This gave great offence to other tribes, and caused
intrigues among their chiefs. Muhamed lost popularity also by his
manners. He was vain, inconsiderate, and haughty; disdained to
mingle among his subjects; forbade those jousts and tournaments, the
delight of high and low; and passed his time in the luxurious
retirement of the Alhambra. The consequence was a popular
insurrection; the palace was stormed; the king escaped through the
gardens, fled to the sea-coast, crossed in disguise to Africa, and
took refuge with his kinsman, the sovereign of Tunis.
Muhamed el Zaguer, cousin of the fugitive monarch, took possession
of the vacant throne. He pursued a different course from his
predecessor. He not only gave fetes and tourneys, but entered the
lists himself, in grand and sumptuous array; he distinguished
himself in managing his horse, in tilting, riding at the ring, and
other chivalrous exercises; feasted with his cavaliers, and made
them magnificent presents.
Those who had been in favor with his predecessor, now experienced
a reverse; he manifested such hostility to them that more than five
hundred of the principal cavaliers left the city. Yusef Aben Zeragh,
with forty of the Abencerrages, abandoned Granada in the night, and
sought the court of Juan the king of Castile. Moved by their
representations, that young and generous monarch wrote letters to
the sovereign of Tunis, inviting him to assist in punishing the
usurper and restoring the exiled king to his throne.
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