In a little while three
hundred horsemen and a thousand foot-soldiers rallied under his
standard. The horsemen were veterans; seasoned to battle and well
armed; but the infantry were raw and undisciplined. The victory,
however, was to be miraculous; the grand master was a man of
surpassing faith, and knew that the weaker the means the greater the
miracle. He sallied forth confidently, therefore, with his little
army, and the hermit strode ahead bearing a cross on the end of a long
pole, and beneath it the pennon of the order of Alcantara.
As they approached the city of Cordova they were overtaken by
messengers, spurring in all haste, bearing missives from the Castilian
monarch, forbidding the enterprise. The grand master was a man of a
single mind and a single will; in other words, a man of one idea.
"Were I on any other errand," said he, "I should obey these letters as
coming from my lord the king; but I am sent by a higher power than the
king. In compliance with its commands I have advanced the cross thus
far against the infidels; and it would be treason to the standard of
Christ to turn back without achieving my errand."
So the trumpets were sounded; the cross was again reared aloft,
and the band of zealots resumed their march. As they passed through
the streets of Cordova the people were amazed at beholding a hermit
bearing a cross at the head of a warlike multitude; but when they
learnt that a miraculous victory was to be effected and Granada
destroyed, laborers and artisans threw by the implements of their
handicrafts and joined in the crusade; while a mercenary rabble
followed on with a view of plunder.
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