo to submit, and he begged D. John to name commissioners to arrange the form in which the kinglet and he should make their submissions, as well as the other leaders for whom they were acting. On Friday, the 19th of May, the gentlemen named by D. John conferred in Fondon de Andarax with the Habaqui and his men, and it was settled that the Habaqui, in the name of all, should throw himself at the feet of D. John of Austria, begging mercy for his sins, and delivering up flag and arms.

They then set out the same day for the Padules, where D. John was encamped; the Habaqui and the gentlemen commissioners, with 300 Moorish marksmen whom they brought as escort. The Habaqui rode an Algerian horse, with Arab trappings; he wore a white turban and a crimson caftan, his only arms a sword set with many precious stones; he was a spare man with a good figure, with a thin beard which was beginning to turn white. At his side an ensign of the escort bore the banner of Aben Aboo, of turquoise damask, with a half-moon on the point of the staff, and some words in Arabic which meant, "I could not desire more or be contented with less." The marksmen followed five in a row. Four companies of Spanish infantry, who were waiting at the limits of the camp, surrounded them, and on passing the lines the Habaqui gave up the banner of Aben Aboo to the secretary Juan de Soto, who was riding at his side. In this way they passed through the ranks of the infantry and horse soldiers, who played their bands and fired a fine salute of arquebuses, which lasted a quarter of an hour.

D. John of Austria waited in his tent, attended by all the captains and gentlemen of the army; he was in full armour, one page held his helmet, and another, on his left hand, the standard of the Generalissimo. The Habaqui alighted in front of the tent and went straight to throw himself at the feet of D. John, exclaiming, "Mercy, my lord, may your Highness grant us mercy in the King's name, and pardon for our sins, which we know have been great," and taking off the sword with which he was girded, he placed it in D. John's hand, saying, "These arms and flag I give up to His Majesty in the name of Aben Aboo and of all the rebels for whom I am empowered to act." And at that moment Juan de Soto threw down the kinglet's banner at D. John's feet.

D. John listened to him and looked at him with such quiet and peaceful dignity that he well represented the justice and mercy of which he was the guardian. He ordered the Habaqui to rise, and giving him back his sword, told him to keep it, and with it to serve His Majesty. D. John afterwards loaded him with favours, and ordered his gentlemen to do the same: that day the Habaqui dined in the tent of D. Francisco de Córdoba, and the following one in that of the Bishop of Guadix, who was in the camp.

The next day the festival of Corpus Christi was celebrated in the camp, with all the pomp and solemnity possible in such an out-of-the-way place, and with the joy natural to those who believed that the disastrous war was ended. By cartloads and armfuls the soldiers brought flowers and herbs, so plentiful in May in that fertile country, to adorn the altar and the road by which the Holy Sacrament was to go. They hung with fair and fragrant garlands the tent in which Mass was said, and which stood, raised, in a sort of square in the centre of the camp, and around it they planted green groves and arches of foliage, with flags and streamers. The soldiers had made it a point of honour to adorn their tents, and there was not one which was not beautified with wreaths, flags, and little altars of different kinds; many of them were ornamented with rich cloths and other precious things, the booty of war. The Host was carried by the Bishop of Guadix, under a brocaded canopy, held up by D. John of Austria, the Knight Commander of Castille D. Francisco de Córdoba, and the Licentiate Simon de Salazar, Alcaide of the King's Court and household; in front, two by two, went all the friars and clergy of the camp, who were numerous, and the knights, captains, and gentlemen, with torches and tapers of wax, lighted, in their hands. From one end of the camp to the other the infantry and horsemen had formed up with their flags flying, and as the Blessed Sacrament passed, they knelt down, lowering their arms, standards and banners, kissing the dust; the bands played martial hymns, and through the air thundered salvos of arquebuses, which did not cease for at least a quarter of an hour. "A friar of St. Francis preached that day," says Luis del Mármol, "who with many tears praised Our Lord for His great favour and mercy in having made the place Christian by bringing the Moors to a knowledge of their sins; and besides this he said many things which consoled the people."

But, unluckily, these rejoicings and consolations were premature, as very soon afterwards the traitor Aben Aboo went back on his word, and fortified himself in the Alpujarras, and began to prevent, with atrocities and punishments, the pacification of the Moors, who had thronged to submit, and he asked for fresh help from the Kings of Algiers and Tunis. Loyal and honourable for his part, Hernando el Habaqui was furious; he went to the Alpujarras swearing to bring Aben Aboo to reason, or to bring him into the presence of D. John tied to his horse's tail. But the crafty Moor knew how to lay a snare into which the loyal Habaqui incautiously fell, and was treacherously killed, and his corpse hidden for more than thirty days in a dung-heap, covered up with a matting of reeds.

Few, however, were the followers who remained to Aben Aboo after this crime was discovered; and pressed without respite, he fled from cave to cave, always seeing his following diminish, until it consisted of few more than 200 men, and these tired and worn out. Gonsalo el Xeniz, who was Alcaide, agreed with a silversmith of Granada, called Francisco Barrado, to capture Aben Aboo or to kill him, as he was the cause of so many lives being lost. So, one night, el Xeniz arranged to meet Aben Aboo in the caves of Berchul, on the pretext that it was necessary to talk over matters which concerned everyone. Aben Aboo came alone, as he confided to nobody where he slept. El Xeniz said to him, "Abdala Aben Aboo: what I wish to say to you is that you should look at these caves, which are full of unhappy people, sick folk and widows and orphans, and things have come to such a pass, that if all do not give themselves up to the King's mercy, they will be killed and destroyed: and by doing the contrary they will be relieved of their great misery."

When Aben Aboo heard this, he gave a cry as if his soul were being torn out, and looking furious, he said, "What? Xeniz! You have brought me here for this? You harbour such treason in your breast! Do not say any more, or let me see you again."

And saying this he left the cave, but a Moor called Cubeyas seized his arms behind, and a nephew of el Xeniz gave him a blow on the head with the butt of a musket and stupefied him and threw him to the ground; then el Xeniz gave him a blow with a stone and killed him. They took the body, wrapped in a matting of reeds, lying across a mule, to Berchul, where Francisco Barrado and his brother Andres were waiting for them. There they opened the corpse, took out the intestines and filled the body with salt to preserve it; they then put it on a sumpter mule, with boards at the back and front under the clothes, to make it appear living. On the right rode the silversmith Barrado, el Xeniz on the left, bearing the musket and scimitar of the dead man, surrounded by el Xeniz's relations with their arquebuses and muskets, and Luis de Arroyo and Jeronimo de Oviedo formed the rear-guard with a troop of horse. In this manner they entered Granada with a great crowd of people, who were anxious to see the body of the dyer of the Albaicin, who had dared to call himself king in Spain: the arquebuses fired salvos in the square of Bibarrambla and again in front of the houses of the Audiencia, which were answered by the artillery of the Alhambra. The President D. Pedro Deza came out and el Xeniz gave him the musket and scimitar of Aben Aboo, saying that he did so like the faithful shepherd, who being unable to bring to his master the animal alive, brought the skin. Then they cut off the head of the corpse, and abandoned the body to the boys, who dragged it about and then burned it; the head was nailed in an iron cage on the gate "del Rastro," facing the road to the Alpujarras, with an inscription underneath, which said: