er surpassing beauty gained her the surname
of Zoraya, or the Morning Star, by which she has become known in
history. Her charms at length attracted the notice of Muley Abul Hassan,
and she soon became a member of his harem. Some have spoken of her as
a Christian slave whom he had made his concubine; but others, with more
truth, represent her as one of his wives, and ultimately his favorite
sultana; and indeed it was often the case that female captives of rank
and beauty, when converted to the faith of Islam, became united to the
proudest and loftiest of their captors.

* Cronica del Gran Cardinal, cap. 71.

Zoraya soon acquired complete ascendancy over the mind of Muley Abul
Hassan. She was as ambitious as she was beautiful, and, having become
the mother of two sons, looked forward to the possibility of one of them
sitting on the throne of Granada. These ambitious views were encouraged,
if not suggested, by a faction which gathered round her inspired by
kindred sympathies. The king's vizier, Abul Cacim Vanegas, who had great
influence over him, was, like Zoraya, of Christian descent, being of
the noble house of Luque. His father, one of the Vanegas of Cordova, had
been captured in infancy and brought up as a Moslem.* From him sprang
the vizier, Abul Cacim Vanegas, and his brother, Reduan Vanegas,
likewise high in rank in the court of Muley Abul Hassan, and they had
about them numerous and powerful connections, all basking in court
favor. Though Moslems in faith, they were all drawn to Zoraya by the
tie of foreign and Christian descent, and sought to elevate her and her
children to the disparagement of Ayxa la Horra and her son Boabdil. The
latter, on the other hand, were supported by the noble and once-potent
family of the Abencerrages and by Aben Comixa, alcayde of the Alhambra;
and between these two factions, headed by rival sultanas, the harem
of Muley Abul Hassan became the scene of inveterate jealousies and
intrigues, which in time, as will be shown, led to popular commotions
and civil wars.**

* Cura de los Palacios, Hist. de los Reyes Catol., cap. 56.

* *It is to be noted that several historians have erroneously
represented Zoraya as the mother of Boabdil, instead of Ayxa la Horra,
and the Abencerrages as the opponents of Boabdil, instead of his
strenuous adherents. The statement in the text is according to the most
reliable authorities.

While these female feuds were threatening M