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Albuera, the grand master gave him especial praise, saying that he could always see Gonzalo to the front because he was conspicuous by the splendour of his See also:

ARMOUR, PHILIP DANFORTH (1832-1901)

armour . Indeed the future Great Captain, who, as a general, was above all things astute and patient, could, and habitually did, display the most reckless See also:

PERSONAL

personal daring, going into a fight as if he loved it, and having a shrewd sense that a reputation for intrepidity, a See also:

FREE

free-handed profusion, and the personal magnificence which strikes the See also:

eye, would secure him the devotion of his soldiers . During the ten years' war for the See also:

CONQUEST

conquest of See also:

Granada he completed his See also:

APPRENTICESHIP (from Fr. apprendre, to learn)

apprenticeship under his brother, the count of Aguilar, the grand master of Santiago, and the count of Tendilla, of whom he always spoke as his masters . It was a war of surprises and defences of castles or towns, of skirmishes, and of ambuscades in the defiles of the mountains .

The military engineer and the " guerrillero " were about equally employed . Gonzalo's most distinguished single feat was the See also:

defence of the advanced See also:

POST

post of Illora, but he commanded the queen's escort when she wished to take a closer view of Granada, and he See also:

BEAT (a word common in various forms to the Teutonic languages; it is connected with the similar Romanic words derived from the Late Lat. battere)

beat back a sortie of the See also:

Moors under her eyes . When Granada surrendered, he was one of the See also:

OFFICERS

officers chosen to arrange the See also:

CAPITULATION (Lat. capitulum, a little head or division; capitulare, to treat upon terms)

capitulation, and on the See also:

peace he was rewarded by a See also:

grant of See also:

LAND

land . So far he was only known as an able subordinate, but his capacity could not be hidden from such an excellent See also:

JUDGE (Lat. judex, Fr. juge)

judge of See also:

CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character as Isabella, to whom as a woman he appealed by a chivalrous See also:

union of devotion and respect . When, therefore, the See also:

CATHOLIC (Gr. KcaBoXuK6s, general, universal)

Catholic sovereigns decided to support the Aragonese house of See also:

Naples against See also:

Charles VIII. of See also:

France, Gonzalo was chosen by the See also:

INFLUENCE (Late Lat. influentia, from influere, to flow in)

influence of the queen, and in preference to older men, to command the Spanish expedition . It was in See also:

Italy that he won the See also:

TITLE (0. Fr. title, mod. titre, from Lat. titulus)

title of the Great Captain; See also:

GUICCIARDINI, FRANCESCO (1483-1540)

Guicciardini says that it was given him by the customary arrogance of the Spaniards, but it was certainly accepted as just by all the soldiers of the See also:

time of whatever See also:

NATIONALITY

nationality . A detailed See also:

account of his See also:

CAMPAIGNS

campaigns cannot be given here . He held the command in Italy twice . In 1495 he was sent with a small force of little more than five thousand men to aid See also:

Ferdinand of Naples to recover his See also:

KINGDOM

kingdom, and he returned See also:

home after achieving success, in 1498 . After a brief See also:

INTERVAL

interval of service against the conquered Moors who had risen in revolt, he returned to Italy in 1501 . Ferdinand of See also:

Spain had entered into his iniquitous compact with See also:

Louis XII. of France for the spoliation and See also:

DIVISION (from Lat. dividere, to break up into parts, separate)

division of the kingdom of Naples . The Great Captain was chosen to command the Spanish See also:

PART

part of this robber See also:

COALITION (Lat. coalitio, the verbal substantive of coalescere, to grow together)

coalition .

As general and as See also:

VICEROY (from O. Fr. viceroy, mod. viceroi, i.e. Lat. vice, in place of, and roy or roi, king)

viceroy of Naples he remained in Italy till 1507 . During his first command he was mostly employed in See also:

CALABRIA

Calabria in See also:

mountain warfare which See also:

BORE

bore much resemblance to his former experience in Granada . There was, however, a material difference in the enemy . The See also:

French forces, commanded by the Scotsman See also:

Stuart d'Aubigny, consisted largely of Swiss pikemen, and of their own men-at-arms . With his veterans of the Granadine war, See also:

FOOT

foot soldiers armed with See also:

SWORD (0. Eng. sweord; ultimately from an Indo-European root meaning to wound)

sword and buckler, or arquebuses and crossbows, and See also:

LIGHT

light See also:

CAVALRY (Fr. cavalerie, Ger. Kavallerie or Reiterei, derived ultimately from late Lat. caballus, horse)

cavalry, trained to unsleeping vigilance, capable of See also:

long See also:

MARCHES, THE (It. Le Marche)

marches,and of an endurance unparalleledamong the soldiers of the time, he could carry on a guerrillero warfare which wore down his opponents, who suffered far more than the Spaniards from the See also:

HEAT (0. E. haktu, which like " hot," Old Eng. hat, is from the Teutonic type haita, hit, to be hot; cf. Ger. hitze, heiss; Dutch, hitte, heet, &c.)

heat . But he saw clearly that this was not enough . His experience in Seminara showed him that something more was wanted on the battlefield . The See also:

ACTION

action was lost mainly because King Ferdinand, disregarding the See also:

ADVICE (Fr. avis, from Lat. ad, to, and visum, viewed)

advice of Gonzalo, persisted in fighting a pitched battle with inferior See also:

numbers, some of whom were untrustworthy Neapolitans . The Spanish foot behaved excellently, but the result showed that in the open See also:

field their loose formation and their swords put them at a disadvantage as against a See also:

charge of heavy cavalry or pikemen . Gonzalo therefore introduced a much more strict formation, and adopted the See also:

pike as the weapon of a part of his foot . The division of the Spanish See also:

INFANTRY

infantry into the " battle " or See also:

main central See also:

BODY

body of pikemen, and the wings (alas) of " shot " to be employed in outflanking the enemy, was primarily due to the Great Captain . The French were expelled by 1498 without another battle .

When the Great Captain reappeared in Italy he had first to perform the congenial task of See also:

DRIVING (from " to drive," i.e. generally to propel, force along or in, a word common in various forms to the Teutonic languages)

driving the Turk from See also:

CEPHALONIA (Ital. Cefalonia, ancient and modern official Greek Cephallenia, Ke¢aXMvia)

Cephalonia, then to aid in robbing the king of Naples, See also:

Frederick, brother of his old ally Ferdinand . When the king of Naples had been despoiled, the French and Spaniards quarrelled over the See also:

BOOTY (apparently influenced by " boot," O. Eng. bot, ad-vantage or profit, through an adaptation from an earlier form cognate with Ger. Beute and Fr. butin)

booty . The Great Captain now found himself with a much outnumbered See also:

army in the presence of the French . The war was divided into two phases very similar to one another . During the end of 1502 and the See also:

early part of 1503 the Spaniards stood at See also:

bay in the entrenched See also:

CAMP (from Lat. campus, field)

camp at See also:

BARLETTA (anc. Barduli)

Barletta near the Ofanto on the shores of the Adriatic . He resolutely refused to be tempted into battle either by the taunts of the French or the discontent of his own soldiers . Meanwhile he employed the Aragonese partisans in the See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country, and flying expeditions of his own men, to harass the enemy's communications . When he was reinforced, and the French committed the See also:

MISTAKE (i.e. take amiss)

mistake of scattering their forces too much to secure supplies, he took the offensive, pounced on the enemy's See also:

DEPOT (from the Fr. depot, Lat. depositum, laid down; the French accent marks are usually dispensed with in English)

depot of provisions at See also:

CERIGNOLA

Cerignola, took a strong position, threw up hasty field See also:

WORKS

works, and strengthened them with a See also:

SPECIES

species of See also:

WIRE (A.S. wir, a wire; cf. Swed. vire, to twist, M.H.G. wiere, a gold ornament, Lat. viriae, armlets, ultimately from the root wi, to twist, bind)

wire entanglements . The French made a headlong front attack, were repulsed, assailed in flank, and routed . The later operations on the Garigliano were very similar, and led to the See also:

TOTAL

total See also:

EXPULSION (Lat. expulsio, from expellere)

expulsion of the French from Naples . Gonzalo remained as See also:

GOVERNOR (from the Fr. gouverneur, from gouverner, O. Fr. governer, Lat. gubernare, to steer a ship, to direct, guide)

governor of Naples till 1507 . But he had become too great not to arouse the See also:

JEALOUSY (adapted from Fr. jalousie, formed from jaloux, jealous, Low Lat. zelosus, Gr. j'i os, ardour, zeal, from the root seen in '&u', to boil, ferment; cf. " yeast ")

jealousy of such a typical king of the See also:

RENAISSANCE, THE

Renaissance as Ferdinand the Catholic .

The death of the queen in 1504 had deprived him of a friend, and it must be allowed that he was profuse in rewarding his captains and his soldiers out of the public See also:

TREASURY

treasury . Ferdinand loaded him with titles and See also:

FINE

fine words, but recalled him so soon as he could, and See also:

LEFT

left him unemployed till his death on the and of See also:

DECEMBER (Lat. decent, ten)

December 1515 . The Great Captain is sometimes spoken of as the first of See also:

MODERN

modern generals . The expression is uncritical, for modern generalship arose from many sides, but he was emphatically a general . There is much in his methods which bears a curious likeness to those of the See also:

DUKE (corresponding to Fr. duc, Ital. duca, Ger. Herzog)

duke of See also:

Wellington; Barletta, for instance, has a distinct resemblance to the Torres Vedras See also:

CAMPAIGN

campaign, and the battle on the Garigliano to See also:

ASSAYE

Assaye . As an organizer he founded the Spanish infantry of the 16th and 17th centuries, and he gave the best See also:

PROOF (in M. Eng. preove, proeve, preve, &°c., from O. Fr . prueve, proeve, &c., mod. preuve, Late. Lat. proba, probate, to prove, to test the goodness of anything, probus, good)

proof of his influence by forming a school of officers . The best generals of Charles V. were either the pupils of the Great Captain or were trained by them . There is no See also:

LIFE

life of Gonzalo de Cordoba written by a See also:

SCHOLAR, SCHOLARSHIP

scholar who was also a See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good judge of war . The dull Cronica del Gran Capitan gives the See also:

BARE

bare events of his campaigns rather wearisomely but fully . See also:

Paulus Govius, Vitae illustrium virorum, translated by Domenichi (See also:

Florence, 1550), is elegant and very readable . Don Jose See also:

QUINTANA, MANUEL JOSE (1772-1857)

Quintana includes him in his Espanoles celebres (Rivadeneyra Biblioteca de autores es an%oles, vol. xix., See also:

MADRID

Madrid, 1846–188o) ; and See also:

PRESCOTT, WILLIAM HICKLING (1796-1859)

Prescott collected the authorities, and made good use of them in his Ferdinand and Isabella . See also P. du Poncet, Histoire de Gonsalve de Cordoue (See also:

Paris, 1714) .

The Gonsalve de Cordoue, ou See also:

GRENADE (from the French word for a pomegranate, from a resemblance in shape to that fruit)

Grenade reconquise of See also:

Florian (Paris, 1791) is a See also:

ROMANCE

romance . (D .

End of Article: GONZALO FERNANDEZ DE CORDOBA (1453–15.15)

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