MOSLEM SPAIN, 711-1031
[Sidenote: Importance of the Moslem conquest.]
The Moslem period in Spanish history is the subject of a number of
popular misconceptions. The Moslems are believed to have attained to a
phenomenally high stage of culture and to have lived in a luxury without
parallel at that time in the world. While these views are not without
truth, it is also true that the conquerors never shook themselves free
from their tribal instincts, and it was not until the tenth century that
their civilization was well established. Even then it was more largely
through the efforts of others whom they imitated than through
innovations of their own that they reached their high estate, which was
the natural result of their power and wealth, although its ripest fruit
was reserved for a later period, when much of their political authority
had passed. Nevertheless, the Moslem occupation of Spain was on other
grounds fully as important for Europe as it has usually been regarded,
and perhaps more important for Spain and Spanish America than has ever
been stated. As to the first point, it is true that Europe, through
Moslem Spain, gained a knowledge of classical and Byzantine
civilization. As to the second, racial elements entered the peninsula at
this time which have left a deep impress on Spanish character,
especially on that of the Andalusians and through them on Spanish
America. The later Spanish colonization of the Americas passed almost
wholly through the ports of Seville and Cádiz, and was confined in large
measure to Castilians. At that time, however, Andalusia was considered
part of Castile, and it was only natural that the Andalusian
“Castilians” should have been the ones to go. Many present-day Spanish
American peoples pronounce their language in the Andalusian way,
although differing in degree of similarity and having certain practices
peculiar to themselves. In other respects, too, one finds
Moslem-descended Andalusian traits in the Americas.
[Sidenote: Conversion of the Arabs to Mohammedanism.]
The Arabs were a people dwelling in greatest part in that section of
western Asia which bears their name. Prior to their conversion to
Mohammedanism they led a tribal life, not as one great tribe but as
many, some of them in settled fashion, and others in a nomadic way, but
all were independent one tribe from another and all engaged in endless
strife. There was no such thing as an Arabic national feeling or an
Arabic political state. Early in the seventh century Mahomet began to
preach the faith which he originated, a religion of extreme simplicity
in its doctrinal beliefs, but based very largely on the Jewish and
Christian creeds. The Mohammedans date their era from the year 622 A.D.,
but it was not until after that time that the Arabs were converted to
the new religion. Once they did receive it they were for a long time its
principal sword-bearers, since it fitted their fighting spirit and
promised rewards which suited their pleasure-loving tastes. Most of
them, however, were not nearly so zealous in their religious beliefs as
they have at times been regarded; rather they were too sceptical and
materialistic a people to be enthusiastic devotees of an abstract faith.
[Sidenote: Arabic conquests.]
[Sidenote: Elements of dissension among the Moslem conquerors.]
Nevertheless, the Arabs achieved a conquest which was remarkable alike
for its extent and for its rapidity. Between 697 and 708 they overran
nearly all of Syria and the entire northern coast of Africa, including
Egypt. For their conquests they had formed themselves into a single
state under the rule of a caliph, who was at the same time the head of
the church, thus centering political and religious authority in one
person. The state was divided into provinces, two of which were in
northern Africa,--Egypt and northwestern Africa. This cohesion was more
apparent than real, for the old tribal jealousies and strife continued,
accentuated by differences both in religious zeal and in
interpretations of the Moslem faith. Of the Arabs who entered Spain
there were two principal parties, representing at the same time
religious and tribal animosities, the Sunnites, or Sunnis, who were of
Yemenite race, and the Shiites, or Shiahs, of Mudarite blood. Their
quarrels in Spain, as elsewhere in Moslem realms, were a factor which
rendered difficult the establishment or the maintenance of a strong
political state. In northwestern Africa the Arabs had encountered the
Berbers, who had submitted only after opposing a determined resistance.
The Berbers were by nature a devout and democratic people, and once they
received the Moslem faith they took it up with fanatical enthusiasm.
They never regarded their conquerors with favor, however, and their
hatred was intensified by the very religious indifference of the Arabs.
Here, then, was another element of dissension in Spain, for the Berbers
took part in the conquest along with the Yemenite and Mudarite Arabs.
[Sidenote: Nature of the Moslem conquest of Spain.]
The military conquest took seven years (711-718), for after the fall of
Mérida the invaders met with vigorous, if also unorganized, resistance.
In characteristic fashion the Spanish peoples fought in guerrilla bands
or defended their own towns with desperate courage, but did not aid one
another. Some nobles made terms whereby they were allowed to retain
their estates, but the majority of them opposed the conquerors. Except
for narrow strips in the mountain regions of northern Spain the entire
peninsula had been overrun by the year 718, at which time the Moslem
armies crossed the Pyrenees into southern France. Spain was organized as
a district ruled by an emir under the governor of the province of
Africa, who was in turn subject to the Moslem caliph. The bond uniting
Spain to Africa was not in fact very tightly drawn, for the Spanish
Moslems acted in the main with complete independence of the governor of
Africa. The conquerors did not usually insist on the conversion of the
Spanish peoples (although there were exceptions to the rule), preferring
usually to give them the option of accepting the Mohammedan faith or of
paying a poll tax in addition to the taxation on Moslems and Christians
alike. Many of the Arabs opposed the conversion of the Christians,
since the continuance of the latter in their own religion meant a
lighter financial burden upon the Moslems. Since, also, the conquerors
were outnumbered, they often found it wise to grant the Spanish peoples
a right to retain their faith. In fine the conquest was not a matter of
religious propaganda, but rather was one of a more or less systematic
pillage.
[Sidenote: Division of the conquered lands.]
[Sidenote: Religious effects of the conquest.]
The lands of the Visigothic state, the Christian church, emigrating
nobles, and those who resisted were confiscated, but individuals who
submitted, even nobles (and in some cases monasteries), had their
estates restored to them in whole or in part, subject to the usual
taxation. A fifth of the confiscated lands were taken by the state, and
the rest were distributed among the soldiers and the chiefs of the
Moslem armies. The state holdings were re-allotted to Spanish serfs, who
were required to pay a third of the produce to the government, being
allowed to keep the rest for themselves. The Berbers were given lands in
the north, while the Arabs took the more fertile south. These lands,
too, were given over to serfs on much the same terms as those granted by
the state. The mass of the people were not greatly disturbed. Indeed,
the agricultural laborer advanced economically, because requirements
were lighter than formerly, and, also, since the lands were divided
among a great many proprietors, the evil of the vast estates which had
existed formerly was for the time being corrected. Slaves profited by
the conquest, in part because they were better treated, but also in that
they might become free by the mere act of conversion to Mohammedanism if
they were slaves of Christians or Jews. A great many Christians became
Mohammedans, some of them to escape slavery, others to avoid the poll
tax, and still others from sincere belief, and they came to form an
important class of the Moslem world, called “Renegados,” or renegades,
by the Christians, and “Muladíes” by themselves. The conquest weighed
more heavily on the Christian church, although, indeed, it was allowed
to remain in existence. The church had to experience the curious
practice of having its bishops named or deposed and its councils called
by the Moslem caliph or his representative. The Jews gained more than
any other element. The harsh Visigothic laws were repealed and Jews were
employed in government and administration as allies of the conquerors.
[Sidenote: Civil wars.]
The Moslem invasion of France was carried on with varying success for
several years. In 732 occurred the so-called battle of Tours, in fact
fought near Poitiers, when Charles Martel and a Frankish army defeated
the Moslems. It was not this battle which caused the retreat of the
invaders from France, but rather a civil war in Spain eight years later,
necessitating a return to the peninsula. The Berbers of Africa had risen
in revolt against their Arabic rulers, and had defeated both them and a
Syrian force sent to the latter’s assistance. Thereupon the Spanish
Berbers rose as well. For a time they were successful, but the emir was
able finally to subdue them, being aided by the Syrian army in Africa,
which he had induced to come to Spain. Then followed a terrible war
between the Syrians and the emir, because the promises to the former had
not been fulfilled. The struggle ended with a grant of some of the state
lands in southern Spain to the Syrians, who were to receive the
government’s third of the produce, but not the title to the lands.
Shortly afterward there was another civil war, this time between the
Shiite and Sunnite Arabs, caused by the harsh treatment of the former by
a Sunnite governor. The war lasted eleven years, being then given a new
turn by the intervention of a man who was to play an important part in
the history of the period.
[Sidenote: Coming of Abd-er-Rahman to Spain.]
Other parts of the Moslem world had been afflicted by the same sort of
internal strife as that which was occurring in Spain. In particular
there was a dynastic struggle, which resulted in the dethronement of the
caliphs of the Ommayad family and in the rise to power of the Abbasside
caliphs. The Ommayads were ordered to be put to death, but one of them,
a youth named Abd-er-Rahman, contrived to escape. He took refuge
successively in Egypt and northwestern Africa, and in 755 came to Spain
with the object of establishing himself there. This he was able to do,
though not without a struggle, setting himself up as emir with his
capital in Cordova, and proclaiming his independence of the caliph.
[Sidenote: Abd-er-Rahman I.]
The entire reign of Abd-er-Rahman I (755-788) was one of war. He had to
fight the Yemenite (Sunnite) Arabs, the Berbers, and many chiefs of
various tribes, as well as the governors sent out by the Abbassides,
before his authority was recognized. His ideal was that of an absolute
monarchy which should bring to an end the aristocratic independence and
anarchy in Spain, but in order to accomplish this he had to combat
Arabic tradition and pride, Berber democracy, and inter-tribal hatred.
Abd-er-Rahman was at least able to subject his opponents if not to
change them. It was during his reign that the Frankish king Charlemagne
invaded Spain and got as far as Saragossa. Obliged by events in France
to recross the Pyrenees he was attacked by the Basques in the pass of
Roncesvalles, and his rear-guard was completely destroyed. It was this
event which gave rise to the celebrated French epic poem, the _Chanson
de Roland_ (Song of Roland), in which the Frankish hero Roland is
supposed to combat the forces of Islam. No Mohammedan forces in fact
engaged in the battle, for the Basques were Christians; they were then,
as later, opposed to any foreign army which should invade their lands.
[Sidenote: Internal strife.]
Hisham I, the next emir, was not free from wars, but his reign was more
notable in its religious aspects. He was a devout Mohammedan, and
enabled the religious class to attain to great power. His successor,
Hakem I, was a sincere believer, but did not refrain from drinking wine,
thus breaking the religious law, and he conceded less influence in the
government to the church than his father had. This led to several
uprisings, in which the Renegados were a principal element. Hakem
subdued them, and exiled many thousands, most of them Renegados, who
went to different parts of northern Africa and Egypt. Another serious
revolt broke out in Toledo, which had been enjoying virtual
independence, though nominally subject to the emir. The citizens of
Toledo were most of them Renegados, but they were also Spanish, and were
unable to forget that Toledo had once been the capital of Spain. Hakem
resolved to bring them into real subjection, and was able to effect his
will. Seven years later, in 829, when Abd-er-Rahman II was emir, the
people of Toledo revolted again, and it took eight years to subdue them.
War and disorder were also prevalent in other parts of the realm. The
inhabitants of Mérida, who were Christians, rose several times; in
Murcia there was a seven years’ war between the Sunnites and Shiites. At
this time, too, the Normans began to attack the coasts of Spain just as
they were doing in other parts of Europe. They made no permanent
conquest, but rendered the coasts unsafe during the greater part of the
century. Toward the close of the ninth century the emirate began to
break under the strain of constant war. After repeated rebellions the
city of Toledo formed itself into a republic, and on the basis of an
annual tribute to the emir was recognized by the latter, who had no
other right there. In Aragon the Visigothic but Renegado family of
Beni-Casi founded an independent kingdom. A similar kingdom sprang up in
Extremadura, and another in the mountains of southern Spain. Meanwhile,
the Christian kingdoms were making gains. Except for them the new states
were usually made up of Renegados. They did not work together, however,
or the Arabic domination might have been completely broken: rather, each
little state followed a selfish policy of its own. The most important
was that of Omar-ben Hafsun in the south. Omar founded his kingdom in
884, with his capital at the castle of Bobastro. In 886 the emir
attacked him, and for more than thirty years thereafter there was war
between Omar and the emirs of Cordova. Omar was usually successful,
acquiring nearly all of Andalusia, but his political plans illustrate
the lack of a truly Spanish ideal in the kingdoms carved out of the
emirate. At first he planned only a tiny kingdom of his own; later he
aimed to get the governor of Africa to appoint him emir of Spain;
finally he became converted to Christianity, and resolved to wage a
religious war, whereupon his Renegado followers abandoned him. During
the same period civil wars of a racial nature broke out in other parts
of Spain between the Arabic aristocracy and the Renegados, especially
around the cities of Elvira and Seville. The Arabs despised the
Renegados, who were at this time the principal industrial and commercial
class, especially in Seville, and envied their wealth. Many Arabic
chiefs also refused obedience to the emirs. For a time the aristocratic
party was successful, inflicting great blows on the Renegados, and
increasing their own estates, but in the reign of Abdallah, early in the
ninth century, they received a check. The same Abdallah inflicted a
crushing defeat on King Omar. Thus the way was prepared for Abdallah’s
successor, Abd-er-Rahman III, who was to establish peace in Spain after
two centuries of almost continuous disorder.
[Sidenote: Abd-er-Rahman III.]
Abd-er-Rahman III (912-961) was by far the greatest ruler in the history
of Moslem Spain. His first problem was the establishment of the central
power. Within a few years he had reduced not only the Renegado states of
Toledo, Aragon, Extremadura, and Bobastro but also the aristocratic
Arabs and the Berber chiefs in various parts of Spain. He then changed
his title from that of emir to caliph, thus signifying his intention of
maintaining a robust absolute monarchy. He also drove back the Christian
kings in the north, after which he proceeded to cultivate friendly
relations with them. Even the Moslem province in northwestern Africa
fell under his sway. In administrative matters as well Abd-er-Rahman III
proved his ability. Not only did he create a great army but he also
increased the strength of the navy (which the emirs before him had
already founded) until it became the most powerful fleet in the
Mediterranean Sea. Spain was recognized as the greatest state in Europe,
and in western Europe it was also the centre of the highest culture.
Through the caliph’s measures agriculture, industry, and commerce, and
education, literature, and the fine arts developed to a high point, and
Cordova became a city of half a million inhabitants.
[Sidenote: Almansor.]
Hakem II (961-976) continued his father’s policy in all respects, but
was able to devote even more attention to intellectual activities. In
military affairs the next reign, that of Hisham II (976-1013), was
particularly brilliant, but it was not the caliph who directed affairs.
In the time of Hakem II a certain Mahomet-ben-Abdallah-abu-Amir had
attracted the attention and won the heart of the caliph’s favorite wife.
Through her aid he became the chief minister of Hisham II, who was a
minor at the time of his succession. Hisham was soon put aside by
Mahomet, who sequestered the caliph in the palace, and ruled in the name
of the virtually deposed monarch. Mahomet was principally famous for his
victories, on account of which he was called Almansor, meaning “the
aided of God,” or “the victorious by divine favor.” He reorganized the
army, making it a machine which was not only efficient in a military way
but also personally devoted to him. Then in repeated campaigns he
defeated the Christian kings of the northwest and northeast, reducing
the greater part of their territories to his authority, and making
himself arbiter in the kingdoms which were allowed to exist.
[Sidenote: Downfall of the caliphate.]
Almansor died in 1002, but the military supremacy of the Moslem state
was sustained by his son Abdul Malik, who succeeded as chief minister
and virtual ruler. The latter did not live long, however, being followed
in authority by another son of Almansor, who was not so fortunate in his
rule. The Moslem nobles were hostile to the military absolutism of the
Almansor family, chiefly, no doubt, because of the usual intractability
of the aristocracy, but also because the military element, composed of
Berbers and foreigners of all descriptions, even slaves (who might be
powerful generals), had become the most important in the country. Civil
wars broke out, therefore, and they resulted in the fall of the Almansor
family, in 1009. The wars continued, however, between the generals of
Almansor’s army and the various pretenders to the caliphate (even though
Hisham was alive during part of the time and was believed to be living
for many years after he had probably died or been put to death). In
1027, the last of the Ommayads, Hisham III, became caliph, but in 1031
was deposed. Thenceforth, no one was able to make good a claim to the
throne; Moslem Spain fell apart into a number of independent units, and
the caliphate came to an end.
[Sidenote: Social classes in Moslem Spain.]
Although the differences in social status were much the same in Moslem
Spain as in other parts of Europe, there were added complications, owing
to the differences of race and religion. There were the usual gradations
of aristocracy, freemen, freedmen, and slaves, but the real aristocracy
was the Arabic. This was nearly destroyed in the time of Abd-er-Rahman
III, and a new aristocracy of soldiers and merchants took its place.
Prior to that time both the Arabic and Berber nobility had gone on
increasing their holdings until they had attained vast estates, and it
was perhaps on this account that they lived for the most part in the
country, leaving the cities to the Renegados and “Mozárabes,” as the
Christians living under Moslem rule were called. The Renegados were an
especially important element in the population, both industrially and
intellectually, but were despised by the other groups; indeed, many were
descendants of slaves. The Mozárabes usually lived in a separate
district, and were allowed to govern themselves to some extent, having
law courts and some administrative officials of their own. In daily life
they mixed freely with the Moslem population. The old differences
between the Hispano-Roman and Visigothic Christians were maintained for
a time, but seem at length to have passed away. The Mozárabes were
allowed to retain their Christian worship, and as a rule were not
persecuted, although frequently insulted by lower class Moslems. Late in
the ninth century, especially in the reign of Mahomet I, there was a
period of persecution, caused very largely by the excessive zeal of some
of the Christians. The law inflicted the penalty of death on anybody who
publicly cursed the founder of the Mohammedan faith, wherefore a number
of Christians, already exasperated by certain harsh measures of the
emir, began to seek martyrdom by cursing the prophet. A Christian church
council disapproved of this practice, but it continued and was later
sanctioned by the church, which canonized many of the martyrs. The Jews
were another important element, not only in administration, but also in
commerce and in general culture. Cordova became the world’s centre for
Jewish theological studies. In all of this period the Jews were well
treated.
[Sidenote: Status of women.]
A Mohammedan was allowed to have as many as four wives and a greater
number of concubines, all together forming the particular individual’s
harem. The wives were subject to their husbands, but were not without
rights. The first wife was privileged to forbid her husband’s taking
concubines or additional wives without her consent, although it is
doubtful if the right was generally exercised. Possibly a wife’s most
important powers were those having to do with property, coupled with her
privilege of bringing suit at law without the previous consent of her
husband. Children of legally taken concubines, even if the latter were
slaves, were held to be legitimate and free. Women enjoyed more liberty
than they are commonly supposed to have had, being privileged, for
example, to visit freely with their relatives. The Arabs were very fond
of music and dancing, and took delight in licentious poetry. Not a
little of the pleasure-loving character of this race survives today in
southern Spain.
[Sidenote: Methods of warfare.]
[Sidenote: Moslem law.]
Much has been said already with regard to the general administration of
the Moslem realm, which was not greatly different from that of the
Visigothic kingdom preceding it. As for the Moslem armies they were not
so superior in organization when they entered Spain as their rapid
conquests might lead one to suppose. They were nothing more than tribal
levies, each group marching with its chief as leader. Campaigns were
also managed in a somewhat haphazard fashion, for the Moslem troops went
forth to war when the tasks of harvest time did not require their
presence at home. Many expeditions were made with no idea of military
conquest; rather they were for the sake of destroying an enemy’s crops
or securing plunder, after which the army would return, satisfied with
what it had done. The Moslem rulers gradually began to surround
themselves with special troops, and, finally, Almansor abolished the
tribal levy, and formed regiments without regard to tribe. As for Moslem
law the Koran was at the same time a book of holy writ and one of civil
law. This was supplemented by the legislation of the caliphs, but there
was always more or less confusion between law and religion. There was
never a formal code.
[Sidenote: Religion in Moslem Spain.]
Attention has already been called to the difference in the religious
fervor of the Moslem tribes. Many of the Arabs even went so far as to
deny the existence of God, although the vast body of them, perhaps, were
indifferentists. The Berbers and the mass of the people generally were
very enthusiastic Mohammedans, so that it was unsafe to express one’s
opinions contrary to the faith or even to engage openly in certain
philosophical studies, for these were regarded as heretical. Among the
religious themselves there were varying interpretations of the Koran and
differences of rite. Religious toleration existed to such an extent that
not only were the Mozárabes allowed to retain their churches, their
priesthood, and their councils, but also some of their holy days were
celebrated by Christians and Moslems alike. There was one instance where
the same building served as a Mohammedan mosque and a Christian church.
Christian clergymen from foreign lands frequently visited Moslem Spain,
while native churchmen went forth from the caliphate to travel in the
Christian countries, returning later to the peninsula.
[Sidenote: The wealth of Cordova.]
[Sidenote: Economic prosperity.]
In the tenth century Moslem Spain came to be one of the richest and most
populous lands in Europe. The wealth of Cordova was astounding, although
some allowance has to be made for the exaggerations of the chroniclers.
At one time the Moslem capital was said to have 200,000 houses, 600
mosques, and 900 bath-houses, besides many public buildings. It was well
paved, had magnificent bridges across the Guadalquivir, and contained
numerous palaces of the caliphs and other great functionaries. The most
famous of all was that of Az-Zahra, which was a palace and town in one,
erected by Abd-er-Rahman III for one of his wives. The great mosque of
Cordova, which is in use today as a Catholic cathedral, was equally
luxurious. This was begun in the reign of Abd-er-Rahman I, and was
continued and enlarged by later Moslem rulers. It came to have nineteen
aisles one way, and thirty another, with twenty-one gates, and 1293
columns of porphyry and jasper with gilded capitals. In its adornment it
was a wealth of marble, silver, and precious stones. Travellers came to
Cordova from all parts of the world, but it is worthy of note as an
evidence of the lack of complete security, even in the greatest days of
the caliphate, that it was the practice to come in great bodies, for the
roads were infested with bandits. One measure of the advance of Moslem
Spain is in the revenues of the government, which were eighteen times
greater in the reign of Abd-er-Rahman III than they were in the reign of
Abd-er-Rahman I.[16] This wealth depended on economic well-being, which
was especially in evidence in the tenth century. The Arabs were not
innovators in agriculture, but they had already learned much from
others, and they assimilated Hispano-Roman and Mozárabic methods, with
the result that Spain became richer in this regard than she had ever
been before. They introduced rice, sugar, and several other products
which had not previously been cultivated in Spain, and made use of
irrigation in Granada, Murcia, and Valencia. Stock-raising, mining, and
manufacturing were also extensively carried on. As a natural result of
all this activity there was a like development of commerce. The
principal part of Abd-er-Rahman III’s revenues proceeded from import and
export duties. It is worthy of note that there was a considerable
traffic not only in slaves but also in women,--such was Arabic
character. Seville was perhaps the most important port. Through the
medium of commerce Spain came into close contact with the Moslem East
and with the Byzantine Greeks. As a result of the mathematical problems
involved in trade it is believed that the Arabs introduced into Europe
the very important cipher, or zero, which they on their part had
received from India.
[Sidenote: Languages.]
[Sidenote: Education.]
Not only Arabic and Latin but many other languages as well were spoken
in Moslem Spain; the Berber, for example, was independent of either of
the two first-named. Despite the predominatingly Latin character of the
eventual Spanish tongue the Arabic influence upon it was great,--not so
much in words as in forms and idioms of speech. There were Moslem
schools of a private character, but there was no public school system.
The caliphs often brought learned men to their court, but it was the
religious who more than any others devoted themselves to education.
There were few Moslems who could not read or write, and in this respect
Spain was in advance of the rest of western Europe. Women, far from
being excluded from education, were taught the same branches as the men,
and often became notable both in literature and in scientific studies.
[Sidenote: Intellectual achievements.]
[Sidenote: The fine arts.]
[Sidenote: Narrow streets.]
The Arabs introduced the industrially manufactured paper of the orient
instead of using the parchment or papyrus of the Romans. This greatly
lowered the cost of books, and led to an increase in productivity,
facilitating both literary and scientific studies. Although philosophy
and astronomy were so strongly opposed by the common people and the
priestly class of the Moslems that their study was at times forbidden by
the government,[17] they were a fruitful topic in the education and
researches of the upper classes. One of the greatest glories of Arabic
civilization was the transmission of Greek culture to western Europe,
for the Arabs had become acquainted with the works of the Greeks, while
western Europe had almost completely forgotten them. Nevertheless,
Moslem Spain was to be more important in this respect in the period
following the downfall of the caliphate. Mathematics and medicine did
not meet with popular and religious opposition, and in both of these
sciences the Arabs achieved notable results. Polite literature, however,
and especially poetry, was the most favored intellectual medium. Poetry
had been cultivated by the Arabs while they were yet in their crude
tribal stage. It was not unusual for challenges to personal combat or
declarations of war to be written in poetry. Books of science, even,
made their appearance in verse, and the improvisation of poetry was a
general practice. The most favored subject-matter illustrates a
pronounced trait in Arabic character, for amorous themes of an immoral
order accorded best with Arabic taste. The Spanish Moslems were not
notable in painting and sculpture, but distinguished themselves in
architecture and the industrial arts. Perhaps the most important feature
of their cultivation of these arts was the introduction of Byzantine
influences. They made use of the dome and of the elaborate decoration of
flat surfaces (especially of walls) with arabesques, so named because of
their profuse employment in Arabic work. In addition they painted their
buildings in brilliant and variegated colors. They rarely built in
stone, preferring brick, plaster, and adobe. The mosque was the
principal example of their architecture. In that and in their civil
edifices they made use of one feature, not unlike that of the Roman
house, which has survived in Spain,--the enclosed court, or _patio_,
surrounded by arcades, with a fountain in the centre. Streets were
narrow, both with a view to provide shade against the heat of the sun,
and also because of the necessities of space, so that the city might be
contained within its walls.