De Orbe Novo, The Eight Decades of Peter Martyr d'Anghera Vol. 1 (of 2)

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Introduction 15
butions from the towns, waged a merciless campaign,
burning castles and administering red-handed but salutary
justice to rebels against the royal authority, and to all
disturbers of public order throughout the realm.
This drastic work of internal pacification was completed
before the arrival of our Lombard scholar at the Spanish
Court. Castile and Aragon united, internal strife overcome,
the remaining undertaking worthiest to engage the
attention of the monarchs was the conquest of the unredeemed
southern provinces. Ten years of intermittent
warfare had brought the Christian troops to the very
walls of Granada, but Granada still held out. Almeria
and Guadiz were in possession of the enemy and over the
tow^ers of Baza the infidel flag proudly floated.
The reception accorded Tendilla's protege by the King
and Queen in Saragossa was benign and encouraging.
Isabella already caressed the idea of encouraging the cultivation
of the arts and literature amongst the Spaniards, and
her first thought was to confide to the newcomer the education
of the young nobles and pages about the Court
youths destined to places of influence in Church and State.
She was not a little surprised when the reputed savant modestly
deprecated his qualifications for such a responsible
undertaking, and declared his wish was to join in the
Some mirth was
crusade against the infidels in Andalusia.
even provoked by the idea of the foreign scholar masquerading
as a soldier.
In 1489, King Ferdinand, who had assembled a powerful
force at Jaen, marched to the assault of Baza, a strong
place, ably defended at that time by Abdullah, known
under the proud title of El Zagal—the Victorious—because
of his many victories over the Christian armies he had
encountered. During the memorable siege that ended
in the fall of Baza, Peter Martyr played his dual role of
soldier and historian. The Moors defended the city with
characteristic bravery, for they were fighting for their