No other shadow of a ground
exists for it, and here we find the tyrant jailer was his father,
and the captive sultana, his mother.
The massacre of the Abencerrages in the halls of the Alhambra, is
placed by some about this time, and attributed also to Muley Abul
Hassan, on suspicion of their being concerned in the conspiracy. The
sacrifice of a number of the cavaliers of that line is said to have
been suggested by the vizier Abul Cacim Venegas, as a means of
striking terror into the rest. If such were really the case, the
barbarous measure proved abortive. The Abencerrages continued
intrepid, as they were loyal, in their adherence to the cause of
Ayxa and her son Boabdil, throughout the war which ensued, while the
Venegas were ever foremost in the ranks of Muley Abul Hassan and El
Zagal. The ultimate fortunes of these rival families is worthy of
note. The Venegas, in the last struggle of Granada, were among those
who submitted to the conquerors, renounced the Moslem creed,
returned to the faith from which their ancestor had apostatized,
were rewarded with offices and estates, intermarried with Spanish
families, and have left posterity among the nobles of the land. The
Abencerrages remained true to their faith, true to their king, true to
their desperate cause, and went down with the foundering wreck of
Moslem domination, leaving nothing behind them but a gallant and
romantic name in history.
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