n the least alarm. His presence in the
kingdom, however, and his assumption of royal state gave life to his
faction in Granada. The inhabitants of the Albaycin, the poorest but
most warlike part of the populace, were generally in his favor: the
more rich, courtly, and aristocratical inhabitants of the quarter of the
Alhambra rallied round what appeared to be the most stable authority
and supported the throne of El Zagal. So it is in the admirable order
of sublunary affairs: everything seeks its kind; the rich befriend the
rich, the powerful stand by the powerful, the poor enjoy the patronage
of the poor, and thus a universal harmony prevails.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

OF THE CHRISTIAN ARMY WHICH ASSEMBLED AT THE CITY OF CORDOVA.

Great and glorious was the style with which the Catholic sovereigns
opened another year's campaign of this eventful war. It was like
commencing another act of a stately and heroic drama, where the curtain
rises to the inspiring sound of martial melody and the whole stage
glitters with the array of warriors and the pomp of arms. The ancient
city of Cordova was the place appointed by the sovereigns for the
assemblage of the troops; and early in the spring of 1486 the fair
valley of the Guadalquivir resounded with the shrill blast of trumpet
and the impatient neighing of the war-horse. In this splendid era of
Spanish chivalry there was a rivalship among the nobles who most should
distinguish himself by the splendor of his appearance and the number and
equipments of his feudal followers. Every day beheld some cavalier of
note, the representative of some proud and powerful house, entering the
gates of Cordova with sound of trumpet, and displaying his banner and
device renowned in many a contest. He would appear in sumptuous array,
surrounded by pages and lackeys no less gorgeously attired, and followed
by a host of vassals and retainers, horse and foot, all admirably
equipped in burnished armor.

Such was the state of Don Inigo Lopez de Mendoza, duke of Infantado, who
may be cited as a picture of a warlike noble of those times. He brought
with him five hundred men-at-arms of his household armed and mounted
"a la gineta" and "a la guisa." The cavaliers who attended him were
magnificently armed and dressed. The housings of fifty of his horses
were of rich cloth embroidered with gold, and others were of brocade.
The sumpter mules had housings of the same, with halters of silk, while
the bridles, head-