I Now return to the Spaniards. After Roderick per-
ished, those Gothic nobles and persons of the upper
classes who preferred to abandon their homes rather
than submit to the conquerors gathered together in
the mountainous regions of the northwest, and
elected one of their number, Pelayo, to be their king.
Pelayo is said to have been a Goth. A strong force of
Moors went up against him. Learning of their ap-
proach, Pelayo dismissed most of his men to various
places roundabout, and with a picked body took
refuge in the far-famed cave of Covadonga. This
cave is hollowed out of the rock "as if God had made
it for a place of refuge." The Moorish slingers and
archers closed in around the mouth, but [as the
Primera Crónica General records] Almighty God in
His mercy fought on the side of His people, and the
arrows, darts, and stones aimed at the cave were
turned by His doing against the Moors themselves
and wrought great slaughter. And by God's will
through this unheard-of miracle more than 20,000
Moors were slain." The rest fled in confusion. Pelayo
and his bands fell upon them and massacred many;
those that escaped took refuge "on top of a mountain,
but the mountain fell headlong with them into the
river, and all perished by drowning or under the
avalanche of rocks that fell upon them." The chron-

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