History of the Moors of Spain
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Title: History of the Moors of Spain
Author: Florian
Release date: August 16, 2007 [eBook #22337]
Most recently updated: January 2, 2021
Language: English
Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/22337
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF THE MOORS OF SPAIN ***
Produced by Al Haines
HISTORY
OF THE
MOORS OF SPAIN
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH ORIGINAL OF
M. FLORIAN.
TO WHICH IS ADDED,
A BRIEF NOTICE OF ISLAMISM
NEW YORK
HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,
329 & 331 PEARL STREET,
FRANKLIN SQUARE
[Transcriber's note: Page numbers in this book are indicated by numbers
enclosed in curly braces, e.g. {99}. They have been located where page
breaks occurred in the original book, in accordance with Project
Gutenberg's FAQ-V-99.]
[Transcriber's note: This book contains a number of variations in the
spelling of some words/names, e.g. Haccham/Hacchem, Gengis/Zengis
(Khan), etc.]
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1840 by
Harper & Brothers,
In the Clerk's Office of the Southern District of New York
{v}
PUBLISHERS' ADVERTISEMENT.
We are accustomed to look upon the followers of the Arabian Prophet as
little better than barbarians, remarkable chiefly for ignorance,
cruelty, and a blind and persecuting spirit of fanaticism. As it
regards the character of the Mohammedans at the present day, and,
indeed, their moral and intellectual condition for the last two
centuries, there is no great error in this opinion. But they are a
degenerated race. There has been a period of great brilliancy in their
history, when they were distinguished for their love of knowledge, and
the successful cultivation of science and the arts; nor is it too much
to say, that to them Christian Europe is indebted for the generous
impulse which led to the revival of learning in the thirteenth and
fourteenth centuries. Of the various nations of the great Moslem
family, none were more {vi} renowned in arts, as well as arms, than the
Moorish conquerors of Spain, whose history is contained in the
following pages. The French original of this work has long enjoyed a
deservedly high reputation; and the translation here offered is by an
American lady, whose literary taste and acquirements well qualified her
for the task.
A sketch of Mohammedan history, &c., from Rev. S. Greene's Life of
Mohammed, has been appended at the close of the volume, to present to
the reader a comprehensive view of that very remarkable people, of whom
the Moors of Spain formed so distinguished a branch.
H. & B.
New York, October, 1840.
{vii}
CONTENTS
FIRST EPOCH
PAGE
The Origin of the Moors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
The Arabs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
The Birth of Mohammed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Religion of Mohammed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
The Progress of Islamism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Victories of the Mussulmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
New Conquests of the Mohammedans . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
The Moors become Mussulmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Condition of Spain under the Goths . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Conquest of Spain by the Moors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
The Viceroys of Spain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Insurrection of Prince Pelagius . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Abderamus attempts the Conquest of France . . . . . . . . 39
He penetrates as far as the Loire . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
The Battle of Tours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Civil Wars distract Spain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
SECOND EPOCH.
The Kings of Cordova become the Caliphs of the West . . . 45
The Asiatic Mussulmans divide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
The Dynasty of the Ommiades lose the Caliphate . . . . . . 48
Horrible Massacre of the Ommiades . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
An Ommiade Prince repairs to Spain . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Abderamus, the first Caliph of the West . . . . . . . . . 53
{viii}
Reign of Abderamus I. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Religion and Fêtes of the Moors of Spain . . . . . . . . . 55
Civil Wars arise among the Moors . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
The Reigns of Hacchem I. and of Abdelazis . . . . . . . . 58
Reign of Abderamus II. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Condition of the Fine Arts at Cordova . . . . . . . . . . 60
Anecdote of Abderamus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Reigns of Mohammed, Almouzir, and Abdalla . . . . . . . . 62
Reign of Abderamus III. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Embassy from a Greek Emperor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Magnificence and Gallantry of the Moors . . . . . . . . . 64
Description of the City and Palace of Zahra . . . . . . . 65
Wealth of the Caliphs of Cordova . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
The Fine Arts cultivated at Cordova . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Reign of El Hacchem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Laws of the Moors, and their Mode of administering Justice 75
Authority possessed by Fathers and old Men . . . . . . . . 77
An Illustration of the Magnanimity of El Hakkam . . . . . 78
Reign of Hacchem III. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Successful Rule of Mohammed Almonzir as Hadjeb under
the imbecile Hacchem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Disorders at Cordova . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
End of the Caliphate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
THIRD EPOCH.
The principal Kingdoms erected from the Ruins of the
Caliphate of the West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Condition of Christian Spain at this Juncture . . . . . . 88
The Kingdom of Toledo; its Termination . . . . . . . . 87, 88
Success of the Christians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
The Cid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
The Kingdom of Seville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
The Dynasty of the Almoravides hold Supremacy in Africa . 92
{ix}
Conquests of the Almoravides in Spain . . . . . . . . . . 93
French Princes repair to Spain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Extinction of the Kingdom of Saragossa . . . . . . . . . . 95
Foundation of the Kingdom of Portugal . . . . . . . . . . 95
State of the Fine Arts among the Moors at this Period . . 97
Abenzoar and Averroes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Dissensions between the Moors and Christians . . . . . . . 98
The Africans, under Mohammed _the Green_, land in Spain . 100
Battle of Toloza . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102-104
Tactics of the Moors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
The discomfited Mohammed returns to Africa . . . . . . . . 109
Extent of the Territories still retained by the Moors
in Spain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
St. Ferdinand and Jaques I. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Valencia is attacked by the Aragonians . . . . . . . . . . 113
Siege of Cordova . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Surrender of Valencia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
FOURTH EPOCH.
The Kings of Grenada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
The Condition of the Moors; their Despondency . . . . . . 118
Mohammed Alhamar; his Character and Influence with his
Countrymen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
He founds the Kingdom of Grenada . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Description of the City of Grenada and its _Vega_ . . . . 121
Extent and Resources of this Kingdom . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Reign of Mohammed Alhamar I. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
The Moorish Sovereign becomes the Vassal of the King
of Castile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Ferdinand III. besieges Seville . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
The Taking of Seville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Revenues of the Kings of Grenada . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Military Forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Cavalry of the Moors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
{x}
Disturbances in Castile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Reign of Mohammed II. El Fakik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
He forms a League with the King of Morocco . . . . . . . . 134
Misfortunes of Alphonso of Castile . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Interview between Alphonso and the Sovereign of Morocco . 134
State of Learning and the Fine Arts under Mohammed al
Mumenim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Description of the Alhambra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
The Court of Lions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
The Generalif . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Mohammed III. El Hama, or _the Blind_, ascends the Throne
of Grenada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Troubles in Grenada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Reign of Mohammed IV. Abenazar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Reign of Ismael . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Reign of Mohammed V. and of Joseph I. . . . . . . . . . . 152
The Battle of Salado . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Successive Reigns of Mohammed VI. and Mohammed VII. . . . 154
Horrible Crime of Peter the Cruel of Castile . . . . . . . 150
Condition of Spain--of Europe in general . . . . . . 156, 157
Mohammed VI. reassumes the Crown . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Reign of Mohammed VIII. Abouhadjad . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Favourite Literary and Scientific Pursuits of the Moors
under the munificent Rule of Abouhadjad . . . . . . . . 160
Universal prevalence of a Taste for Fiction
among the Arabs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Music and Gallantry of the Moors . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
The mixture of Refinement and Ferocity in the Character
of the Moors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Description of the Women of Grenada . . . . . . . . . . . 169
The national Costume of both Sexes . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Moorish Customs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Folly of the Grand-master of Alcantara . . . . . . . . . . 172
The Result of his Expedition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Dreadful Death of Joseph II. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Mohammed IX. usurps the Throne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Singular Escape of a condemned Prince . . . . . . . . . . 176
{xi}
Generous Disposition of Joseph III. . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Disturbed Condition of the Kingdom after his Death . . . . 177
A rapid Succession of Rulers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177, 178
Reign of Ismael II. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
The Miseries of War most severely felt by the Cultivator
of the Soil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Mulei-Hassem succeeds Ismael II. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
The respective Characters of these Sovereigns . . . . . . 181
They declare War against the Grenadians . . . . . . . . . 182
Statesmen and Soldiers of the Spanish Court . . . . . . . 182
Stern Reply of the Grenadian King . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Alhama is Surprised . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Civil War is kindled in Grenada by the Feuds of the
Royal Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Boabdil is proclaimed King . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Cause of the ambitious hopes of Zagal . . . . . . . . . . 185
Boabdil is taken Prisoner by the Spaniards . . . . . . . . 186
The politic Spanish Rulers restore Boabdil to Liberty . . 187
The Moors become their own Destroyers . . . . . . . . . . 187
Death of Mulei-Hassem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Boabdil and his Uncle divide the Relics of Grenada
between them . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Baseness of Zagal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Boabdil reigns alone at Grenada . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Ferdinand lays Siege to the City of Grenada . . . . . . . 189
Condition of the City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
The Spanish Camp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Isabella repairs to the Camp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
She builds a City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Surrender of Grenada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Departure of Boabdil from the City . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
The entrance of the Spanish Conquerors into the City . . . 195
Summary of the Causes of the Ruin of the Moors . . . . . . 196
Characteristics of the Moors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
{xii}
Anecdote illustrative of their Observance of the Laws
of Hospitality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Christian Persecution of the Moors . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Revolts of the Moors, and their Results . . . . . . . . . 199
Final Expulsion of the Moors from Spain . . . . . . . . . 201
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
A Brief Account of the Rise and Decline of the
Mohammedan Empire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Chapter I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Chapter II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Chapter III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
{xiii}
INTRODUCTION.
The name of the Moors of Spain recalls recollections of gallantry and
refinement, and of the triumphs of arts and arms. But, though thus
celebrated, not much is generally known of the history of that
remarkable people.
The fragments of their annals, scattered among the writings of the
Spanish and Arabian authors, furnish little else than accounts of
murdered kings, national dissensions, civil wars, and unceasing
contests with their neighbours. Yet, mingled with these melancholy
recitals, individual instances of goodness, justice, and magnanimity
occasionally present themselves. These traits, too, strike us more
forcibly than those of a similar description with which we meet in
perusing the histories of other nations; perhaps in {xiv} consequence
of the peculiar colouring of originality lent them by their Oriental
characteristics; or perhaps because, in contrast with numerous examples
of barbarity, a noble action, an eloquent discourse, or a touching
expression, acquire an unusual charm.
It is not my intention to write the history of the Moors in minute
detail, but merely to retrace their principal revolutions, and attempt
a faithful sketch of their national character and manners.
The Spanish historians, whom I have carefully consulted in aid of this
design, have been of but little assistance to me in my efforts.
Careful to give a very prominent place in their extremely complicated
narratives to the various sovereigns of Asturia, Navarre, Aragon, and
Castile, they advert to the Moors only when their wars with the
Christians inseparably mingle the interests of the two nations; but
they never allude to the government, customs, or laws of the enemies of
their faith.
{xv}
The translations from the Arabian writers to which I have had recourse,
throw little more light upon the subject of my researches than the
productions of Spanish authors. Blinded by fanaticism and national
pride, they expatiate with complacency on the warlike achievements of
their countrymen, without even adverting to the reverses that attended
their arms, and pass over whole dynasties without the slightest notice
or comment.
Some of our _savans_ have, in several very estimable works, united the
information to be collected from these Spanish and Arabian histories,
with such additional particulars as they were able to derive from their
own personal observations.
I have drawn materials from all these sources, and have, in addition,
sought for descriptions of the manners of the Moors in the Spanish and
ancient Castilian romances, and in manuscripts and memoirs obtained
from Madrid.
It is after these long and laborious researches {xvi} that I venture to
offer a brief history of a people who bore so little resemblance to any
other; who had their national vices and virtues, as well as their
characteristic physiognomy; and who so long united the bravery,
generosity, and chivalry of the Europeans, with the excitable
temperament and strong passions of the Orientals.
To render the order of time more intelligible, and the more clearly to
elucidate facts, this historical sketch will be divided in four
principal Epochs.
The _first_ will extend from the commencement of the Conquests of the
Arabs to the Establishment of the Dynasty of the Ommiade princes at
Cordova: the _second_ will include the reigns of the Caliphs of the
West: in the _third_ will be related all that can now be ascertained
concerning the various small kingdoms erected from the ruins of the
Caliphate of Cordova: and the _fourth_ will comprehend a narration of
the prominent events in the lives of the successive sovereigns of the
Kingdom of Grenada, until the {xvii} period of the final expulsion of
the Mussulmans from that country.
Care has been taken to compare the dates according to the Mohammedan
method of computing time, with the periods fixed by the ordinary mode
of arrangement. Some of the Spanish historians, Garabai for instance,
do not agree with the Arabian chronologists in relation to the years of
the Hegira. I have thought proper to follow the Arabian authorities,
and have adopted, with occasional corrections, the chronological
arrangements of M. Cardonne, whose personal assurance I possess, that
he attaches high importance to his calculations on this subject. I
have thus reason to hope that this little work will serve to elucidate
many points hitherto doubtful in relation to this matter.
The proper names of the Moors vary even more in the different
authorities than their statements respecting the date of events, either
in consequence of the difficulty of pronouncing them, or from ignorance
of their proper {xviii} orthography. In instances of this character I
have always given the preference to such as appeared to be most
generally adopted, and were, at the same time, most harmonious in sound.
{19}
A HISTORY OF THE MOORS OF SPAIN.
FIRST EPOCH.
THE CONQUESTS OF THE ARABS OR MOORS.
_Extending from the end of the Sixth Century to the middle of the
Eighth._
The primitive Moors were the inhabitants of the vast portion of Africa
bounded on the east by Egypt, on the north by the Mediterranean, on the
west by the Atlantic, and on the south by the deserts of Barbary.
The origin of the Moors, or Mauritanians, is, like that of most other
ancient nations, obscure, and the information we possess concerning
their early history confusedly mingled with fables. The fact, however,
appears to be established, that Asiatic emigrations were, from the
earliest times, made into Africa. In addition to this, the {20}
historians of remote ages speak of a certain Meleck Yarfrick, king of
Arabia Felix, who conducted a people called _Sabaei_[1] into Libya,
made himself master of that country, established his followers there,
and gave it the name of Africa. It is from these Sabians or _Sabaei_
that the principal Moorish tribes pretend to trace their descent. The
derivation of the name Moors[2] is also supposed, in some degree, to
confirm the impression that they came originally from Asia.
But, without enlarging upon these ancient statements, let it suffice to
say, that nearly certain ground exists for the belief that the original
Moors were Arabians. In confirmation of this impression, we find that,
during every period of the existence of their race, the descendants of
the primitive inhabitants of Mauritania have, like the Arabs, been
divided into distinct tribes, and, like them, have pursued a wild and
wandering mode of existence.
The Moors of Africa are known in ancient {21} history under the name of
Nomades, Numidae or Numidians, Getulae, and Massyli. They were by
turns the subjects, the enemies, or the allies of the Carthaginians,
and with them they fell under the dominion of the Romans.
After several unsuccessful revolts, to which they were instigated by
their fiery, restless, and inconstant temper, the Moors were at length
subjugated by the Vandals, A.D. 427.
A century afterward these people were conquered by Belisarius: but the
Greeks were in their turn subdued by the Arabs, who then proceeded to
achieve the conquest of Mauritania.
As, from the period when that event occurred, the Mauritanians or
Moors, who were thus suddenly converted to Mohammedanism, have
frequently been confounded with the _native Arabians_, it will be
proper to say a few words concerning that extraordinary people: a
people who, after occupying for so many centuries an insignificant
place among the nations of the earth, rapidly rendered themselves
masters of the greater part of the known world.
The Arabs are, beyond question, one of the most ancient races of men in
existence;[3] and {22} have, of all others, perhaps, best preserved
their national independence, and their distinctive character and
manners. Divided from the most remote times into tribes that either
wandered in the desert or were collected together in cities, and
obedient to chiefs who in the same person united the warrior and the
magistrate, they have never been subjected to foreign domination. The
Persians, the Romans, and the Macedonians vainly attempted to subdue
them: they only shattered their weapons in fragments against the rocks
of the Nabatheans.[4] Proud of an origin which he traced back even to
the patriarchs of olden time, exulting in his successful defence of his
liberty and his rights, the Arab, from the midst of his deserts,
regarded the rest of mankind as consisting of mere bands of slaves,
changing masters as chance or {23} convenience directed. Brave,
temperate, and indefatigable, inured from infancy to the severest toil,
fearing neither thirst, hunger, nor death itself--these were a people
by whose assistance a leader suitably endowed could render himself
master of the world. Mohammed appeared:[5] to him nature had accorded
the requisite qualifications for executing such a design. Courageous,
sagacious, eloquent, polished, possessed in an eminent degree of the
powers which both awe and delight mankind, Mohammed would have been a
great man had he belonged to the most enlightened age--among an
ignorant and fanatical people he became a prophet.
Until Mohammed arose among them, the Arab tribes, surrounded by Jews,
Christians, and idolaters, had entertained a superstitious faith,
compounded of the religious belief of their various neighbours and that
of the ancient Sabaei. They fully credited the existence of genii,
demons, and witchcraft, adored the stars, and offered idolatrous
sacrifices. But Mohammed--after having devoted many years to profound
and solitary meditation upon the new dogmas he designed to establish;
after having either convinced {24} or won to his interests the
principal individuals of his own family,[6] possessing pre-eminent
consequence among their countrymen--suddenly began to preach a new
religion, opposed to all those with which the Arabs were hitherto
familiar, and whose principles were well-adapted to inflame the ardent
temper of that excitable people.
Children of Ishmael, said the Prophet to them, I bring you the faith
that was professed by your father Abraham, by Noah, and by all the
patriarchs. There is but one God, the Sovereign Ruler of all worlds:
he is called THE MERCIFUL; worship Him alone. Be beneficent towards
orphans, slaves, captives, and the poor: be just to all men--justice is
the sister of piety. Pray and bestow alms. You will be rewarded in
Heaven, by being permitted to dwell perpetually in delicious gardens,
where limpid waters will for ever flow, and where each one of you will
eternally enjoy the companionship of women who will be ever beautiful,
ever youthful, ever devoted to you alone. Courageously combat both the
unbelieving and the impious. Oppose them until they {25} embrace
Islamism[7] or render you tribute. Every soldier who dies in battle
will share the treasures of God; nor can the coward prolong his life;
for the moment when he is destined to be smitten by the angel of death
is written in the Book of the Eternal.
Such precepts, announced in majestic and highly figurative language,
embellished with the charms of verse, and presented by a warrior,
prophet, poet, and legislator, professing to be the representative of
an angel, to the most susceptible people in the world--to a people
possessing a passion alike for the marvellous and the voluptuous, for
heroism and for poetry--could scarcely fail to find disciples.
Converts rapidly crowded around Mohammed, and their numbers were soon
augmented by persecution. His enemies obliged the Prophet to fly from
his native Mecca and take refuge in Medina. This flight was the epoch
of his glory and of the Hegira of the Mussulmans. It occurred A.D. 622.
From this moment Islamism spread like a torrent over the Arabias and
Ethiopia. In vain did the Jewish and idolatrous tribes attempt to
maintain their ancient faith; in vain did Mecca {26} arm her soldiers
against the destroyers of her gods; Mohammed, sword in hand, dispersed
their armies, seized upon their cities, and won the affections of the
people whom he subdued, by his clemency, his genius, and his
fascinating address.
A legislator, a pontiff, the chief of all the Arab tribes, the
commander of an invincible army, respected by the Asiatic sovereigns,
adored by a powerful nation, and surrounded by captains who had become
heroes in serving under him, Mohammed was on the point of marching
against Heraclius, when his designs were for ever interrupted by the
termination of his existence. This event took place at Medina, A.D.
632, Hegira 2, and was the effect of poison, which had, some time
before, been administered to this extraordinary man by a Jewess of
Rhaibar.
The death of the Prophet arrested neither the progress of his religion
nor the triumphs of the Moslem arms.
Abubeker, the father-in-law of Mohammed, became his successor, and
assumed the title of _Caliph_, which simply signifies _vicar_. During
his reign the Saracens penetrated into Syria, dispersed the armies of
Heraclius, and took the {27} city of Damascus, the siege of which will
be for ever celebrated in consequence of the almost superhuman exploits
of the famous Kaled, surnamed the _Sword of God_.[8]
Notwithstanding these successive victories, and the enormous amount of
booty thus taken from the enemy and committed to his keeping, Abubeker
appropriated to his own particular use a sum scarcely equivalent to
forty cents a day.
Omar, the successor of Abubeker, commanded Kaled to march against
Jerusalem. That city soon became the prize of the Arabs; Syria and
Palestine were subdued; the Turks and the Persians demanded peace;
Heraclius fled from Antioch; and all Asia trembled before Omar and the
terrible Mussulmans.
Modest, in spite of the triumphs that everywhere attended them, and
attributing their success to God alone, these Moslems preserved
unaltered their austere manners, their frugality, their severe
discipline, and their reverence for poverty, though surrounded by the
most corrupt of the nations of the earth, and exposed to the seductive
influences of the delicious climates and the luxurious pleasures of
some of the richest and most {28} beautiful countries in the world.
During the sacking of a city, the most eager and impetuous soldier
would be instantly arrested in the work of pillage by the word of his
chief, and would, with the strictest fidelity, deliver up the booty he
had obtained, that it might be deposited in the general treasury. Even
the most independent and magnificent of the heroic chiefs would hasten,
in accordance with the directions of the caliph, to take the command of
an army, and would become successively generals, private soldiers, or
ambassadors, in obedience to his slightest wish. In fine, Omar
himself--Omar, the richest, the greatest, the most puissant of the
monarchs of Asia, set forward upon a journey to Jerusalem; mounted upon
a red camel, which bore a sack of barley, one of rice, a well-filled
water-skin, and a wooden vase. Thus equipped, the caliph travelled
through the midst of conquered nations, who crowded around his path at
every step, entreating his blessing and praying him to adjudge their
quarrels. At last he joined his army, and, inculcating precepts of
simplicity, valour, and humility upon the soldiers, he made his
entrance into the Holy City, liberated such of its former Christian
possessors as had become {29} the captives of his people, and commanded
the preservation of the churches. Then remounting his camel, the
representative of the Prophet returned to Medina, to perform the duties
of the high-priest of his religion.
The Mussulmans now advanced towards Egypt. That country was soon
subdued. Alexandrea was taken by Amrou, one of the most distinguished
generals of Omar. It was then that the famous library was destroyed,
whose loss still excites the profound regrets of the learned. The
Arabians, though such enthusiastic admirers of their national poetry,
despised the literature of all the rest of the world. Amrou caused the
library of the Ptolemies to be burned, yet this same Amrou was
nevertheless celebrated for his poetical effusions. He entertained the
sincerest affection and respect for the celebrated John the Grammarian,
to whom, but for the opposing order of the caliph, he would have given
this valuable collection of books. It was Amrou, too, who caused the
execution of a design worthy of the best age of Rome, that of
connecting the Red Sea with the Mediterranean by means of a navigable
canal, at a point where the waters of the Nile might be diverted from
{30} their course for its supply. This canal, so useful to Egypt, and
so important to the commerce of both Europe and Asia, was accomplished
in a few months. The Turks, in more modern times, have suffered it to
be destroyed.
Amrou continued to advance into Africa, while the other Arabian
commanders passed the Euphrates and conquered the Persians. But Omar
was already no more, and Othman occupied his place.
It was during the reign of this caliph that the Saracens, banishing for
ever its enfeebled Greek masters, conquered Mauritania, or the country
of the Moors of Africa, A.D. 647, Heg. 27.
The invaders met with serious resistance only from the warlike tribes
of the Bereberes.[9] That bold and pastoral people, the descendants of
the ancient inhabitants of Numidia, and preserving, even to this day, a
species of independence, intrenched as they are in the Atlas Mountains,
long and successfully resisted the conquerors of the Moors. A Moslem
general named Akba finally succeeded in subjugating them, and in
compelling them to adopt the laws and faith of his country.
{31}
After that achievement Akba carried his arms to the extreme western
point of Africa, the ocean alone resisting him in his progress. There,
inspired by courage and devotion with feelings of the highest
enthusiasm, he forced his horse into the waves, and, drawing his sabre,
cried, "God of Mohammed, thou beholdest that, but for the element which
arrests me, I would have proceeded in search of unknown nations, whom I
would have forced to adore thy name!"
Until this epoch, the Moors, under the successive dominion of the
Carthaginians, the Romans, the Vandals, and the Greeks, had taken but
little interest in the affairs of their different masters.
Wandering in the deserts, they occupied themselves chiefly with the
care of their flocks; paid the arbitrary imposts levied upon them,
sometimes passively enduring the oppression of their rulers, and
sometimes essaying to break their chains; taking refuge, after each
defeat of their efforts, in the Atlas Mountains, or in the interior of
their country.
Their religion was a mixture of Christianity and idolatry; their
manners those of the enslaved Nomades: rude, ignorant, and wretched,
{32} their condition was the prototype of what it now is under the
tyrants of Morocco.
But the presence of the Arabs rapidly produced a great change among
these people. A common origin with that of their new masters, together
with similarity of language and temperament, contributed to bind the
conquered to their conquerors.
The announcement of a religion which had been preached by a descendant
of Ishmael, whom the Moors regarded as their father; the rapid
conquests of the Mussulmans, who were already masters of half of Asia
and a large portion of Africa, and who threatened to enslave the world,
aroused the excitable imaginations of the Moors, and restored to their
national character all its passionate energy. They embraced the dogmas
of Mohammed with transport; they united with the Arabs, volunteered to
serve under the Moslem banners, and suddenly became simultaneously
enamoured with Islamism and with glory.
This reunion, which doubled the military strength of the two united
nations, was disturbed for some time by the revolt of the Bereberes,
who never yielded their liberty under any circumstances.
{33}
The reigning caliph, Valid the First, despatched into Egypt
Moussa-ben-Nazir, a judicious and valiant commander, at the head of a
hundred thousand men, A.D. 708, Heg. 89.
Moussa defeated the Bereberes, restored quiet in Mauritania, and seized
upon Tangier, which belonged to the Goths of Spain.
Master of an immense region of country, of a redoubtable army, and of a
people who considered his supremacy as essential to their well-being,
the Saracen general from this period contemplated carrying his arms
into Spain.
That beautiful kingdom, after having been successively under the yoke
of the Carthaginians and the Romans, had finally become the prey of the
Barbarians. The Alains, the Suevi, and the Vandals had divided its
provinces among them; but Euric, one of the Visigoths, who entered the
country from the south of Gaul, had, towards the end of the fifth
century, gained possession of the whole of Spain, and transmitted it to
his descendants.
The softness of the climate, together with the effects of wealth and
luxury, gradually enfeebled these conquerors, creating vices from which
they had been previously free, and depriving {34} them of the warlike
qualities to which alone they had been indebted for their success. Of
the kings who succeeded Euric, some were Arians and others Catholics,
who abandoned their authority to the control of bishops, and occupied a
throne shaken to its centre by internal disturbances. Roderick, the
last of these Gothic sovereigns, polluted the throne by his vices; and
both history and tradition accuse him of the basest crimes. Indeed, in
the instance of nearly all these tyrants, their vices either directly
occasioned, or were made the pretext of their final ruin.
The fact is well established, that Count Julian and his brother Oppas,
archbishop of Toledo, both of them distinguished and influential men,
favoured the irruption of the Moors into Spain.
Tarik, one of the most renowned captains of his time,[10] was sent into
Spain by Moussa. He had at first but few troops; but he was not by
this prevented from defeating the large army that, by command of
Roderick, the last Gothic king, opposed his course.
Subsequently, having received re-enforcements {35} from Africa, Tarik
vanquished Roderick himself at the battle of Xeres, where that
unfortunate monarch perished during the general flight in which the
conflict terminated, A.D. 714, Heg. 96.
After this battle, the Mohammedan general, profiting by his victory,
penetrated into Estremadura, Andalusia, and the two Castiles, and took
possession of the city of Toledo. Being soon after joined by Moussa,
whose jealousy of the glory his lieutenant was so rapidly acquiring
prompted him to hasten to his side, these two remarkable commanders,
dividing their troops into several corps, achieved, in a few months,
the conquest of the whole of Spain.
It should be observed, that these Moors, whom several historians have
represented as bloodthirsty barbarians, did not deprive the people whom
they had subjugated either of their faith, their churches, or the
administrators of their laws. They exacted from the Spaniards only the
tribute they had been accustomed to pay their kings. One cannot but
question the existence of the ferocity that is ascribed to them, when
it is remembered that the greater part of the Spanish cities submitted
to the invaders {36} without making the least attempt at resistance;
that the Christians readily united themselves with the Moors; that the
inhabitants of Toledo desired to assume the name of _Musarabs_; and
that Queen Egilona, the widow of Roderick, the last of the Gothic
sovereigns, publicly espoused, with the united consent of the two
nations, Abdelazis the son of Moussa.
Moussa, whom the success of Tarik had greatly exasperated, wishing to
remove a lieutenant whose achievements eclipsed his own, preferred an
accusation against him to the caliph. Valid recalled them both, but
refused to adjudge their difference, and suffered them to die at court
from chagrin at seeing themselves forgotten.
Abdelazis, the husband of Egilona, became governor of Spain A.D. 718,
Heg. 100, but did not long survive his elevation. Alahor, who
succeeded him, carried his arms into Gaul, subdued the Warbonnais, and
was preparing to push his conquests still farther, when he learned that
Pelagius, a prince of the blood-royal of the Visigoths, had taken
refuge in the mountains of Asturia with a handful of devoted followers;
that with them he dared to brave the conquerors of Spain, and had
formed the bold design of {37} attempting to rid himself of their yoke.
Alahor sent some troops against him. Pelagius, intrenched with his
little army in the mountain gorges, twice gave battle to the
Mussulmans, seized upon several castles, and, reanimating the spirits
of the Christians, whose courage had been almost extinguished by so
long a succession of reverses, taught the astonished Spaniards that the
Moors were not invincible.
The insurrection of Pelagius occasioned the recall of Alahor by the
Caliph Omar II. Elzemah, his successor, was of opinion that the most
certain means of repressing revolts among a people is to render them
prosperous and contented. He therefore devoted himself to the wise and
humane government of Spain; to the regulation of imposts, until then
quite arbitrary; and to quieting the discontents of the soldiery, and
establishing their pay at a fixed rate. A lover of the fine arts,
which the Arabs began from that time to cultivate, Elzemah embellished
Cordova, which was his capital, and attracted thither the _savans_ of
the age. He was himself the author of a book containing a description
of the cities, rivers, provinces, and ports of Spain, of the metals,
mines, and quarries it {38} possesses; and, in short, of almost every
object of interest either in science or government.
But little disturbed by the insurrectionary movements of Pelagius,
whose power was confined to the possession of some inaccessible
mountain fortresses, Elzemah did not attempt to force him from his
strongholds, but, impelled by the ardent desire of extending the
Moorish conquests into France, with which the governors of Spain were
ever inflamed, he passed the Pyrenees, and perished in a battle fought
against Eudes, duke of Aquitania, A.D. 722, Heg. 104.
During the remainder of the Caliphate of Yezid II.,[11] several
governors followed each other in rapid succession after the death of
Elzemah.[12] None of their actions merit recital, but, during this
period, the brave Pelagius aggrandized his petty state, advancing into
the mountains of Leon, and, in addition, making himself master of
several towns.
This hero, whose invincible daring roused the Asturians and Cantabrians
to struggle for liberty, laid the foundations of that powerful monarchy
{39} whose warriors afterward pursued the Moors even to the rocks of
the Atlas.
The Moslems, who dreamed only of new conquests, made no considerable
efforts against Pelagius: they were confident of checking his rebellion
with the utmost ease when they should have accomplished the subjugation
of the French dominions; and that desire alone fired the ardent soul of
the new governor Abdalrahman, or, as he is commonly called, Abderamus.
His love of glory, his valour, his genius, and, above all, his
immeasurable ambition, made the Mussulman governor regard this conquest
as one that could be easily effected; but he himself was destined to be
the vanquished.
Charles Martel, the son of Pepin d'Heristel, and the grandfather of
Charlemagne, whose exploits effaced the recollection of those of his
father, and whose fame was not eclipsed by that of his grandson, was at
this time mayor of the palace, under the last princes of the first
race; or, rather, Charles was the real monarch of the French and German
nations.
Eudes, duke of Aquitania, the possessor of Gascony and Guienne, had
long maintained a quarrel with the French hero. Unable longer, {40}
without assistance, to resist his foe, he sought an alliance with a
Moor named Munuza, who was the governor of Catalonia and the secret
enemy of Abderamus. These two powerful vassals, both discontented with
their respective sovereigns, and inspired as much by fear as dislike,
united themselves in the closest bonds, in despite of the difference in
their religious faith. The Christian duke did not hesitate to give his
daughter in marriage to his Mohammedan ally, and the Princess Numerance
espoused the Moorish Munuza, as Queen Egilona had espoused the Moorish
Abdelazis.
Abderamus, when informed of this alliance, immediately divined the
motives which had induced it. He soon assembled an army, penetrated
with rapidity into Catalonia, and attacked Munuza, who was wounded in a
fruitless endeavour to fly, and afterward perished by his own hand.
His captive wife was conducted into the presence of the victorious
governor Abderamus, struck with her beauty, sent the fair Numerance as
a present to the Caliph Haccham, whose regard she elicited; and thus,
by a singular chance, a princess of Gascony became an inmate of the
seraglio of a sovereign of Damascus.
{41}
Not content with having so signally punished Munuza, Abderamus crossed
the Pyrenees, traversed Navarre, entered Guienne, and besieged and took
the City of Bordeaux. Eudes attempted, at the head of an army, to
arrest his progress, but was repelled in a decisive engagement.
Everything yielded to the Mussulman arms: Abderamus pursued his route,
ravaged Perigord, Saintonge, and Poitou, appeared in triumph in
Touraine, and paused only when within view of the streaming ensigns of
Charles Martel.
Charles came to this rencounter followed by the forces of France,
Asturia, and Bourgogne, and attended by the veteran warriors whom he
was accustomed to lead to victory. The Duke of Aquitania was also in
the camp. Charles forgot his private injuries in the contemplation of
the common danger: this danger was pressing: the fate of France and
Germany--indeed, of the whole of Christendom, depended on the event of
the approaching conflict.
Abderamus was a rival worthy of the son of Pepin. Flushed, like him,
with the proud recollection of numerous victories; at the head of an
innumerable army; surrounded by experienced captains, who had been the
frequent {42} witnesses of his martial triumphs; and long inspired with
the warmest hopes of finally adding to the dominion of Islamism the
only country belonging to the ancient Roman empire that still remained
unsubdued by the Saracens, the Moorish leader met his brave foe, upon
equal terms, on the battle-field of Tours, A.D. 733, Heg. 114.
The action was long and bloody. Abderamus was slain; and this
dispiriting loss, without doubt, decided the defeat of his army.[13]
Historians assert that more than three hundred thousand men perished.
This statement is probably exaggerated; but it is certainly true, that
the Moors, who had thus penetrated into the midst of France, were
relentlessly pursued after their defeat, and were many of them unable
to escape from the army of the victors and the vengeance of the people.
This memorable battle, of which we possess no details, saved France
from the yoke of the Arabs, and effectually arrested their spreading
dominion.
Once again, subsequent to this reverse, the Moors attempted to
penetrate into France, and {43} succeeded in seizing upon Avignon; but
Charles Martel defeated them anew, retook the captured city, drove them
from Narbonne, and deprived them forever of the hope with which they
had so often flattered themselves.
After the death of Abderamus, Spain was torn by dissensions between the
two governors[14] named successively by the Caliph. A third pretender
arrived from Africa. A fourth added himself to the list;[15] factions
multiplied; the different parties often had recourse to arms; chiefs
were assassinated, cities taken, and provinces ravaged.
The details of these events are variously related by different
historians, but possess little interest in the narrations of any.
These civil wars lasted nearly twenty years. The Christians, who had
retired into Asturia, profited by them to the utmost. Alphonso I., the
son-in-law and successor of Pelagius, imitated the career of that hero.
He seized upon a part of Galicia and Leon, repulsed the Mussulman
troops who were sent to oppose him, and rendered himself master of
several towns.
The Moors, occupied by their domestic {44} quarrels, neglected to
arrest the progress of Alphonso, and from that time the growth of a
miniature kingdom commenced, whose interests were inimical to those of
the Saracens in Spain.
After many crimes and combats, a certain _Joseph_ had succeeded in
triumphing over his different rivals, and was at last reigning supreme
in Cordova, when there occurred a memorable event in the East, which
was destined greatly to affect the condition of Spain.
From that period, A.D. 749, Heg. 134, commences the second epoch of the
empire of the Moors of Spain, which makes it necessary to revert
briefly to the history of the Eastern caliphs.
[1] The _Sabaei_, according to the best ancient authorities, were the
inhabitants of the extensive Arabian kingdom of _Saba_.--_Translator_.
[2] The term Moors, according to Bochart, comes from a Hebrew word,
_Mahuran_, which signifies Western.
[3] It is scarcely necessary to remind the reader that these _Children
of the Desert_ are supposed to be the lineal descendants of Ishmael,
the wandering, outcast son of the patriarch Abraham and the much-abused
Hagar.--_Translator_.
[4] The primitive name of the Arabs, from _Nabathaea_, an appellation
for their country which is probably derived from _Nabath_, the son of
Ishmael. The capital city of Nabathaea was that _Petra_, of whose
present appearance and condition our eminent countryman, Stephens, has
given his readers so graphic a sketch in his "Travels,"
&c.--_Translator_.
[5] A.D. 569.
[6] The Coheshirites, the guardians of the Temple of the Caaba at Mecca.
[7] See Note A, page 203.
[8] See Note B, page 206.
[9] See note C, page 207.
[10] See note D, page 208.
[11] See Note E, page 308.
[12] Ambeza, Azra, Jahiah, Osman, Hazifa, Hacchem, and Mohammed.
[13] It was in this battle that Charles acquired the title of _Martel_,
or the _Hammer_.
[14] Abdoulmelek and Akbe.
[15] Aboulattar and Tevaba.
{45}
SECOND EPOCH.
THE KINGS OF CORDOVA BECOME THE CALIPHS OF THE WEST.
_Extending from the middle of the Eighth to the commencement of the
Eleventh Century._
We have seen that, under their first three caliphs, Abubeker, Omar, and
Othman, the Arabian conquerors of Syria, Persia, and Africa preserved
their ancient manners, their simplicity of character, their obedience to
the successors of the Prophet, and their contempt for luxury and wealth:
but what people could continue to withstand the influence of such an
accumulation of prosperity? These resistless conquerors turned their
weapons against each other: they forgot the virtues which had rendered
them invincible, and assisted by their dissensions in dismembering the
empire that their valour had created.
The disastrous effects of the baneful spirit that had thus insidiously
supplanted the original principles of union, moderation, and prudence, by
which, as a nation, the Moslems had been {46} actuated, were first
manifested in the assassination of the Caliph Othman.
Ali, the friend, companion, and adopted son of the Prophet, whose
courage, achievements, and relationship to Mohammed, as the husband of
his only daughter, had rendered him so dear to the Mussulmans, was
announced as the successor of Othman.
But Moavias, the governor of Syria, refused to recognise the authority of
Ali, and, under the guidance of the sagacious Amrou, the conqueror of
Egypt, caused himself to be proclaimed Caliph of Damascus. Upon this,
the Arabians divided: those of Medina sustaining Ali, and those of Syria
Moavias. The first took the name of _Alides_, the others styled
themselves _Ommiades_, deriving their denomination from the grandfather
of Moavias. Such was the origin of the famous schism which still
separates the Turks and Persians.
Though Ali succeeded in vanquishing Moavias in the field, he did not
avail himself judiciously of the advantage afforded him by his victory.
He was soon after assassinated,[1] and the spirit and courage of his
party vanished with the {47} occurrence of that event. The sons of Ali
made efforts to reanimate the ardour of his partisans, but in vain.
Thus, in the midst of broils, revolts, and civil wars, the Ommiades still
remained in possession of the Caliphate of Damascus.[2] It was during the
reign of one of these princes, Valid the First, that the Arabian
conquests extended in the East to the banks of the Ganges, and in the
West to the shores of the Atlantic. The Ommiades, however, were for the
most part feeble, but they were sustained by able commanders, and the
{48} ancient valour of the Moslem soldiers was not yet degenerated.
After the Ommiades had maintained their empire for the space of
ninety-three years, Mervan II.,[3] the last caliph of the race, was
deprived of his throne and his life[4] through the instrumentality of
Abdalla, a chief of the tribe of the Abbassides, who were, like the
Ommiades, near relatives of Mohammed.
Aboul-Abbas, the nephew of Abdalla, supplanted the former caliph. With
him commenced the dynasty of the Abbassides, so celebrated in the East
for their love of science and their connexion with the names of Haroun Al
Raschid, Almamon, and the Bermasides.[5]
The Abbassides retained the caliphate during five successive
centuries.[6] At the termination of {49} that period, they were
despoiled of their power by the Tartar posterity of Gengis Khan, after
{50} having witnessed the establishment of a race of Egyptian caliphs
named _Fatimites_, the pretended descendants of Fatima, the daughter of
Mohammed.
Thus was the Eastern empire of the Arabs eventually destroyed: the
descendants of Ishmael returned to the country from which they had
originally sprung, and gradually reverted to nearly the same condition as
that in which they existed when the Prophet arose among them. {51} These
events, from the founding of the dynasty of the Abbassides, have been
anticipated in point of time in the relation, because henceforth the
history of Spain is no longer intermingled with that of the East.
After having dwelt briefly upon an event intimately connected as well
with the establishment of the Abbassides upon the Moslem throne as with
the history of Spain, we will enter continuously upon the main subject of
our work.
To return, then, for a moment, to the downfall of the Ommiade caliphs.
When the cruel Abdalla had placed his nephew, Aboul-Abbas, on the throne
of the Caliphs of Damascus, he formed the horrible design of
exterminating the Ommiades. These princes were very numerous. With the
Arabs, among whom polygamy is permitted, and where numerous offspring are
regarded as the peculiar gift of Heaven, it is not unusual to find
several thousand individuals belonging to the same family.
Abdalla, despairing of effecting the destruction of the race of his
enemies, dispersed as they were by terror, published a general amnesty to
all the Ommiades who should present themselves before him on a certain
day. Those ill-fated {52} people, confiding in the fulfilment of his
solemn promises, hastened to seek safety at the feet of Abdalla. The
monster, when they were all assembled, caused his soldiers to surround
them, and then commanded them all to be butchered in his presence. After
this frightful massacre, Abdalla ordered the bloody bodies to be ranged
side by side in close order, and then to be covered with boards spread
with Persian carpets. Upon this horrible table he caused a magnificent
feast to be served to his officers. One shudders at the perusal of such
details, but they serve to portray the character of this Oriental
conqueror.
A solitary Ommiade escaped the miserable fate of his brethren; a prince
named Abderamus. A fugitive wanderer, he reached Egypt, and concealed
himself in the solitary recesses of its inhospitable deserts.
The Moors of Spain, faithful to the Ommiades, though their governor
Joseph had recognised the authority of the Abbassides, had no sooner
learned that there existed in Egypt a scion of the illustrious family to
which they still retained their attachment, than they secretly sent
deputies to offer him their crown. Abderamus foresaw the {53} obstacles
with which he would be compelled to struggle, but, guided by the impulses
of a soul whose native greatness had been strengthened and purified by
adversity, he did not hesitate to accept the proposal of the Moors.
The Ommiade prince arrived in the Peninsula A.D. 755, Heg. 138. He
speedily gained the hearts of his new subjects, assembled an army, took
possession of Seville, and, soon after, marched towards Cordova, the
capital of Mussulman Spain. Joseph, in the name of the Abbassides,
vainly attempted to oppose his progress. The governor was vanquished and
Cordova taken, together with several other cities.
Abderamus was now not only the acknowledged king of Spain, but was
proclaimed _Caliph of the West_ A.D. 759, Heg. 142.
During the supremacy of the Ommiades in the empire of the East, Spain had
continued to be ruled by governors sent thither from Asia by those
sovereigns; but it was now permanently separated from the great Arabian
empire, and elevated into a powerful and independent state, acknowledging
no farther allegiance to the Asiatic caliphs either in civil or religious
matters. Thus was the control hitherto exercised over the {54} affairs
of Spain by the Oriental caliphs forever wrested from them by the last
surviving individual of that royal race whom Abdalla had endeavoured to
exterminate.
Abderamus the First established the seat of his new greatness at Cordova.
He was not long allowed peacefully to enjoy it, however. Revolts
instigated by the Abbassides, incursions into Catalonia by the French,
and wars with the kings of Leon,[7] incessantly demanded his attention;
but his courage and activity gained the ascendency even over such
numerous enemies. He maintained his throne with honour, and merited his
beautiful surname of _The Just_.
Abderamus cultivated and cherished the fine arts, even in the midst of
the difficulties and dangers by which he was surrounded. It was he who
first established schools at Cordova for the study of astronomy,
mathematics, medicine, and grammar. He was also a poet, and was
considered the most eloquent man of his age.
This first Caliph of the West adorned and fortified his capital, erected
a superb palace, which he surrounded by beautiful gardens, and commenced
the construction of a grand mosque, the {55} remains of which continue
even at this day to excite the admiration of the traveller. This
monument of magnificence was completed during the reign of Hacchem, the
son and successor of Abderamus. It is thought that the Spaniards have
not preserved more than one half of the original structure, yet it is now
six hundred feet long and two hundred wide, and is supported by more than
three hundred columns of alabaster, jasper, and marble. Formerly there
were twenty-four doors of entrance, composed of bronze covered with
sculptures of gold; and nearly five thousand lamps nightly served to
illuminate this magnificent edifice.
In this mosque the caliphs of Cordova each Friday conducted the worship
of the people, that being the day consecrated to religion by the precepts
of Mohammed. Thither all the Mussulmans of Spain made pilgrimages, as
those of the East resorted to the temple at Mecca. There they
celebrated, with great solemnity, the fête of the great and the lesser
Beiram, which corresponds with the Passover of the Jews; that of the
Newyear, and that of Miloud, or the anniversary of the birth of Mohammed.
Each of these festivals lasted for eight days. During that time {56} all
labour ceased, the people sent presents to each other, exchanged visits,
and offered sacrifices. Disunited families, forgetting their
differences, pledged themselves to future concord, and consummated their
renewed amity by delivering themselves up to the enjoyment of every
pleasure permitted by the laws of the Koran.
At night the city was illuminated, the streets were festooned with
flowers, and the promenades and public places resounded with the melody
of various musical instruments.
The more worthily to celebrate the occasion, alms were lavishly
distributed by the wealthy, and the benedictions of the poor mingled with
the songs of rejoicing that everywhere ascended around them.
Abderamus, having imbibed with his Oriental education a fondness for
these splendid fêtes, first introduced a taste for them into Spain.
Uniting, in his character of caliph, the civil and the sacerdotal
authority in his own person, he regulated the religious ceremonies on
such occasions, and caused them to be celebrated with all the pomp and
magnificence displayed under similar circumstances by the sovereigns of
Damascus.
Though the caliph of Cordova was the enemy {57} of the Christians, and
numbered many of them among his subjects, he refrained from persecuting
them, but deprived the bishoprics of their religious heads and the
churches of their priests, and encouraged marriages between the Moors and
Spaniards. By these means the sagacious Moslem inflicted more injury
upon the true religion than could have been effected by the most rigorous
severity.
Under the reign of Abderamus, the successors of Pelagius, still retaining
possession of Asturia, though weakened by the internal dissensions that
already began to prevail among them, were forced to submit to the payment
of the humiliating tribute of a hundred young females, Abderamus refusing
to grant them peace except at this price.
Master of entire Spain, from Catalonia to the two seas, the first caliph
died A.D. 788, Heg. 172, after a glorious reign of thirty years, leaving
the crown to his son Hacchem, the third of his eleven sons.
After the death of Abderamus the empire was disturbed by revolts, and by
wars between the new caliph and his brothers, his uncles, or other
princes of the royal blood. These civil wars {58} were inevitable under
a despotic government, where not even the order of succession to the
throne was regulated by law. To be an aspirant to the supreme authority
of the state, it was sufficient to belong to the royal race; and as each
of the caliphs, almost without exception, left numerous sons, all these
princes became the head of a faction, every one of them established
himself in some city, and, declaring himself its sovereign, took up arms
in opposition to the authority of the caliph. From this arose the
innumerable petty states that were created, annihilated, and raised again
with each change of sovereigns. Thus also originated the many instances
of conquered, deposed, or murdered kings, that make the history of the
Moors of Spain so difficult of methodical arrangement and so monotonous
in the perusal.
Hacchem, and, after him, his son Abdelazis-el-Hacchem retained possession
of the caliphate notwithstanding these unceasing dissensions. The former
finished the beautiful mosque commenced by his father, and carried his
arms into France, in which kingdom his generals penetrated as far as
Narbonne. The latter, Abdelazis-el-Hacchem less fortunate than his
predecessor, did not {59} succeed in opposing the Spaniards and his
refractory subjects with unvarying success. His existence terminated in
the midst of national difficulties, and his son Abderamus became his
successor.
Abderamus II. was a great monarch, notwithstanding the fact that, during
his reign, the power of the Christians began to balance that of the Moors.
The Christians had taken advantage of the continual divisions which
prevailed among their former conquerors. Alphonso the Chaste, king of
Asturia, a valiant and politic monarch, had extended his dominions and
refused to pay the tribute of the hundred young maidens. Ramir, the
successor of Alphonso, maintained this independence, and several times
defeated the Mussulmans. Navarre became a kingdom, and Aragon had its
independent sovereigns, and was so fortunate as to possess a government
that properly respected the rights of the people.[8] The governors of
Catalonia, until then subjected to the kings of France, took advantage of
the feebleness of Louis le Debonnaire to render themselves independent.
In fine, all the north of Spain declared itself in opposition to the
Moors, {60} and the south became a prey to the irruptions of the Normans.
Abderamus defended himself against all these adversaries, and obtained,
by his warlike talents, the surname of _Elmonzaffer_, which signifies
_the Victorious_. And, though constantly occupied by the cares of
government and of successive wars, this monarch afforded encouragement to
the fine arts, embellished his capital by a new mosque, and caused to be
erected a superb aqueduct, from which water was carried in leaden pipes
throughout the city in the utmost abundance.
Abderamus possessed a soul capable of enjoying the most refined and
elevated pleasures. He attracted to his court poets and philosophers,
with whose society he frequently delighted himself; thus cultivating in
his own person the talents he encouraged in others. He invited from the
East the famous musician Ali-Zeriab, who established himself in Spain
through the beneficence of the caliph, and originated the celebrated
school[9] whose pupils afterward afforded such delight to the Oriental
world.
The natural ferocity of the Moslems yielded to the influence of the
chivalrous example of {61} the caliph, and Cordova became, under the
dominion of Abderamus, the home of taste and pleasure, as well as the
chosen abode of science and the arts.
A single anecdote will serve to illustrate the tenderness and generosity
that so strongly characterized this illustrious descendant of the
Ommiades.
One day a favourite female slave left her master's presence in high
displeasure, and, retiring to her apartment, vowed that, sooner than open
the door for the admittance of Abderamus, she would suffer it to be
walled up. The chief eunuch, alarmed at this discourse, which he
regarded as almost blasphemous, hastened to prostrate himself before the
Prince of Believers, and to communicate to him the horrible purpose of
the rebellious slave. Abderamus smiled at the resolution of the offended
beauty, and commanded the eunuch to cause a wall composed of pieces of
coin to be erected before the door of her retreat, and avowed his
intention not to pass this barrier until the fair slave should have
voluntarily demolished it, by possessing herself of the materials of
which it was formed. The {62} historian[10] adds, that the same evening
the caliph entered the apartments of the appeased favourite without
opposition.
This prince left forty-five sons and nearly as many daughters. Mohammed,
the eldest of his sons, succeeded him, A.D. 852, Heg. 238. The reigns of
Mohammed and his successors, Almanzor and Abdalla, offer to the historian
nothing for a period of fifty years but details of an uninterrupted
continuation of troubles, civil wars, and revolts, by which the governors
of the principal cities sought to render themselves independent.
Alphonso the Great, king of Asturia, profited by these dissensions the
more effectually to confirm his own power. The Normans, from another
side, ravaged Andalusia anew. Toledo, frequently punished, but ever
rebellious, often possessed local sovereigns. Saragossa imitated the
example of Toledo. The authority of the caliphs was weakened, and their
empire, convulsed in every part, seemed on the point of dissolution, when
Abderamus III., the nephew of Abdalla, ascended the throne of Cordova,
and restored for some time its pristine splendour and power, A.D. 912,
Heg. 300.
{63}
This monarch, whose name, so dear to the Moslems, seemed to be an
auspicious omen, took the title of _Emir-al-Mumenin_, which signifies
_Prince of true Believers_.
Victory attended the commencement of his reign; the rebels, whom his
predecessors had been unable to reduce to submission, were defeated;
factions were dissipated, and peace and order re-established.
Being attacked by the Christians soon after he had assumed the crown,
Abderamus applied for assistance to the Moors of Africa. He maintained
long wars against the kings of Leon and the counts of Castile, who
wrested Madrid, then a place of comparative insignificance, from him,
A.D. 931, Heg. 319. Often attacked and sometimes overcome, but always
great and redoubtable notwithstanding occasional reverses, Abderamus knew
how to repair his losses, and avail himself to the utmost of his good
fortune. A profound statesman, and a brave and skilful commander, he
fomented divisions among the Spanish princes, carried his arms frequently
into the very centre of their states, and, having established a navy,
seized, in addition, upon Ceuta and Seldjemessa on the African coast.
{64}
Notwithstanding the incessant wars which occupied him during the whole of
his reign, the enormous expense to which he was subjected by the
maintenance of his armies and his naval force, and the purchase of
military assistance from Africa, Emir-al-Mumenim supported a luxury and
splendour at his court, the details of which would seem to be the mere
creations of the imagination, were they not attested by every historian
of the time.
The contemporary Greek emperor, Constantine XI., wishing to oppose an
enemy capable of resisting their power, to the Abbassides of Bagdad, sent
ambassadors to Cordova to form an alliance with Abderamus.
The Caliph of the West, flattered that Christians should come from so
distant a part of the world to request his support, signalized the
occasion by the display of a gorgeous pomp which rivalled that of the
most splendid Asiatic courts. He sent a suit of attendants to receive
the ambassadors at Jean. Numerous corps of cavalry, magnificently
mounted and attired, awaited their approach to Cordova, and a still more
brilliant display of infantry lined the avenues to the palace. The
courts were covered with the most {65} superb Persian and Egyptian
carpets, and the walls hung with cloth of gold. The caliph, blazing with
brilliants, and seated on a dazzling throne, surrounded by his family,
his viziers, and a numerous train of courtiers, received the Greek envoys
in a hall in which all his treasures were displayed. The _Hadjeb_, a
dignitary whose office among the Moors corresponded to that of the
ancient French _mayors of the palace_, introduced the ambassadors. They
prostrated themselves before Abderamus in amazement at the splendour of
this array, and presented to the Moorish sovereign the letter of
Constantine, written on blue parchment and enclosed in a box of gold.
The caliph signed the treaty, loaded the imperial messengers with
presents, and ordered that a numerous suite should accompany them even to
the walls of Constantinople.
Abderamus III., though unceasingly occupied either by war or politics,
was all his life enamoured of one of his wives named Zahra.[11] He built
a city for her two miles distant from Cordova, which he named Zahra.
This place is now destroyed. It was situated {66} at the base of a high
mountain, from which flowed numerous perpetual streams, whose waters ran
in all directions through the streets of the city, diffusing health and
coolness in their course, and forming ever-flowing fountains in the
centre of the public places. The houses, each built after the same
model, were surmounted by terraces and surrounded by gardens adorned with
groves of orange, laurel, and lime, and in which the myrtle, the rose,
and the jasmine mingled in pleasing confusion with all the varied
productions of that sunny and delicious clime. The statue of the
beautiful Zahra[12] was conspicuously placed over the principal gate of
this City of Love.
But the attractions of the city were totally eclipsed by those of the
fairy-like palace of the favourite. Abderamus, as the ally of their
Imperial master, demanded the assistance of the most accomplished of the
Greek architects; and the sovereign of Constantinople, which was at that
time the chosen home of the fine arts, eagerly complied with his desires,
and sent the caliph, in addition, forty columns of granite of the rarest
and most beautiful workmanship. Independent {67} of these magnificent
columns, there were employed in the construction of this palace more than
twelve hundred others, formed of Spanish and Italian marble. The walls
of the apartment named the _Saloon of the Caliphate_, were covered with
ornaments of gold; and from the mouths of several animals, composed of
the same metal, gushed jets of water that fell into an alabaster
fountain, above which was suspended the famous pearl that the Emperor Leo
had presented to the caliph as a treasure of inestimable value. In the
pavilion where the mistress of this enchanting abode usually passed the
evening with the royal Moor, the ceiling was composed of gold and
burnished steel, incrusted with precious stones. And in the resplendent
light reflected from these brilliant ornaments by a hundred crystal
lustres, flashed the waters of a fountain, formed like a sheaf of grain,
from polished silver, whose delicate spray was received again by the
alabaster basin from whose centre it sprung.
The reader might hesitate to believe these recitals; might suppose
himself perusing Oriental tales, or that the author was indebted for his
history to the _Thousand and One Nights_, were {68} not the facts here
detailed attested by the Arabian writers, and corroborated by foreign
authors of unquestionable veracity. It is true that the architectural
magnificence, the splendid pageantry, the pomp of power that
characterized the reign of this illustrious Saracenic king, resembled
nothing with which we are now familiar; but the incredulous questioners
of their former existence might be asked whether, had the pyramids of
Egypt been destroyed by an earthquake, they would now credit historians
who should give us the exact dimensions of those stupendous structures?
The writers from whom are derived the details that have been given
concerning the court of the Spanish Mussulmans, mention also the sums
expended in the erection of the palace and city of Zahra. The cost
amounted annually to three hundred thousand dinars of gold,[13] and
twenty-five years hardly sufficed for the completion of this princely
monument of chivalrous devotion.
{69}
To these enormous expenditures should be added the maintenance of a
seraglio, in which the women, the slaves, and the black and white eunuchs
amounted to the number of six thousand persons. The officers of the
court, and the horses destined for their use, were in equally lavish
proportion. The royal guard alone was composed of twelve thousand
cavaliers.
When it is remembered, that, from being continually at war with the
Spanish princes, Abderamus was obliged to keep numerous armies
incessantly on foot, to support a naval force, frequently to hire
stipendiaries from Africa, and to fortify and preserve in a state of
defence the ever-endangered fortresses on his frontiers, it is hardly
possible to comprehend how his revenues sufficed for the supply of such
immense and varied demands. But his resources were equally immense and
varied; and the sovereign of Cordova was perhaps the richest and most
powerful monarch then in Europe.[14]
He held possession of Portugal, Andalusia, the Kingdom of Grenada,
Mercia, Valencia, and the greater part of New-Castile, the most beautiful
and fertile countries of Spain.
{70}
These provinces were at that time extremely populous, and the Moors had
attained the highest perfection in agriculture. Historians assure us,
that there existed on the shores of the Guadalquiver twelve thousand
villages; and that a traveller could not proceed through the country
without encountering some hamlet every quarter of an hour. There existed
in the dominions of the caliph eighty great cities, three hundred of the
second order, and an infinite number of smaller towns. Cordova, the
capital of the kingdom, enclosed within its walls two hundred thousand
houses and nine hundred public baths.
All this prosperity was reversed by the expulsion of the Moors from the
Peninsula. The reason is apparent: the Moorish conquerors of Spain did
not persecute their vanquished foes; the Spaniards, when they had subdued
the Moors, oppressed and banished them.
The revenues of the caliphs of Cordova are represented to have amounted
annually to twelve millions and forty-five thousand dinars of gold.[15]
Independent of this income in money, many imposts were paid in the
products of the soil; and among an industrious agricultural {71}
population, possessed of the most fertile country in the world, this
rural wealth was incalculable. The gold and silver mines, known in Spain
from the earliest times, were another source of wealth. Commerce, too,
enriched alike the sovereign and the people. The commerce of the Moors
was carried on in many articles: silks, oils, sugar, cochineal, iron,
wool (which was at that time extremely valuable), ambergris, yellow
amber, loadstone, antimony, isinglass, rock-crystal, sulphur, saffron,
ginger, the product of the coral-beds on the coast of Andalusia, of the
pearl fisheries on that of Catalonia, and rubies, of which they had
discovered two localities, one at Malaga and another at Beja. These
valuable articles were, either before or after being wrought, transported
to Egypt or other parts of Africa, and to the East. The emperors of
Constantinople, always allied from necessity to the caliphs of Cordova,
favoured these commercial enterprises, and, by their countenance,
assisted in enlarging, to a vast extent, the field of their operations;
while the neighbourhood of Africa, Italy, and France contributed also to
their prosperity.
The arts, which are the children of commerce, and support the existence
of their parent, added {72} a new splendour to the brilliant reign of
Abderamus. The superb palaces he erected, the delicious gardens he
created, and the magnificent fêtes he instituted, drew to his court from
all parts architects and artists of every description. Cordova was the
home of industry and the asylum of the sciences. Celebrated schools of
geometry, astronomy, chymistry, and medicine were established
there--schools which, a century afterward, produced such men as Averroes
and Abenzoar. So distinguished were the learned Moorish poets,
philosophers, and physicians, that Alphonso the Great, king of Asturia,
wishing to confide the care of his son Ordogno to teachers capable of
conducting the education of a prince, appointed him two Arabian
preceptors, notwithstanding the difference of religious faith, and the
hatred entertained by the Christians towards the Mussulmans. And one of
the successors of Alphonso, Sancho the Great, king of Leon, being
attacked by a disease which it was supposed would prove fatal in its
effects, went unhesitatingly to Cordova, claimed the hospitality of his
national enemy, and placed himself under the care of the Mohammedan
physicians, who eventually succeeded in curing the malady of the
Christian king.
{73}
This singular fact does as much honour to the skill of the learned
Saracens as to the magnanimity of the caliph and the trusting confidence
of Sancho.
Such was the condition of the caliphate of Cordova under the dominion of
Abderamus III. He occupied the throne fifty years, and we have seen with
what degree of honour to himself and benefit to his people. Perhaps
nothing will better illustrate the superiority of this prince to monarchs
generally than the following fragment, which was found, traced by his own
hand, among his papers after his death.
"Fifty years have passed away since I became caliph. Riches, honours,
pleasures, I have enjoyed them all: I am satiated with them all. Rival
kings respect me, fear, and envy me. All that the heart of man can
desire. Heaven has lavishly bestowed on me. In this long period of
seeming felicity I have estimated the number of days during which I have
enjoyed _perfect happiness_: they amount to _fourteen_! Mortals, learn
to appreciate greatness, the world, and human life!"
The successor of this monarch was his eldest {74} son, Aboul-Abbas El
Hakkam, who assumed, like his father, the title of _Emir-al-Mumenim_.
The coronation of El Hakkam was celebrated with great pomp in the city of
Zahra. The new caliph there received the oath of fidelity from the
chiefs of the scythe guard, a numerous and redoubtable corps, composed of
strangers, which Abderamus III. had formed. The brothers and relations
of El Hakkam, the viziers and their chief, the _Hadjeb_, the white and
black eunuchs, the archers and cuirassiers of the guard, all swore
obedience to the monarch. These ceremonies were followed by the funeral
honours of Abderamus, whose body was carried to Cordova, and there
deposited in the tomb of his ancestors.
Aboul-Abbas El Hakkam, equally wise with his father, but less warlike
than he, enjoyed greater tranquillity during his reign. His was the
dominion of justice and peace. The success and vigilance of Abderamus
had extinguished, for a time, the spirit of revolt, and prepared the way
for the continued possession of these great national blessings.
Divided among themselves, the Christian kings entertained no designs of
disturbing their infidel neighbours.
{75}
The truce that existed between the Mussulmans and Castile and Leon was
broken but once during the life of El Hacchem. The caliph then commanded
his army in person, and completed a glorious campaign, taking several
cities from the Spaniards, and convincing them, by his achievements, of
the policy of future adherence to the terms of their treaty with their
Saracen opponents.
During the remainder of his reign the Moorish sovereign applied himself
wholly to promoting the happiness of his subjects, to the cultivation of
science, to the collection of an extensive library, and, above all, to
enforcing a strict observance of the laws.
The laws of the Moors were few and simple. It does not appear that there
existed among them any civil laws apart from those incorporated with
their religious code. Jurisprudence was reduced to the application of
the principles contained in the Koran. The caliph, as the supreme head
of their religion, possessed the power of interpreting these principles;
but even he would not have ventured to violate them. At least as often
as once a week, he publicly gave audience to his subjects, listened to
their {76} complaints, examined the guilty, and, without quitting the
tribunal, caused punishment to be immediately inflicted. The governors
placed by the sovereign over the different cities and provinces,
commanded the military force belonging to each, collected the public
revenues, superintended the administration of the police, and adjudged
the offences committed within their respective governments. Public
officers well versed in the laws discharged the functions of notaries,
and gave a juridical form to records relating to the possession of
property. When any lawsuits arose, magistrates called _cadis_, whose
authority was respected both by the king and the people, could alone
decide them. These suits were speedily determined; lawyers and attorneys
were unknown, and there was no expense nor chicanery connected with them.
Each party pleaded his cause in person, and the decrees of the cadi were
immediately executed.
Criminal jurisprudence was scarcely more complicated. The Moors almost
invariably resorted to the _punishment of retaliation_ prescribed by the
founder of their religion. In truth, the wealthy were permitted to
exonerate themselves from the charge of bloodshed by the aid {77} of
money; but it was necessary that the relations of the deceased should
consent to this: the caliph himself would not have ventured to withhold
the head of one of his own sons who had been guilty of homicide, if its
delivery had been inexorably insisted upon.
This simple code would not have sufficed had not the unlimited authority
exercised by fathers over their children, and husbands over their wives,
supplied the deficiencies of the laws. With regard to this implicit
obedience on the part of a family to the will of its chief, the Moors
preserved the ancient patriarchal customs of their ancestors. Every
father possessed, under his own roof, rights nearly equal to those of the
caliph. He decided, without appeal, the quarrels of his wives and those
of his sons: he punished with severity the slightest faults, and even
possessed the power of punishing certain crimes with death. Age alone
conferred this supremacy. An old man was always an object of reverence.
His presence arrested disorders: the most haughty young man cast down his
eyes at meeting him, and listened patiently to his reproofs. In short,
the possessor of a white beard {78} was everywhere invested with the
authority of a magistrate.
This authority, which was more powerful among the Moors than that of
their laws, long subsisted unimpaired at Cordova. That the wise Hacchem
did nothing to enfeeble it, may be judged from the following illustration.
A poor woman of Zahra possessed a small field contiguous to the gardens
of the caliph. El Hacchem, wishing to erect a pavilion there, directed
that the owner should be requested to dispose of it to him. But the
woman refused every remuneration that was offered her, and declared that
she would never sell the heritage of her ancestry. The king was,
doubtless, not informed of the obstinacy of this woman; but the
superintendent of the palace gardens, a minister worthy of a despotic
sovereign, forcibly seized upon the field, and the pavilion was built.
The poor woman hastened in despair to Cordova, to relate the story of her
misfortune to the Cadi Bechir, and to consult him respecting the course
she should pursue. The cadi thought that the Prince of true Believers
had no more right than any other man to possess himself by violence of
the property of another; and he endeavoured to {79} discover some means
of recalling to his recollection a truth which the best of rulers will
sometimes forget.
One day, as the Moorish sovereign was surrounded by his court in the
beautiful pavilion built on the ground belonging to the poor woman, the
Cadi Bechir presented himself before him, seated on an ass, and carrying
in his hand a large sack. The astonished caliph demanded his errand.
"Prince of the Faithful!" replied Bechir, "I come to ask permission of
thee to fill this sack with the earth upon which thou standest." The
caliph cheerfully consented to this desire, and the cadi filled his sack
with the earth. He then left it standing, and, approaching his
sovereign, entreated him to crown his goodness by aiding him in loading
his ass with its burden. El Hacchem, amused by the request, yielded to
it, and attempted to raise the sack. Scarcely able to move it, he let it
fall again, and, laughing, complained of its enormous weight. "Prince of
Believers!" said Bechir then, with impressive gravity, "this sack, which
thou findest so heavy, contains, nevertheless, but a small portion of the
field thou hast usurped from one of thy subjects; how wilt thou sustain
the weight {80} of this entire field when thou shalt appear in the
presence of the Great Judge charged with this iniquity?" The caliph,
struck with this address, embraced the cadi, thanked him, acknowledged
his fault, and immediately restored to the poor woman the field of which
she had been despoiled, together with the pavilion and everything it
contained.
The praise due to a despotic sovereign capable of such an action, is
inferior only to that which should be accorded to the cadi who induced
him to perform it.
After reigning twelve years, El Hakkam died, A.D. 976, Heg. 366. His son
Hacchem succeeded him.
This prince was an infant when he ascended the throne, and his
intellectual immaturity continued through life. During and after his
minority, a celebrated Moor named Mohammed Almanzor, being invested with
the important office of _Hadjeb_, governed the state with wisdom and
success.
Almanzor united to the talents of a statesman the genius of a great
commander. He was the most formidable and fatal enemy with whom the
Christians had yet been obliged to contend. He {81} ruled the Moorish
empire twenty-six years under the name of the indolent Hacchem. More
than fifty different times he carried the terrors of war into Castile or
Asturia: he took and sacked the cities of Barcelona and Leon, and
advanced even to Compostella, destroying its famous church and carrying
the spoils to Cordova.
The genius and influence of Mohammed temporarily restored the Moors to
their ancient strength and energy, and forced the whole Peninsula to
respect the rights of his feeble master, who, like another Sardanapalus,
dreamed away his life in the enjoyment of effeminate and debasing
pleasures.[16]
But this was the last ray of unclouded splendour that shone upon the
empire of the Ommiades in Spain. The kings of Leon and Navarre, and the
Count of Castile, united their forces for the purpose of opposing the
redoubtable Almanzor.
The opposing armies met near Medina-Celi. The conflict was long and
sanguinary, and the victory doubtful. The Moors, after the termination
of the combat, took to flight, terrified by the fearful loss they had
sustained; and {82} Almanzor, whom fifty years of uninterrupted military
success had persuaded that he was invincible, died of grief at this first
mortifying reverse.
With this great man expired the good fortune of the Saracens of Spain.
From the period of his death, the Spaniards continued to increase their
own prosperity by the gradual ruin of the Moors.
The sons of the hadjeb Almanzor successively replaced their illustrious
father; but, in inheriting his power, they did not inherit his talents.
Factions were again created. One of the relations of the caliph took up
arms against him, and possessed himself of the person of the monarch,
A.D. 1005, Heg. 596; and, though the rebellious prince dared not
sacrifice the life of Hacchem, he imprisoned him, and spread a report of
his death.
This news reaching Africa, an Ommiade prince hastened thence to Spain
with an army, under pretext of avenging the death of Hacchem. The Count
of Castile formed an alliance with this stranger, and civil war was
kindled in Cordova. It soon spread throughout Spain, and the Christian
princes availed themselves of its disastrous effects to repossess
themselves of the cities of {83} which they had been deprived during the
supremacy of Almanzor.
The imbecile Hacchem, negotiating and trifling alike with all parties,
was finally replaced on the throne, but was soon after forced again to
renounce it to save his life.
After this event a multitude of conspirators[17] were in turn proclaimed
caliph, and in turn deposed, poisoned, or otherwise murdered. Almundir,
the last lingering branch of the race of the Ommiades, was bold enough to
claim the restoration of the rights of his family, even amid the tumult
of conflicting parties. His friends represented to him the dangers he
was about to encounter. "Should I reign but one day," replied lie, "and
expire on the next, I would not murmur at my fate!" But the desire of
the prince, even to this extent, was not gratified; he was assassinated
without obtaining possession of the caliphate.
Usurpers of momentary authority followed. Jalmar-ben-Mohammed was the
last in order. His death terminated the empire of the Caliphs {84} of
the West, which had been possessed by the dynasty of the Ommiades for the
period of three centuries, A.D. 1027, Heg. 416.
With the extinction of this line of princes vanished the power and the
glory of Cordova.
The governors of the different cities, who had hitherto been the vassals
of the court of Cordova, profiting by the anarchy that prevailed, erected
themselves into independent sovereigns--That city was therefore no longer
the capital of a kingdom, though it still retained the religious
supremacy which it derived from its mosque.
Enfeebled by divisions and subjected to such diversity of rule, the
Mussulmans were no longer able successfully to resist the encroachments
of the Spaniards. The Third Epoch of their history, therefore, will
present nothing but a narrative of their rapid decline.
[1] See Note A, page 208.
[2] The dynasty of the Ommiades, whose capital, as M. Florian informs us,
was Damascus, is most familiarly known in history as that of the _Caliphs
of Syria_; and the Abbassides, who succeeded them upon the throne of
Islam, are usually designated as the _Caliphs of Bagdad_, which city they
built, and there established the seat of their regal power and
magnificence. It may be observed, in connexion with this subject, that
though the authority of the Caliphs of Damascus continued to be disputed
and resisted after the death of Ali, yet with that event terminated the
temporary division of the civil and sacerdotal power which had been at
first occasioned by their usurpation of sovereignty. The political
supremacy of the party of Ali ceased with his existence, and the
authority that had belonged to the immediate successors of Mohammed long
continued to centre in the family of the Ommiade princes.--_Trans_.
[3] See Note B, page 209.
[4] A.D. 752, Heg. 134.
[5] See Note C, page 209.
[6] It was under the government of the Abbassides that the empire of the
East possessed that superiority in wealth, magnificence, and learning for
which it was once so celebrated. Under the sway of the Caliphs of
Bagdad, the Mohammedans became as much renowned for their attainments in
the higher branches of science as in the elegant and useful arts. To
them the civilized world is indebted for the revival of the exact and
physical sciences, and the discovery or restoration of most of the arts
that afterward lent such beneficial aid to the progress of European
literature and refinement. The far-famed capital of the Abbassides was
adorned with every attraction that the most unbounded wealth could
secure, or the most consummate art perfect. There taste and power had
combined exquisite luxury with unparalleled splendour, and there all that
imagination could suggest to fascinate the senses or enrapture the mind,
was realized. These princes of Islam, by their unbounded liberality,
attracted the learning and genius of other countries to their brilliant
court, several of them were the ardent lovers of science as well as the
munificent patrons of its devotees. Thus Bagdad became the favoured and
genial home of letters and the arts; and luxury and the pursuit of
pleasure were ennobled by a graceful union with the more elevated
enjoyments of cultivated intellect and refined taste. Nor were these
beneficent influences confined to the Mohammedan court, or to the period
of time when they were so powerfully exercised. The Moslem sovereigns
gave laws to a wide realm in arts as well as arms; and if the whole of
Europe did not acknowledge their political superiority, in the world of
science their supremacy was everywhere undisputed. That, like the
gradually enlarging circles made by a pebble thrown into calm water,
continued to spread farther and farther, until it reached the most
distant shores, and communicated a generous impulse to nations long sunk
in intellectual night.
* * * * * * * *
Such was the celebrated empire of the Abbassides in its halcyon days of
undiminished power--such the beautiful City of Peace, the favoured home
of imperial magnificence, ere the despoiling Tartar had profaned its
loveliness and destroyed its grandeur. Yet, when we look beneath the
brilliant exterior of these Oriental scenes and characters, we discover,
under the splendour and elegance by which the eyes of the world were so
long dazzled, the corruption and licentiousness of a government
containing within itself the seeds of its own insecurity and ultimate
destruction. We behold the absence of all fixed principles of
legislation; we frequently find absolute monarchs guided solely by
passion or caprice in the administration of arbitrary laws, and swaying
the destinies of a people who, as a whole, were far from deriving any
substantial advantage from the wealth and greatness of their despotic
rulers. We are thus led to observe the evils that necessarily result
from a want of those principles of vital religion, without which mere
human learning is so inadequate to discipline the passions or direct the
reason, and of those just and equal laws, the supremacy of which can
alone secure the happiness of a people or the permanency of political
institutions.--_Trans_.
[7] See note D, page 212.
[8] See note E, page 218.
[9] See note F, page 313.
[10] Cardonne, in his History of Spain.
[11] This word signifies, in the Arabic, _Flower_, or _Ornament of the
World_.
[12] See Note G, page 213.
[13] The _dinar_ is estimated by M. Florian to be equal to at least _ten
livres_. According to that computation, the aggregate cost of the palace
and city of Zahra would amount to considerably more than $14,000,000.
_Trans_.
[14] See note H, page 214.
[15] About $22,500,000.
[16] See Note I, page 214.
[17] Mahadi, Suleiman, Ali, Abderamus IV., Casim, Jahiah, Hacchem III.,
Mohammed, Abderamus V., Jahiah II., Hacchem IV., and Jalmar-ben-Mohammed.
{85}
THIRD EPOCH.
CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT OF THE PRINCIPAL KINGDOMS THAT SPRANG FROM THE
RUINS OF THE CALIPHATE.
_Extending from the Commencement of the Eleventh to the Middle of the
Thirteenth Century._
At the commencement of the eleventh century, when the throne of Cordova
was daily stained by the blood of some new usurper, the governors of
the different cities, as has been already remarked, had assumed the
title of kings. Toledo, Saragossa, Seville, Valencia, Lisbon, Huesca,
and several other places of inferior importance, each possessed
independent sovereigns.
The history of these numerous kingdoms would be nearly as fatiguing to
the reader as to the writer. It presents, for the space of two hundred
years, nothing but accounts of repeated massacres, of fortresses taken
and retaken, of pillages and seditions, of occasional instances of
heroic conduct, but far more numerous crimes. Passing rapidly over two
centuries of {86} misfortunes, let it suffice to contemplate the
termination of these petty Moorish sovereignties.
Christian Spain, in the mean time, presented nearly the same picture as
that exhibited by the portion of the Peninsula still in possession of
the Mohammedans. The kings of Leon, Navarre, Castile, and Aragon were
almost always relatives, and sometimes brothers; but they were not, for
that reason, the less sanguinary in their designs towards each other.
Difference of religion did not prevent them from uniting with the
Moors, the more effectually to oppress other Christians, or other Moors
with whom they chanced to be at enmity. Thus, in a battle which
occurred A.D. 1010 between two Mussulman leaders, there were found
among the slain a count of Urgel and three bishops of Catalonia.[1]
And the King of Leon, Alphonso V., gave his sister Theresa in marriage
to Abdalla, the Moorish king of Toledo, to convert him into an ally
against Castile.
Among the Christians, as among the Moors, crimes were multiplied; civil
wars of both a local and general nature at the same time distracted
Spain, and the unhappy people expiated with {87} their property and
their lives the iniquities of their rulers.
While thus regarding a long succession of melancholy events, it is
agreeable to find a king of Toledo called Almamon, and Benabad, the
Mussulman king of Seville, affording an asylum at their courts, the one
to Alphonso, the young king of Leon, and the other to the unfortunate
Garcias, king of Galicia, both of whom had been driven from their
kingdoms by their brother Sancho, of Castile, A.D. 1071 Heg. 465.
Sancho pursued his brothers as though they had been his most implacable
enemies; and the Moorish monarchs, the natural enemies of all the
Christians, received these two fugitive princes as brothers. Almamon,
especially, lavished the most affectionate attention upon the
unfortunate Alphonso: he endeavoured to entertain him at Toledo with
such varied pleasures as should banish regret for the loss of a throne:
he gave him an income, and, in short, treated the prince as though he
had been a near and beloved relative. When the death of the cruel
Sancho (A.D. 1072, Heg. 466) had rendered Alphonso king of Leon and
Castile, the generous Almamon, who now had the person of the king of
his enemies in his {88} power, accompanied the prince to the frontiers
of his kingdom, loaded him with presents and caresses, and, at parting,
offered the free use of his troops and treasures to his late guest.
While Almamon lived, Alphonso IV. never forgot his obligations to his
benefactor. He maintained peace with him, aided him in his campaigns
against the King of Seville, and even entered into a treaty with
Hacchem, the son and successor of his ally. But, after a brief reign,
Hacchem left the throne of Toledo to his youthful brother Jahiah. That
prince oppressed the Christians, who were very numerous in his city;
and they secretly implored Alphonso to make war upon Jahiah. The
memory of Almamon long caused the Spanish monarch to hesitate in
relation to this subject. Gratitude impelled him not to listen to the
suggestions of ambition and the prayers of his countrymen; but the
arguments of gratitude proved the least strong, and Alphonso encamped
before Toledo.
After a long and celebrated siege, to which several French and other
foreign warriors eagerly hastened, Toledo finally capitulated, A.D.
1085, Heg. 478.
The conqueror allowed the sons of Almamon {89} to go and reign at
Valencia, and engaged by an oath to preserve the mosques from
destruction. He could not, however, prevent the Christians from
speedily violating this promise.
Such was the end of the Moorish kingdom of Toledo. This ancient
capital of the Goths had belonged to the Arabs three hundred and
eighty-two years.
Several other less important cities now submitted to the Christian
yoke. The kings of Aragon and Navarre, and the Count of Barcelona,
incessantly harassed and besieged the petty Mussulman princes who still
remained in the north of Spain. The attacks of the kings of Castile
and Leon afforded sufficient occupation for those of the south,
effectually to prevent their rendering any assistance to their
brethren. Above all, the Cid, the famous Cid, flew from one part of
Spain to another, at the head of the invincible band with whom his fame
had surrounded him, everywhere achieving victories for the Christians,
and even lending the aid of his arms to the Moors when they were
internally divided, but always securing success to the party he
favoured.
This hero, one of the most truly admirable of those whom history has
celebrated, since in his {90} character were united the most exalted
virtue and the highest qualities of the soldier; this simple Castilian
cavalier, upon whom his reputation alone bestowed the control of
armies, became master of several cities, assisted the King of Aragon to
seize upon Huesca, and conquered the kingdom of Valencia without any
other assistance than that of his men-at-arms. Equal in power with his
sovereign, of whose treatment he frequently had reason to complain, and
envied and persecuted by the jealous courtiers, the Cid never forgot
for a moment that he was the subject of the King of Castile. Banished
from court, and even exiled from his estates, he hastened, with his
brave companions, to attack and conquer the Moors, and to send those of
them whom he vanquished to render homage to the king who had deprived
him of his rights.
Being soon recalled to the presence of Alphonso, in consequence of the
king's needing his military aid, the Cid left the scenes of his martial
triumphs, and, without demanding reparation for the injuries he had
sustained, returned to defend his persecutors; ever ready, while in
disgrace, to forget everything in the performance of his duty to his
king, and equally ready, when enjoying {91} the favour of the
sovereign, to displease him, if it should be necessary to do so, by
advocating the cause of truth and justice.[2]
While the prowess of the Cid maintained the contest, the Christians had
the advantage; but a few years after his death, which occurred in the
year 1099 and the 492d of the Hegira, the Moors of Andalusia changed
masters, and became, for a time, more formidable than ever to their
Spanish foes.
After the fall of Toledo, Seville had increased in power. The
sovereigns of that city were also masters of ancient Cordova, and
possessed, in addition, Estremadura and a part of Portugal. Benabad,
king of Seville, one of the most estimable princes of his age, was now
the only one of its enemies capable of disturbing the safety of
Castile. Alphonso IV., desirous of allying himself with this powerful
Moor, demanded his daughter in marriage. His proposal was acceded to,
and the Castilian monarch received several towns as the dowry of the
Moorish princess; but this extraordinary union, which seemed to ensure
peace between the two nations, nevertheless soon became either the
cause or the pretext of renewed contests.
{92}
Africa, after having been separated from the vast empire of the Caliphs
of the East by the Fatimite caliphs, and being, during three centuries
of civil war, the prey of a succession of conquerors more ferocious and
sanguinary than the lions of their deserts,[3] was now subjected to the
family of the _Almoravides_, a powerful tribe of Egyptian origin.
Joseph-ben-Tessefin, the second prince of this dynasty, founded the
kingdom and city of Morocco.
Endowed with some warlike talents, proud of his power, and burning to
augment it, Joseph regarded with a covetous eye the beautiful European
provinces which had formerly been conquered by the Mussulmans of Africa.
Some historians assert that the King of Castile, Alphonso IV., and his
father-in-law Benabad, king of Seville, having formed the project of
dividing Spain between them, committed the capital error of summoning
the Moors of Africa to their assistance in this grand design. But
others, founding their assertions upon more plausible reasoning, say
that the petty Mussulman kings, who were the neighbours or tributaries
of Benabad, justly alarmed at his alliance with a {93} Christian king,
solicited the support of the Almoravide.
But, be that as it may, the ambitious Joseph eagerly availed himself of
the fortunate pretext presented by the invitation he had received, and
crossed the Mediterranean at the head of an army. He hastened to
attack Alphonso, and succeeded in overcoming him in a battle that took
place between them, A.D. 1097, Heg. 490. Then turning his arms against
Benabad, Joseph took Cordova, besieged Seville, and was preparing for
the assault of that city, when the virtuous Benabad, sacrificing his
crown and even his liberty to save his subjects from the horrors that
threatened them, delivered himself up, together with his family of a
hundred children, to the disposal of the Almoravide.
The barbarous African, dreading the influence of a monarch whose
virtues had rendered him so justly dear to his people, sent him to end
his days in an African prison, where his daughters were obliged to
support their father and brothers by the labour of their hands.
The unfortunate Benabad lived six years after the commencement of his
imprisonment, regretting his lost throne only for the sake of his {94}
people, and beguiling the period of his protracted leisure by the
composition of several poems which are still in existence. In them he
attempts to console his daughters under their heavy afflictions,
recalls the remembrance of his vanished greatness, and offers himself
as a warning and example to kings who shall presume to trust too
confidently to the unchanging continuance of the favours of fortune.
Joseph-ben-Tessefin, after he had thus become master of Seville and
Cordova, soon succeeded in subjugating the other petty Mussulman
states; and the Moors, united under a single monarch as powerful as
Joseph, threatened again to occupy the important position they had
sustained during the supremacy of their caliphs. The Spanish princes,
alarmed at this prospect, suspended their individual quarrels, and
joined Alphonso in resisting the Africans.
At this particular juncture, a fanatical love of religion and glory
induced many European warriors to take up arms against the infidels.
Raymond of Bourgogne, and his kinsman Henry, both French princes of the
blood, Raymond of Saint-Gilles, count of Toulouse, with some other
cavaliers from among their vassals, crossed the {95} Pyrenees with
their retainers, and fought under the banners of the King of Castile.
Thus assisted, that sovereign put the Egyptian commander to flight, and
compelled him, soon afterward, to recross the Mediterranean.
The grateful Alphonso gave his daughters as a recompense to the
distinguished Frenchmen who had lent him the aid of their arms. The
eldest, Urraca, espoused Raymond of Bourgogne, and their son afterward
inherited the kingdom of Castile. Theresa became the wife of Henry,
and brought him as a dowry all the land he had thus far conquered or
should hereafter conquer in Portugal: from thence originated that
kingdom. Elvira was given to Raymond, count of Toulouse, who carried
her with him to the Holy Land, where he gained some possessions by his
valour.
Excited by these illustrious examples, other French cavaliers resorted
soon after to the standard of the King of _Aragon_, Alphonso I., who
made himself master of Saragossa, and for ever destroyed that ancient
kingdom of the Moors, A.D. 1118, Heg. 512.
The son of Henry of Bourgogne, Alphonso I. king of Portugal, a prince
renowned for his {96} bravery, availed himself of the presence of a
combined fleet of English, Flemings, and Germans, who had anchored in
the harbour of that city on their way to the Holy Land, to lay siege to
Lisbon. He carried that place by assault, in spite of its great
strength, and made it the capital of his kingdom, A.D. 1147, Heg. 541.
During this period the kings of Castile and Navarre were extending
their conquests in Andalusia.
The Moors were attacked on all sides, and their cities were everywhere
compelled to surrender, now that they were no longer materially aided
by the Almoravides. Those African princes were at this time
sufficiently occupied at home in opposing some new sectaries, the
principal of whom, under pretext of reinitiating the people in a
knowledge of the pure doctrines of Mohammed, opened for themselves a
path to the throne, and, after many struggles, ended by effectually
driving the family of the Almoravides from its possession. The new
conquerors, becoming by these means masters of Morocco and Fez,
destroyed, according to the African custom, every individual of the
supplanted race, and founded a new dynasty, which is known under {97}
the name of the _Almohades_, A.D. 1149, Heg. 543.
In the midst of these divisions, these wars and combats, the fine arts
still continued to be cultivated at Cordova. And though they were no
longer in the flourishing condition in which they were maintained
during the reigns of the several caliphs who bore the cherished name of
Abderamus, yet the schools of philosophy, poetry, and medicine had
continued to exist. These schools produced, in the twelfth century,
several distinguished men, among the most celebrated of whom were the
learned Abenzoar and the famous Averroes. The former, equally profound
in medicine, pharmacy, and surgery, lived, it is said, to the age of
one hundred and thirty-five years. Some estimable works which he
produced are still extant. Averroes was also a physician, but he was
more of a philosopher, poet, lawyer, and commentator. He acquired a
reputation so profound, that passing centuries have only served more
firmly to establish it. The disposition made by this remarkable man of
his time during the different periods of his existence, will illustrate
his mental character. In his youth he was the passionate votary of
{98} pleasure and poetry: in more mature age he burned the verses he
had previously composed, studied the principles of legislation, and
discharged the duties of a judicial officer: having advanced still
farther in life, he abandoned these occupations for the pursuit of
medicine, in which he attained very great eminence: at last philosophy
alone supplied the place of every earlier taste, and wholly engrossed
his attention for the remainder of his life. It was Averroes who first
created among the Moors a taste for Greek literature. He translated
the works of Aristotle into Arabic, and wrote commentaries upon them.
He also published several other works upon philosophy and medicine, and
possessed the united glory of having both enlightened and benefited
mankind.[4]
As Africa, distracted by the long war of the Almoravides and the
Almohades, was unable to offer any opposition to the progress of the
Christians in Spain, these last, availing themselves of this condition
of affairs, continued to extend their conquests in Andalusia. If the
Spanish princes had been less disunited, and had acted in concert
against the infidels, they would have been able {99} at this period to
deprive the Mussulmans of their entire dominions in the Peninsula. But
these ever-contending princes had no sooner taken a Moorish city than
they began to dispute among themselves about its possession.
The newly-created kingdom of Portugal, established by the military
powers of Alphonso, was soon at war with that of Leon.[5] Aragon and
Castile, after many bloody quarrels, united in a league against
Navarre. Sancho VIII., the sovereign of that little state, was forced
to resort to Africa for assistance, and implore the aid of the
Almohades. But they, being but recently established on the throne of
Morocco, were still employed in exterminating the dismembered fragments
of the party of the Almoravides, and could not, in spite of their eager
desire to do so, establish any claim to their assumed rights in Spain.
Nevertheless, two kings of the race of the Almohades, both named
Joseph, passed the Mediterranean more than once with numerous armies.
The one was successfully opposed by the Portuguese, and did not survive
his final defeat; the other was more fortunate, and succeeded in
vanquishing the Castilians, but {100} was soon after obliged to accept
a truce and return in haste to Morocco, to which new disturbances
recalled him, A.D. 1195, Heg. 591.
But these useless victories, these ill-sustained efforts, did not
permanently disable either the Mussulmans or the Christians. On both
sides, the vanquished parties soon re-entered the field, in utter
neglect of the treaties into which they might ever so recently have
entered. The sovereigns of Morocco, though regarded as the kings of
Andalusia, nevertheless possessed only a precarious authority in that
country, which was always disputed when they were absent, and
acknowledged only when necessity forced the Mussulman inhabitants to
have recourse to their protection.
At last Mohammed _El Nazir_, the fourth prince of the dynasty of the
Almohades, to whom the Spaniards gave the name of the Green, from the
colour of his turban, finding himself in quiet possession of the
Moorish empire of Africa, resolved to assemble all his forces, to lead
them into Spain, and to renew in that country the ancient conquests of
Tarik and Moussa. A holy war was proclaimed, A.D. 1211, Heg. 608, and
an innumerable army {101} crowded around the ensigns of Mohammed, left
the shores of Africa under the guidance of that monarch, and safely
arrived in Andalusia. There their numbers were nearly doubled by the
Spanish Moors, whom hatred to the very name of Christian, arising from
the vivid remembrance of accumulated injuries, induced to join the
bands of El Nazir.
The sanguine Mohammed promised an easy triumph to his followers,
together with the certainty of rendering themselves masters of all that
their ancestors had formerly possessed; and, burning to commence the
contest, he immediately advanced towards Castile at the head of his
formidable army, which, according to the reports of historians,
amounted to more than six hundred thousand men.
The king of Castile, Alphonso the Noble, informed of the warlike
preparations of the King of Morocco, implored the assistance of the
Christian princes of Europe. Pope Innocent III. proclaimed a crusade
and granted indulgences most lavishly. Rodrique, archbishop of Toledo,
made in person a voyage to Rome, to solicit the aid of the sovereign
pontiff; and, returning homeward through France, preached to the people
{102} on his route, and induced many cavaliers to proceed at the head
of bands of recruits to Spain, and join the opponents of the Mussulmans.
The general rendezvous was at Toledo, at which point there were soon
collected more than sixty thousand crusaders from Italy and France, who
united themselves with the soldiers of Castile. The King of Aragon,
Peter II., the same who afterward perished in the war of the Albigense,
led his valiant army to the place of meeting, and Sancho VIII., king of
Navarre, was not backward in presenting himself at the head of his
brave subjects. The Portuguese had recently lost their king, but they
despatched their best warriors to Toledo. In short, all Spain flew to
arms. There was general union for the promotion of mutual safety; for
never, since the time of King Rodrique, had the Christians been placed
in such imminent danger.
It was at the foot of the Sierra Morena, at a place named _Las Navas de
Toloza_, that the three Spanish princes encountered the Moors, A.D.
1212, Heg. 609.
Mohammed El Nazir had taken possession of the mountain gorges through
which it had been the intention of the Christians to approach {103} his
camp. The adroit African thus designed, either to force his opponents
to turn back, which would expose them to the danger of a failure of
provisions, or to overwhelm them in the pass if they should attempt to
enter it. Upon discovering this circumstance, a council was called by
the embarrassed Christian leaders. Alphonso was desirous of attempting
the passage, but the kings of Navarre and Aragon advised a retreat. In
the midst of this dilemma, a shepherd presented himself before them,
and offered to conduct them through a defile of the mountain, with
which he was familiar. This proposal, which was the salvation of their
army, was eagerly accepted, and the shepherd guided the Catholic
sovereigns through difficult paths and across rocks and torrents,
until, with their followers, they finally succeeded in attaining the
summit of the mountain.
There, suddenly presenting themselves before the eyes of the astonished
Moors, they were engaged for the space of two days in preparing
themselves for the conflict, by prayer, confession, and the solemn
reception of the holy sacrament Their leaders set an example to the
soldiers in this zealous devotion; and the prelates and {104}
ecclesiastics, of whom there were a great number in the camp, after
having absolved these devout warriors, prepared to accompany them into
the midst of the conflict.
Upon the third day, the sixteenth of July, in the year twelve hundred
and twelve, the Christian army was drawn up in battle array. The
troops were formed into three divisions, each commanded by a king.
Alphonso was in the centre, at the head of his Castilians and the
chevaliers of the newly-instituted orders of Saint James and Calatrava;
Rodrique, archbishop of Toledo, the eyewitness and historian of this
great battle, advanced by the side of Alphonso, preceded by a large
cross, the principal ensign of the army; Sancho and his Navarrois
formed the right, while Peter and his subjects occupied the left. The
French crusaders, now reduced to a small number by the desertion of
many of their companions, who had been unable to endure the scorching
heat of the climate, marched in the van of the other troops, under the
command of Arnault, archbishop of Narbonne.
Thus disposed, the Christians descended towards the valley which
separated them from their enemies.
{105}
The Moors, according to their ancient custom, everywhere displayed
their innumerable soldiers, without order or arrangement. An admirable
cavalry, to the number of a hundred thousand men, composed their
principal strength: the rest of their army was made up of a crowd of
ill-armed and imperfectly trained foot-soldiers. Mohammed, stationed
on a height, from which he could command a view of his whole army, was
encompassed by a defence made of chains of iron, guarded by the
choicest of his cavaliers on foot. Standing in the midst of this
enclosure, with the Koran in one hand and an unsheathed sabre in the
other, the Saracen commander was visible to all his troops, of whom the
bravest squadrons occupied the four sides of the hill.
The Castilians directed their first efforts towards this elevation. At
first they drove back the Moors, but, repulsed in their turn, they
recoiled in disorder and began to retreat. Alphonso flew here and
there, attempting to rally their broken ranks, "Archbishop," said he to
the prelate who everywhere accompanied him, preceded by the grand
standard of the Cross, "Archbishop, here are we destined to die!" "Not
{106} so, sire," replied the ecclesiastic; "we are destined here to
live and conquer!" At that moment the brave canon who carried the
chief ensign threw himself with it into the midst of the infidels; the
prelate and the king followed him, and the Castilian soldiers rushed
forward to protect their sovereign and their sacred standard. The
already victorious kings of Aragon and Navarre now advanced at the head
of their wings to unite in the attack upon the height. The Moors were
assaulted at all points: they bravely resisted their opponents; but the
Christians crowded upon them--the Aragonais, the Navarrois, and the
Castilians endeavouring mutually to surpass each other in courage and
daring. The brave King of Navarre, making a path for himself through
the midst of its defenders, reached the enclosure, and struck and broke
the chains by which the Moorish commander was surrounded.[6] Mohammed
took to flight on beholding this catastrophe; and his soldiers, no
longer beholding their king, lost both hope and courage. They gave way
in all directions, and fled before the Christians. Thousands of the
Mussulmans fell beneath the {107} weapons of their pursuers, while the
Archbishop of Toledo, with the other ecclesiastics, surrounding the
victorious sovereigns, chanted a _Te Deum_ on the field of battle.
Thus was gained the famous battle of Toloza, of which some details have
been given in consequence of its great importance, and in illustration
of the military tactics of the Moors. With them the arts of war
consisted solely in mingling with the enemy, and fighting, each one for
himself, until either the strongest or the bravest of the two parties
remained masters of the field.
The Spaniards possessed but little more military skill than their
Moslem neighbours; but their infantry, at least, could attack and
resist in mass, while the discipline of that of the Saracens amounted
to scarcely anything. On the other hand, again, the cavalry of the
Moors was admirably trained. The cavaliers who composed it belonged to
the principal families in the kingdom, and possessed excellent horses,
in the art of managing which they had been trained from childhood.
Their mode of combat was to rush forward with the rapidity of light,
strike with the sabre or the lance, fly away as quickly, and then wheel
suddenly and return again to the {108} encounter. Thus they often
succeeded in recalling victory to their standard when she seemed just
about to desert them. The Christians, covered as they were with iron,
had in some respects the advantage of these knights, whose persons were
protected only by a breastplate and headpiece of steel. The Moorish
foot-soldiers were nearly naked, and armed only with a wretched pike.
It is easy to perceive that, when involved in the _mêlée_, and, above
all, during a route, vast numbers of them must have perished. This,
too, renders less incredible the seemingly extravagant accounts given
by historians of their losses in the field. They assert, for example,
that, at the battle of Toloza, the Christians killed two hundred
thousand Moors, while they lost themselves but fifteen hundred
soldiers. Even when these assertions are estimated at their true
value, it remains certain that the infidels sustained an immense loss;
and this important defeat, which is still celebrated yearly at Toledo
by a solemn fête, long deprived the kings of Morocco of all hope of
subjugating the Spaniards.
The victory of Toloza was followed by more fatal consequences to the
unfortunate Mohammed than to the Moors of Andalusia; for the {109}
latter retired to their cities, defended them by means of the remains
of the African army, and successfully resisted the Spanish princes, who
succeeded in taking but few of their strong places, and, speedily
dissolving their league, separated for their respective kingdoms. But
Mohammed, despised by his subjects after his defeat, and assailed by
the treachery of his nearest relations, lost all authority in Spain,
and beheld the principal Moors, whom he had now no power to control,
again forming little states, the independence of which they were
prepared to assert by force of arms.[7] The discomfited El Nazir
consequently returned to Africa, where he soon after died of chagrin.
With Mohammed the Green vanished the good fortune of the Almohades.
The princes of that house, who followed El Nazir in rapid succession,
purchased their royal prerogatives at the expense of continual
unhappiness and danger, and were finally driven from the throne. The
empire of Morocco was then divided, and three new dynasties were
established; that of Fez, of Tunis, and of Tremecen. These three
powerful and rival sovereignties greatly multiplied the {110}
conflicts, crimes, and atrocities, the narration of which alone
constitutes the history of Africa.
About this period some dissensions arose in Castile, which, together
with the part assumed by the King of Aragon in the war of the Albigense
in France, allowed the Moors time to breathe. The Moslems were still
masters of the kingdoms of Valencia, Murcia, Grenada, and Andalusia,
with part of Algarva and the Balearic Isles, which last, until that
time, had continued to be but little known to the Christians of the
Continent.
These states were divided between several sovereigns, the principal of
whom was Benhoud, a descendant of the ancient kings of Saragossa, a
sagacious monarch and a great commander, who by his genius and courage
had obtained dominion over all the southeastern part of Spain. Next to
Benhoud in rank, the most important of these Mohammedan princes were
the kings of Seville and Valentia. The barbarian who reigned at
Majorca was a mere piratical chief, whose enmity was formidable only to
the inhabitants of the neighbouring coast of Catalonia.
Such was the condition of Moorish Spain, {111} when two young heroes
seated themselves, nearly at the same time, on the thrones of the two
principal Christian states; and, after having allayed the commotions
created during the period of their minority, directed their
concentrated efforts against the Mussulmans, A.D. 1224, Heg. 621.
These princes, who were mutually desirous to emulate each other in
fame, but were never rivals in interest, both consecrated their lives
to the extirpation of the inflexible enemies of their native land. One
of these sovereigns was Jacques I., king of Aragon (a son of the Peter
of Aragon who distinguished himself on the field of Toloza), who united
to the courage, grace, and energy of his father, a greater degree of
genius and success than fell to the lot of that sovereign. The other
was Ferdinand III., king of Castile and Leon, a discerning, courageous,
and enterprising monarch, whom the Romish Church has numbered with its
saints, and history ranks among its great men.
This prince was the nephew of Blanche of Castile, queen of France, and
cousin-german of St. Lewis,[8] whom he nearly resembled in his {112}
piety, his bravery, and the wise laws he framed for the benefit of his
subjects.
Ferdinand carried his arms first into Andalusia. When he entered the
territories of the infidels, he received the homage of several Moorish
princes, who came to acknowledge themselves his vassals. As he
proceeded, he seized upon a great number of places, and, among others,
the town of Alhambra, whose frightened inhabitants retired to Grenada,
and established themselves in a portion of that city, which thus
obtained the name by which it was afterward so much celebrated.
Jacques of Aragon, on his part, set sail with an army for the Balearic
Isles. Though impeded in his progress by contrary winds, he succeeded
at last in reaching Majorca, on the shore of which island he defeated
the Moorish force that attempted to oppose his landing, and then
marched towards their capital and laid siege to it.
The chivalrous Jacques, who, when danger was to be encountered, always
took precedence of even his bravest officers and most daring soldiers,
was, as usual, the first to mount the walls in the assault upon this
city. It was carried, {113} notwithstanding its great strength, the
Mussulman king driven from the throne, and this new crown permanently
incorporated with that of Aragon, A.D. 1229, Heg. 627.
Jacques had long been meditating a most important conquest. Valencia,
after the death of the Cid, had again fallen into the hands of the
Moors. This beautiful and fertile province, where nature seemed to
delight herself by covering anew with fruit and flowers the soil that
man had so often deluged with blood, was now under the dominion of
Zeith, a brother of Mohammed El Nazir, the African king who was
vanquished at Toloza by the Christians. A powerful faction, inimical
to the power of Zeith, wished to place upon the throne a prince named
Zean. The two competitors appealed to arms to decide their respective
claims. The King of Aragon espoused the cause of Zeith, and, under
pretext of marching to his assistance, advanced into the kingdom of
Valencia, several times defeated Zean, seized upon his strong places,
and, with the active intrepidity that rendered him so formidable a foe,
invested the capital of his enemy, A.D. 1234, Heg. 632.
Thus pressed by the sovereign of Aragon, {114} Zean implored the aid of
Benhoud, the most puissant of the kings of Andalusia. But Benhoud was
at this time occupied in resisting the encroachments of Ferdinand. The
Castilians, under the conduct of that valiant prince, had made new
progress against the Moors. After possessing themselves of a great
number of other cities, they had now laid siege to ancient Cordova.
Benhoud had been often vanquished, but always retained the affections
of a people who regarded him as their last support. He had again
collected an army, and, though possessed with an equally earnest desire
to relieve both Cordova and Valencia, was about to march towards the
latter, from a belief that he was most likely to be there successful,
when his life was treacherously terminated by one of his lieutenants.
The Catholic kings were by this means delivered from the opposition of
the only man who was capable of impeding the accomplishment of their
wishes.
The death of Benhoud deprived the inhabitants of Cordova of all courage
and hope. Until then they had defended themselves with {115} equal
courage and constancy; but they offered to capitulate upon receiving
intelligence of this disastrous event.[9]
The Christians made the most rigorous use of their victory, granting
only life and liberty of departure to the unfortunate disciples of the
Prophet. An innumerable host of these wretched people came forth from
their former homes, weeping, and despoiled of all their possessions.
Slowly they left the superb city which had been for more than five
hundred and twenty years the principal seat of their national
greatness, their luxurious magnificence, their cherished religion, and
their favourite literature and fine arts.
Often did these desolate exiles pause on their way, and turn their
despairing eyes once again towards the towering palaces, the splendid
temples, the beautiful gardens, that five centuries of lavish expense
and toilsome effort had served to adorn and perfect, only to become the
spoil of the enemies of their faith and their race.
The Catholic soldiers who were now the occupants of these enchanting
abodes, were so far from appreciating their loveliness and value, {116}
that they preferred rather to destroy than inhabit them; and Ferdinand
soon found himself the possessor of a deserted city. He was therefore
compelled to attract inhabitants to Cordova from other parts of his
dominions, by the offer of extraordinary immunities. But,
notwithstanding the privileges thus accorded them, the Spaniards
murmured at leaving their arid rocks and barren fields, to dwell in the
palaces of caliphs and amid nature's most luxuriant scenes.
The grand mosque of Abderamus was converted into a cathedral, and
Cordova became the residence of a bishop and canons, but it was never
restored to the faintest shadow of its former splendour.
Not long after the fall of Cordova, Valencia also submitted to the
Christian yoke. Zean, besides being assailed externally by the force
of the intrepid Jacques, had, in addition, to oppose within his walls
the faction of Zeith, whom he had dethroned. The king of Tunis, too,
had been unsuccessful in an attempt to send a fleet to the relief of
Valencia: it at once took to flight on the appearance of the vessels of
Jacques. Abandoned by the whole world, disheartened by the fate of
Cordova, and betrayed {117} by the party of his competitor, Zean
offered to become the vassal of the crown of Aragon, and to pay a
tribute in acknowledgment of his vassalage; but the Christian monarch
was inflexible, and would accede to no terms that did not include a
stipulation to surrender the city.
Fifty thousand Moors, bearing their treasures with them, accompanied
the departure of their sovereign from Valencia. Jacques had pledged
his royal word to protect the rich booty which they so highly valued
from the cupidity of his soldiers, and he faithfully performed his
promise.
After the destruction of the two powerful kingdoms of Andalusia and
Valencia, there seemed to exist no Moorish power capable of arresting
the progress of the Spanish arms. That of Seville, which alone
remained, was already menaced by the victorious Ferdinand. But, just
at this period, a new state rose suddenly into importance, which
maintained a high degree of celebrity for two hundred years, and long
prevented the final ruin of the Moors.
[1] See note A, page 216.
[2] See note B, page 216.
[3] See note C, page 218.
[4] See Note D, page 220.
[5] A.D. 1178.
[6] See Note E, page 221.
[7] A.D. 1213, Heg. 610.
[8] See Note F, page 231.
[9] A.D. 1236, Heg. 634.
{118}
FOURTH EPOCH.
THE KINGS OF GRENADA.
_Extending from the middle of the Thirteenth Century to the period of
the Total Expulsion of the Moors from Spain, A.D. 1493._
The unprecedented success of the Spaniards, and, above all, the loss of
Cordova, spread consternation among the Moors. That ardent and
superstitious people, who were ever equally ready to cherish delusive
hopes, and to yield to despondency when those anticipations were
disappointed, looked upon their empire as ruined the moment the
Christian cross surmounted the pinnacle of their grand mosque, and the
banner of Castile waved over the walls of their ancient capital--those
walls on which the standards of the Caliphs of the West and of their
Prophet had for centuries floated in triumph.
Notwithstanding this national dejection, however, Seville, Grenada,
Murcia, and the kingdom of Algarva still belonged to the Mussulmans.
They possessed all the seaports, and the {119} whole maritime coast of
the south of Spain. Their enormous population, and great national
wealth and industry, also secured to them immense resources; but
Cordova, the holy city, the rival of Mecca in the West--Cordova was in
the possession of the Christians, and the Moors believed that all was
lost.
But the hopes of these despairing followers of Islam were rekindled by
the almost magical influence of a single individual, a scion of the
tribe of the _Alhamars_, named Mohammed Aboussaid, who came originally
from the celebrated Arabian city of Couffa.
Several historians, who speak of Mohammed under the title of _Mohammed
Alhamar_, assure us that he commenced his career as a simple shepherd,
and that, having afterward borne arms, he aspired to the attainment of
royal power in consequence of his martial exploits. Such an incident
is not extraordinary among the Arabs, where all who are not descended
either from the family of the Prophet or from the royal race,
possessing none of the privileges of birth, are esteemed solely
according to their personal merits.
But, be that as it may, Mohammed Aboussaid {120} possessed sufficient
intellectual powers to reanimate the expiring courage of the vanquished
Moslems. He assembled an army in the city of Arjona, and, well knowing
the peculiar character of the nation that he wished to control,
proceeded to gain over to his interests a _santon_, a species of
religious character highly venerated among the Moors. This oracular
individual publicly predicted to the people of Algarva that Mohammed
Alhamar was destined speedily to become their king. Accordingly, he
was soon proclaimed by the inhabitants, and several other cities
followed the example thus set them.
Mohammed now filled the place of Benhoud, to whom he possessed similar
talents for government; and, feeling the necessity of selecting a city
to replace Cordova in the affections of the Moors, to become the sacred
asylum of their religion, and the centring point for their military
strength, he founded a new kingdom, and made the city of Grenada its
capital, A.D. 1236, Heg. 634.
This city, powerful from the remotest times, and supposed to be the
ancient Illiberis of the Romans, was built upon two hills, not far
distant from the Sierra Nevada, a chain of {121} mountains whose
summits are covered with perpetual snow. The town was traversed by the
river Darra, and the waters of the Xenil bathed its walls. Each of the
two hills was crowned by a fortress: on the one was that of the
Alhambra, and on the other that of the Albayzin. These strongholds
were either of them sufficient in extent to accommodate forty thousand
men within their walls. The fugitives from the city of Alhambra, as
has already been stated, had given the name of their former home to the
new quarter that they peopled; and the Moors who had been driven from
Baeca when Ferdinand III. became master of that place, had established
themselves, in a similar manner, in the quarter of the Albayzin.
This city had also received many exiles from Valencia, Cordova, and
other places which the Mussulmans had deserted.
With a population whose numbers were daily augmented, Grenada, at the
period of which we now speak, was more than three leagues in circuit,
surrounded by impregnable ramparts; defended by many strong towers, and
by a brave and numerous people, whose military prowess seemed to ensure
their safety and independence.
{122}
Various were the advantages that combined in giving to Grenada the
supremacy she had assumed. Her location was one of the most agreeable
and beautiful in the world, and rendered her mistress of a country on
which nature had lavished her choicest gifts. The famous _vega_, or
plain, by which the city was surrounded, was thirty leagues in length
and eight in breadth. It was terminated on the north by the mountains
of Elvira and the Sierra Nevada, and enclosed on the remaining sides by
hills clothed with the verdure of the olive, the mulberry, the lemon,
and the vine.
This enchanting plain was watered by five small rivers[1] and an
infinite number of gushing springs, whose streams wandered in graceful
meanderings through meadows of perpetual verdure, through forests of
oak and plantations of grain, flax, and sugar-cane, or burst forth in
the midst of gardens, and orchards, and orange-groves.
All the rich, and beautiful, and varied productions of the soil
required but little attention in their culture. The earth was
continually {123} covered with vegetation, in myriads of changing
forms, and never knew the repose of winter.
During the heat of summer, the mountain breezes spread a refreshing
coolness through the air of this lovely vega, and preserved the early
brilliancy and beauty of the flowers, that were ever mingled in
delightful confusion with the varied fruits of a tropical region.
On this celebrated plain, whose charms no description can embellish; on
this enchanting vega, where nature seemed to have exhausted her efforts
in lavishing all that the heart of man could desire or his imagination
conceive, more blood has been shed than on any other spot in the world.
There--where, during two centuries of unceasing warfare, whose baleful
effects extended from generation to generation, from city to city, and
from man to man--there does not exist a single isolated portion of
earth where the trees have not been wantonly destroyed, the villages
reduced to ashes, and the desolated fields strewn with the mingled
corses of slaughtered Moors and Christians.
Independent of this _vega_, which was of such inestimable value to
Grenada, fourteen great cities and more than one hundred of smaller
{124} size, together with a prodigious number of towns, were embraced
within the boundaries of this fine kingdom.
The extent of Grenada, from Gibraltar (which was not taken by the
Christians until long after this period) to the city of Lorca, was more
than eighty leagues. It was thirty leagues in breadth from Cambril to
the Mediterranean.
The mountain, by which the kingdom of Grenada was intersected, produced
gold, silver, granite, amethysts, and various kinds of marble.
Among these mountains, those of the Alpuxaries alone formed a province,
and yielded the monarch of Grenada more precious treasures than their
mines could furnish--active and athletic men, who became either hardy
and industrious husbandmen, or faithful and indefatigable soldiers.
In addition to all this, the ports of Almeria, Malaga, and Algeziras
received into their harbours the vessels of both Europe and Africa, and
became places of deposite for the commerce of the Mediterranean and the
Atlantic.
Such, at its birth, was the kingdom of Grenada, and such it long
continued. Mohammed Alhamar, from the period of its establishment,
{125} made useless efforts to unite all the remaining dominions of the
Mussulmans of Spain under one sceptre, as the only means of
successfully resisting the encroachments of the Christians. But the
little kingdom of Murcia and that of Algarva were each governed by
separate princes, who persisted in maintaining their independence.
This was the cause of their ruin, for they thus became more readily the
prey of the Spaniards.
Alhamar signalized the commencement of his reign by military
achievements. In the year 1242, Heg. 640, he gained some important
advantages over the troops of Ferdinand. But repeated revolts in the
capital and disturbances in other parts of his new empire, eventually
compelled Mohammed to conclude a dishonourable peace with the King of
Castile. He agreed to do homage for his crown to the Castilian
sovereign, to put the strong place of Jaen into his hands, to pay him a
tribute, and to furnish him with auxiliary troops for any wars in which
he should engage. On these conditions Ferdinand acknowledged him King
of Grenada, and even aided him in subduing his rebellious subjects.
The sagacious Ferdinand thus established a {126} truce with Grenada,
that he might the more effectually concentrate his forces against
Seville, which he had long entertained hopes of conquering.
The important city of Seville was no longer under the dominion of a
king, but formed a kind of republic, governed by military magistrates.
Its situation at no great distance from the mouth of the Guadalquivir,
its commerce, its population, the mildness of the climate, and the
fertility of the environs, rendered Seville one of the most flourishing
cities of Spain.
Ferdinand, foreseeing a long resistance, commenced the campaign by
seizing upon all the neighbouring towns.
Finally, he laid siege to Seville itself, and his fleet, stationed at
the mouth of the Guadalquivir, closed the door to any assistance which
might be sent from Africa in aid of the beleaguered city.
The siege was long and bloody. The Sevillians were numerous and well
skilled in the arts of war, and their ally, the King of Algarva,
harassed the besiegers unceasingly. Notwithstanding the extreme
bravery displayed by the Christians in their assaults, and the scarcity
of {127} provisions which began to be felt within the walls, the city,
after an investment of a whole year, still refused to surrender.
Ferdinand then summoned the King of Grenada to come, in accordance with
their treaty, and serve under his banners. Alhamar was forced to obey,
and soon presented himself in the Christian camp at the head of a
brilliant army. The inhabitants of Seville lost all hope after this
occurrence, and surrendered to the Castilian monarch. The King of
Grenada returned to his own dominions with the humiliating glory of
having contributed, by his assistance, to the ruin of his countrymen.
Ferdinand, with more piety than policy, banished the infidels from
Seville. One hundred thousand of that unfortunate people left the
city, to seek an exile's home in Africa or in the provinces of Grenada.
The kingdom of Grenada now became the sole and last asylum of the
Spanish Moslems. The little kingdom of Algarva was soon obliged to
receive the yoke of Portugal, and Murcia, in consequence of its
separation from Grenada, became the prey of the Castilians.
{128}
During the life of Ferdinand III., nothing occurred to interrupt the
good understanding that existed between that monarch and Mohammed
Alhamar.
The King of Grenada wisely took advantage of this peaceful period more
effectually to confirm himself in the possession of his crown, and to
make preparations for a renewal of hostilities against the Christians,
who would not, he foresaw, long remain his friends.
Mohammed, by this means, ultimately found himself in a condition that
would enable him long to defend his power and dominions. He was master
of a country of great extent, and he possessed considerable revenues,
the amount of which it is now difficult correctly to estimate, in
consequence of the ignorance which prevails on the subject of the
peculiar financial system of the Moors, and the different sources from
which the public treasury was supplied. Every husbandman, for example,
paid the seventh part of the produce of his fields to his sovereign;
his flocks even were not exempted from this exaction. The royal domain
comprised numerous valuable farms; and, as agriculture was carried to
the highest degree of perfection, the revenues from {129} these, in so
luxuriant a country, must have amounted to a very large sum. The
annual income of the sovereign was augmented by various taxes levied on
the sale, marking, and passage from one point to another of all kinds
of cattle. The laws bestowed on the king the inheritance of such of
his subjects as died childless, and gave him, in addition, a portion in
the estates of other deceased persons. He also possessed, as has been
already shown, mines of gold, silver, and precious stones; and though
the Moors were but little skilled in the art of mining, still there was
no country in Europe in which gold and silver were more common than
among them.
The commerce carried on in their beautiful silks, and in a great
variety of other productions; their contiguity to the Mediterranean and
Atlantic; their activity, industry, and astonishing population; their
superior knowledge of the science of agriculture; the sobriety natural
to all the inhabitants of Spain; and that peculiar property of a
southern climate, by which much is produced from the soil, while very
little suffices for the maintenance of its possessor; all these, united
with their other national {130} advantages, will furnish some idea of
the great power and resources of this singular people.
Their standing military force--it can scarcely be said in times of
peace, for they rarely knew the blessings of that state--amounted to
nearly a hundred thousand men; and this army, in case of necessity,
could easily be increased to double that number. The single city of
Grenada could furnish fifty thousand soldiers. Indeed, every Moor
would readily become a soldier to oppose the Christians. The
difference of faith rendered these wars sacred in their eyes; and the
mutual hatred entertained by these two almost equally superstitious
nations never failed to arm, when necessary, every individual of both
sides, even from children to old men.
Independent of the numerous and brave, but ill-disciplined troops, who
would assemble for a campaign, and afterward return to their homes
without occasioning any expense to the state, the Moorish monarch
maintained a considerable corps of cavaliers, who were dispersed along
the frontiers, particularly in the directions of Murcia and Jaen, those
parts of the country being most exposed to the repeated incursions of
the Spaniards. Upon each of these cavaliers the king {131} bestowed
for life a small habitation, with sufficient adjoining ground for his
own maintenance, and that of his family and horse. This method of
keeping soldiers in service, while it occasioned no expense to the
public treasury, served to attach them more firmly to their country, by
identifying their interests with hers; and it held out to them the
strongest motives faithfully to defend their charge, inasmuch as their
patrimony was always first exposed to the ravages of the enemy.
At a time when the art of war had not reached the perfection it has now
attained, and when large bodies of troops were not kept continually
assembled and exercised, the system of stationing this peculiar guard
along the frontiers was of admirable effect.
The knights who composed this unrivalled cavalry were mounted on
African or Andalusian chargers, whose merits in the field are so
well-known, and were accustomed from infancy to their management;
treating them with the tenderest care, and regarding them as their
inseparable companions: by these means they acquired that remarkable
superiority for which the Moorish cavalry is still so celebrated.
{132}
These redoubtable squadrons, whose velocity of movement was unequalled;
who would, almost at the same moment, charge in mass, break into
detached troops, scatter, rally, fly off, and again form in line; these
cavaliers, whose voice, whose slightest gesture, whose very thoughts,
so to speak, were intelligible to their docile and sagacious steeds,
and who were able to recover a lance or sabre that had fallen to the
earth while in full gallop, constituted the principal military force of
the Moors. Their infantry was of little value; and their ill-fortified
towns, surrounded only by walls and moats, and defended by this
worthless infantry, could offer but an imperfect resistance to that of
the Spaniards, which began already to deserve the reputation it
afterward so well sustained in Italy, under Gonzalvo, the Great Captain.
After the death of St. Ferdinand, his son Alphonso the Sage[2] mounted
the throne, A.D. 1252, Heg. 650. The first care of Mohammed Alhamar
after this event was to go in person to Toledo, followed by a brilliant
retinue, to renew the treaty of alliance, or, rather, of dependance, by
which he was united to Ferdinand. {133} The new king of Castile
remitted on this occasion a part of the tribute to which the Moors had
been subjected.
But this peace was not of long continuance; and the two contending
nations now recommenced the war with nearly equal advantages.
An incident is related as having occurred during this war, which
reflects equal honour on the humanity of the Moors and the courage of
the Spaniards. It refers to Garcias Gomes, governor of the city of
Xeres. He was besieged by the Grenadians, and his garrison nearly
destroyed, but still he refused to surrender; and, standing on the
ramparts covered with blood, and literally bristling with arrows, he
sustained alone the onset of the assailants. The Moors, on seeing him
in this situation, agreed, with one accord, to spare the life of so
brave a man. Garcias then threw himself from the walls upon some iron
hooks; but he was rescued alive in spite of his efforts to prevent it,
treated with respect by his captors, and, after his wounds were healed,
dismissed with presents.
Alhamar could not prevent Alphonso from adding the kingdom of Murcia to
his dominions; and the fortunes of war compelled him to obtain {134}
peace by submitting anew to the payment of tribute to the Catholic
sovereign, A.D. 1266, Heg. 665.
But some dissensions which soon after arose between the Castilian
monarch and some of the grandees of his kingdom, inspired the Grenadian
king with the hope of repairing the loss he had sustained. The brother
of Alphonso, together with several noblemen belonging to the principal
Castilian families, retired to Grenada in open defiance of the
authority of the Spanish monarch, and materially aided Mohammed Alhamar
in repressing the insurrectionary movements of two of his rebellious
subjects, who were countenanced in their attempts by the Christians.
But, just at this juncture, the wise and politic King of Grenada died,
leaving the throne that he had acquired and preserved by his talents to
his son Mohammed II., El Fakik, A.D. 1273, Heg. 672.
The new Mussulman king, who took the title of _Emir al Mumenim_,
adopted in all respects the policy of his father. He took every
advantage in his power of the discord which reigned at the Castilian
court, and of the ineffectual voyages undertaken by Alphonso in the
hope of {135} being elected emperor.[3] Finally, during the absence of
his enemy, Mohammed formed an offensive league with Jacob, the king of
Morocco, a prince of the race of the _Merines_, the conquerors and
successors of the Almohades. The Grenadian sovereign ceded to his
African ally the two important places of Tariffe and Algeziras, on
condition of his crossing the Mediterranean to the Peninsula.
Jacob, in accordance with this agreement, arrived in Spain, at the head
of an army, in the year 1275 (the 675th of the Hegira); and the two
Moorish leaders, by acting in concert, gained some important advantages.
But the criminal revolt of Sancho, the Infant of Castile, against his
father Alphonso the Sage, soon afterward divided these Mussulman
monarchs. The King of Grenada took the part of the rebellious son,
while Alphonso, reduced to extremity by the abandonment of his
subjects, implored the assistance of the King of Morocco. Jacob
recrossed the sea with his troops, and met Alphonso at Zara. At that
celebrated interview, the unfortunate Castilian wished to concede the
place of honour to the king, who was there as {136} his defender. "It
belongs to you," said Jacob to him, "because you are unfortunate! I
came here to avenge a cause which should be that of every father. I
came here to aid you in punishing an ingrate, who, though he received
life from you, would still deprive you of your crown. When I shall
have fulfilled this duty, and you are again prosperous and happy, I
will once more become your enemy, and contest every point of precedence
with you."
The soul of the Christian prince was not sufficiently noble, however,
to prompt him to confide himself to the monarch who had uttered these
sentiments, and he escaped from the camp. Alphonso died soon after
this event, disinheriting his guilty son before he expired, A.D. 1284,
Heg. 683.
Sancho[4] reigned in his father's stead, however, notwithstanding this
prohibition, and international troubles convulsed Castile anew.
Mohammed seized this moment to enter Andalusia. He gained several
battles, and took some important places in that kingdom, and thus
victoriously terminated a long and glorious reign, A.D. 1302, Heg. 703.
{137}
This Mohammed _Emir al Mumenim_, the principal political events of
whose life have now been briefly narrated, was a munificent patron of
the fine arts. He added their charms to the attractions of a court
which poets, philosophers, and astronomers alike contributed to render
celebrated.
As an illustration of the scientific superiority that the Moors still
maintained over the Spaniards, the fact may be mentioned that Alphonso
the Sage, king of Castile, availed himself, in the arrangement of his
astronomical tables (still known as the _Alphonsine Tables_), of the
assistance of some contemporary Moslem _savans_.
Grenada began by this time to replace Cordova. Architecture, above
all, made great advances. It was during the reign of Mohammed II. that
the famous palace of the Alhambra was commenced, a part of which still
remains to astonish travellers, whom its name alone suffices to attract
to Grenada.
To prove to what a height of perfection the Moors had succeeded in
carrying the art, then so little known to Europeans, of uniting the
magnificent and the luxurious, a few details may perhaps be pardoned
concerning this {138} singular edifice, and as an illustration, also,
of the particular manners and customs of the Moors.
The Alhambra, as has been said, was at first only a vast fortress,
standing upon one of the two hills enclosed within the city of Grenada.
This hill, though environed on every side by the waters either of the
Darra or the Xenil, was defended, in addition, by a double enclosure of
walls. It was on the summit of this elevation, which overlooked the
whole city, and from which one might behold the most beautiful prospect
in the world, in the midst of an esplanade covered with trees and
fountains, that Mohammed selected the site of his palace.
Nothing with which we are familiar in architecture can give us a
correct idea of that of the Moors. They piled up buildings without
order, symmetry, or any attention to the external appearance they would
present. All their cares were bestowed upon the interior of their
structures. There they exhausted all the resources of taste and
magnificence, to combine in their apartments the requisites for
luxurious indulgence with the charms of nature in her most enchanting
forms. There, in saloons adorned with the most beautiful marble, and
paved with a {139} brilliant imitation of porcelain, couches, covered
with stuffs of gold or silver, were arranged near _jets d'eau_, whose
waters glanced upward towards the vaulted roof, and spread a delicious
coolness through an atmosphere embalmed by the delicate odours arising
from exquisite vases of precious perfumes, mingled with the fragrant
breath of the myrtle, jasmine, orange, and other sweet-scented flowers
that adorned the apartments.
The beautiful palace of the Alhambra, as it now exists at Grenada,[5]
presents no _façade_. It is approached through a charming avenue,
which is constantly intersected by rivulets, whose streams wander in
graceful curves amid groups of trees. The entrance is through a large
square tower, which formerly bore the name of the _Hall of Judgment_.
A religious inscription announces that it was there that the king
administered justice after the ancient manner of the Hebrew and other
Oriental nations. Several buildings, {140} which once adjoined this
tower were destroyed in more recent times, to give place to a
magnificent palace erected by Charles V., a description of which is not
necessary to our subject. Upon penetrating on the northern side into
the ancient palace of the Moorish kings, one feels as if suddenly
transported to the regions of fairyland. The first court is an oblong
square, surrounded on each side by a gallery in the form of an arcade,
the walls and ceiling of which are covered with Mosaic work, festoons,
arabesque paintings, gilding, and carving in stucco, of the most
admirable workmanship. All the plain spaces between these various
ornaments are filled with passages transcribed from the Alkoran, or by
inscriptions of a similar character to the following, which will
suffice to create some idea of the figurative style of Moorish
composition.
"Oh Nazir! thou wert born the master of a throne, and, like the star
that announces the approach of day, thou art refulgent with a
brilliancy that belongs to thee alone! Thine arm is the rampart of a
nation; thy justice an all-pervading luminary. Thou canst, by thy
valour, subdue those who have given companions to {141} God! Thy
numerous people are thy children, and thou renderest them all happy by
thy goodness. The bright stars of the firmament shine lovingly upon
thee, and the glorious light of the sun beams upon thee with affection.
The stately cedar, the proud monarch of the forest, bows his lofty head
at thy approach, and is again uplifted by thy puissant hand!"
In the midst of this court, which is paved with white marble, is a long
basin always filled with running water of sufficient depth for bathing.
It is bordered on each side by beds of flowers, and surrounded by walks
lined with orange-trees. The place was called the _Mesuar_, and served
as the common bathing-place of those who were attached to the service
of the palace.
From thence one passes into the celebrated _Court of Lions_. It is a
hundred feet in length and fifty in breadth. A colonnade of white
marble supports the gallery that runs around the whole. These columns,
standing sometimes two and sometimes three together, are of slender
proportions and fantastic design; but their lightness and grace afford
pleasure to the eye of the wondering beholder. The walls, and, above
all, the ceiling of the circular gallery, are covered {142} with
embellishments of gold, azure, and stucco, wrought into arabesques,
with an exquisite delicacy of execution that the most skilful modern
workmen would find it difficult to rival. In the midst of these
ornaments of ever-changing variety and beauty are inscribed passages
from the Koran, such as the following, which all good Mussulmans are
required frequently to repeat: _God is great: God alone is supreme:
There is no god but God: Celestial enjoyment, gratifications of the
heart, delights of the soul to all those who believe_.
At either extremity of the Court of Lions are placed, within the
interior space enclosed by the gallery, and, like it, supported by
marble columns, two elegant cupolas of fifteen or sixteen feet in
circumference. These graceful domes form a covering for beautiful
_jets d'eau_. In the centre of the lengthened square, a superb
alabaster vase, six feet in diameter, is supported in an elevated
position in the midst of a vast basin by the forms of twelve lions
sculptured from white marble. This vessel, which is believed to have
been modelled after the design of the "molten sea" of the Temple of
Solomon, is again surmounted by a smaller vase, from which shoot {143}
forth innumerable tiny cascades, which together present the form of a
great sheaf; and, falling again from one vase into another, and from
these into the large basin beneath, create a perpetual flow, whose
volume is increased by the floods of limpid water which gush in a
continual stream from the mouth of each of the marble lions.
This fountain, like each of the others, is adorned with inscriptions;
for the Moors ever took pleasure in mingling the eloquence of poetry
with the graces of sculpture. To us their conceptions appear singular
and their expressions exaggerated; but our manners are so opposite to
theirs; the period of their existence as a nation is so far removed,
and we know so little of the genius of their language, that we have,
perhaps, no right to judge the literature of the Moors by the severe
rules of modern criticism. And, indeed, the specimens we possess of
the French and Spanish poetry of the thirteenth and fourteenth
centuries are, many of them, little superior to the verses engraven on
the Fountain of Lions, of which the following, is a translation.[6]
{144}
"Oh thou who beholdest these lions! dost thou not perceive that they
need only to breathe to possess the perfection of nature! Oh Mohammed!
Oh potent sovereign! God originated and prolonged thy existence, that
thou mightest be inspired with the genius to conceive and accomplish
these novel and beautiful embellishments! Thy soul is adorned by the
most ennobling qualities of humanity. This enchanting spot pictures
thy admirable virtues. Like the lion, thou art terrible in combat; and
nothing can be more justly compared to the bountiful and unceasing
profusion of the limpid waters which gush from the bosom of this
fountain, and fill the air with glittering and brilliant particles,
than the liberal hand of Mohammed."
We will not attempt a description in detail of such other portions of
the palace of the Alhambra as still exist. Some of these served as
halls of audience or of justice; others enclosed the baths of the king,
the queen, and their children. Sleeping apartments still remain, where
the couches were disposed either in alcoves, or upon platforms covered
with the peculiar pavement {145} already alluded to; but always near a
fountain, the unceasing murmur of whose dreamy voice might sooth the
occupants to repose.
In the music saloon of this once luxurious royal abode are four
elevated galleries, which, ere the glory of the Alhambra had passed
away, were often filled by Moorish musicians, the delightful strains of
whose varied instruments enchanted the court of Grenada. Then the fair
and the brave reclined in graceful groups in the centre of the
apartment, upon rich Oriental carpets, surrounding the alabaster
fountain, whose balmy breath diffused refreshing coolness, and whose
softly gurgling sounds mingled with the gentle music which was ever the
accompaniment of repose and enjoyment.
In an apartment which was at the same time the oratory and
dressing-room of the queen of this magnificent residence, there still
exists a slab of marble, pierced with an infinite number of small
apertures, to admit the exhalations of the perfumes that were
incessantly burning beneath the lofty ceiling. From this part of the
palace, too, the views are exquisitely beautiful. The windows and
doors opening from it are so arranged, that the most agreeable
prospects, the {146} mellowest and most pleasing effects of light,
perpetually fall upon the delighted eyes of those within, while balmy
breezes constantly renew the delicious coolness of the air that
breathes through this enchanting retreat.
Upon leaving the marble halls and lofty towers of the Alhambra, one
discerns, on the side of a neighbouring mountain, the famous garden of
the _Generalif_, which signifies, in the Moorish tongue, the _Home of
Love_. In this garden was the palace to which the kings of Grenada
repaired to pass the season of spring. It was built in a style similar
to that of the Alhambra: the same gorgeous splendour, the same costly
magnificence reigned there. The edifice is now destroyed; but the
picturesque situation, the ever-varied and ever-charming landscape, the
limpid fountains, the sparkling _jets d'eau_, and tumbling waterfalls
of the _Generalif_, are still left to excite admiration.
The terraces of this garden are in the form of an amphitheatre, and the
lingering remains of their once beautiful Mosaic pavements are still to
be seen. The walks are now darkly umbrageous, from the interwoven
branches of gigantic cypresses and aged myrtles, beneath whose {147}
grateful shades the kings and queens of Grenada have so often wandered.
Then blooming groves and forests of fruit-trees were agreeably
intermingled with graceful domes and marble pavilions: then the sweet
perfume of the countless flowers that mingled their varied dyes in
delightful confusion, floated in the soft air. Then the delicate
tendrils of the vine clasped the supporting branches of the orange, and
both together hung the mingled gold and purple of their clustering
fruits over the bright waters that from marble founts
"Gushed up to sun and air!"
Then valour and beauty strayed side by side, beneath embowering
branches, the fire of the one attempered to gentleness by the softer
graces of the other, and the souls of both elevated and purified by
nature's holy and resistless influences.
But now the luxuriant vine lies prostrate, its climbing trunk and
clinging tendrils rudely torn from their once firm support: even the
voice of the fountain no longer warbles in the same gladsome tone as of
yore; the mouldering fragments of the polished column and sculptured
dome are now strewed on the earth; the sighing of the gentle breeze no
longer awake: is the soft breath {148} of responding flowers; the
loveliness and the glory of the _Home of Love_ are vanished away for
ever; and the crumbling stones of the tesselated pavements echo naught
but the lingering footfall of the solitary stranger, who wanders
thither to enjoy those mournful charms of which the destroyer cannot
divest a spot that must ever appeal so strongly to the vision and the
heart, to the memory and the imagination.
It is painful to quit the Alhambra and the Generalif, to return to the
ravages, incursions, and sanguinary quarrels of the Moors and
Christians.
It was the fate of Mohammed III. (surnamed the Blind) to be obliged at
the same time to repress the rebellious movements of his own subjects
and repel the invasions of his Catholic neighbours. Compelled by the
infirmity from which he derived his appellation to choose a prime
minister, he bestowed that important post upon Farady, the husband of
his sister, a judicious statesman and a brave soldier, who for some
time prosperously continued the war against the Castilians, and finally
concluded it by an honourable peace.
But the courtiers, jealous of the glory and {149} envious of the
good-fortune of the favourite, formed a conspiracy against his master,
and instigated revolts among the people. To complete his calamities,
foreign war again broke forth; the King of Castile, Ferdinand IV.,
surnamed _the Summoned_,[7] united with the King of Aragon in attacking
the Grenadians.[8]
Gibraltar was taken by the Castilians, and the conqueror expelled its
Moorish inhabitants from its walls. Among the unfortunate exiles who
departed from the city was an old man, who, perceiving Ferdinand,
approached him, leaning on his staff: "King of Castile," he said to
him, "what injury have I done to thee or thine? Thy great-grandfather
Ferdinand drove me from my native Seville: I sought an asylum at Xeres;
thy grandfather Alphonso banished me from thence: retiring within the
walls of Tariffe,[9] thy father Sancho exiled me from that city. At
last I came to find a grave at the extremity of Spain, on the shore of
Gibraltar; but thy hatred hath pursued me even here: tell me now of one
place on earth where I can die unmolested by the Christians!"
{150}
"Cross the sea!" replied the Spanish prince; and he caused the aged
petitioner to be conveyed to Africa.
Vanquished by the Aragonians, harassed by the Castilians, and alarmed
by the seditious proceedings which the grandees of his court were
encouraging among his own subjects, the King of Grenada and his prime
minister were forced to conclude a shameful peace.
The intestine storm, whose gathering had long disturbed the domestic
security of the kingdom, soon after burst forth. Mohammed Abenazar,
brother to Mohammed the Blind, and the head of the conspiracy, seized
the unfortunate monarch, put him to death, and assumed his place, A.D.
1310, Heg. 710.
But the usurper himself was soon driven from his throne by Farady, the
ancient minister, who, not daring to appropriate the crown to himself,
placed it on the head of his son Ismael, the nephew of Mohammed the
Blind, through his mother, the sister of that monarch.
This event took place A.D. 1313, Heg. 713. From that period the royal
family of Grenada was divided into two branches, which were ever after
at enmity with each other; the one, called {151} the _Alhamar_,
included the descendants of the first king through the males of the
line, and the other, named _Farady_, was that of such of his offspring
as were the children of the female branches of the royal race.
The Castilians, whose interests were always promoted by cherishing
dissensions among their Moorish neighbours, lent their countenance to
Abenazar, who had taken refuge in the city of Grenada. The Infant Don
Pedro, uncle to the youthful King of Castile, Alphonso _the Avenger_,
as he was surnamed, took the field against Ismael, and several times
gave battle to the followers of the Crescent. Then joining his forces
to those of another Infant named Don Juan, the two friends carried fire
and sword to the very ramparts of Grenada. The infidel warriors did
not venture to sally from their walls to repel the invaders; but when,
loaded with booty, the Christians had commenced their return to
Castile; Ismael followed on their route with his army, and, soon
overtaking his ruthless foes, fell suddenly upon their rear. It was
now the 26th of June,[10] and the time chosen by the Mussulmans for the
attack was the hottest hour of a {152} burning day. The two Spanish
princes made such violent efforts to reorganize their scattered bands
and to recover their lost authority, that, exhausted at last by thirst
and fatigue, they both fell dead without having received a wound.
The dismayed and exhausted Spaniards could now no longer offer any
resistance to their furious enemies. They betook themselves to flight,
leaving their baggage, with the bodies of the two unfortunate Infants,
on the field of battle. Ismael caused the remains of these princes to
be conveyed to Grenada and deposited in coffins covered with cloth of
gold: he then restored them to the Castilians, after having bestowed on
them the most distinguished funeral honours.[11]
This victory was rapidly followed by the conquest of several cities and
the establishment of an honourable truce. But Ismael did not live to
enjoy the fruits of his success: being enamoured of a young Spanish
captive, who had fallen, in the division of the spoils, to the share of
one of his officers, the king so far forgot the laws of justice and
honour as to possess himself {153} by force of the beautiful slave.
Such an insult among the followers of Islam can only be expiated by
blood: the monarch was assassinated by his exasperated officer. His
son Mohammed V. mounted the throne in his stead, A.D. 1322, Heg. 722.
The reign of Mohammed V. and that of his successor Joseph I., both of
whom perished in the same manner (being murdered in their palace),
present nothing during thirty years but an unbroken series of ravages,
seditions, and combats.
At the request of the Grenadians, Abil-Hassan, king of Morocco, of the
dynasty of the _Merinis_, landed in Spain at the head of innumerable
troops, with whom he joined the army of Joseph. The kings of Castile
and Portugal unitedly gave battle to this immense army on the shores of
Salado, not far from the city of Tariffe. This encounter, equally
celebrated with the victory of Toloza in the history of Spain,
terminated in the defeat of the Moors. Abil-Hassan returned hastily to
Morocco, to conceal within his own dominions his chagrin at its
unexpected and disastrous issue.
The strong place of Algeziras, the bulwark of {154} Grenada, and the
magazine in which was deposited the necessary supplies received by that
kingdom from Africa, was besieged by the Castilians A.D. 1342, Heg.
742. Several French, English, and Navarrois cavaliers resorted on this
occasion to the camp of the beleaguering army. The Mussulmans availed
themselves of the use of cannon in the defence of their city; and this
is the first time that the employment of that description of ordnance
is spoken of in history. We are told that it was used at the battle of
Cressy by the English; but that event did not take place until four
years after the date of the present siege. It is, then, to the Spanish
Moors that we owe, not the discovery of gunpowder (for that is
attributed by some to the Chinese, by others to a German monk named
Schwartz, and by others again to Roger Bacon, an Englishman), but the
terrible invention of artillery. It is at least certain, that the
Moors planted the first cannon of which we have any account. But, in
spite of the advantages it thus possessed, Algeziras was taken by the
Christians, A.D. 1344, Heg. 745.
About ten years after this event, the unfortunate Joseph, who had been
so often attacked by {155} foreign enemies, met his death from the
hands of his own subjects.
It may have been remarked by the reader, that no established law
regulated the regal succession among the Moors. Yet, notwithstanding
the perpetual conspiracies and intrigues which rendered the possession
of the crown so insecure and of such uncertain duration, a prince of
the royal race always occupied the throne. We have seen Grenada
divided, since the violent termination of the reign of Ismael, between
the factions of the _Alhamar_ and the _Farady_, and the former deposed
by the latter, who always regarded the Alhamars as usurpers. This
unhappy contest was the source of numberless disorders, conspiracies,
and assassinations.
The monarch next in order to Joseph I. on the throne of Grenada was his
uncle, a Farady prince named Mohammed VI., and called _the Old_, in
consequence of his succeeding at a somewhat advanced period of life.
Mohammed the Red, a scion of the Alhamar race, drove his cousin,
Mohammed the Old, from the throne, A.D. 1360, Heg. 762, and retained it
for some years, through the protection of the King of Aragon.
{156}
Peter the Cruel, then king of Castile, espoused the cause of the
banished Farady, supported his claims by warlike arguments, and so
closely pressed Mohammed the Alhamar, that he adopted the resolution of
repairing to Seville, and abandoning himself to the magnanimity of his
royal foe.
Mohammed arrived at the court of Seville accompanied by a suite
composed of his most faithful friends, and bearing with him vast
treasures. He presented himself with noble confidence in the presence
of the monarch. "King of Castile!" said he to Peter, "the blood alike
of Christian and Moor has too long flowed in my contest with the
Farady. You protect my rival; yet it is you whom I select to adjudge
our quarrel. Examine my claims and those of my enemy, and pronounce
who shall be the sovereign of Grenada. If you decide in favour of the
Farady, I demand only to be conducted to Africa; if you accord the
preference to me, receive the homage that I have come to render you for
my crown!"
The astonished Peter lavished honours upon the Mussulman king, and
caused him to be seated at his side during the magnificent feast by
{157} which he signalized the occasion. But, when the Alhamar retired
from the entertainment, he was seized and thrown into prison. From
thence he was afterward conducted through the streets of the city,
seated, half naked, upon an ass, and led to a field termed the
_Tablada_, where thirty-seven of his devoted followers were deprived of
their heads in his presence. The execrable Peter, envying the
executioner the pleasure of shedding his blood, then thrust through the
unfortunate King of Grenada with his own lance. The dying sovereign
uttered only these words as he expired, "Oh Peter, Peter, what a deed
for a cavalier!"
By a very extraordinary fatality, every throne in Spain was at this
period occupied by princes whose characters were blackened by the most
atrocious crimes. Peter the Cruel, the Nero of Castile, assassinated
the kings who confided themselves to his protection, put to death his
wife Blanche of Bourbon, and, in short, daily imbrued his hands in the
blood of his relatives or friends. Peter IV. of Aragon, less violent
than the Castilian, but equally unfeeling and even more perfidious,
despoiled one of his brothers of his kingdom, commanded another to be
{158} put to death, and delivered his ancient preceptor to the
executioners. Peter I., king of Portugal, the lover of the celebrated
Inez de Castro,[12] whose ferocity was doubtless excited and increased
by the cruelty that had been exercised against his mistress, tore out
the hearts of the murderers of Inez, and poisoned a sister with whom he
was displeased. Finally, the contemporary King of Navarre was that
Charles the Bad, whose name alone is sufficient still to cause a
shudder. All Spain groaned beneath the iron rule of these monsters of
cruelty, and was inundated by the blood of their victims. If it be
remembered that, at the same time, France had become a prey to the
horrors which followed the imprisonment of King John; that England
witnessed the commencement of the troubled reign of Richard II.; that
Italy was delivered up to the contentions of the rival factions of the
Guelfs and Ghibelines, and beheld two occupants at the same time upon
the papal throne; that two emperors disputed the right to the imperial
crown of Germany; and that Timurlane ravaged Asia from the territories
of the Usheks to the borders of India, it will not be disputed {159}
that the history of the world records the annals of no more unhappy
epoch in its affairs.
Grenada was at last tranquil after the crime of Peter the Cruel.
Mohammed the Old, or the Farady, being now freed from the rival claims
of his competitor, remounted the throne without opposition.
Mohammed was the only ally of the King of Castile who remained faithful
to that inhuman monster up to the period of his death. Peter was at
last the victim of a crime similar to those of which he had so often
himself been guilty: his illegitimate brother, Henry de Transtamare,
deprived him of his crown and his life, A.D. 1369, Heg. 771.
The King of Grenada made peace with the new sovereign of Castile,
maintained it for several years, and finally left his kingdom in a
flourishing condition to his son Mohammed VIII., Abouhadjad, called by
the Spanish historians Mohammed Gaudix.
This prince commenced his reign A.D. 1379, Heg. 782. He was the best
and wisest of the Spanish Mohammedan kings. Intent only upon promoting
the happiness of his people, he was desirous of securing to them the
enjoyment of {160} that foreign and domestic peace to which they had so
long been almost utter strangers. The more effectually to ensure this,
Abouhadjad commenced his reign with fortifying his towns, raising a
strong army, and allying himself with the King of Tunis, whose daughter
Cadiga he espoused. When well prepared for war, the Moorish sovereign
sent ambassadors to the King of Castile, to solicit his friendship.
Don Juan, the son and successor of Henry de Transtamare, being
sufficiently occupied by his quarrels with Portugal and England,
readily signed a treaty with the royal follower of the Crescent; and
Abouhadjad, on his part, kept it unbroken. Secured from the inroads of
the Christians, this wise monarch now occupied himself in promoting the
increase of agriculture and commerce: he likewise diminished the rates
of imposts, and soon found his income increased in consequence of this
judicious measure. Beloved by a people whom he rendered happy,
respected by foreign neighbours whom he had no reason to fear, and
possessed of an amiable wife, who alone engaged his affections, this
excellent Mussulman prince spent the wealth and leisure that he could
with propriety devote to such objects, in {161} adorning his capital,
in cherishing the fine arts, and in cultivating architecture and
poetry. Several monuments of his munificence existed at Grenada, and
at Gaudix, a city in favour of which he entertained strong
predilections. His court was the favoured abode of genius and elegance.
The Moors of Spain still possessed poets, physicians, painters,
sculptors, academies, and universities. And these were all liberally
encouraged and endowed by Mohammed Gaudix.
Most of the productions of the Grenadian authors of this period
perished at the final conquest of their country;[13] but some of them
have been preserved, and still exist in the library of the Escurial.
They chiefly treat of grammar, astrology (then greatly esteemed), and,
above all, of theology, a study in which the Moors excelled. That
people, naturally gifted with discriminating minds and ardent
imaginations, produced many distinguished theologians, who may easily
be supposed to have introduced into Europe the unfortunate scholastic
taste for subtle questions and disputes, which once rendered so
celebrated, men whose names and achievements have since sunk for ever
into oblivion. The {162} pretended secrets of the cabal, of alchymy,
of judicial astronomy, of the divining rod, and all the accounts,
formerly so common, of sorcerers, magicians, and enchanters, are
derived from these descendants of the Arabs. They were a superstitious
race from the remotest times; and it is probable that to their
residence in Spain, and their long intercourse with the Spaniards, is
owing that love for the marvellous, and that well-deserved reputation
for superstitious credulity, with which philosophy still reproaches a
sprightly and intellectual nation, upon whom nature has bestowed the
germes of the best qualities that adorn humanity.
A kind of literature which was common among these Saracens, and for
which the Spaniards were indebted to them, was that of novels or
romances. The Arabs were ever, as they still are, passionate lovers of
story-telling. As well in the tents of the wild Bedouin as in the
palaces of the East, alike under the gilded domes and peasant roofs of
Grenada, this taste prevailed. Everywhere they assembled nightly to
listen to romantic narratives of love and valour. Everywhere they
listened in silent attention, or wept from sympathetic interest in the
fate {163} of those whose adventures formed the subject of the tale.
The Grenadians joined with this passion for exciting incident, a taste
for music and singing. Their poets imbodied in verse these favourite
recitals of love and war. Musicians were employed in composing
suitable airs for them, and they were thus sung by the youthful Moors
with all the enthusiasm that passion, poetry, and dulcet harmony can
unitedly inspire. From this national custom are derived the multitude
of Spanish romances, translated or imitated from the Arabic, which, in
a simple and sometimes touching style, recount the fierce combats of
the Moors and Christians, the fatal quarrels of jealous and haughty
rivals, or the tender conversation of lovers. They describe with great
exactness everything relating to the peculiar manners and amusements of
this interesting and extinguished nation: their fêtes, their games of
the ring and of canes, and their bull-fights, the latter of which they
adopted from the Spaniards, are all portrayed. Thus we learn that
their war-like equipments consisted of a large cimeter, a slender
lance, a short coat of mail, and a light leathern buckler. We have
descriptions of superb horses, with their richly-jewelled and {164}
embroidered housings sweeping the earth in ample folds, and of the
devises emblazoned on the arms of the graceful Moorish cavaliers.
These last consisted frequently of a heart pierced by an arrow, or
perhaps of a star guiding a vessel, or of the first letter of the name
of the fair recipients of their vows of love. We learn, too, that
their colours each bore a peculiar signification: yellow and black
expressed grief; green, hope; blue, jealousy; violet and flame colour,
passionate love.
The following abridged translation of one of these little compositions
will produce a more correct idea of them in the mind of the reader than
any description could convey.[14]
GONZULO AND ZELINDA.
A MOORISH ROMANCE.
In a transport of jealousy and pride,
Zelinda spurned her lover from her side!
{165}
His cruel doom Gonzulo heard
With bosom wrung; and disappeared!
But the fair maid soon deeply felt
The torturing wound herself had dealt;
As glides the snow from mountain crest,
So fled resentment from her breast.
They tell her that the Moor's proud heart
Is pierced by grief's most poisoned dart,
And that he'd doffed, when flying from her side,
The tender colours that were once his pride;
That green, of hope the cherished emblem gay,
To sorrow's mournful hues had given way.
A badge of crape his lance's point now wears,
A blackened crown his shield as emblem bears!
{166}
To proffer gifts with different meaning fraught,
Zelinda now her errant lover sought:
The blue of jealousy she had united
With all the hues most dear to lovers plighted;
A violet gem, entwined with gold,
Gleamed mid a broidered turban's fold,
And every silken riband that she bore,
Of lovely innocence the symbol wore.
Zelinda reached the soft retreat
Where Gonzulo his fate must meet!
O'erwhelmed with doubt, the dark-eyed maid
Reclined beneath a myrtle shade,
And sent a faithful page to guide
Her banished lover to her side.
Gonzulo scarce the message would receive,
For wo had taught his heart to disbelieve!
{167}
But soon he flew, on wing of love,
To seek Zelinda's chosen grove.
Then tearful glances of regret
By words of tenderness were met;
And ne'er did guardian nymphs record
More ardent vows than there were poured!
'Twas thus triumphant love repaired
The cruel wrongs that each had shared!
The delicate and peculiar gallantry, which rendered the Moors of
Grenada famous throughout Europe, formed a singular contrast to the
ferocity that is so natural to all nations of African origin. These
Islamites, whose chief glory it was dexterously to deprive their
enemies of their heads, attach them to their saddle-bows, and afterward
display them as trophies on the {168} battlements of their towers or at
the entrance of their palaces; these restless and ungovernable
warriors, who were ever ready to revolt against their rulers, to depose
or to murder them, were the most tender, the most devoted, the most
ardent of lovers. Their wives, though their domestic position was
little superior to that of slaves, became, when they were beloved, the
absolute sovereigns, the supreme divinities of those whose hearts they
possessed. It was to please these idolized beings that the Moorish
cavaliers sought distinction in the field; it was to shine in their
eyes that they lavished their treasures and their lives--that they
mutually endeavoured to eclipse each other in deeds of arms, in the
splendour of their warlike exploits, and the Oriental magnificence of
their fêtes.
It cannot now be determined whether the Moors derived this
extraordinary union of softness and cruelty, of delicacy and
barbarity--this generous rivalry in courage and in constancy from the
Spaniards, or whether the Spaniards acquired these characteristics from
the Moors. But when it is remembered that they do not belong to the
Asiatic Arabs, from whom these gallant knights originally sprang; that
they are {169} found, even in a less degree, if possible, among these
followers of Mohammed in that portion of Africa where their conquests
have naturalized them; and, that after their departure from Spain, the
Grenadians lost every trace of the peculiarly interesting and
chivalrous qualities by which they had previously been so remarkably
distinguished, there is some ground for the opinion that it was to the
Spaniards that their Moslem neighbours were indebted for the existence
of these national attributes. In truth, before the invasion of Spain
by the Arabs, the courts of the Gothic kings had already offered
knightly examples of a similar spirit. And after that event we find
the cavaliers of Leon, Navarre, and Castile equally renowned for their
achievements in war and their romantic devotion to the fair sex. The
mere name of _the Cid_ awakens in the mind recollections alike of
tenderness and bravery. It should be remembered, too, that, long after
the expulsion of the Moors from the Peninsula, the Spaniards maintained
a reputation for gallantry far superior to that of the French, some
portion of the spirit of which, though extinct among every other
European nation, still lingers in Spain.
{170}
But, be this point decided as it may, it is not to be disputed that the
daughters of Grenada merited the devotion which they inspired: they
were perhaps the most fascinating women in the world. We find in the
narrative of a Moorish historian, who wrote at Grenada during the reign
of Mohammed the Old, the following description of his countrywomen:
"Their beauty is remarkable; but the loveliness which strikes the
beholder at first sight afterward receives its principal charm from the
grace and gentleness of their manners. In stature they are above the
middle height, and of delicate and slender proportions. Their long
black hair descends to the earth. Their teeth embellish with the
whiteness of alabaster, vermillion lips, which perpetually smile with a
bewitching air. The constant use which they make of the most exquisite
perfumes, gives a freshness and brilliancy to their complexions
possessed by no other Mohammedan women. Their walking, their dancing,
their every movement, is distinguished by a graceful softness, an ease,
a lightness, which surpasses all their other charms. Their
conversation is lively and sensible, and their fine intellects are
{171} constantly displayed in brilliant wit or judicious sentiments."
The dress of these elegant females was composed, as that of the Turkish
women still is, of a long tunic of linen confined by a cincture, of a
_doliman_ or Turkish dress with close sleeves, of wide trousers and
Morocco slippers. The materials of their clothing were of the finest
fabric, and were usually woven in stripes: they were embroidered with
gold and silver, and profusely spangled with jewels. Their waving
tresses floated over their shoulders; and a small cap, adorned with the
richest gems, supported an embroidered veil, which fell nearly to the
feet. The men were clothed in a similar manner: with them were carried
in the girdle the purse, the handkerchief, and the poniard: a white,
and sometimes a coloured, turban covered the head; and over the Turkish
doliman they wore in summer a wide and flowing white robe, and in
winter the _albornos_ or African mantle. The only change made in their
dress by the Moorish cavaliers when preparing for battle was the
addition of a coat of mail, and an iron lining within their turbans.
It was the custom of the Grenadians to repair {172} every year, during
the autumn, to the charming villas by which the city was surrounded.
There they yielded themselves up to the pursuit of pleasure. The chase
and the dance, music and feasting, occupied every hour.
The manners of those who participated in these national dances were in
a high degree unreserved, as was the language of the songs and ballads
in which they joined. Were it not for the contradictions in the human
character, one might be surprised at this want of delicacy in a people
who were capable of so much refinement of feeling. But, in general,
nations of Oriental origin possess but little reserve in their manners:
they have more of passion than sentiment, more of jealousy than
delicacy in their haughty and excitable natures.
In giving these details, we have perhaps trespassed too long on the
period of calm repose enjoyed by the kingdom of Grenada during the
reign of Abouhadjad. That excellent sovereign, after having filled the
throne for thirteen years, left his flourishing dominions to his son
Joseph, who succeeded him without opposition, A.D. 1392, Heg. 795.
Joseph II. was desirous, in imitation of the {173} course pursued by
his father, of maintaining the truce with the Christians. It was,
however, soon disturbed by a fanatical hermit, who persuaded the
Grand-master of Alcantara, Martin de Barbuda, a Portuguese, that he had
been selected by Heaven as the chosen instrument for expelling the
infidels from Spain. He promised the credulous Martin, in the name of
God, that he should succeed in conquering the enemies of the Cross, and
in carrying the city of Grenada by assault, without the loss of a
single soldier. The infatuated grand-master, convinced of the
certainty of the fulfilment of this promise, immediately sent
ambassadors to Joseph, with orders to declare to that sovereign, in his
name, that, since the religion of Mohammed was false and detestable,
and that of Jesus Christ the only true and saving faith, he, Martin de
Barbuda, defied the King of Grenada to a combat of two hundred
Mussulmans against one hundred Christians, upon condition that the
vanquished nation should instantly adopt the faith of the conquerors.
The reception these ambassadors met with may be easily imagined.
Joseph could scarcely restrain the indignation of his people. The
{174} envoys, driven contemptuously away, returned to the presence of
the grand-master, who, surprised at receiving no response to his
proposal, soon assembled a thousand foot-soldiers and three hundred
cavaliers, and hastened to the conquest of Grenada under the guidance
of the prophetic hermit.
The King of Castile, Henry III., who desired to preserve peace with the
followers of the Prophet at the commencement of a reign during which
his own dominions were but ill at rest, was no sooner informed of the
enterprise of Barbuda, than he sent him positive orders not to cross
the frontiers; but that dignitary replying that he ought to obey the
commands of Jehovah rather than those of any earthly master, proceeded
on his way. The governors of the different cities through which he
passed on his route endeavoured, though vainly, to arrest his progress;
but the people overwhelmed him with homage, and everywhere added to the
number of his forces.
The army of the grand-master amounted to six thousand men, when, in
A.D. 1394, Heg. 798, he entered the country which his folly taught him
to regard as already in his possession. In attacking the first castle
at which he {175} arrived, three soldiers were killed and their
fanatical commander himself wounded. Surprised beyond measure at
beholding his own blood flow and three soldiers fall, he summoned the
anchorite into his presence, and sedately demanded what this meant,
after his express promise that not a single champion of the true faith
should perish. The fanatic replied, that the word he had pledged
extended only to regular battles. Barbuda complained no more, and
presently perceived the approach of a Moorish army composed of fifty
thousand men. The conflict soon commenced: the grand-master and his
three hundred mounted followers perished in the field, after having
performed prodigies of valour. The remainder of the Spanish army were
either taken prisoners or put to flight; and the silence of historians
respecting the hermit, leads to the opinion that he was not among the
last to seek safety at a distance from the scene of action.
This foolish enterprise did not interrupt the good understanding
subsisting between the two nations. The King of Castile disavowed all
approval of the conduct of Martin de Barbuda, and Joseph long continued
to reign with honour and tranquillity. But he was at last poisoned,
{176} it is said, by a magnificent robe which he received from his
secret enemy, the King of Fez through the ambassadors of that
sovereign. Historians assert that this garment was impregnated with a
terrible poison, which caused the death of the unfortunate Joseph by
the most horrible torments. The peculiar effects it produced was that
of detaching the flesh from the bones, the misery of the wretched
sufferer enduring for the protracted period of thirty days.
Mohammed IX., the second son of this hapless monarch, who, even during
the lifetime of his father, had excited commotions in the realm,
usurped the crown that of right belonged to his elder brother Joseph,
whom he caused to be confined in prison.
Mohammed was courageous, and possessed some talents for war. Allied
with the King of Tunis, who joined his fleet with that of Grenada, he
broke the truce maintained with Castile during the two preceding
reigns, and at first gained some advantages over his adversaries, but
the Infant Don Ferdinand, the uncle and t
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