the expulsion of the Moor, were necessarily productive of an
over-zealous spirit--a spirit which is ever the inevitable consequence
of subjugation in the name of heaven, and under the immediate influence
of religious feeling. How, then, could it fail to manifest itself in the
Spaniards, who, only by a war lasting seven centuries, recovered their
own country from the hands of the Moslem--the bitterest foes of the
Christian religion--usurpers who justified their violence by retorting
the opprobrious epithet “Infidels” upon the natives? A contest, so
fierce and abiding, must have inseparably connected, in the minds of the
Spaniards, every idea of honour with orthodoxy, and all that is
discreditable and odious, with dissent from their creed. Small wonder,
then, need be expressed that the degradation of the Alhambra dates from
the very day of the Castilian Conquest, on which the removal of Moslem
symbols commenced. Have we not seen the same principles rampant in
England at the time of the Reformation, and again, throughout Puritan
times; although, in our own case, the unreasonable iconoclasts professed
the same faith?
The grievous vandalism begun by Ferdinand and Isabella was carried on by
their grandson, Charles V., who despoiled the palace, on an even more
gigantic scale, of those artistic glories which he looked upon as “the
ugly abominations of the Moor.” He attempted the impossible: he
modernized and rebuilt portions of the Alhambra, put up heavy ceilings,
blocked up old passages, or constructed new, and sought to convert the
palace of an Oriental sybarite into a residence for a Western monarch.
All was in vain: the last royal residents were Philip V. and his
beautiful Queen, Elizabetta of Parma, early in the eighteenth century.
Although great preparations were made for their reception, the stay of
the sovereigns was but transient; and, after their departure, the place
once more became desolate.
During the Peninsular War, when Granada was in the hands of the French,
the Alhambra was garrisoned by their troops, and the palace was
occasionally inhabited by the French commander. Washington Irving
maintains that “with that enlightened taste which has ever distinguished
the French nation--this monument of Moorish elegance and grandeur was
rescued from the absolute ruin and desolation that were overwhelming it.
The roofs were repaired, the saloons and galleries protected from the
weather, the gardens cultivated, the water-courses restored, the
fountains once more made to throw up their sparkling showers; and Spain
may thank her invaders for having preserved to her the most beautiful
and interesting of her historical monuments.... On the departure of the
French, _they blew up several towers of the outer wall, and left the
fortifications untenable_,” &c. This last act may well have been one of
military exigence; but, on the other hand, Ford entirely disagrees with
Irving, and asserts, with all the vigour of an extinct species of Tory
John Bull, that the French are responsible for the most wanton
destruction perpetrated during their occupancy. Whatever the truth may
be, we confess to a strong fellow-feeling with the kindly American
genius who has done so much to retard the decay of the edifice, which is
still preserved to adorn the land, and attract the curious of every
clime.
For centuries the antiquities of the Spanish Arabs continued disregarded
or unknown. Prejudice--that sad inheritance of nations--was, alas! only
too actively employed in demolishing the work of the polished and
enlightened people, whose occupation of the Peninsula it was accounted
piety to efface. It was not until the end of the eighteenth century that
steps were taken to explore and protect the remains of Moorish monuments
in Spain; when, in consequence of representations of cultured Spaniards,
the Government commissioned the Royal Academy of St. Ferdinand to send
two architects and an officer of Engineers to report upon the condition,
and make drawings of the Palace of the Alhambra and the Mosque at
Córdova. The result of their labours was published at Madrid, 1780, in
an illustrated folio volume entitled _Antigüedades Arabes de España_.
It is only by the union of the graphic art with descriptions that we can
hope to form an accurate estimate of the high state of excellence to
which the Mohammedans in Spain attained in the Fine Arts while the rest
of Europe was overwhelmed with ignorance and barbarism. The coin, for
instance, represented on the opposite page is of fine gold, and is an
example of art which would not dishonour a medallist of any epoch. The
existence of a Royal Mint within the Alhambra may be admitted when we
learn that the coin was struck by order of the Founder of the Alhambra,
Mohammed I., surnamed _Al-Ghalib-Billah_--the Conqueror--who reigned in
Granada from 1232 to 1272 A.D. The coin is one of the most cherished
possessions in the cabinet of Alfonso XIII., King of Spain, at Madrid.
DESCRIPTION.
_Obverse_: Within the square, an Arabic inscription which reads: “_In
the name of God, the Merciful, the Forgiving. The blessing of God on
Mohammed and his family. There is no Conqueror but God._” On the
segments of the circle surrounding the square we read: “_Your God is one
God. There is no God but He, the Merciful, the Forgiving._”
[Illustration: GOLD COIN (OBVERSE AND REVERSE) OF MOHAMMED I., THE
FOUNDER OF THE ALHAMBRA, WHO REIGNED 1232-1272 A.D.]
_Reverse._ Within the square: “_There is no God, but God. Mohammed is
the messenger of God. Al-mahdi, Prince of the people of Granada._” On
the segments of the circle surrounding the square: “_The Commander of
the Faithful, Al-Ghalib-Billah, Mohammed, Son of Yúsuf, Son of Nasr,
whom God prosper_.”
Mohammed, the Founder of the Alhambra.
To Mohammed the First, the world is indebted for the beautiful and
romantic Oriental monument, the Alhambra. This famous monarch was born
in Arjou in the year of the Hegira 591 (A.D. 1195), of the noble family
of the Beni Nasr, or children of Nasr, and no pains were spared by his
parents to fit him for the high station to which the opulence and
dignity of his family entitled him. When he reached manhood he was
appointed alcayde, or governor of Arjou and Jaen, and gained great
popularity by his benignity and justice. Some years afterwards, on the
death of Abou Hud, the Moorish power in Spain was broken into factions,
and many places declared for Mohammed. Being of a sanguine spirit and
lofty ambition, he turned the opportunity to his own purpose, made a
progress through the country, and was everywhere received with
acclamations. In the year 1232 he entered Granada, and was proclaimed
king with every demonstration of joy. Shortly afterwards he became the
head of the Moslems in Spain, being the second of the illustrious line
of Beni Nasr to sit upon the throne. His reign was such as to render him
a blessing to his subjects. He gave the command of his various cities to
those who had distinguished themselves by valour and prudence, and had
recommended themselves most acceptable to the people. He erected
hospitals for the blind, the aged and infirm, and all those incapable of
labour, visiting the asylums frequently--not on set days, with pomp and
form, so as to give time for everything to be put in order, and every
abuse concealed, but suddenly and unexpectedly, informing himself, by
actual observation and close enquiry, of the treatment of the sick, and
the conduct of those appointed to administer to their relief. He founded
schools and colleges, which he visited in the same manner, inspecting
personally the instruction of youth. He introduced abundant streams of
water into the city, erecting baths and fountains, and constructing
aqueducts and canals to irrigate and fertilize the _Vega_. By these
means prosperity and abundance prevailed in this beautiful city, its
gates were thronged with commerce, and its warehouses filled with
luxuries and merchandise of every country.
While Mohammed was ruling his fair dominions thus wisely and
prosperously, he was suddenly menaced with the horrors of war. The
Christians, profiting by the dismemberment of the Moslem power, were
rapidly regaining their ancient territories. James the Conqueror had
subjected all Valencia, and Ferdinand the Saint was carrying his
victorious arms into Andalusia. The latter invested the city of Jaen,
and swore not to strike his camp until he had gained possession of the
place. Mohammed was conscious of the insufficiency of his means to carry
on a war with the potent sovereign of Castile. Taking a sudden
resolution, therefore, he repaired privately to the Christian camp, and
made his unexpected appearance in the presence of King Ferdinand.
“In me,” said he, “you behold Mohammed, king of Granada. I confide in
your good faith, and put myself under your protection. Take all I
possess, and receive me as your vassal.” So saying, he knelt, and kissed
the king’s hand in token of submission. Ferdinand, touched by this
instance of confiding faith, determined not to be outdone in generosity.
He raised his late rival from the earth, and embraced him as a friend,
leaving him sovereign in Granada, on condition of paying a yearly
tribute, attending the Cortes as one of the nobles of the empire, and
serving him in war with a certain number of horsemen.
It was not long after this that Mohammed was called upon for his
military services, to aid King Ferdinand in the siege of Seville. The
Moorish king sallied forth with 500 chosen horsemen of Granada, than
whom none in the world knew better how to manage a steed or wield the
lance. It was a humiliating service, however, to draw the sword against
brethren of the faith.
Mohammed gained but a melancholy distinction by his prowess in this
renowned campaign, but achieved more true honour by the humane methods
which he prevailed upon Ferdinand to introduce into the usages of war.
When, in 1428, the famous city of Seville surrendered to the Castilian
monarch, Mohammed returned sad, and full of care, to his dominions. He
saw the gathering ills that menaced the Moslem cause, and uttered the
ejaculation, often used by him in moments of anxiety and trouble: “_Que
angosta y miserabile seria nuestra vida, sino fuera tan dilatada y
espaciosa nuestra esperanza!_”--How straitened and wretched would be our
lives if our hope were not so spacious and extensive!
Sad and dispirited, the conqueror approached his beloved Granada. The
people thronged the streets with impatient joy: like to another
Coriolanus, “the dumb men flocked to see him, and the blind to hear him
speak;” for they loved him as a benefactor. Arches of triumph were
erected in his honour; and as he passed he was hailed with acclamations
as _Al Ghalib_, or the Conqueror. Mohammed shook his head when he heard
the appellation.
“_Wa la ghalib ila Alá!_” exclaimed he--There is no conqueror but God!
From that time forward he adopted the exclamation as a motto. He
inscribed it on an oblique band--in heraldry, a Bend--across his
escutcheon, and it continued to be the motto of his descendants.
Mohammed had purchased peace by submission to the Christians; but he
knew that where the elements were so discordant, and the motives for
hostility so deep and ancient, it could not be secure or permanent.
Acting, therefore, upon an old maxim, “Arm thyself in peace, and clothe
thyself in Summer,” he improved the interval of tranquillity by
fortifying his dominions, by replenishing his arsenals, and by promoting
those useful arts which give wealth and real power to an empire.
[Illustration: “WA LA GHALIB ILA ALÁ!”--THERE IS NO CONQUEROR BUT
GOD!--THE FAMOUS MOTTO, IN KUFIC CHARACTERS, OF MOHAMMED I. AND HIS
SUCCESSORS, WHICH IS INSCRIBED ON THE WALLS OF THE ALHAMBRA IN COUNTLESS
REPETITION.]
He gave premiums and privileges to the best artisans, improved the breed
of horses and other domestic animals, encouraged husbandry, and
increased the fertility of the soil two-fold by his protection, making
the lovely valleys of his kingdom to bloom like gardens. He fostered,
also, the growth and fabrication of silk, until the looms of Granada
surpassed even those of Syria in the fineness and beauty of their
productions. He caused the prolific mines of gold and silver, and other
metals of the mountainous regions of his dominions, to be diligently
worked, and was the first King of Granada who, as we have seen, struck
money with his name, taking great care, moreover, that the coins should
be skilfully executed.
It was about this time, towards the middle of the thirteenth century,
and just after his return from the siege of Seville (1248), that
Mohammed commenced the splendid Palace of the Alhambra, superintending
the building of it in person, mingling frequently amongst the artists
and workmen, and directing their labour. He stored the gardens with the
rarest plants, and with the most beautiful aromatic shrubs and flowers.
Amid these scenes he delighted in reading histories, or in causing them
to be related to him; and sometimes, in intervals of leisure, employed
himself in the instruction of his three sons, for whom he had provided
the most learned and virtuous masters. Mohammed ever remained loyal to
Ferdinand, giving him repeated proofs of fidelity and attachment. When
that renowned monarch died at Seville in 1254, Mohammed sent ambassadors
to condole with his successor, Alonzo X., and with them a gallant train
of Moorish cavaliers of distinguished rank to attend the obsequies. This
grand testimony of respect was repeated by the Moslem monarch during the
remainder of his life on each anniversary of the death of King Fernando
el Santo, when a hundred Moorish knights repaired to Seville, and took
their stations with lighted tapers in the Cathedral, around the tomb of
the illustrious deceased.
Mohammed retained his vigour to an advanced age. In his seventy-ninth
year he took the field on horseback, accompanied by the flower of his
chivalry, to resist an invasion. As the army sallied forth from Granada,
one of the _adalides_, or guides, who rode in the advance, accidentally
shivered his lance against the arch of the gate. The counsellors of the
king, alarmed by the circumstance, which was considered an evil omen,
entreated him to return. The king persisted, and at noontide the omen,
say the Moorish chroniclers, was fatally fulfilled. Mohammed was
suddenly seen to fall from his horse. He was placed on a litter and
borne towards Granada, but his illness increased to such a degree that
they were obliged to pitch his tent on the _Vega_. His physicians were
filled with consternation, and in a few hours he died; the Castilian
prince, Don Philip, brother of Alonzo X., being by his side when he
expired. His body was embalmed, enclosed in a silver coffin, and buried
in the Alhambra, in a sepulchre of precious marble, amidst the unfeigned
lamentations of his subjects, who bewailed him as a parent.
Such was the enlightened prince who founded the Alhambra, whose name
remains emblazoned amongst its most delicate and graceful ornaments, and
whose memory is calculated to inspire the loftiest associations in those
who tread these fading scenes of his magnificence and glory.
Abu-el-Hejaj (Yúsuf I.), King of Granada, 1333-1354, who completed the
Alhambra.
In the royal Mosque, where the escutcheons of the Moorish kings hang
side by side with those of the Castilian sovereigns--for the Mosque was,
after the subjugation, consecrated as a Catholic chapel--perished the
illustrious Yúsuf Abu-el-Hejaj, the high-minded prince who completed the
Alhambra, and who, for his virtues and endowments, deserves almost equal
renown with its magnanimous founder. Washington Irving was, perhaps, the
first to draw forth, from the obscurity in which it had too long
remained, the name of another of those princes of a departed and almost
forgotten race, who reigned in elegance and splendour in Andalusia, when
all Europe was in comparative barbarism.
To Yúsuf I. the Alhambra owes much of its splendour; he not only
constructed the _Gate of Justice_ and the _Wine Gate_, leading into the
Palace, as appears from the inscriptions over their respective archways;
but he must also have built, or decorated, many of the interior
apartments, for his name appears frequently in _The Hall of the Two
Sisters_, in that of the _Baños_, in the _Court of the Fish-pond_, and
in the _Hall of the Ambassadors_.
Yúsuf ascended the throne of Granada in 1333. He is said to have been of
noble presence, possessing great bodily strength united to manly beauty.
He had the courage common to all generous spirits, but his genius
inclined more to peace than to war; and, though repeatedly obliged to
take up arms, he was generally unfortunate. Amongst other ill-starred
enterprises, he undertook a campaign in conjunction with the King of
Morocco, against Castile and Portugal, but was defeated in the memorable
battle of Salado; a reverse which nearly proved a death-blow to the
Moslem power in Spain.
A long truce, after this defeat, enabled Yúsuf to devote himself to the
instruction and improvement of his people. He established schools in the
villages, with uniform systems of education; he obliged every hamlet of
more than twelve houses to have a Mosque, and reformed abuses which had
crept into the religious ceremonies and festivals of the people. The
Alhambra was now completed. Yúsuf constructed the beautiful Gate of
Justice, forming the grand entrance, which he finished in 1348. He
likewise adorned many of the Courts and Halls of the Palace, as may be
seen by the inscriptions in which his name repeatedly occurs. He built
also the Alcázar, or Citadel of Malaga, of which, alas! only crumbling
traces remain.
[Illustration: THE WINE GATE, ATTRIBUTED TO YÚSUF I.]
The genius of the sovereign stamps a character upon his time. The nobles
of Granada, emulating the graceful taste of their monarch, filled the
city with magnificent palaces, the halls of which were adorned with
mosaics, the ceilings wrought in fretwork, and delicately gilded and
painted, or inlaid with precious woods; they had lofty towers of wood or
stone, carved and ornamented, and covered with plates of metal that
glittered in the sun. So refined was the taste in decoration prevailing
amongst this elegant people that, to use the simile of an Arabian
writer, “Granada, in the days of Yúsuf, was as a silver vase filled with
emeralds and jacynths.”
One anecdote will be sufficient to show the magnanimity of this generous
prince. The long truce which succeeded the battle of Salado was at an
end, and every effort of Yúsuf to renew it was in vain. His deadly foe,
Alonzo XI. of Castile,
[Illustration: HALL OF THE TWO SISTERS FROM THE ENTRANCE DOOR, BUILT BY
YÚSUF I.]
took the field with great force, and laid siege to Gibraltar. Yúsuf
reluctantly took up arms, and sent troops to the relief of the place;
when, in the midst of his anxiety, he received tidings that his dreaded
foe had fallen a victim to the plague. Instead of manifesting
exultation, Yúsuf called to mind the great qualities of the deceased
monarch, and was touched with sorrow--“Alas!” cried he, “the world has
lost one of its most excellent princes; a sovereign who knew how to
honour merit, whether in friend or foe!” The Spanish chroniclers,
themselves, bear witness to this magnanimity: according to their
accounts, the Moorish cavaliers shared the sentiment of their king and
put on mourning for the death of Alonzo. Even those Moors of Gibraltar,
which had been so closely invested, when they learned that the hostile
monarch lay dead in his camp, determined that no aggressive movement
should be made against the Christians during the observance of his
obsequies.
[Illustration: THE SULTAN’S BATH, CONSTRUCTED BY YÚSUF I.]
Upon the day on which the camp was broken up, and the army departed
bearing the corpse of Alonzo, the Moors issued in multitudes from
Gibraltar, and stood mute and melancholy, watching the mournful pageant.
The same reverence for the deceased was observed on the frontiers by all
the Moorish commanders, who suffered the funeral cortège to pass in
safety with the body of the Christian sovereign, from Gibraltar to
Seville.
Yúsuf did not long survive the enemy he had so generously deplored. In
the year 1354, as he was one day at prayer in the royal Mosque of the
Alhambra, a maniac suddenly rushed upon him and plunged a dagger in his
side. The cries of the king brought his guards to his assistance: they
found him in convulsions, weltering in his blood. He was borne to the
royal apartments, and expired almost immediately. The assassin
[Illustration: COURT OF MYRTLES, OR THE FISH-POND, FORMED BY YÚSUF I.]
was cut to pieces, and his limbs burnt in public, to gratify the fury of
the populace.
The assassination of Yúsuf is described by an eye-witness in a letter
addressed to Fárris, Sultán of Western Africa, which is printed by
Pascual de Gayangos from the chronicle of Al-Makkarí--an elegant Moorish
writer who flourished towards the end of the sixteenth century:--“As
Abu-el-hejaj (Yúsuf) was performing the last prostration of his prayer,
a madman rushed upon him and wounded him with a _khanjar_, or yataghán.
The assassin was immediately secured. The Sultán, who had been mortally
wounded, made some signs as if he wished to speak;
[Illustration: THE KORAN RECESS IN THE MOSQUE, THE SCENE OF YÚSUF’S
ASSASSINATION.]
but, after uttering some unintelligible words, he was carried senseless
to his apartments, where he shortly died. The assassin, meantime, was
given up to the infuriated mob, who slew him and burned his body. The
Sultán was interred within the Alhambra. He left three sons: Mohammed,
who succeeded him; Isma’íl, and Kays.”
The body of Yúsuf was interred in a superb sepulchre of white marble; a
long epitaph, in letters of gold upon an azure ground, recorded his
virtues: “Here lies a king and martyr, of an illustrious line, gentle,
learned and virtuous; renowned for the graces of his person and his
manners, whose clemency, piety and benevolence were extolled throughout
the kingdom of Granada. He was a great prince; an illustrious captain; a
sharp sword of the Moslems; a valiant standard-bearer amongst the most
potent monarchs.”
The Mosque, which once resounded with the dying cries of Yúsuf, still
remains, but the monument which recorded his virtues has long since
disappeared. His name, however, yet abides among the ornaments of the
Alhambra, and will be perpetuated in connection with this renowned pile,
which it was his pride and delight to adorn.
The Towers, Courts, and Halls of the Alhambra.
“As an Englishman approaches the Alhambra,” says Ford, “he rubs his
eyes, for he finds himself in a park of real English elms. Delicious
green roofs they form, but no more in keeping with the old Moorish
Palace than Bolton Abbey would be with the Pyramids. But why English?
Why; because this wood was the present of the Iron Duke, who had the
estate of Soto de Roma, with its four thousand once pheasant-haunted
acres given him reluctantly by the grateful Ferdinand VII., and who sent
out these elms from England.”
The first feeling which strikes a visitor on entering the Alhambra is
one of amazement to find himself suddenly transported to fairly-land.
Arches bearing upon pillars so slender that the wonder is they are able
to sustain the superincumbent weight--the style differing from all
regular orders of architecture--ceilings and walls incrusted with
fretwork so minute and intricate that the most patient draughtsman finds
it difficult to follow. Yet, although the patterns present so great
variety, the compotent parts are, in their origin, the same; and it is
by changing the colours and juxtaposition of the several pieces that the
astonishing diversity is produced. This exquisite Moorish work appears
to have been accomplished by means of moulds applied successively, the
continuity of the design being preserved with greatest care. Amidst or
around the complex forms are constantly disposed Arabic sentences of
moral and religious tendency, the most oft-repeated homily being, “Wa la
ghálib ila Alá,” that is, “There is no conqueror but God:” the sentence
being sometimes enclosed within Cufic characters written twice, and
forming the words signifying “Grace,” and “Blessing,” the letters so
curiously interwoven that the text may be read from left to right, and
from right to left.
PUERTA DE JUSTICIA--THE GATE OF JUSTICE.