The attack of Ismail Ben Ferez, in 1315 (second siege), was
frustrated; but in 1333 Vasco Paez de Meira, having allowed the
fortifications and garrison to decay, was obliged to capitulate to
Mahomet IV. (third siege). Alphonso's attempts to recover possession
(fourth siege) were futile, though pertinacious and heroic, and he was
obliged to content himself with a tribute for the rock from Abdul
Melek of Granada; but after his successful attack on Algeciras in 1344
he was encouraged to try his fortune again at Gibraltar. In 1349 he
invested the rock, but the siege (fifth siege) was brought to an
untimely close by his death from the plague in February, 1350. The
next or sixth siege resulted simply in the transference of the coveted
position from the hands of the King of Morocco to those of Yussef III.
of Granada; and the seventh, undertaken by the Spanish Count of
Niebla, Enrico de Guzman, proved fatal to the besieger and his forces.
In 1462, however, success attended the efforts of Alphonso de Arcos
(eighth siege), and in August the rock passed once more under
Christian sway. The Duke of Medina Sidonia, a powerful grandee who had
assisted in its capture, was anxious to get possession of the
fortress, and though Henry IV. at first managed to maintain the claims
of the crown, the duke ultimately made good his ambition by force of
arms (ninth siege), and in 1469 the king was constrained to declare
his son and his heirs perpetual governors of Gibraltar.
Pages:
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29