The detachment which set out from Cordova with the Master of Santiago, had prevented Don Pedro from reconnoitring, he was persuaded that Don Enrique was awaiting him under the walls of Toledo, and so great was his feeling of security, that on arriving at Montiel he allowed his troops to disperse throughout the neighbouring villages in search of provisions and forage; a distance of several leagues separated the different corps of his army, and meantime, Don Enrique, whose spies supplied him with exact information of every movement, was only a day's march from Montiel. On the night of the thirteenth or fourteenth of March, the sentinel of the castle of Montiel, where Don Pedro had taken up his quarters, signalled a large number of fires moving amongst the mountains within two leagues distance. These fires were the torches carried by the advanced guard of Du Guesclin, which advancing across the country in the midst of the darkness, thus indicated its route to the rest of the army. Garci Moran, the governor, awoke the king to communicate the sentinel's report, but Don Pedro assured him there was no ground for anxiety; that these fires proceeded from the battalion of Gonzalo Mexia, the Master, who had been endeavouring to escape him for several days past.* At the same time, by an excess of precaution, as it seemed to him, he despatched some genetours to reconnoitre the number and appearance of these troops, and then tranquilly lay down again to sleep. At day-break, these horsemen returned at full gallop with the infor * Ayala, p. 548. mation that the enemy, with his whole force, was close upon them. Don Enrique, in fact, was already in sight of Montiel. His troops were rapidly advancing in two battalions: the vanguard, under the command of Du Guesclin, composed of the cavalleros of the military orders, and the Knights Companions; the reserve, which was much more numerous, led by the Pretender in person. Don Pedro's banner was immediately raised, and around it were ranged the ballesteros of the guard, the household troops, and the fifteen hundred Granadine horsemen, who formed his ordinary escort; these were the only troops he then had at hand. He despatched couriers in all directions with instructions that his scattered bands should instantly rally around the castle, which he appointed as the general place of meeting. But already had the action begun, and the bulk of the enemy was charging furiously his little troop, which was still in disorder, and surprise sur un pied, to use the picturesque expression of Froissart.* Meanwhile, the battalion of Du Guesclin had, through some fault of his guides, lost time in crossing a difficult ravine,† and had been preceded by the rear-guard, which under better guidance, marched straight against the royal banner, and fell impetuously upon the small number of men-at-arms by whom it was defended. It was a surprise rather than a fight. Don Pedro, however, sustained vigorously the first shock; but soon, overwhelmed by numbers, his guard gave way, and the * Froissart, liv. 1, part 11, chap. CCLIII. † Ayala, p. 549. arrival of Du Guesclin completed the rout, rendering every attempt at rallying useless. The panic became general. The king, borne away in the stream of fugitives, threw himself with a few of the nobles of his suite into the castle of Montiel: he had however been recognized by his armour. The Bègue de Vilaines, one of the French captains, followed him to the barrier, before which the Frenchman at once planted his standard, as a rallying mark to the men-at-arms who had abandoned their leader to pursue the fugitives.* As for the other divisions of the king's army, they were put to flight one after another as soon as they appeared, or perhaps dispersed of their own accord, on learning the defeat of the main body. Martin Lopez,† assembling *Froissart, chap. CCLXIV. The fate of Martin Lopez de Cordova may be told in a few words. On his arrival at Carmona he shut himself up in that place, and there for some time set the new King of Castile at defiance. At last, on the failure of provisions, he surrendered the town on condition that his life should be spared, a promise that Don Enrique did not hesitate to give, nor on obtaining possession of Carmona, to break. Don Martin Lopez de Cordova was sent to Seville, and there put to death, despite the protestations of the Master of Santiago, who had pledged his word for Cordova's safety. At Zamora, similar barbarities were enacted. Afonso Lopez de Texeda bravely defended that city, after the base betrayal of Don Pedro by Du Guesclin, against the bastard, who slew three of Texeda's sons before their father's face, in the hope of forcing the governor to surrender. That intrepid man, however, still held out, and when pestilence had carried off the greater part of his garrison, he left Zamora by night, and taking with him the keys of the city, fled into Portugal. "The heroic fidelity," writes Dr. Southey, "displayed here and at Carmona in the cause of Pedro about eight hundred horsemen, precipitately recrossed the mountains, and succeeded in gaining Carmona without opposition. Never did victory cost less bloodshed. Only one noble of distinction on the side of Don Pedro, namely Juan Jimenez of Cordova, lost his life; for the conqueror, on being apprized that the king was in Montiel, did not give chase, but returned to block up all the avenues of the castle. The Moorish auxiliaries, however, who were recognised by their costume, and tracked on all sides by the peasants of La Mancha and Andalucia, were nearly all cut to pieces. One hour had sufficed to reduce Don Pedro to the narrow limits of a castle indifferently fortified, and almost destitute of provisions and ammunition.† after his death, evinces that that Prince, furious as he was in his fits of anger, had qualities which made him faithfully and affectionately beloved; and the cruelties which Enrique perpetrated at both places, incontestibly prove that the successful brother was the more atrocious of the two. This was not,” adds the Doctor, the only iniquity which Enrique committed at Zamora: 'diose al rey a pleytesia,' says the old chronicler of Pero Nino, 'e si el rey ge la tovo, non es mio de escrebir.'" * Ayala, p. 549. We have already seen that Don Pedro, notwithstanding his constitutional hardihood, was not entirely proof against the contagious superstition of his age. It is said that Don Pedro's natural uneasiness in his uncomfortable position of blockade at Montiel was augmented not a little by reading the inscription traced on the wall of one of the towers of the castle: "Esta es la Torre de la Estrella." "This is the Tower of the Star." For it had been foretold to the king, by certain astrologers unknown, that he should die in a tower of that name, and the apprehension thus excited in his mind was reported to have induced him to adopt the desperate expedient of endea VIII. By the extraordinary activity which the conquerors displayed in surrounding the ramparts of Montiel with wide trenches and stone walls, and the care they took to watch all the outlets of the castle, the unfortunate king must have seen but too well that his retreat was known, and his enemy preparing to force it. He endeavoured, however, by a kind of feint to delude the besiegers, and by his command, Garci Moran, the governor, despatched a herald to them, offering to surrender the place within a month, if King Don Pedro did not appear with a sufficient force to oblige them to renounce their enterprise. This message was received with scornful mockery. The answer returned was, that before the end of a month both the castle and Don Pedro would be in Don En rique's power. There was no hope of effecting a passage sword in hand, or of deceiving the vigilance of the numerous guards who day and night kept watch over the hastily formed intrenchments. One chance of safety alone remained, this was to buy over some of the foreign captains in Don Enrique's service. It was still hoped that these mercenaries might be won by gold, to furnish the king with the means of escape. Men Rodriguez de Senabria, whose intelligence and fidelity had been proved on several occasions, was entrusted by Don Pedro with this negociation. When governor of Briviesca in 1366, he alone had given an example of desperate resistance, while all the other vouring to gain over Du Guesclin to his side. "Sumario de los Reyes de España," p. 75.-T. |