Abindarráez is captured by Rodrigo de Narváez

Abindarráez is captured by Rodrigo de Narváez during a night patrol near Álora, in an encounter that turns a military victory into an act of clemency. The fight establishes the young Moor’s exceptional courage; the conversation that follows reveals why he is risking his life on the road to Coín. Narváez releases him temporarily so he can reach Jarifa, and the captive’s freely given promise to return becomes the basis for their developing trust. The episode is told by Felismena as a story within the larger narrative.

Background and Narrative Frame

Felismena recounts the episode at the home of the wise Felicia, after dinner, in response to Felicia’s request for a story or notable event from Vandalia. She begins by presenting Narváez as a celebrated captain who had served in the conquest of Antequera and held the defenses of both Antequera and Álora. His reputation rests not only on courage in war but also on generosity, which wins him the loyalty of his own men and the respect of others.

The encounter occurs during a summer night patrol. Narváez rides out from Álora with nine knights, leaving the rest of his men to guard the stronghold. When the party reaches a fork in the road, the riders divide into two groups, with a horn agreed as the signal for assistance. One group hears a man singing with such tenderness, and sighing so deeply, that the knights recognize the signs of love. They conceal themselves among trees and see Abindarráez approach by moonlight.

The Fight and Capture

The five knights emerge and attack. Abindarráez is absorbed in love, but he responds with practiced skill, fighting all five at once. Three are thrown down, while the other two continue the assault. Though wounded in the thigh, he does not falter. When he loses his lance, he feigns flight, rides between his pursuers, and leans from the saddle to retrieve a fallen opponent’s weapon before turning back against them.

A squire sounds the horn, and Narváez arrives as Abindarráez presses the two remaining men so hard that they risk sharing the fate of their three companions. Impressed by the Moor’s bravery, Narváez asks his own men to stand aside and challenges him directly, making the defeated warrior the prize of their contest. Both seek victory, but Abindarráez is already injured, exhausted from the earlier fighting, and riding a horse that can no longer move freely. He nevertheless lands a forceful thrust over Narváez’s shield. Narváez strikes him in the right arm, then closes with him, pulls him from the saddle, and declares him defeated.

Abindarráez accepts that his life is in Narváez’s hands, but insists that he has been overcome only by someone to whom he had already surrendered himself in another sense. The remark hints at a private cause beyond military defeat. Narváez does not question him immediately: he helps him rise, tightens his wounds, and ensures he can mount his horse. The party then sets out for Álora with the captive.

The Captive’s Story and Narváez’s Offer

On the road, Narváez notices that Abindarráez’s sadness seems disproportionate to his wounds and asks what troubles him. He promises to treat him as a friend if he will explain. Abindarráez identifies himself as a young member of the Abencerrajes of Granada, a lineage famed for courage, good government, liberality, and service to ladies. He also recalls the family’s fall: after the king wronged two of its members, the family was accused of plotting against him. Whether the alleged conspiracy was true or false, its leaders were executed before the people learned of the case, despite public grief and attempts to buy mercy.

His own immediate distress is love, not fear of imprisonment. He had been raised at Cártama, where he and Jarifa, the daughter of its governor, fell in love. Jarifa pledged herself to him in marriage, but a royal order transferred her father from Cártama to Coín and left Jarifa behind. When her father later went to Granada, Jarifa sent a trusted servant to summon Abindarráez. He set out secretly at night, dressed to show his beloved the joy he felt at being called to her and expecting to marry her. Instead, the fight with Narváez has left him wounded and captive, with the opportunity to reach her apparently slipping away.

Narváez responds by offering a precise condition: Abindarráez may go free if he promises to return to Álora within three days. Abindarráez accepts the pledge as a knight and asks for whatever security Narváez requires. Narváez vouches for him to his companions, gives him a horse because his own was injured in the fight, and sends him on toward Coín. The release does not erase the capture; it makes the captive’s honor, rather than physical restraint, the guarantee of his return.

Consequences and Significance

Abindarráez reaches Coín and meets Jarifa, who reveals that she has summoned him so they can marry. When he later returns to Álora, Jarifa comes with him, and Narváez helps them seek forgiveness from the King of Granada and Jarifa’s father. The captain’s intervention turns the promise made after the fight into a route toward reconciliation. In the account’s conclusion, Narváez refuses the four thousand gold coins offered as ransom, accepts gifts for his companions, and treats Jarifa’s home as welcome to him.

The episode joins combat to recognition: Narváez first judges Abindarráez by his skill and courage, then listens to the sorrow behind his sighs. Their different faiths and political positions remain present, but the tale makes knightly honor legible across that divide through restraint, hospitality, and a promise kept. Capture thus becomes the condition for a relationship of mutual respect, and Narváez’s clemency helps turn a thwarted journey into the possibility of marriage and pardon.