Algezir 219 



would have attempted to relieve the garrison by an invasion from 

 Ceuta, on the African side of the Strait, had it not been for a 

 revolt of his son, Abderrahman, whom he had left behind. To 

 prevent the running of the blockade by vessels laden with pro- 

 visions, Alfonso caused piles to be driven in the bay, and con- 

 nected by heavy chains. By May knights from France and 

 Germany began to arrive, and in June Gaston de Foix and his 

 brother, the viscount of Chatillon. In August the Pope sent 

 Alfonso a much needed loan of 20,000 florins, while the King 

 of France, Philip VI, gave him 50,000 florins outright — an aid 

 which was perhaps responsible, by alienating Edward III,^ for 

 the early recall of Derby and Salisbury. Between October and 

 the middle of December, 1343, three imsuccessful attempts were 

 made to relieve the Moorish garrison, whose position was becom- 

 ing untenable. Rain fell in torrents through the month of Feb- 

 ruary. On March 21, 1344, an envoy from the King of Granada 

 appeared, with conditions of peace: the whole population of 

 Algeciras was to be allowed to depart with their goods ; a truce 

 for a certain number of years was to be concluded between 

 Alfonso and the two Moorish kings; and Abu-'l-Hajjaj was to 

 pay Alfonso a yearly tribute of 12,000 dohlas as his vassal. The 

 terms were accepted ; on March 26 the Moors evacuated the New 

 Town, and on the 27th the Old. Thus ended a Mohammedan 

 occupation of 633 years, after a siege lasting from Aug. 3, 1342, 

 to March 26, 1344 — nearly twenty months.^ In 1368 'the Grana- 

 dines recovered Algeciras, which was utterly destroyed a decade 

 later, that it might no longer tempt the Spaniards.'^ 



The following account of the siege is by the Arab historian, 

 Ibn-Khaldoun, who lived from 1332 to 1406 {op. cit. 4. 234-6) : 



The Christian king [Alfonso XI], having returned to his own 

 country after the battle of Tarifa [= Salado, 1340], again attacked 

 the Mussulmans of Andalusia, hoping to conquer them without 

 difficulty. ... In the [Mohammedan] year 742 [A. D, 1341-2], 

 Alcala [la Real] succumbed. . . . As to the sultan Abu-'l-Hassan, 

 he landed at Ceuta, in order to make ready a new expedition, and 

 thus to take his revenge. While his agents traversed the cities 



* Schirrmacher 5. 231 ; but this is hardly likely, in view of p. 222, note 3. 

 ' Cronica; Schirrmacher 5. 216^236. 



'Meakin, p. 106. Ibn Khaldoun (Hist, des Berberes, tr. Slane, 4- 381) 

 says that it was destroyed between 1378 and 1388. 



