CHAPTER V.
EXPEDITION OF THE MARQUES OF CADIZ AGAINST ALHAMA.
Great was the indignation of King Ferdinand when he heard of the storming of Zahara, though the outrage of the Moor happened most opportunely.

The war between Castile and Portugal had come to a close; the factions of Spanish nobles were for the most part quelled.

The Castilian monarchs had now, therefore, turned their thoughts to the cherished object of their ambition, the conquest of Granada.

The pious heart of Isabella yearned to behold the entire Peninsula redeemed from the domination of the infidel, while Ferdinand, in whom religious zeal was mingled with temporal policy, looked with a craving eye to the rich territory of the Moor, studded with wealthy towns and cities.

Muley Abul Hassan had rashly or unwarily thrown the brand that was to produce the wide conflagration.