Aben
Abed, the Emir of Seville and one of the most learned men in Spain, was
so beside himself at the thought of this possible defeat, that he sought
for aid in any quarter and finally entreated the assistance of the
redoubtable Alfonso, his late enemy. As proof of his good faith and by
way of inducement, Aben Abed decided to offer to Alfonso the hand of his
daughter, Zaida, in marriage. If the traditions be correct, Zaida was a
Christian at heart, in spite of her Mohammedan education and
surroundings, as the Castilians claimed that she had been converted in a
dream in which Saint Isidoro had come to her and prevailed upon her to
change her faith. In any event, Alfonso seems to have been only too glad
to accept this offer, and Zaida was accordingly escorted in great state
to Toledo, which had lately been wrested from the Moors; there she was
baptized as Maria Isabella, and then married to the king with much
ceremony. This Moorish princess was a perfect beauty of the Oriental
type, with dark hair and oval face, and Alfonso may well have been
enamored of her charms; but he was no less enamored of her marriage
portion, which consisted of the rich cities of Cucuca, Ucles, and Huate.
The new queen was hailed with joy by the Christians, as her conversion
was considered prophetic of the ultimate and complete success of
Alfonso's armies. Unfortunately, Zaida lived for but a short time after
her marriage; she died in giving birth to Alfonso's only son, who was
named Sancho. Aben Abed's alliance with the Christian monarch for their
mutual defence was without final result, however, as he was at last
compelled to surrender Seville in 1091, after a stubborn resistance.
Aben Abed was exiled, with his wife and daughters, and was sent to the
castle of Aginat, in Africa, to live his life away. There, if the
reports be true, their food was so scanty that the ladies of the family
had to spin to get enough for them all to eat, while the despondent emir
tried to beguile the weary hours with poetry. The hardships of their
life were so great that finally the emir was left alone in his
captivity, and it was four long years before he could follow them in
death.

In the latter part of the fourteenth century, the little kingdom of
Granada was the most prosperous part of the Moorish territory, and its
brilliant life seemed to recall for a moment the splendors of Cordova.
Chivalry, driven from southern France by the Albigensian Crusade, had
been