Mahometans may the rather be excited to a disdainfull emulation of their worthiest endeuours The Letter written by King Abencirix to the Alcayde Ali Abenzufian Viceroy and Gouernour of the Prouinces of Deuque in Arabia by which he commandeth him to write the life of King Iacob Almansor PRayse bee giuen to God alone Amen The high and highly honoured King Gouernour of the Moores of noble discent defender of Mahometisme who shieldeth himselfe vnder the protection of the most high God Ali Abencirix To the Vertuous Noble Wise Discreet Learned and Generous Gentleman the Alcayde Ali Abenzufian our Vice-roy and Gouernour of the Prouinces of Deuque wee send greeting And after our salutation wee say that considering the great wisedome with which the King Abilgualit Miramamolin Iacob Almansor our great Grandfather and Lord gouerned his Kingdomes in peace and the fortitude with which hee preserued his Subiects and rooted out their Enemies and the Iustice with which he conserued his Estates and the Temperance vsed by him in all his actions and deeds which of all the World are admired and all the Bookes replenished with his Sayings and Sentences in all Sciences and his notable Deeds of Armes with his great vertues and good customes to bee such as all the Princes of the World may take an example and patterne thereby to rule and gouerne their Common-weales and to liue in tranquilitie We haue thought meete and conuenient that the Discourse of his Life should be gathered together and orderly compiled and written in one Booke and not be left as it is now scattered in many parts as well for our owne consolation as for the Imitation of this great King in his customes and manner of liuing to make our profit and vse of them in matters that concerne our Gouernment and our Common-weales and to this effect hauing that regard which wee haue of your person abilitie and learning together with your trayning and continuall attendance and seruice in his Royall Palace from your childhood being alwayes inward with him in such sort that no other how learned soeuer can better set forth and write his life and manners then you Wee charge and command you that with conuenient breuitie auoyding prolixitie and writing the Truth with that obligation which is due to the fidelitie of an Historie whereof by reason of your good zeale and punctuall manner of writing obserued by you we rest assured you write a Booke of his life and customes together with the manner and order how this good King ruled and gouerned his Kingdomes till his life ended by death which you shall entitle the bright Mirrour of Princes whereby you shall doe vs acceptable seruice In this Booke you shall also doe well to set downe what especiall things a good King is to obserue to make himselfe beloued of his Subiects and feared of his enemies All which may serue vs in steed of a Guide or a Light with the fauour and helpe of our Souereigne God for the ruling and gouerning of our Kingdomes and Common-weales that they may enioy Peace and tranquillitie and our selues quietnesse of minde and clearnesse of Conscience Whereof through that confidence we haue in your worthinesse we make no doubt God haue you in his keeping From our Royall Palace of Zarbal the fourth day of the Moone of Mobarram The date is answerable to the yeare An. Christi 731. the hundred and tenth yeare of the Hixera The Letter of the Alcayde Ali Abenzusian in answer of the former by which hee dedicateth the Worke to King Ali Abencirix PRayse be giuen to our Souereigne God Amen To the much renowmed and that with reason for hu great skill in Gouerning Wisdome in conseruing and Fortitude in mayntayning his Subiects in Peace the valiant Warrior strong and couragious defender of Morisme of high and famous Progeny and Race the great Calipha the rooter out of his Enemies the King highly honoured and of complete power Ali Abeneirix the highest God continue his good desires And in answer to his Letter dated in the Palace of Zarbal the fourth day of the Moone of Moharram this present yeare by which I was commanded to write a Booke of the customes conditions and manner of life of his Predecessor King Abilgualit Iacob Almansor and therewith also to set downe and declare what other Rules a good Prince ought to obserue for the fulfilling whereof I haue stolne from other my great businesse some parts of the night bereauing my selfe of that sleepe which for my weake and wearied bodie had beane requisite and in these twelue briefe and compendious Chapters which accompany this my Letter I haue rehearsed and registred the life and customes and the manner of Ruling and Gouerning with this great King and Gouernour vsed in the time of his prosperous Raigne and I am also of this opinion that without any farther addition of those Learnings which are written by the Phylosophers and other graue and learned Authors one may gather out of this as much fruit as he desireth I am an eye witnesse of all that I write hauing serued him in his Chamber and other Offices in his Royall Palace of no small importance more then twentie yeares as is well knowne to those that frequented the Court in his time and haue seene and knowne his customes and conditions vprightnesse and simplicitie Gouernment and manner of administring justice both in Peace and Warre Now in this manner of writing I worke two effects the accomplishing of a Royall commandement and the registring of the vertuous and laudable morall customes of so good a King Vouchsafe to accept my good will and pardon my faults and ouersights if there bee any in this Treatise whereof I doubt not there may bee many attributing them rather to my forgetfulnesse then to any wilfull imperfection carelesnesse or negligence eyther against the fidelitie of an Historie or the loyaltie which is due to his Royall Seruice whom our Souereigne God continue in his Protection From the Citie of Deuque the fifteenth day of the Moone of Rabeh the first This date agreeth with the month of Angust of the yeare of Christ 731. the one hundred and tenth yeere of the Hixera THE LIFE AND Death of IACOB ALMANSOR an Arabian Mahometan King written in the Arabicke TONGVE CHAP. I. Of the Descendence and Genealogie of the King Abilgualit Miramamolin Iacob Almansor and of some of his memorable deeds ABilgualit Miramamolin Iacob Almansor was the sonne of the great Caliph the sustayner of Morisme Abihabdi Allahi Abilgualit Abinque Abni Malique and nephew of the great Caliph Abni Abel Hasen Motaleb of famous and high Linage Solar the renowmed race and house of the Gentile Kings of Arabia Hee was borne in the eleuenth yeare of the Higera on the second day of the Moone of Iâ—buel hauing attained with sound and perfect health to fifteene yeares of Age he began to show so great courage and Inclination to Armes and Learning that hee caused admiration in
â—â—â—â—â—SOR THE LEARNED AND VICTORIOVS King that conquered Spaine His Life and Death published By ROBERT ASHLEY Out of the Librarie of the Vniuersitie of OXFORD Seneca Otium tuum non emineat sed appareat LONDON Printed for Iohn Parker 1627. TO OVR GRACIOVS SOVEREIGNE King CHARLES THis briefe Historie of the life and death of Iacob Almansor the Victorious was intended to the now deceassed yet euer renowmed for Learning and worthily stiled Iacobus Pacificus your Royall Father The death of some who had vndertaken the Printing and the generall Visitation of this your Realme with sicknesse hath delayed the publishing and altered the designe of the Dedication The Wandering Ghost of this Learned Vertuous and Victorious Almansor who neuer suffered repulse being now come into England and clad with an English garment presseth into your Kingly presence and expecteth condigne entertainment Though the Storie bee ancient and your Time and Religion also from his much different yet he hopeth that Vertue and Valour are neuer out of season Nor the Wisdome and Industrie of any bee hee Heathen Mahometan or Christian to be disesteemed As Alexander was enflamed with the example of Achilles who liued long before him Caesar by that of Alexander of a different time and Nation the one being a Grecian King of Macedon the other but a priuate Gentleman of Rome and Scipio a young Roman that triumphed ouer Africke was animated by the Historie of Cyrus the great King of Persia described by Xenophon So if at this day among Christians they that haue any heart are enkindled in their courage when they reade of the Clemencie of Caesar the Magnanimitie of Alexander the Integritie of Aristides the Constancie of Cato or the Iustiâ—e and Goodnesse of Traian being but Heathens of former Ages that knew not Christ nor Christian Pietie with more reason Almansor of much later Age though a misbeleeuing Mahometan may well expect euen in these times among the professors of perfect Pietie his Vertues should not be vnregarded nor his well ordered life and death be buried in obliuion I leaue them that list to dispute the truth of his Historie or whether it bee not a patterne of Perfection deuised as many haue supposed the like of Cyrus described by Xenophon Howsoeuer the Truth bee I hold the one and the other of better vse being thus published then to be buried in silence I doubt not but your Royall Fathers Instruction and your owne worthy disposition hath figured in your noble brest many worthier Christian patternes for Imitation Yet by comparing our selues with Heathens with Infidels with Mahometans and other Misbeleeuers we attaine the better and cleerer knowledge of our aduantages and defects Hereof your aduenturous Trauailes in your younger yeares haue giuen you good experience Hee that knoweth no Countrey but his own knoweth not the worth or wants of his owne Commendandus ante omnes qui sapientiam toto orbe requirit saith Marsilius which oportunitie of personall Trauaile being not alwayes permitted it must bee supplyed by Bookes and Histories The aduertisement following will informe the particulars how this briefe Historie came to the Presenters hands who remaineth In all humilitie your Maiesties deuoted Subiect Robert Ashley An Aduertisement HAuing during my younger yeares had some trayning in the Arts and Learned Languages in the famous Vniuersitie of Oxford and by aduice of experienced friends hauing after seriously sought to attaine the knowledge of the Lawes vnder which wee liue in the place where they are professed and hauing beene long since ingaged and denominated among the Professors thereof yet finding the practise to haue ebbes and tydes as haue for the most part all other humane employments I haue stolne and snatched at vacant times some oportunities what by Trauaile Bookes and Conference to get some knowledge of forreigne Countries and vulgar Languages especially those of our Neighbours I meane the French and Dutch the Spanish and Italian that by the perusing of their Writings I might also bee made partaker of the Wisdome of those Nations hauing beene long of this opinion That as no one soyle or territorie yeeldeth all fruits alike so no one Climate or Region affordeth all kind of knowledge in full measure With this resolution being not letted by other occasions J spent the best houres of some few Weekes not many yeeres sithence in a superficiall suruey of the famous Librarie of that flourishing Vniuersitie where I had beene trayned which I found richly replenished with Bookes of all Sciences and Faculties not only in the Learned Languages Latine Greeke and Hebrew besides the vulgar Tongues of our Neighbour Nations but euen with some furniture as well of Manuscripts as of printed Copies in the Arabian Aethiopian and Armenian Languages with the Egyptian Wisdome and Characters not speaking of the Chaldaick and Syriak because they are accounted by many but as Hebrew-dialects There are also some Turkish Persian Manuscripts Indian Malayan and Mexican Characters and Writings Yea China it selfe being thought by many to bee inaccessible to Strangers though by sundry Seas and Lands it bee farre separated from vs hath vouchsafed to inrich this great Magazin or Storehouse of Learning with diuers and sundry parcels of her Wisdome imprinted in her strange Characters Amongst the rest I happened on an Arabian Historie concerning the losse of Spaine by Roderigo King of the Gothes which by commandment of King Philip the Second was translated into Spanish out of the Arabian Copie remayning in the Escurial where I my selfe haue seene a glorious golden Librarie of Arabian Bookes In the midst of that Historie I found a Summarie Collection or obsernation of the life and death of a Learned Arabian King Iacob Almansor the Conquerour of Spaine Of the excellencie of this great King some hauing heard and read that among other his vertues hee was an infinite louer of Learning hauing assembled together in his Librarie fiftie fiue thousand Bookes in an ignorant Age when long before the Inuention of Printing all Monuments of Learning were only preserued by the laborious industrie of the Writers hand and Pen. Weighing also his wise distribution of his time with his exact Iustice Wisdome of Gouernment his Temperance of Dyet Fortitude and Prudence in his Militarie affaires with the Prosperitie of his Conquests and successe of all his enterprizes they became desirous to bee acquainted with the particulars of his life and longed to haue it communicated vnto them in a Tongue which they better vnderstood To their honest desire hauing oportunitie in my hand I thought it conuenient to giue satisfaction by translating it out of the Spanish Copie which was printed at Saragoza 1603. remayning in that vnparalleld rare Librarie of the Vniuersitie of Oxford and therehence out of the larger Historie of the Conquest of Spaine by the Moores being then the Subiects of this Almansor by me excerpted and published I present it to publicke view that Christians finding their vertuous Industrie to be equalled or ouermatched by
Prince or a crowned King that euer he told any lye or spake any vntruth Hee loued alwaies to speake the Truth himselfe expecting the like in them that negotiated with him for he said that a greater misery could not befal a man in this life then to be a lyer who with more reason might be called the Diuels disciple then accounted a reasonable man because there are found in a lyer all the mischiefes in the world being euer vniust a false witnesse bearer a very traitor to the Truth and such as was not fit to treat with any man or to looke him in the face With this zeale did he chasten so rigorusly whomsoeuer he found with aâ—â—e that it cost many little lesse then their 〈◊〉 for according to the qualitie of the offence some hee caused cruelly to be whipt others to haue the tip of their tongue cut off condemning them for infamous and that their Testimonie might not bee receiued in any suite or controuersie And if it were to the preiudice of a third person he condemned them to death For hee said that all quarrels and debates wounding and killing with all other their appurtenances were occasioned onely of this that men spake not the Truth one to another All his Subiects knowing in what detestation he held falsehood durst not make any vniust demand before him or any of his Alcaydes who had the Gouernment which foundation being laide each Saturday hee sate in his Seate in the Royall Audience and his Cadi or chiefe Iustice â—iâ—ing one degreee lower at his feet with those Memorials Petitions and Bils which he had receiued on the Friday Hauing perused and placed them in order as he receiued them hee called the parties and they proposing the Iustice of their causes in such sort that euery one was heard for himselfe in his seuerall pretentions and allegations The Cadi gaue Iudgement giuing to euery one his right and because they durst not lye by reason of the cruell chastisement in that behalfe besides that there were the fewer causes and complaints they were also dispatched with much speed and very summarily in regard that there needed no proofes but onely the Confession of the parties vnlesse they were matters concerning the value of goods or of a higher nature in which cases he referred them to his Councel for auerring the Truth and when such kinde of pleas were in his Court they receiued an end at the second Audience which was the next weeke and if they were out of the Court in some other Citie they were to be determined within a fortnight or fifteene dayes after they began reseruing the definitiue sentence to himselfe if the parties did not conforme themselues or the Iudges were doubtfull therein In criminall causes he neuer detayned any prisoner aboue three dayes and for hainous crimes aboue nine and if any that was poore were in prison for debt hee paid it out of his owne treasure so that by oath or 〈…〉 were auerred that hee had no gâ—â—â—s to make payment And being so strict an obseruer of Truth there were very few Suits in Law and those also very necessarie and compulsorie for he was so feared of his Subiects that rather then to appeare before him for matter of Iustice they agreed among themselues without sute or debate by which meanes they were so careful to deale vprightly one with another that they liued in great peace He chastised theoues so seuerely that none durst take any thing from other neither in Citie nor Countrie as well in desert as in peopled places And in so great awe they were of him that if any one had lost ought in the streete or market place none durst meddle therewith otherwise then to leaue it at the next shop and cause it to be cryed til the owner were found to whom it was to bee restored This King was so feared in all his Kingdomes This custome was vsed among the Moores of Granada euen to our dayes and seemeth in a manner naturall to them and his Subiects liued in such securitie that one accident which befell in his time I hold worthy to bee here related Which is that after hee had conquered and wonne the Kingdome of Spaine from the King Rodrigo a Christian by Profession and had peopled and bordered it as he thought conuenient he sent an Alcayde a great fauorite of his called Abraham Maanya to visit the same who being arriued there and going about in visitation passed through a great playne which lyeth betweene two Cities where meeting with a woman that was alone vnaccompanied yet not vnhandsome nor euill fauoured he maruailed much asking her how shee durst aduenture to goe alone through that vnpeopled place reprouing and reprehending her boldnesse who answered him in this manner While our good King Iacob Almansor liueth whom I pray the Soueraigne God to grant a long life and victorie ouer his enemies Wee may all trauaile securely through his Kingdomes and as safely in the wild fields as in Townes and Cities The Alcayde maruailing much at her words when he was returned into the presence of his Lord Miramamolin Almansor to giue him account of such things as hee had recommended to his care in his Visitation of Spaine amongst other memorable things related vnto him how he met with the woman on that vninhabited plaine and how hee reprehending her boldnesse in aduenturing alone in a place where some outrage might easily bee done her shee had answered him in that confident manner before rehearsed and Miramamolin Almansor enquiring what he had replyed vnto her he said that hee had told her that shee was a foole to imagine any such securitie because if any were disposed to doe her any wrong or dammage Miramamolin Almansor could yeeld her little helpe or succour being then in Arabia so farre remote from Spaine The King Almansor was so much offended with those words that hee forthwith commanded him to prepare himselfe to returne eft-soones for Spaine for he had great vse of his Seruice there for administration of his Royall Iustice and with great dissimulation he wrote presently a letter to the Gouernour of Spaine called Abulcacim Abdiluar enclosing therein the Alcaydes owne Confession commanding that as soone as hee came hee should empale him in that very place where he met with the woman proclaiming his offence in this manner That King Almansor commanded this Iustice to bee executed on that Alcayde for his bold attempt of speaking with the woman in that desert place especially for putting her in doubt of the securitie of her person and saying that the King Iacob Almansor could not helpe or succor her liuing in Arabia so farre remote from Spaine This Alcayde forth with departed not knowing that he carried his death inclosed in that letter and as soone as hee came to the Alcayde Abdiluar then Gouernor of Spaine hauing read it he caused him to be taken and execute on him that sentence of the King Miramamolin his Lord. This case was
be sorrowfull then to ordaine Feasts and Triumphs with Musicke and Disports which in effect were vsed according as is vsually accustomed Let these things but passe through your memorie and clearer vnderstanding and then Pride and Ambition will fall vnder your feet and you shall easily subdue them For I assure you that one dramme of Pride will weigh heauier then one hundred Quintals of good vnderstanding in the wisest man in the World and see it is the verie gate by which the Deuill the accursed of God entreth to tempt men and ouercommeth captiuateth and ouerthroweth them into the fearefull horrible euerlasting Hell from which the Souereigne God for his great Mercie free vs and deliuer vs. Amen The fourth thing of which I admonish you is that you yeeld Justice administring it indifferently to all that shall aske it for I assure you that the King which shall not so administer it will soone be dispossessed of his Kingdome as a man vnworthy to reigne For God permitteth vnbeleeuing in this World reseruing the chastisement thereof for the day of his finall Iudgement and maintaineth the World and all his creatures with Iustice and Mercie albeit some are without the true knowledge of him but he readily chastiseth with rigour euen in this life vniustice and wickednesse when malice increaseth and men are obstinate therein like a Iust Iudge as he is Be no teller of Lies for it is the basest thing in the World and the Lier is the Deuils Disciple a man without Vertue a Traitour to the Truth and an enemy therof one to whom no credit is to be giuen the least punishment that men allot him is that although he speake the truth yet he is not beleeued Let your Speech be moderate that men may not note you for a Pratler which would make you vnregarded and held for a man of little discretion All these good aduertisements in my Letter haue their contraries and therefore our Souereigne God gaue you freedome of will and liberty of choice that you might follow the good and of chew the euill and without his helpe you can doe nothing This only I will warne you that you set God before you in all your waies doing Iustice with charity simplicitie and vprightnesse and you shall not erre whatsoeuer you take in hand And although I might write much more in this Letter Yet this may suffice for there is included in it whatsoeuer can bee required of him that will well consider of it to put it in practice as I intend it to his intire satisfaction which I doubt not but you will performe with the helpe of our Souereigne God his blessing and grace whom I humbly pray and beseech to grant it you as I giue you mine and haue you in his keeping Amen From this house of Albasatin the twentieth day of Rageb in the ninetie and fixth yeere This Letter being receiued by the King Abilgualit made him reioyce exceedingly he tooke so earnestly to heart this his Fathers reprehension and put his Rules in practice in such sort that he caused them that serued him to admire for hee endeauoured with great care and diligence to amend the faults and negligences which hee had committed especially in administring Iustice and began to follow the footsteps of the King Almansor his Father in his manner of Gouernment and in all the rest that hee vsed whiles hee raigned in so much that in very short time he made them see the amendement hee had made of his Life and Gouernment in such sort that all his Alcaydes were much contented therewith though in some particular distasted for in all other things he could imitate his Father sauing only in his Liberalitie and Charitie sodim these the King Almansor did much exceed him And this I beleeue was the chiefe cause that hee neuer got so good a name as his Father For certainly Liberalitie is a great vertue in Kings wherewith they draw the minds of men to loue and serue them vnfaynedly with claritie who on the contrarie when they feele not their own interest comming let fall the wings of their courage and cheerefulnesse louing and seruing more coldly and faintly because the irascible facultie hauing her residence as she hath in the heart and louing to be honoured and esteemed and desirous to haue her trauailes gratified with selfe proper interest when that ceasseth the working of the will doth ceasse Especially in men of the Sword which of all others are most necessarie for Kings as well for preseruing their Estates as for the conquering of new Kingdomes and Signiories Which was the chiefe cause that this King Abilgualit could neuer get any new Prouinces but with much difficultie preserued that Kingdome which he had inherited from his Father and was at the point to haue lost all for want of being free and generous towards his men of warre as was requisite for their encouragement for they being accustomed 〈◊〉 such gratification and largesse as the King Iacob Almansor vsed towards them grew soone distasted with the contrarie in his Sonne Abilgualit which was the cause that he could neuer rayse any Army by Land or by Sea worth the speaking of to doe any seruice of account which merited the remembrance of Histories This may suffice for this particular seeing my purpose is onely to write the life of the King Iacob Almansor CHAP. XI How King Iacob Almansor became sicke to to Death and how he assembled his wisemen and the rest of the Alcaydes Of his prudent speech hee made them and the Pardon hee demanded of them THe King Almansor spending his time quietly in that house of Albazatin and Albillan in company of Mahomet Algazeli and his Disciples after some time fell sicke of an infirmitie of long continuance and seeing himselfe to weare away and that all the remedies which his Physicians applyed profited little one day when they were about him in consultation concerning his Disease and the difficultie of the Cure by reason of the manifold Syntomes his great age and debilitie of Nature considered hee said thus vnto them Yee my Physicians endeauour and labour to restore my health but if Gods pleasure be otherwise your purpose is but vaine For I assure you that when God hath determined to end a mans life the Medicines ministred by the Physicians doe little auaile him but serue rather to the hastening his end And so doe I conceiue of those which yee haue hitherto applyed vnto me I lay no blame on you but commend your Learning and Knowledge and that good affection wherewith you haue endeauoured to recouer my health for which I thanke you and esteeme as much of your seruice as if you had preuailed But I will not suffer you to be any longer deceiued for the first day that I fell into this infirmitie I assured my selfe it would be my death knowing the same to bee a lingring extraordinary Disease differing from the rest which I haue endured in the course of my life
And especially seeing in the periods thereof I find it rigorous it seemeth to me to be but losse of time to treat of recouery Hence-forward therefore let no more paines be taken in that behalfe For I am very conformable to the will of our Souereigne God and do giue him infinite thankes for this great fauour which he vouchsafeth me in taking me out of the troubles and calamities of this miserable life Then hee caused the King Abilgualit and the Infant Abraham Alamzari to bee called who being come before him on their knees and halfe prostrate on the ground kissed his hand and he giuing them his blessing said thus vnto them My deare and welbeloued Sonnes the last period of my life is now at hand the Souereigne God being pleased to take mee out of this World That which I admonish you is that yee loue like true Brethren holding good conformitie in your minds and confirming it with good deeds for so shall yee liue in Peace and no enemie shall bee able to hurt you And if yee continue not in Peace and good conformitie yee shall soone see your Kingdomes ouerthrowne And turning his eyes to the Infant Abraham he said thus And you Sonne Abraham on paine of my curse I command you that you be alwaies obedient to the King Abilgualit your brother and hold him hence-forward in my place for your true Father and Lord for I am confident in his wisdome and vertue that he will hold and vse and regard you as his Sonne Then directing his eyes to his Sonne Abilgualit hee said And so I command and charge you Sonne Abilgualit on like paine And they lamenting and weeping in such sort that they could scarce speake answered that they would obey him Then he called in his Alcaydes the Gouernours of his Kingdomes those of his highest Councels and the men of wisdome and learning who attended in the vtter chamber the rest of his kinsmen friends who when they had saluted him and kissed his hand he commanded his Morabito Mahomet Algazeli who being his fauorite sate at his beds head with the helpe of other attendants to lift him out of his bed and sitting spake thus vnto them My beloued Sonnes and true Friend in our Soueraigne God The time is now come in which my Soule is to passe out of this miserable world to yeeld account of the good and euill which I haue done in this life I haue beene King and Gouernour of these Kingdomes and haue bred you taught you cherished and loued you as a Father and haue also chastened your excesses and ouer-bold attempts with zeale and desire to doe that which was requisite But being a man I know that in all things I haue erred as a man for wee are all weake and miserable Sinners I therefore earnestly intreate and beseech you with all humilitie that if I be any way indebted to any of you that yee presently declare it and that I may cause him to bee recompenced And if there be none I aske pardon of you all in generall of that which is past for I for my part doe pardon and forgiue whatsoeuer in word or deed is by mee to bee pardoned of any errours or neglects of yours which you haue committed against mee And this only I lay before you that hee which vseth not Mercie towards his Neighbour must expect none at Gods hands at the last judgement Which when they had heard so great was the griefe they all conceiued and such plentie of teares in their eyes that they could not answer a word for a good space considering that by losing their King Iacob Almansor they lost their chiefest good so great was the loue which they bore him Yet after awhile they answered that they all did pardon him and if need were would giue all their goods and aduenture their liues for him If hee were so pleased to command as readily as they or any of their Ancestors had formerly done for his seruice and that hee should no way doubt of their pardon and promise since they were there present to fulfill it Then the King Almansor could not refraine weeping yet rendred great thankes for their louing offer and blessed them worning them also that neither they nor any other Friends of his should faile to be present at his buriall for in their loue hee receiued great consolation Which they all promised and departed from his presesence so afflicted and sorrowfull that they shut vp themselues in such sort that in three dayes there was no Councell held nor any businesse dispatched in Court vntill he somewhat amended and then they sell to negotiating and dispatching affaires yet with griefe and sorrow for their good King as they had great reason CHAP. XII How the King Iacob Almansor dyed Of his sumptuous Enterment his Tombe and Monument and of the Epitaphes ingrauen on his Sepulchre THe amendement of the King Iacob Almansor was not such as out of which any certaine signe of Recouery could be had but it was rather a space for the Indication of the last Parocisme of Death during this Interpolation So that albeit his Seruants were in some hope the good King being well assured of his death neglected no moment nor minute for the disposing of all things as hee held himselfe bound Hee willed all his moueable goods and monies to be giuen to the poore for Gods sake which were forthwith distributed accordingly Then he gaue libertie to all his Slaues and Bondmen Hee reserued nothing but only his Librarie charging the King Abilgualit he should keepe it for himselfe and esteeme it as it deserued and that in lieu thereof hee should place in marriage a thousand poore Orphans gining to euery of them a thousand Miticales in marriage On the fift day after hee died naturally leauing this present life on Thursday in the last watch of the night on the third day of the Moone Rageb in the hundred and second yeare of the Hixera On the day following This yeare in about the yeare of our Redemption 723. the King Abilgualit wrote vnto all the Alcaydes of his Kingdomes a Letter to this effect that they all should mourne and solemnize his Funerall Prayse bee giuen to the Souereigne God Amen Hereupon they gaue order for his Enterment for which the King Iacob Almansor had prepared and framed on the top of a high Hill on the Southside of that House called Albazatin that sumptuous Hermitage which is there seene at this present and adioyning to it his Sepulchre being a Vault made of a rich kind of Iasper of such largenesse as would containe fortie persons and vpon it caused a solid stone to be erected on foure Pillars of Alablaster and on the sides foure smooth stones with his Epitaphs written in them in the greater Arabicke verses with a very faire Character This Sepulchre is about a mile distant from the House of Albazatin There were assembled at his Funerall fifteene hundred Alfaqui or principall Priests with the