, and accusing the inhabitants of
felony and treason, both men and women, young and old, living and dead,
born and to be born, he challenged them to a duel. It had to be
accepted, and, according to the laws of chivalry, the challenger had to
meet in single combat five champions, one after another, for he had
insulted, not a single man, but a community.

The gray-haired governor of the fortress reserved for himself and his
four sons the duty of accepting the challenge; the Infanta beseeched him
in vain to desist from his enterprise, but he was firm: his mistress's
honour was at stake. At last, persuaded by royal tears, according to the
romance, he agreed to let his sons precede him, and, only in case it
should be necessary, would he take the last turn.

The eldest son left the city gates, blessed by the weeping father; his
helmet and head were cleft in twain by Diego Ordonez's terrible sword,
and the latter's ironical shout was heard addressing the governor:

"Don Arias, send me hither another of your charming sons, because this
one cannot bear you the message."

A second and third son went forth, meeting the same fate: but the
latter's wounded horse, in throwing its rider, ran blindly into Ordonez
and knocked him out of the ring; the duel was therefore judged to be a
draw.

Several days afterward Alfonso, the dead king's younger brother, hurried
up from Toledo, and after swearing in Burgos that he had had nothing to
do with the felonious murder, was anointed King of Castile, Leon, and
Galicia. His brave sister Urraca lived with him at court, giving him
useful advice, until she retired to a convent, and at her death left her
palace and her fortune to the Collegiate Church at Leon.

The remaining history of Zamora is one interminable list of revolts,
sieges, massacres, and duels. As frontier fortress against Portugal in
the west, its importance as the last garrison town on the Duero was
exceptional, and consequently, though it never became important as a
metropolis, as a stronghold it was one of Castile's most strategical
points.

* * * * *

The best view of the city is obtained from the southern shore of the
Duero; on a low hill opposite the spectator, the city walls run east and
west; behind them, to the left, the castle towers loom up, square and
Byzantine in appearance; immediately to the right the cathedral nave
forms a horizontal line to where the _cimborio_ practically termin