her the name of Fatima, but as she grew up her surpassing beauty
gained her the surname of Zoraya, or the Morning Star, by which she
has become known in history. Her charms at length attracted the
notice of Muley Abul Hassan, and she soon became a member of his
harem. Some have spoken of her as a Christian slave whom he had
made his concubine; but others, with more truth, represent her as
one of his wives, and ultimately his favorite sultana; and indeed it
was often the case that female captives of rank and beauty, when
converted to the faith of Islam, became united to the proudest and
loftiest of their captors.

*Cronica del Gran Cardinal, cap. 71.


Zoraya soon acquired complete ascendancy over the mind of Muley Abul
Hassan. She was as ambitious as she was beautiful, and, having
become the mother of two sons, looked forward to the possibility of
one of them sitting on the throne of Granada. These ambitious views
were encouraged, if not suggested, by a faction which gathered round
her inspired by kindred sympathies. The king's vizier, Abul Cacim
Vanegas, who had great influence over him, was, like Zoraya, of
Christian descent, being of the noble house of Luque. His father,
one of the Vanegas of Cordova, had been captured in infancy and
brought up as a Moslem.* From him sprang the vizier, Abul Cacim
Vanegas, and his brother, Reduan Vanegas, likewise high in rank in
the court of Muley Abul Hassan, and they had about them numerous
and powerful connections, all basking in court favor. Though Moslems
in faith, they were all drawn to Zoraya by the tie of foreign and
Christian descent, and sought to elevate her and her children to the
disparagement of Ayxa la Horra and her son Boabdil. The latter, on