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On the prince's change of front King Henry also moved southward, crossing the Ebro a few miles above Logroño, and then advanced to Nájera, a village about six miles west of Navarrete, where he once more blocked the English path. The prince, however, had the advantage of position and could afford to wait until the Castilians attacked.
Such is Upper Rioja one of the prettiest spots in Spain, the Touraine, one might almost say, of Iberia, a circular region of about twenty-five miles in radius, containing four cities, Logroño, Santo Domingo de la Calzada, Nájera, and Calahorra.
He now kept out of his reach, but his mother, Doña Urraca de Osorio, fell into the hands of the monster, and was punished for being the mother of a rebel by being burned alive on the ramparts of Seville. These excesses of cruelty roused a rebellious sentiment throughout Castile, of which Henry, who had escaped to Aragon from the field of Najera, took advantage.
A provisional government, formed to act for her, consisted of Cardinal Ximenes, the Constable of Castile and the Duke of Najera, but inspired little confidence. Peter Martyr perceived that, besides Ferdinand, there was no one capable of restoring order and governing the state.
King Henry fought valiantly, and called on all to rally round his standard. But at length the banner fell, the disorder grew general, the ranks broke, and knights and foot-soldiers joined in a tumultuous retreat. Their only hope now was the bridge of Najera, over the Najerilla, which stream lay behind their line.
Supplied with money by the king of France, he purchased arms and recruited soldiers, many of the French and Castilians who had been taken prisoners at Najera and been released on parole joining him in hopes of winning the means of paying their ransoms. Crossing the Ebro, he marched upon Calahorra, in which the year before he had been proclaimed king.
The good count took his seat at a short distance from the king, and near him was seated the duke of Najera, then the bishop of Palencia, then the count of Aguilar, the count Luna, and Don Gutierre de Cardenas, senior commander of Leon.
Moreover, they have one and all been spoiled by ingenious, though dreadful mixtures of plateresque, Renaissance, and grotesque decorative details, and consequently the real remains of the old twelfth and thirteenth century Gothic and Romanesque constructions are difficult to trace. Nájera. Absolutely nothing remains of the old Romanesque church built by the king Don Garcia.
The names of these two martyr saints were Emeterio and Celedonio, who, as we have seen, are worshipped in Santander; besides, they are also the patron saints of Calahorra. The first Bishop of Calahorra took possession of his see toward the middle of the fifth century; his name was Silvano. Near by, and in a vale leading to the south from the Ebro, the Moors built a fortress and called it Nájera.
Four months Prince Edward waited, with growing indignation, for redress, while disease was rapidly carrying off his men, and then marched in anger from Spain with scarcely a fifth of the proud array with which he had won the battle of Najera.
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