upon a very low level of culture. This cannot, however, be said of all,
for many of the upper classes and of the court are well educated, though
the branches or subjects they are taught are not varied. Foreign
governesses are often employed to teach the girls French, German, and
English, which they can, in many cases, speak fluently. Language and
literature furnish a large part of their education. A change is
gradually coming over the Turkish people in this matter of the
development of its women, and this, notwithstanding, the fear in many
minds that a better educated woman will be a less manageable woman; a
creature dissatisfied with her lot. A recent writer of acute observation
of Turkish affairs has said of efforts on the part of American
philanthropists to instil the spirit of the American public school into
the minds of the Turks: "The general opinion seemed to be that the
female sex had no intellectual capacity. The first efforts of the
Americans to make the women sharers in intellectual progress and
refinement were met with opposition, and often with derisive laughter.
They created a new public sentiment in favor of the education of women.
This is shown by the interest taken in the schools established by
Americans for the education of girls. Pashas, civil and military
officers of high rank, the ecclesiastics and wealthy men of all the
different nationalities attend the examinations, and express their
hearty approval of the efforts made by the Americans for improving the
conditions of the women of Turkey."
The tendency of these influences is to win for women a greater respect
from fathers, husbands, brothers; greater freedom in choice of their
life partners; to defer the marriageable age from twelve years to
fifteen or twenty; to secure for mothers greater respect from their
children; and to elevate womanhood in every relation of life.
Turkish women who are still living under the patriarchal system--and in
no small part of the empire does this ancient system prevail--develop
under a different environment from that prevailing in the other parts of
the realm. Under a patriarchate the mother yields to the grandmother and
the great-grandmother. The wife holds not only a subservient place in
the family, which often contains as many as forty persons, but she is
often, literally, a slave to the mother-in-law, and her children are
trained by almost everybody else but herself. The patriarchal system is
gradually yielding, however; and more and more, even in the conservative
regions of the world, newly married people are forsaking father and
mother and cleaving to one another, setting up their own homes and
developing the parental character, and training their young in their own
sweet way.
Under strict Moslem influence, motherhood has a place of honor; at
least in theory. For Mohammedanism gives to the woman who bears children
and trains them faithfully a rank in heaven with the martyrs.
Unfortunately, however, the light esteem in which women are held in
Moslem lands makes against woman's power, even in her noblest
opportunity,--that of moulding the children into character that is
noblest and best. Much work has been done by foreign philanthropists in
an effort to raise the standard of home training among the Turks.
Stanley Lane-Poole, in his _Studies in a Mosque_, a book not written
from the viewpoint of the modern missionary, but that of a candid and
diligent student of historic conditions, says: "It is quite certain that
there is no hope for the Turks, so long as Turkish women remain what
they are, and home training is the imitation of vice." This is surely a
dark picture. But the time may yet come when the Turkish woman will
assume a position more like that of her Western sisters and become an
elevating influence in the land whose present territory includes much of
the most renowned soil the sun ever shone upon, not only that which saw
the birth of the religion of the Jew, the Christian, and the Mohammedan,
but also much that is rich in classic and mediaeval memories--the country
of which Byron wrote:
"The land of the cedar and pine,
Where the flowers ever blossom, the beams ever shine;
Where the light wings of Zephyr, oppressed with perfume,
Wax faint in the gardens of Gul in her bloom.
.......................................................
Where the virgins are soft as the roses they twine,
And all save the spirit of man is divine."
Yes, even the land of the Turk may see such ideals of womanhood
realized as those which made the women of the ancient Hebrews and the
early Christians--who lived upon what is now Turkish soil--to be honored
throughout the ages.
XI
THE MOORISH WOMEN
We are now to turn our attention to one of the most fascinating of all
the women of the world--the Moorish woman. Her fascination does not lie
altogether in her intrinsic charm, but in the atmosphere that romance
has cast about her. And while there is, of course, a very close kinship
between the Moorish women of Spain and Morocco and the women of the
Orient, especially the Mohammedan women, yet, the lady of Moorish
ancestry has a history and a life of her own which are well worthy of
consideration.
The Moors brought culture to Spain, and it was not long after their
expulsion that learning began to decline, and with it Spain. It was
during the period of the Western movement of Mohammedanism that Islam
made its contribution to the world's progress. In its very work of
devastation, Arabian civilization was destined to render mankind great
service. Conquering the north of Africa and then coming across the
narrow Straits of Gibraltar, the Moors were destined to write out a
wonderful history in their European home. So deeply did the Moors
impress their life upon the Spaniards, that long after their expulsion
they continued to influence Spain by the power of their thought and the
impress of their customs. Even to-day, after the lapse of more than four
centuries, Moorish footprints are traceable in Spanish soil. While the
Moors brought culture into Spain, it cannot be said that they made any
direct attempt to educate or to elevate their women. But among a people
whose learning was relatively so high for its age, it was impossible to
prevent the women from receiving a certain refinement and at times an
elevation of mind which made them worthy of the respect and admiration
of not only the prouder sex, but of the world. The capacity for true
poetry and the gift of music were not uncommon accomplishments of these
women. There was ample leisure for these arts to be cultivated by them.
Charm of presence seemed to belong by nature and habit to the Moorish
woman, as
"Some grace propitious on her steps attends,
Adjusts her charms by stealth and recommends."
The Moorish women were pretty, as indeed their descendants are,
especially when young. Like the ancient Egyptians, they blackened their
eyelashes and eyebrows and used henna stains upon their finger tips.
Beauty was at a high premium, not because there was so little of it in
Moorish Spain, but because it was highly prized. Some of this peculiar
type of beauty persists even to-day in parts of the peninsula. As
Aranzadi (quoted by Ripley) says: "The very prevalent honey-brown eyes
of the southwest quarter of Spain, near Granada, is probably due to
strong Moorish influence."
The respect for women among the Moors of Spain was higher than it would
be natural to expect in a land where Mohammed's influence was paramount.
It is a tradition that the Prophet once declared: "I stood at the gate
of Paradise and lo! most of its inmates were poor; and I stood at the
gate of Hell and lo! most of its inmates were women." The Arabian nature
was intuitive, ardent, impulsive. So the beauty of a beautiful woman
awakened the feeling of love and chivalry. On the other hand, the women
were warm-hearted, though custom required them to be dignified and
self-contained. Among a people where generosity, courage, hospitality,
and veneration for old age were conspicuous virtues, it is not strange
that women should have received more than ordinary respect. And yet
these very qualities, when abused, often degenerated into idleness,
pride, ignorance, bigotry, and even the grossest sensuality.
Chivalry, however, had its better side, for "Here gallants held it
little thing for ladies' sake to die," as the old Spanish ballad tells
us. The Cid stories of valor--like that of Antar in Arabian literature,
Orlando in Italian, and Arthur in early English legend--brought this
powerful influence upon the imaginations and conduct of both men and
women:
"For here did valor flourish and deeds of warlike might
Ennobled lordly palaces in which was our delight."
Spain was for centuries known for its gallantry. Indeed, "the Spaniards
bore away the palm of gallantry from the French," and have in some
respects perpetuated the influence stamped upon them by the Moorish
women, even to this day. As Thomas Bourke says, in his _Moors in Spain_:
"Much of the chivalrous manner of the Granadians is no doubt to be
attributed to their women, who were exactly qualified to create and keep
alive this spirit of gallantry among their countrymen and to occasion
those excesses of love, of which so many examples, equally extraordinary
as pleasing, occur both in Spanish and in Arabian history."
What is the secret of the alluring and overpowering charms with which
the Moorish women have fascinated the historian, enkindled the novelist
and poet, set the musician's heart to vibrating and stirred the
imagination of the world? A description of them which goes back to the
old Arabian days is of interest in finding the secret of their power
over the senses and the imaginations of men. "They are uncommonly
beautiful; their charms which very rarely fail to impress, even at first
sight, are further set off by a lightness and grace which gives them an
influence quite irresistible. They are rather below the middle stature;
their hair, which is of a beautiful black, descends almost to their
ankles. No vermilion can vie with their lips, which are continually
sending forth the most bewitching smiles, as if expressly to display
teeth as white as alabaster. They are profuse in the use of perfumes and
washes which, being exquisite in their kinds, give a freshness and
lustre to the skin rarely to be equalled by the women of other
countries. Their steps, their dances, all their movements display a
graceful softness, an easy negligence, that enhances their other charms,
and not only renders them irresistible, but exalts them beyond all power
of praise. Their conversation is lively and poignant; their wit refined
and penetrating, equally adapted to grave and abstruse discussions as to
the pleasantest and most lively sallies."
The dresses of the Granadian women, not unlike those of the modern
Turks and Russians, consisted chiefly of a long tunic, which was held in
by a girdle. There was also an upper garment with straight sleeves. This
was called a _dolyman_. Large drawers upon the legs and Morocco slippers
upon the feet finished the costume, with the exception of their small
bonnets, to which were attached costly veils, richly embroidered and
descending to their knees, altogether presenting a picture which, at its
best, made the Moorish woman one of the most graceful and picturesque of
her day. The stuffs which went into a Moorish woman's dress were usually
of extraordinary fineness, and the trimmings were costly, gold and
silver edging being used without stint.
Hairdressing was not an unimportant part of her toilette. The black
hair, befitting her complexion, was allowed to fall down in braids upon
the shoulders, but in front there was a fringe. Strings of coral beads
were often intertwined with the side locks; and the ornaments of the
hair, often costly pearls, were allowed to hang down, giving a delicate
tinkle as the woman moved her head. There were some little superstitions
about the hair. It was thought that a direful curse fell upon those who
joined another's hair to their own. To send a person a bit of hair, or
even, by metonymy, the silken string which bound it, was a token of
submission. Jewelry was used by the Moorish women in great profusion.
They are still passionately fond of ornaments. Even the poorest are well
supplied, and the shapely brown arms of the little girls are encircled
at the wrist and above the elbow with bands of brass or copper. As the
women walk they "make a tinkling with their feet, because of all the
rings and anklets and bangles which they wear with so much delight."
This jewelry is the woman's personal property, and in case her husband
should see fit to divorce her, it still remains her own.
One of the most important parts of a Moorish lady's daily life was the
bath, a pastime which was both pleasurable and imperative, especially in
the homes of the wealthier classes. Coppee, in his _Conquest of Spain_,
has thus described the bathing equipment of a Moorish home: "Passing
from the centre of a luxurious court through a double archway into
another _patio_, similar in proportions and surroundings, and usually
lying at right angles to the first, in the centre is a great _estangue_,
or oblong basin, seventy-five feet long by thirty in width, and six feet
in depth in its deepest part, supplied with limpid waters, raised to a
pleasant temperature by heated metallic pipes. Here the indolent, the
warm, the weary, may bathe in luxurious languor. Here the women disport
themselves, while the entrances are guarded by eunuchs against
intrusion. The contented bather may then leave the court by a postern in
the gallery, which opens into a beautiful garden, with mazy walks and
blooming parterres, redolent with roses and violets. Water is
everywhere; one garden house is ingeniously walled in with fountain
columns, meant to bid defiance to the fiercest heats and droughts of
summer."
From these ample and often luxurious arrangements, it might be surmised
that by the Moor water was regarded not as a luxury, but as an absolute
necessity to a happy life. All classes shared more or less in the habits
of cleanliness; for it is said that many of the poor would have spent
"their last _dirhem_ for soap, preferring rather to be dinnerless than
dirty," while the Moors of the higher order were so scrupulously cleanly
that they are said to have spent a very large part of their lives in the
bath.
Strangely enough, the Catholics of Spain, determining to get as far
away as possible from the customs of their Mohammedan captors, eschewed
the bath because the Moors made so much of it; and men and women among
them were known to be strangers to the touch of water. So far from
cleanliness being regarded as next to godliness, dirt became the very
emblem of Christian society, "monks and nuns boasted of their
filthiness," and there is on record a female saint who boasted at the
age of sixty that no drop of water had ever touched her body, except
that the tips of her fingers had been dipped into the holy water at the
mass!
Nine hundred well-equipped baths in the rich city of Cordova, and
thousands throughout Spain, were destroyed by Philip II., the husband of
Queen Mary of England, on the ground that they were but relics of
Spain's occupancy by the infidel.
While Mohammed refused to Mohammedan women the right to marry any but a
Mohammedan, yet he granted to his male followers the right to marry
Christians or Jewesses if they saw fit. This privilege led to a
considerable admixture of blood in Moorish Spain. Spanish pride did not
suffice to prevent these intermarriages of Arab and Spaniard. Polygamy
also being in vogue,--for their religion allowed the Moors four
wives,--a blending of races went on rapidly, and the Moorish type of
beauty may be discovered to-day in any part of southern Spain. The
Christian influence in Spain tended to soften the almost necessary
asperities of a life where plural marriages are sanctioned. The
degradation incident to Mohammedan ideals concerning women was much
checked by a counter current of Christian feeling, by which the Moors
could not but be influenced. So, also, did poets and lovers in Moorish
Spain show a respect for womanly worth and grace, if not womanly virtue,
which marks an advance from the Mohammedan or even the earlier Arabian
days.
As might be inferred from their Oriental antecedents, the Spanish Arabs
gave much time to eating and drinking. The chief meal followed the
evening prayer. The men ate alone, the women and children followed when
their lord had finished his repast. The tray containing the food was
placed upon an embroidered rug. Silver and fine earthenware were not
wanting. Bread and limes were expected with every meal. A dish made of
the flesh of a sheep or fowls stewed with vegetables was a common dish,
as, indeed, it is a favorite among the Moorish people to-day. "The diner
sat on a low cushion, with legs crossed. A servant poured water on his
hands before eating, from a basin and ewer, which formed a necessary
part of the table furniture. The meal then began with the
_Bismillah_--'In the name of the most merciful God'--for grace. The
right hand only was used in eating; and with it the host, if he had
guests, transferred choice pieces from his own plate to theirs, and
sometimes, as a mark of greater favor, to their very mouths. Ordinarily
there were soups, boiled meats, stuffed lambs, and all meats not
forbidden. Very little water was taken during the meal; in its place,
and especially after the meal, sherbets were drunk, those flavored with
violet and made very sweet being preferred."
The contact between the Mohammedans and the Christians in Moorish
Spain inevitably brought conflict. Christians often unnecessarily threw
away their lives in courted martyrdom. Many were the staunch women who
thus willingly laid down their lives. The story of Flora, the beautiful
daughter of a Moorish father and a Christian mother, has in it elements
of the deepest pathos. The offspring of mixed marriages among the Moors
was universally regarded by them as of necessity Mohammedan in faith.
Flora's mother, however, had secretly instilled into her the beliefs of
the Christian religion, though outwardly she was a good follower of the
Prophet. At length, however, stirred by the sacrifices she saw the
Christian martyrs making for their cause, her father being now dead, she
fled from her home and took refuge among the Christians. Her Mohammedan
brother searched for her, but in vain. Priests were charged with her
abduction and were punished with imprisonment. Unwilling that they
should be thus punished on her account, Flora returned and gave herself
up, confessing that she was no longer a Moslem, but a Christian. All
efforts to make her recant proved fruitless. There remained nothing
except to bring her before the Mohammedan judge and try her for the
capital offence of apostasy. The judge, however, willing to show mercy,
sentenced Flora not to death as the law prescribed, but to a severe
flogging. Her brother was enjoined to take the girl home and instruct
her in the faith of Mohammed. It was not long, however, before she again
made good her escape and joined some Christian friends, among whom a new
experience awaited her. Here, Saint Eulogius, an enthusiast among the
Christians, met Flora and conceived for her a love that was pure and
tender, so admirable did he adjudge her steadfastness to the faith. It
was a day when martyrs willingly laid down their lives, accounting it a
proud distinction to die at the hands of the infidel. They courted
death. So with Flora. Appearing before the judge one day with a
Christian maiden who also sought a martyr's death, this girl of half
Moorish blood, but with staunch Christian faith, reviled that officer
and cursed his religion and the Prophet. The Mohammedan judge pitied the
young girls, but had them thrown into prison. Here they might have
weakened had not Eulogius urged them to stand fast in their holy faith.
The sentence of death was passed upon them; and the girls were led away
to execution. Eulogius, who loved Flora above all else on earth, and
hence desired her to win what he considered the most glorious of all
crowns, that of martyrdom, looked on in the hour of her death, and
wrote: "She seemed to me an angel. A celestial illumination surrounded
her; her face lightened with happiness; she seemed already to be tasting
the joys of the heavenly home.... When I heard the words of her sweet
mouth, I sought to establish her in her resolve, by showing her the crown
that awaited her. I worshipped her, I fell down before this angel, and
besought her to remember me in her prayers; and strengthened by her
speech, I returned less sad to my sombre cell." Thus did Moorish blood
and Christian faith unite to make a life of wonderful daring and
fortitude.
To-day in Moorish states the strictest seclusion prevails for the
women. The love of idleness, ignorance, and sensuality are their
dominating traits. They are veiled when in public, and in the north of
Africa wear a striped white shawl, called a _haik_, of coarser or finer
material, according to the wealth or position of the wearer. This piece
of apparel is thrown over the head and conceals the person down to the
feet, the face being hidden by a white linen handkerchief, called the
_adjar_, tied tightly across the nose just under the eyes. Says Sequin,
in _Walks about Algiers_, in describing the Moorish women of that
region: "In the street they present the appearance of animated
clothes-bags, and walk with a curious shuffling gait, very far removed
from the unfettered dignity of their lords and masters. They are not
'emancipated'; and though in the houses of the richer Moors the slavery
of their women may be gilded, it is but slavery after all. The
Mohammedan invariably buys his wife--that is to say, he pays a price for
her to her family, large or small, according to her reputed beauty, or
accomplishments as a housewife; and though when a girl is born to him,
an Arab laments, a man with many daughters, if he knows how to dispose
of them well, in time becomes rich. Arab women, unlike the men, are
small in stature, and the wearing of the _adjar_ has flattened their
noses and made their faces colorless. It is a curious fact that this
disguise was unknown among Arab women until the time of Mahommed's
marriage with his young and beautiful wife Ayesha, as to whose conduct,
indeed, it became needful for the angel Gabriel to make a special
communication, before the Prophet's uneasiness could be removed. The
jealousy of one man has been powerful enough to cover the faces of all
Moslem wives and daughters for twelve hundred years."
The Moorish women of the better class are rarely seen upon the streets
or in public places. Indeed, they are not expected to cross their
threshold for at least twelve months after their marriage; and when that
time has elapsed, it is seldom they are seen abroad. They go to the
baths, and sometimes on Fridays they visit the cemeteries. Other
recreations or amusements are not open to them, except that in the
marriage ceremonies women have peculiar privileges, since these
ceremonies are held in the women's apartments. "Marriage festivities
last a week, during which time the chief amusement is the eating of
sweetmeats and the dressing, bejewelling, dyeing, painting, and
generally adorning of the bride, who is, as a rule, a girl of some
thirteen or fourteen years old, and who is compelled to sit idle and
immovable the whole time without showing the slightest interest in
anything. She has probably never seen and has certainly never been seen
by the bridegroom. At the conclusion of the ceremonies the bridegroom is
introduced to the women's apartments, and permitted to raise his bride's
veil, but etiquette obliges the lady to keep her eyes tightly closed on
the occasion, and in some cases the unfortunate young woman's eyelashes
are gummed down to her cheeks, to save the possibility of an indiscreet
glance. If the face of the bride is displeasing to the bridegroom, he is
at liberty after this one glance to reject her. If, on the contrary, he
is satisfied, he drinks a few drops of scented water from the bride's
hand, offers her the same from his, and the marriage is concluded."
In contrast with their once great enemies, the Spaniards, the Moors
have no kind of public spectacle. For the Moors of Africa,
story-telling, in which the Arabs have time out of mind delighted, the
recitation of poems, to which is usually added a dance of _almehs_,
generally negresses, expert in their art of pleasing the native
assemblies. These entertainments are held in the open courtyard of some
quaint old Moorish house; the centre of the court being reserved for the
dancers and the musicians. The men fill the space around, beneath the
arches, while in the galleries are the ghostly forms of veiled women.