RESOLUTION OF THE SPANIARDS. 59
ure, so different from his usual clemency, by an chapter
unwillingness to encumber himself with a superflu- ^ —
ous population in the besieged city.^^ But, in
truth, such a proceeding, however offensive to hu-
manity, was not at all repugnant to the haughty
spirit of chivalry, which, reserving its courtesies
exclusively for those of gentle blood and high de-
gree, cared little for the inferior orders, whether
soldier or peasant, whom it abandoned without re-
morse to all the caprices and cruelties of military
license.
The capture of Ruvo was attended with impor-
tant consequences to the Spaniards. Besides a
valuable booty of clothes, jewels, and money, they
brought back with them nearly a thousand horses,
which furnished Gonsalvo with the means of aug-
menting his cavalry, the small number of which
had hitherto materially crippled his operations.
He accordingly selected seven hundred of his best
troops and mounted them on the French horses ;
thus providing himself with a corps, burning with
zeal to approve itself worthy of the distinguished
honor conferred on it.^^
A few weeks after, the general received an im- Prepares to
' ~ leave Bar-
portant accession of strength from the arrival of '^"'•
two thousand German mercenaries, which Don
Juan Manuel, the Spanish minister at the Austrian
court, had been permitted to raise in the emperor's
dominions. This event determined the Great Cap-
32 D'Auton, Hist, de Louys p. 270. — Zurito, Hist, del Rey
Xn., ubi supra. — Giovio, Vitae Hernando, torn. i. lib. 5, cap. 14.
niust. Virorum, p. 249. — Quinta- 33 Giovio, Vitas Illust.Virorum,
na, Espafioles C^lebres, torn. ii. p. 249.
Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. III.djvu/85
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