THE CITY OF THE MOOR n 



to have reached its zenith. Thence to its nadir 

 we count but a century of years. 



Yusuf II., who succeeded his father in 1391, 

 was so averse to war that his subjects suspected 

 him of Christian sympathies. His son rose against 

 him, and the pacific monarch was disposed to 

 abdicate rather than draw the sword. The 

 exhortations of the Moroccan ambassador in- 

 duced him to take a manlier course, and putting 

 himself at the head of the army lately arrayed 

 against him, he ravaged Murcia with fire and 

 sword. It was against this peace-loving sultan 

 that Don Martin de la Barbuda, the Quixotic 

 Master of Calatrava, directed his wild expedition 

 defeated, of course, and emphatically dis- 

 avowed by Enrique III. of Castile. Yusuf's 

 younger son and successor, Mohammed VII.,* 

 was a prince of a very different stamp. Accom- 

 panied by only twenty-five horsemen, he pene- 

 trated to Toledo, and negotiated in the heart of 

 Castile with Enrique III. The peace thus con- 

 cluded was soon interrupted, and Mohammed 

 was quickly waging war throughout the length and 

 breadth of Andalusia. The war continued with 

 varying fortunes, and was carried on, as was usual 

 in those days, by a series of forays, neither side 



* He is reckoned as Mohammed VI. by the writers who 

 deny the title of Sultan to the usurper of Mohammed V.'s 

 throne. 



