hantom of former greatness. The two ravages of
the Vega, following so closely upon each other, had swept off all the
produce of the year, and the husbandman had no longer the heart to till
the field, seeing the ripening harvest only brought the spoiler to his
door.

During the winter season Ferdinand made diligent preparations for the
campaign that was to decide the fate of Granada. As this war was waged
purely for the promotion of the Christian faith, he thought it meet that
its enemies should bear the expenses. He levied, therefore, a general
contribution upon the Jews throughout his kingdom by synagogues and
districts, and obliged them to render in the proceeds at the city of
Seville.*

* Garibay, lib. 18, c. 39.

On the 11th of April, Ferdinand and Isabella departed for the Moorish
frontier, with the solemn determination to lay close siege to Granada
and never quit its walls until they had planted the standard of the
faith on the towers of the Alhambra. Many of the nobles of the kingdom,
particularly those from parts remote from the scene of action, wearied
by the toils of war and foreseeing that this would be a tedious siege,
requiring patience and vigilance rather than hardy deeds of arms,
contented themselves with sending their vassals, while they stayed at
home to attend to their domains. Many cities furnished soldiers at
their cost, and the king took the field with an army of forty thousand
infantry and ten thousand horse. The principal captains who followed him
in this campaign were Roderigo Ponce de Leon, the marques of Cadiz,
the master of Santiago, the marques of Villena, the counts of Tendilla,
Cifuentes, Cabra, and Urena, and Don Alonso de Aguilar.

Queen Isabella, accompanied by her son the prince Juan and the
princesses Juana, Maria, and Cathalina, her daughters, proceeded to
Alcala la Real, the mountain-fortress and stronghold of the count de
Tendilla. Here she remained to forward supplies to the army, and to be
ready to repair to the camp whenever her presence might be required.

The army of Ferdinand poured into the Vega by various defiles of the
mountains, and on the 23d of April the royal tent was pitched at a
village called Los Ojos de Huescar, about a league and a half from
Granada. At the approach of this formidable force the harassed
inhabitants turned pale, and even many of the warriors trembled, for
they felt that the last desperate struggle was at hand.

Boabdil el Chico asse