King, Georgiana Goddard: A brief account of the military orders in Spain (New York: The Hispanic Society of America, 1921)

22
M I L ITARY ORDERS
Old
vestments
of
Cordovan
workman-
ship
dad) and confederation with the Master
of Santiago for mutual support.
A chasuble of cramoisy taffetas, with its
dalmatics, and with some panizos of gold
and silver, of very ancient workmanship-
these things were long preserved at the
Convent of Calatrava. It was believed
that they were made from the dress of a
Moorish prisoner whom D. Frey Nuno
captured in a raid and ultimately put to
ransom. He had proved to be the brother
of the Queen of Cordova: and for her sake
the King, his kinsman, gave fifty Chris-
tians in exchange, of whom four were
knights of Calatrava. In the perishing
silken stuff so reverently preserved, in the
fading broideries and the blackening silver
and the tarnishing gold, lives the symbol
of the exquisite civilization of the south,
already passing. She was very beautiful,
that woman, and very well beloved, as
Itimad had been loved before her by the
King who planted all the Sierra de Cordova
with almond trees to make a snow for his
love to pleasure her eyes. Mutamid was
dead in exile long since, and pilgrims had
HISPANIC NOTES