CHAPTER IX

REIGN OF HISCHEM I.; REIGN OF AL-HAKEM I.

788–822

Custom of Royal Succession violated by the Will of

Abd-al-Rahman--Accession of Hischem--Revolt of Suleyman and

Abdallah--They are routed and their Armies dispersed--Clemency

of the Emir--Invasion of Septimania--Defeat of the

Franks--Indecisive Results of the Campaign--Public Works

of Hischem---His Noble Character--His Partiality for

Theologians--The Southern Suburb of Cordova--Death of

Hischem--General Distrust of Al-Hakem--Suleyman and Abdallah

again in Rebellion--Civil War--The Gothic March--Siege and

Capture of Barcelona--Apathy of the Emir--Importance of the

Conquest--The Edrisite Dynasty--Disturbances at Toledo--“The Day

of the Ditch”--The Royal Body-Guard--Revolt of the Faquis--Its

Results--League of the Asturians and Frankish Princes--Legend of

St. James the Apostle--Death of Al-Hakem--His Character.

In designating his favorite son, Hischem, as his successor,

Abd-al-Rahman unconsciously laid the foundation of endless and

irreconcilable domestic feuds, in addition to the manifold causes of

political discord already existing between the antagonistic elements

which composed the population of the Peninsula. The hand of despotism

had suppressed the manifestations of popular discontent, but it was

evident that this suppression was only temporary. The normal condition

of Arab and Berber, by tradition, by inheritance, by practice, was one

of haughty independence, of open defiance of established authority.

The dictates of political wisdom, as well as the experience of the

civilized nations of ancient times, had demonstrated beyond dispute

the advantages of the law of primogeniture. That law, while not

recognized by the Moslem constitution, had been adopted for the sake

of expediency, and in time was confirmed by custom and precedent. The

choice of his heir was tacitly left to the sovereign, to be ratified

by the homage of the great officers of the kingdom; a mere formality

whereby a concession was made to the prejudices of the tribesmen, but

which was, in fact, devoid of political significance. The omission of

this ceremony would not have affected the investiture of the heir,

nor have impaired the validity of his title; it would only have

afforded a plausible pretext for some ambitious chieftain to foment

an insurrection. Several reasons combined to induce Abd-al-Rahman

to prefer Hischem to his elder brethren. His mother, the beautiful

Holal, was his favorite concubine. She had been presented to him, in

an interval of peace, by his old adversary Yusuf, and had from that

hour acquired a great influence over him. Hischem was born in Spain,

while his brothers Suleyman and Abdallah were natives of Syria, a

fact which it might be presumed would the more readily secure to

the former the attachment of his subjects. But the principal reason

that determined the choice of Abd-al-Rahman was his knowledge of the

mental and moral superiority evinced by the character of Hischem.

His life was in strong and favorable contrast with those of his

brothers. They were idle, dissipated, and frivolous. While their

houses were constantly filled with a mob of buffoons and dancers,

his hours were passed in the society of the learned and the wise. He

had enjoyed the best educational advantages to be obtained, and had

diligently profited by them. He had repeatedly displayed his capacity

for government under trying circumstances, and his presence of mind

and courage in more than one bloody field. His precocious sagacity

and wisdom, the affability of his manners, the piety of his life,

the gentleness of his disposition, were the delight of the court and

the envy of his companions. The arbitrary selection of Abd-al-Rahman,

dictated by affection and policy and sanctioned by Mohammedan custom,

was justified by the prosperous reign of Hischem; yet, by establishing

a dangerous precedent in the polity of the Western Khalifate, it was,

in no trifling degree, responsible for its ultimate overthrow. In this

respect, however, its history is but the counterpart of that of every

other Moslem power. The ideas dominating the various constituents

of the society of Islam were incompatible with either the just

subordination of classes or the permanence of empire.

The exigencies of the time demanded the talents of an active and

resolute sovereign. The fiery passions of the people, hitherto

restrained by fear, awaited only a favorable occasion to break out

into rebellion. On every side were indications of future trouble,--the

agitation of the populace, the ambition of pretenders, the rivalry of

sects, were plainly visible to the discerning eye under a deceptive

appearance of order and tranquillity. The allegiance of the walis

of the eastern frontier, always precarious, was becoming daily more

unreliable. Their distance from the seat of government, their proximity

to the land of the Franks, their aspirations for independence, and

their control of the passes of the Pyrenees, all considerations of

vital political importance, while they increased their arrogance at the

same time weakened their fidelity. The disasters which had heretofore

attended the active interference of the Abbasides in the affairs of the

Peninsula had inculcated a salutary lesson; but the court of Bagdad was

not intimidated by the checks it had sustained, and the resources of

intrigue and the influence of gold were constantly employed to enlist

the services of the Christians and to corrupt the integrity of the

officers entrusted with the defence of strongholds, whose possession

would facilitate the destruction of the rival dynasty which had wrested

from the Commander of the Faithful one of the richest portions of his

inheritance. To add to the difficulties of the situation, the kingdom

of the Asturias, whose existence was due to the internecine strife of

its enemies rather than to the talents of its rulers or the valor of

its people, now began to disclose nascent evidences of that power which

subsequently attained such a prodigious development.

Hischem, who was governor of Merida, was proclaimed Emir of Spain at

that city as soon as the obsequies of his father had been performed.

Already well known to and beloved by his subjects, the public prayer,

repeated from the mimbar of every mosque, seemed the announcement of an

era of national prosperity and happiness. But these anticipations were

sadly delusive. As soon as information of Abd-al-Rahman’s death reached

Cordova, Suleyman, who happened to be in that city, left his lodgings,

took possession of the palace, and endeavored to obtain the support of

the mob of the capital. Failing in this, he quietly retired and joined

his brother Abdallah at Toledo, where they concerted measures for

the deposition of Hischem and the partition of his dominions between

them. The vizier of Toledo, Ghalib-Ibn-Zeman-al-Tafeki, having been

approached by the conspirators, not only proved faithful to his trust

but menaced the princes with the vengeance of the Emir, an act which

cost him his office and his liberty. A messenger having been sent by

Hischem to ask the cause of this harsh treatment of an old and faithful

servant, Suleyman, by way of response, caused the vizier to be brought

from his dungeon and impaled in the presence of the envoy. Justly

interpreting this outrage as a mortal defiance, Hischem proclaimed his

brothers rebels; denounced the penalties of treason against all who

should countenance them; and having summoned the walis of the various

provinces to his aid, took the field at the head of an army of twenty

thousand men. The rebels had succeeded in raising a force almost equal

in numbers, which, commanded by Suleyman, already had advanced some

distance towards the South. A battle was fought near the Castle of

Boulk; the insurgents were beaten, and the Emir invested Toledo, whose

garrison, defended by strong fortifications and encouraged by the

intrepid spirit of Abdallah, offered the prospect of a long and tedious

siege.

Collecting the remnants of his defeated army, Suleyman descended upon

the plains of Andalusia, ravaging its settlements with fire and sword.

Abd-al-Melik, Governor of Cordova, having encountered him near Sufenda,

the rebels were again routed and dispersed; and Suleyman, apprised

that the entire resources of the kingdom were being employed for his

destruction, escaped with difficulty through the mountain-passes into

the province of Murcia. In the meantime, the condition of the besieged

in Toledo had become desperate. The successive defeats of their

companions had disheartened the garrison; the supply of provisions was

diminishing; the assaults upon the fortifications were incessant; and,

Suleyman being a fugitive, no hope of relief could now be entertained.

Abdallah, in his extremity, determined to throw himself upon the mercy

of the brother he had wronged, and to solicit in person the pardon he

so little deserved. Leaving Toledo, he passed through the lines of

the enemy under the protection of a safe-conduct of an envoy, whose

character he had assumed for the occasion, and proceeded to Cordova,

whither Hischem had gone a short time before, the better to observe

the movements of Suleyman. The amiable disposition of Hischem was not

proof against the appeal of his penitent brother; he received him with

open arms; and both returning to Toledo, the gates were opened by the

order of Abdallah, whose followers were granted a general amnesty,

while he himself received a princely estate in the vicinity of the city

as a pledge of complete reconciliation and oblivion of the past. The

fierce and intractable spirit of Suleyman, however, prompted him to

once more try the doubtful chances of war. Among the dense population

of Murcia were thousands of adventurers, whose predatory instincts had

never been mitigated by the influences of civilization. These, allured

by the promises of Suleyman, enlisted with alacrity under his standard.

A considerable force was already assembled upon the fields of Lorca

when, in the absence of their general, the advance guard of the Emir’s

army, under Al-Hakem, his son, a boy in years but, as it soon became

evident, a man in courage and military ability, appeared before the

rebel camp. Although his command was greatly inferior in numbers, the

young prince charged the insurgents with such impetuosity that they

gave way after a short and bloody struggle; and when Hischem arrived

with the main body, the field was clear of all except the dead and

dying. Suleyman, now thoroughly discouraged, made overtures for pardon,

which was granted, conditional upon his perpetual exile. His estates

were purchased by Hischem for the sum of seventy thousand mithcals of

gold; and the rebellious prince retired to Tangier, where, safe from

molestation, he regularly maintained a treasonable correspondence

with his old companions in arms, watching anxiously for a favorable

opportunity to assert his claim to the throne of the emirate.

While these events were transpiring in the West and the attention of

Hischem was engrossed with the conspiracy of his brothers, serious

disturbances had arisen elsewhere. Said-Ibn-Husein, the wali of

Tortosa, refused to recognize, or even to admit within the city,

an officer whom the Emir had appointed to succeed him. The wali of

Valencia was ordered to seize and punish the rebellious governor, but

the cunning of the latter led his adversary into an ambuscade, where

he was killed and his followers were put to flight. Encouraged by the

success of Ibn-Husein, the walis of Barcelona, Saragossa, Huesca, and

Tarragona proclaimed their independence, and entered into an offensive

and defensive alliance against the Emir. The new wali of Valencia,

Abu-Othman, more skilful, or more fortunate, than his predecessor,

experienced but little difficulty in suppressing an insurrection which

at first promised to be formidable. The armies of the rebels were

defeated; the heads of all who were captured by Abu-Othman were sent

to Cordova, and the successful general, after receiving the thanks and

congratulations of his sovereign, was ordered to the Pyrenees, there to

await reinforcements and make preparations for an invasion of France.

The fortunate results which had hitherto attended his measures, and

the knowledge that the unruly temperament of his subjects constantly

demanded the excitement of arms, determined Hischem to divert to the

annoyance of his enemies that active and menacing spirit which had

recently been exerted to his own prejudice and to the imminent peril of

his crown. And, in addition to these considerations, inducements were

not wanting which might afford a powerful stimulus to his political

ambition. The pecuniary resources of his kingdom were far greater than

those which his father had controlled. Increasing commerce and the

sense of public security derived from a centralized government had

rendered the burden of taxation more endurable. Long and unintermitting

service in the field had created a body of soldiers, patient of

discipline, devoted to the interests of their sovereign, and accustomed

to conquer. To each succeeding ruler of the Peninsula, from the time

of Musa, had been bequeathed as imperative religious obligations, the

extension of territory subject to tribute, and perpetual war with the

infidel. A thirst for revenge was now added to the original incentives

of ambition and proselytism,--a desire to wipe out, by a series of

fresh triumphs, the memory of past reverses, and to inflict a long

deferred retaliation for frightful misfortunes endured by the routed

armies of Islam. The Djihad, or Holy War, was proclaimed simultaneously

from the pulpit of every mosque in the Emir’s dominions. To the

promotion of the crusade, every Moslem was bound by the law of the

Koran to contribute in proportion to his means, by donations of money,

military supplies, provisions, or personal service. The martial tribes

of the Peninsula, to whom war was a diversion, flocked eagerly to the

standard of the empire. One army, forty thousand strong, desolated the

settlements of Galicia, defeated Bermudo, King of the Asturias, and

returned laden with booty and accompanied by thousands of captives.

Another penetrated the depths of the Pyrenees, seized the passes,

and, either by force or negotiation, secured the temporary neutrality

of the Basques. During the ensuing year, diligent preparations were

made for the reconquest of Septimania, whose capital, Narbonne, long

the seat of Moslem power in the south of France, had now, for almost

thirty years, been held by the infidel. The city of Gerona, recently

taken by the Franks, was stormed, pillaged, and its inhabitants

remorselessly butchered. This stronghold--a place of great strategic

importance, whose possession by the enemy might seriously interfere

with the movements of either a successful or a defeated army--having

been recovered, the way was open to the Valley of the Rhone. The

time was most favorable for the prosecution of such an enterprise.

The attention of Charlemagne was engaged by the seditions of the

discontented barbarians of Germany. Louis, King of Aquitaine, was in

Italy, where he had gone to assist his brother, Pepin, hard pressed by

the Lombards. The country was in a practically defenceless condition;

drained of its troops; deprived of its sovereign; with a population

which, for the space of almost a generation, had not been accustomed

to the use of arms, or had experienced the calamities of invasion.

The Saracens met with few impediments. No organized resistance was

attempted. The atrocities inseparable from savage warfare marked every

step of their progress. Flushed with success, the victorious army

advanced on Narbonne. The defences of that city defied the efforts of

the besiegers, but the suburbs were taken and laid waste.

The Moslems now moved forward on the road to Carcassonne. At the river

Orbieu, near Narbonne, they encountered a force of peasants and militia

which William, Duke of Toulouse, had collected in the desperate hope of

checking their advance. The valor of this hero, who has been canonized

by the Church, and whose achievements are, like those of Roland, the

theme of mediæval ballad and legend, was unavailing against the furious

onset of the Berber cavalry. The half-armed mob was put to flight; but

the victors, intimidated by this unexpected appearance of an army, and

fearful of losing their plunder, decamped without attempting further

hostilities. It would appear from the most probable accounts to be

derived from the confused and obscure chronicles of the age that a

considerable portion of the territory of the Franks remained for some

years in the hands of the Saracens.

About this time another army, commanded by Abd-al-Kerim, invaded

Galicia and the Asturias. Little resistance being offered, the Moslems

penetrated the country in every direction. The harvests were destroyed,

and the peasantry massacred or driven into captivity. The churches were

burned to the ground. Encumbered with booty, the invaders on their

return fell into an ambush and sustained a crushing defeat. The plunder

was retaken, and their principal officers were left on the field of

battle. This reverse more than counterbalanced the advantages derived

from the expedition into France, and it effected much towards the

consolidation of the power of the Christian kingdom.

An incredible amount of booty in gold, silver, and precious merchandise

was obtained in Septimania, not a little of which was found in the

churches and other ecclesiastical establishments which abounded

everywhere. The royal fifth alone, acquired by this foray, amounted

to forty-five thousand pieces of gold, all of which was set apart to

be expended in the completion of the Great Mosque. The pride of the

Moorish commander, Abd-al-Melik, exacted of the innumerable captives

who followed in the train of his army an arduous and extraordinary

service. They were forced to carry upon their shoulders, or drag in

wagons, the stones which had formed the walls encircling the suburbs of

Narbonne. From these blocks, thus painfully transported from a country

distant many hundred miles, through the steep passes of the mountains,

was constructed the foundation of the eastern part of the Great Mosque

of Cordova. In the exertion of this seemingly useless and tyrannical

act of authority, Abd-al-Melik was not impelled by a feeling of mere

bravado, nor by a desire to inflict suffering upon the unfortunate.

It was a proceeding in perfect accord with the genius of the Moslem

character. Those stones, squared perhaps by Roman masons in the days

of Augustus, were tangible and enduring trophies of conquest. The

boundaries of contiguous kingdoms have expanded or shrunk; language,

religion, and manners have changed; populous cities of the Peninsula

have disappeared; important settlements have arisen in the midst of

marsh and desert; the mementos of ancient warfare are represented

only by a few battered and broken weapons; but the massive stones of

Narbonne, rendered doubly sacred from the touching legend of their

conveyance by the unwilling hands of Christian captives, still, after

the expiration of more than eleven centuries, support the walls of the

proudest temple ever dedicated to the God of Islam.

To the completion of this magnificent edifice the energies of Hischem

were now directed. Following the pious example of his father, he

labored daily upon its walls. He lived to see it finished, after

the expenditure of one hundred and sixty thousand dinars, and,

although sumptuous in itself, the building of Abd-al-Rahman and his

son was greatly inferior in splendor and beauty to the additions

and improvements subsequently made to it by their successors. The

public spirit of Hischem did not, however, confine his efforts to

the completion of the Djalma. He rebuilt the bridge across the

Guadalquivir, which had again fallen into decay. He erected many

structures to embellish his growing capital and to promote the

convenience of its inhabitants,--luxurious palaces, baths, mosques,

and fountains. He encouraged the planting of orchards and the

cultivation of gardens in the suburbs, and this rational and healthful

employment formed one of his favorite recreations. In his character

the religious sentiment preponderated, not a little tinctured, in

common with the most ignorant of his subjects, with the folly and

weakness of superstition. Early in his reign he consulted a famous

astrologer, who announced, as the result of his horoscope, a life

of but few years’ duration, but prosperous and full of glory. The

communication of this prediction had unquestionably much to do with

its fulfilment. The manners of Hischem, already grave and dignified,

became, for a Mohammedan prince, strangely ascetic. He discarded the

splendid vestments of royalty, and invariably appeared clad in simple

white, the distinctive color of his family. His leisure was devoted to

the investigation of grievances, to the aid of the oppressed, to the

consolation of the afflicted, to the support of the indigent. Neither

the inclemency of the season nor the inconvenience of darkness was

suffered to interfere with his errands of mercy. He visited holy men

at midnight in the midst of torrents of rain. In person he distributed

alms to the homeless, whom want had impelled to seek shelter under

the arcades of the mosque. He walked unattended through the streets,

and did not disdain to enter the hovels of the poor and bestow words

of comfort upon such as seemed abandoned by the world. He was the

first of his line to establish a system of municipal police to insure

the safety of the capital. The fines collected for breaches of the

peace he disbursed in charity. In the imposition of taxes he earned

the gratitude of his subjects by only exacting the tithe prescribed

by Mohammedan law. Under his paternal administration the widows and

children of soldiers killed in battle were pensioned. He ransomed from

his private purse all Mussulmans held in captivity, and so thorough

was his search and so successful his efforts in this direction, that

during his reign a wealthy citizen having left by will a large sum for

the liberation of slaves held by the Christians, the bequest reverted

to the heirs, as no such slaves could be found. The inflexible justice

of Hischem was a prominent trait of his character. He refused to

purchase a house for which he had been negotiating when he learned

that one of his neighbors desired it; and, aware that respect for the

dignity of the sovereign would induce his competitor to withdraw, he

abandoned without hesitation the coveted property to the latter. In

the conduct of complex and doubtful affairs of government Hischem

justified the discernment of his father, which had selected him to the

prejudice of his elder brethren. His courage and firmness inspired the

fear and respect of his enemies. He frequently despatched emissaries

to the courts of the walis, empowered to examine into their official

conduct and to hear the complaints of their subjects. By the liberality

he displayed in the construction of public edifices, he awakened the

emulation of the rich, who vied with each other in the luxurious

adornment of their palaces and the picturesque beauty of their gardens.

He inherited from his father a predilection for science combined with

a taste for the cultivation of letters; and, in his opinion, the

permanent benefits to be derived from literature and the arts were far

preferable to the transitory pleasures of sensual gratification. The

prediction of the astrologer, which to eight years had prescribed the

duration of his reign, developed in a mental constitution naturally

inclined to morality a sentiment of deep reverence for everything

connected with religion. Partly with a view to the fusion of races

and the reconciliation of hereditary enmities, but chiefly in the

hope of their eventual conversion, he made the use of the Arabic

tongue obligatory in the schools of Jews and Christians; thus, in his

zeal for proselytism, violating the wise tolerance which the Koran

accords to tributary infidels. By this act of profound statesmanship

he unconsciously effected in a few years a political and social

revolution, which, under ordinary conditions, many generations would

not have sufficed to accomplish. No isolation is so thorough as that

which is caused by the preservation and use of an unfamiliar idiom.

Even the social alienation induced and maintained by the observance of

religious practices regarded as heretical is not so deep or persistent.

By the compulsory adoption of the language of the conquerors, the

tributary sects became daily better acquainted with the creed, the

characteristics, and the opinions of their masters. Their prejudices

contracted through ignorance were gradually dispelled amidst the

requirements of business and the courtesies and recreations of familiar

intercourse. The Christian learned to esteem the Moslem; the Moslem, by

degrees, entertained less contempt for the Christian. An appreciation

of each other’s virtues, mutual concessions, and hopes of prospective

advantage soon produced closer relations in trade, intermarriages, and

the formation of intimate and durable friendships. Proselytism to the

faith of Islam--once an occurrence as rare as it was abhorrent--at last

became so common as scarcely to excite remark. The Gothic costume was

superseded by the turbans and flowing robes of the Orient. The harems

of the rich and powerful were ruled by favorites born in Teutonic and

Roman households. The customs of the latter were those of the Desert.

Their surroundings had nothing in common with the traditions of their

ancestry or the memories of their youth. Their children knew no other

tongue but Arabic. The lasting consequences of this law of Hischem, in

the partial amalgamation of three races and the seal it impressed upon

their product, are to-day manifested in the swarthy complexions, the

guttural accents, the grace and dignity of bearing which distinguish

the peasantry of Northern Andalusia, who, living near the capital of

the khalifate, the more readily obeyed the mandates of its court, and

were the more susceptible to the influence of its manners.

Unfortunately for the future tranquillity of the Peninsula, Hischem

was a fast friend of the theologians. His most intimate associates

were chosen from the faquis,--half-priests, half-lawyers,--whose

studies were divided between the elucidation of sacred traditions and

the interpretation of the principles of jurisprudence. Discouraged

by the firm policy of Abd-al-Rahman, this order had assumed a sudden

and ominous importance under the favorable auspices of his successor.

It was an era of unprecedented religious excitement in the domain of

Islam. New sects, with whose organization and maintenance politics had

often quite as much to do as theology, were forming everywhere. One

which had obtained great popularity and was destined eventually to

be included in the four recognized by true believers as orthodox had

been recently founded at Medina by the famous doctor, Malik-Ibn-Anas.

A bond of union, based on antipathy to a common enemy, was soon

established between the Oracle of Medina and the monarch of Spain.

Notwithstanding his claims to pious consideration as the founder of

a new theological school, Ibn-Anas had been suspected of encouraging

the pretensions of a descendant of Ali--of the detested sect of the

Schiites--to the throne of the Abbasides. Either from insufficiency of

evidence, or through fear of insurrection, the Khalif of Bagdad had

not imposed sentence of death upon the offender, but he had ordered

him to be scourged, which punishment had been inflicted with every

accompaniment of brutality and insult by the zealous officials of the

Hedjaz. Conscious of his influence, and consumed with rage and hatred,

the venerable fanatic bore his injuries like a martyr, concealing

under an appearance of resignation the fury of his implacable

resentment. Abhorrence of his oppressors led him to turn for sympathy

to the Ommeyades, whose princes, like himself, had experienced the

relentless persecution and insatiable vengeance of the tyrants of

Damascus and Bagdad. The noble character of Hischem was not unknown

to the inhabitants of the Holy Cities. The admiration of the Medinese

doctor for the Emir, perhaps increased somewhat by a desire to profit

by past humiliation, and to indirectly disparage his enemies, became

extravagant. He lost no occasion of praising him as a pattern of the

kingly virtues, and went so far as to declare publicly that he, of

all the princes of Islam, was the only one worthy of the undivided

honors of the khalifate. On the other hand, Hischem entertained the

greatest respect for the theologian, whose doctrines he adopted and

sedulously endeavored to propagate throughout his dominions by every

inducement to which the human mind is susceptible. The Malikites were

among those highest in his confidence. They administered the most

responsible employments of Church and State. They were entrusted with

important commands in the army. The Emir afforded every facility to

such as desired to pursue their studies under the eye of the great

interpreter of the law, and these, at their return, were received

with every mark of respect and consideration. In consequence of this

impolitic favoritism, the Malikites soon obtained a preponderating

and dangerous influence in public affairs. The sect was dominated

by a limited number of shrewd and ambitious faquis, whose opinions,

received by the ignorant as infallible, were supposed to be prompted

by divine inspiration, and whose wild fanaticism was justly regarded

by themselves as the most efficient means for the attainment to

supreme power. Neither the Berbers, nor the Arabs of pure blood,

seem to have embraced the new doctrine with any great degree of

enthusiasm. Its most ardent champions were the renegades, apostates

from Christianity, or the descendants of converted tributaries and

slaves. The obligations of no particular creed were recognized as

paramount by these careless proselytes, born and bred in an atmosphere

of turmoil and revolution, and to whose impulsive and fickle natures

the heat of controversy incident to the promulgation of a new belief

and the excitement of a foray were equally acceptable. Mutual sympathy

and the ambitious designs of their leaders suggested the association

and residence of these sectaries in quarters where their power could

be most advantageously employed in times of sedition. One of these

localities was the southern suburb of Cordova, separated from the city

by the Guadalquivir. It was one of the most attractive and beautiful

portions of the capital. Its population exceeded twenty thousand

souls. Its markets were filled with all the evidences of a widely

extended and profitable traffic. Through its gates were conveyed the

larger proportion of the provisions consumed by the inhabitants of the

metropolis and no inconsiderable part of its merchandise obtained from

the rich provinces of the East. These were transported from the suburb

to the bazaars by means of the stupendous bridge constructed by the

Cæsars and remodelled by Al-Samh and Hischem. The level surface bounded

by the left bank of the Guadalquivir was more favorable for building

than the inequalities of the ground on the north and west. The streets

were wider than those elsewhere; the markets more commodious; the

mosques and villas not less sumptuous and elegant. A belt of beautiful

gardens--traversed by walks of pebbles laid in mosaic and cooled by

the spray of countless fountains, amidst whose verdure nestled the

pleasure-houses of the wealthy--encircled the entire suburb. Here

was the stronghold of the Malikite sect, the increasing power and

insolence of whose spiritual guides were preparing for their wretched

dupes a day of unspeakable calamity.

Eight years from the date of the horoscope had been declared by the

astrologer to be the limit of the life of Hischem. The strength of

his intellect was not sufficient to reject a prediction which was

universally accepted by a credulous and superstitious race with the

same reverence that, in ancient times, attached to the mysterious

response of an oracle. A pattern of religious virtue, he had long

disciplined his mind to obey, without repining, the inevitable decrees

of fate, and the prospect of an early death, while it seriously

disconcerted his plans, could not disturb his equanimity. As the

time set for the accomplishment of the prophecy approached, the Emir

assembled the Great Council of the realm to swear fealty to his

son, Al-Hakem, who was to succeed him. This ceremony concluded, he

addressed the young prince in the following words, which are far better

calculated than any eulogy to describe his own character: “Dispense

justice without distinction to the poor and to the rich, be kind and

gentle to those dependent upon thee, for all are alike the creatures

of God. Entrust the keeping of thy cities and provinces to loyal and

experienced chieftains; chastise without pity ministers who oppress thy

subjects; govern thy soldiers with moderation and firmness; remember

that arms are given them to defend, not to devastate, their country;

and be careful always that they are regularly paid, and that they may

ever rely upon thy promises. Strive to make thyself beloved by thy

people, for in their affection is the security of the state, in their

fear its danger, in their hatred its certain ruin. Protect those who

cultivate the fields and furnish the bread that sustains us; do not

permit their harvests to be injured, or their forests to be destroyed.

Act in all respects so that thy subjects may bless thee and live in

happiness under thy protection, and thus, and in no other way, wilt

thou obtain the renown of the most glorious of princes.”

Early in the following spring Hischem expired, after a short illness,

in the fortieth year of his age. His reign had not been distinguished

by great military enterprises, nor by measures that indicated the

possession of more than ordinary talents for the requirements of

politics or the art of government. But although his administration was

not brilliant it was eminently successful. He had checked the impetuous

ardor of the Asturians. He had invaded and ravaged with impunity the

provinces of the most illustrious and powerful monarch in Europe. He

had thwarted the repeated attempts of desperate adventurers to overturn

his throne. He had gained the applause of his enemies by his clemency,

and won the admiration of his friends by his generous treatment of his

rebellious kinsmen. No unfortunate was so degraded as to be unworthy

of his notice, no sufferer too obscure to be the recipient of his

bounty. By the enforcement of judicious regulations he had accomplished

much towards the removal of those social and political barriers which

separated the races and menaced the prosperity of his kingdom. By his

influence and example he gave fresh impulse to the cultivation of

letters. The universal sorrow manifested by all classes at the news of

his death announced the depth of the esteem and affection everywhere

entertained for his character.

It was with ill-concealed anxiety that the subjects of the emirate

expected the first act of the administration of Al-Hakem. It is true

no one doubted his ability. His military prowess had already been

demonstrated, for, while yet a boy, he had at the head of an inferior

force annihilated the army of his uncle on the plains of Lorca. The

prophetic sagacity of his father, in accordance with the custom of his

princely line, had early familiarized him with the functions of a ruler

by his employment in offices of grave responsibility. His education had

been entrusted to the best scholars of the time, and he had proved an

apt and intelligent pupil. The fortuitous but important advantages of

personal beauty and a distinguished presence were not wanting to this

heir to the glory and the misfortunes of the Ommeyades. Yet, though

reared in the publicity of a court and habituated to the transaction of

official business, little was known of the disposition and the private

opinions of Al-Hakem. A stolid apathy and an impenetrable reserve

effectually concealed his emotions. His feelings never relaxed even

in the presence of his most intimate associates, upon whom, moreover,

his confidence was grudgingly bestowed. But the veil which enveloped

his character could not hide the fact that he was irascible, arrogant,

vainglorious, and cruel. The event proved that the apprehensions of the

shrewd observers who regarded his accession with manifest uneasiness

and distrust were not entirely without foundation.

It was the practice of the Ommeyades with the advent of a new sovereign

to change the hajib, or high chamberlain, whose duties and authority

coincided with those of a prime minister, or chief dignitary of state.

For this responsible employment, Al-Hakem selected Abd-al-Kerim, son of

Abd-al-Walid, who had filled the position under his father. Eminent for

bravery and learning, and versed in all the accomplishments of the age,

Abd-al-Kerim had, from childhood, enjoyed the friendship and shared

the amusements of his master. This choice was accepted as a happy

augury of the future conduct of the new ruler, and contributed greatly

to allay the fears of those who had questioned his intention and his

ability to control the fiery passions of youth, which the possession of

irresponsible power offered no inducements, save those enjoined by the

precepts of morality, to restrain. His qualities as a politician and

a general were destined to be soon put to the test in the suppression

of an extensive insurrection, the prelude of an unquiet and sanguinary

reign. His uncle, Suleyman, had long meditated, in the security of

exile, designs against the crown, which he considered his birthright.

His royal lineage, great wealth, and affable demeanor had gained

for him a host of adherents among the adventurers and banditti who

inhabited the city of Tangier and infested its environs. Their ambition

was excited by magnificent promises, and their cupidity stimulated by

the prospect of a contest whose prizes were the acquisition of untold

wealth and the exercise of boundless license. The gold of Suleyman had

corrupted many dissatisfied officials and a majority of the Berber

chieftains. The moment so long awaited by the conspirators had now

arrived. Abdallah, secretly leaving his estate at Toledo, joined his

brother at Tangier. The details of an uprising were arranged, and every

resource was employed to insure the success of the enterprise. Abdallah

made a rapid journey from Tangier to Aix-la-Chapelle. The object of

this embassy has never been disclosed, but from the result it is easy

to conjecture its import. The aid of Charlemagne was solicited and

obtained, and the co-operation of the walis of Barcelona and Huesca

assured. The King of Aquitaine, with every mark of honor, escorted the

Moslem prince to the base of the Pyrenees, and the latter in a few days

was once more in the midst of the seditious populace of the ancient

Visigothic capital. The measures of the rebel leaders were well taken.

Simultaneously with the delivery of the citadel of Toledo to Abdallah,

through the treasonable connivance of its governor, Suleyman landed at

Valencia with a powerful army, and, founding his pretensions on the

right of primogeniture, proclaimed himself. Emir of Spain. Al-Hakem,

hearing of the revolt of Abdallah, had hastened to Toledo with the

flower of the Andalusian cavalry and invested its walls. The lines had

hardly been formed, however, when intelligence was received that Louis,

King of Aquitaine, the son of the great emperor, had retaken Gerona,

the key of the Pyrenees, and, aided by the defection of the walis of

Lerida and Huesca, had already overrun a large part of the provinces

of the Northwest. Charlemagne, eager to avenge the slaughter of

Roncesvalles, as well as to extend the limits of his empire, had placed

under the command of his son the picked troops of his army, veterans

of a score of campaigns on the Danube and the Rhine. Recognizing the

peril of the situation, and aware of the importance of preventing the

union of this new enemy with those who were throwing his kingdom into

confusion, Al-Hakem promptly abandoned the siege and advanced by forced

marches to the valley of the Ebro. But the Franks had already retired.

The details of their operations, scarcely mentioned in the annals of

the time, throw no light upon their motives; but it is clear that the

results of the expedition did not correspond with the magnificence

and completeness of its preparations or with the hopes entertained

of its success. An extreme caution, akin to timidity, seemed to take

possession of the conquerors of the Saxons, the descendants of the

heroes of Poitiers and Narbonne, as soon as the frowning barrier of the

Pyrenees was left in their rear.

The presence of Al-Hakem revived the dormant enthusiasm of his

subjects. Gerona, Huesca, Lerida, were recovered. Barcelona, whose

perfidious governor, Zaid, after soliciting the protection of

Charlemagne and paying homage to his son, had refused to admit the

Franks into the city, now, with every demonstration of loyalty, threw

open its gates at the appearance of his lawful sovereign.

The energy of Al-Hakem, seconded by the activity of his squadrons, in

a short time reduced to obedience the entire territory which had been

overrun by the Franks. Carried irresistibly on by his martial ardor he

crossed the Pyrenees, and, by an unexpected stroke of good fortune,

seized Narbonne, whose garrison he massacred and whose inhabitants he

led into captivity. Elated by victory and laden with spoil, he left

his trusty lieutenants, Abd-al-Kerim and Ibn-Suleyman, in charge of

the frontier, and, with a force largely increased by the fame of his

successes and the hope of rapine, once more directed his march towards

Toledo. In the meantime, Suleyman had effected a junction with Abdallah

on the banks of the Tagus. Indecision and a spirit of indolence seem to

have prevailed in their councils, for, instead of making a diversion

which might have still further embarrassed the movements of Al-Hakem

and have perhaps changed the result of the conflict, they remained

inactive, expecting the conclusion of the campaign with the Franks,

until the approach of the Emir roused them from their lethargy. Fearful

lest their hastily assembled and undisciplined levies of barbarians and

malcontents might not be able to withstand the attack of the veterans

of the regular army fighting under the eye of their sovereign, the

insurgents left in Toledo as commander Obeidah-Ibn-Hamza, one of the

most able officers in their service, who had surrendered the city and

was continued in power as the reward of his infamy, and withdrew,

after some desultory and indecisive engagements, into the province of

Murcia. Here the veneration attaching to the name of Abd-alRahman,

and the personal popularity of Abdallah, secured for the rebellious

brothers a great accession of strength and a corresponding increase

of confidence. Entrusting Amru, one of his officers, to prosecute the

siege of Toledo, Al-Hakem pressed forward in quest of the rebels, and

resolved, if possible, to bring the contest to a speedy termination.

But again the courage of the insurgents failed them, and they sought

the protection of the mountain fastnesses, where the Andalusian

horsemen could not follow. For months the struggle was protracted,

and the force of the Emir, impatient under inaction, began to be

diminished by desertions. At length the rebels, whose supplies of

provisions had been intercepted, ventured forth from their stronghold.

In the plains of Murcia, not far from the field where Al-Hakem had won

his first laurels in a victory over one of his present antagonists,

a bloody battle was fought. The issue at first was doubtful, as the

insurgents contested the ground with all the energy of desperation;

but, at a decisive moment, the throat of Suleyman was pierced with

an arrow, and, by his death, the spirit of his followers was broken.

The slaughter that followed was long remembered as remarkable even

amidst the butchery that disgraced the civil wars of Spain. The

survivors were dispersed beyond all possibility of reorganization; and

Abdallah, by an early withdrawal from the field, succeeded in reaching

Valencia, where, disheartened and thoroughly penitent, he implored

the forgiveness of his injured sovereign. With a magnanimity that did

credit alike to his sagacity and his sentiments of affection, Al-Hakem

accepted the submission of his uncle, but insisted upon his permanent

retirement to Tangier and the surrender of his two sons, Esbah and

Kasem, as hostages. The latter were treated with kindness and with the

distinction due to their rank; a regular pension was assigned to them;

and during the second year of their residence the younger was raised to

an honorable employment, and the elder, having received the daughter of

the Emir in marriage, was appointed governor of the important city of

Merida.

While the operations of the war were languidly pursued in the South,

the energy and resolution of Amru began to tell severely upon the

besieged in Toledo. The inconstant populace, weary of perpetual alarms

and threatened with famine, made their peace with the representative

of the Emir by the surrender of the city and the sacrifice of their

general. The treacherous Ibn-Hamza was promptly executed, and his head

sent by a courier to Al-Hakem; the affairs of the city were regulated

with all possible expedition; and Amru, leaving his son Yusuf in

command of the garrison, departed with all his available battalions to

reinforce the army of his sovereign, then at Chinchilla.

The serious disturbances which had for three years employed the

resources and monopolized the attention of the Emir of Cordova

presented to the hereditary and natural enemies of Islam an

opportunity too favorable to be neglected. In 798 an alliance was

concluded between Alfonso the Chaste and Charlemagne, but whether

on equal terms or contingent on the vassalage of the Asturian king

is uncertain. The Moslem governors of the frontier cities again

renounced their allegiance to Al-Hakem, and, under an assurance of

support and independence, rendered homage to Louis as their suzerain.

The enterprising genius of Charlemagne, instructed by the costly

lesson taught nearly a quarter of a century before in the pass of

Roncesvalles, had abandoned, so far as the Peninsula was concerned,

all ideas of permanent conquest and occupation. Experience had

conclusively demonstrated that the contentions of factions, as well as

the antipathies of race, became temporarily but effectually reconciled

in the presence of a foreign enemy. But while his armies had not been

able to obtain a foothold south of the Pyrenees, or even to traverse

the defiles of that mountain chain in safety, no such difficulties

seemed to attend the movements of the Moslems, whose flying squadrons

plundered and ravaged without resistance the distant provinces of his

empire. These important considerations, and the apprehension that some

skilful Arab captain might recover and retain the fertile valleys of

the South, the traditions of whose people recalled with pleasure the

dominion of their ancient Mohammedan masters, impelled the Emperor

to found and maintain a bulwark which would be available to harass

the enemy as well as to break the force and retard the advance of an

invading army. With this object in view a principality was founded

on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees, which was given the name of

the Gothic March, and its first lord, a Frankish noble named Borel,

received his investiture from, and did homage to, the King of Aquitaine.

Insignificant at first, this embryo state speedily increased in power

and consequence. The domain included within its boundaries had for

years been the scene of bloody insurrections, of incessant anarchy,

of partisan warfare. Its lands were untilled. Its inhabitants feared

to venture beyond the walls of their cities. Its communications with

the central government, always precarious, were often completely

interrupted for months at a time. But as soon as comparative protection

and safety were assured by the occupancy of the Franks a striking

change became apparent in the condition of the country. The ruined

fortifications were repaired. The habitual perfidy of the walis,

tempted by the prospect of greater freedom, induced them once more

to transfer their allegiance to the enemies of their faith. By

the donation of extensive grants of territory, and the promise of

unusual franchises and privileges, a host of colonists was attracted

to the settlements of the new principality. The fields reclaimed

from desolation again assumed the attractive prospect of cultivation

and prosperity. The Gothic March became the refuge not only of such

Christians as were discontented under Moslem rule, but of all those

whose grievances led them to renounce allegiance to the King of the

Asturias or to the chieftains of Biscay. Not a few were allured by the

hope that here might arise a monarchy which, founded by the descendants

of its ancient masters, would restore the laws, the prestige, and the

glory of the Visigothic empire. Such was the origin of the state soon

to be known as the County of Barcelona, a name of profound import in

the subsequent history of the Peninsula. Its foundation was the second

step towards the weakening of the Moslem power, and one scarcely

inferior in political results to the establishment of the kingdom of

the Asturias.

The chief towns of the new principality were Ausona, Cardona,

Manresa, and Gerona. None of these were seaports, and the sagacity

of Charlemagne perceived and appreciated the necessity of securing

maritime communication with his dominions to obviate the possible

isolation of the Gothic March, either through the inclemency of the

seasons or the vigilance of his enemies. He therefore projected an

expedition against Barcelona, which possessed an indifferent but

available harbor, and whose commercial rank already afforded many

indications of the importance to which it afterwards attained. Its

situation and the intrigues of its walis had previously acquired

for it a nominal independence. The present governor, Zaid, had

constantly alternated between protestations of loyalty to Al-Hakem

and solicitations of protection from Charlemagne. The King of

Aquitaine having appeared before the walls with a numerous army,

Zaid, with plausible excuses, protracted the negotiations looking

to the delivery of the city until the approach of winter rendered a

siege impracticable. Hassan, the wali of Huesca, also declined to

admit the Franks, although he was the sworn vassal of Louis; and that

disappointed prince, who had pictured to himself an easy and profitable

termination of the campaign, was forced to retire with ignominy, amidst

the murmurs of his dissatisfied soldiers, to the security of his own

dominions.

The Grand Council of the empire, held according to the custom of

the Franks every spring, met in the beginning of the year 801 at

Toulouse. The object of these national assemblies was the discussion

and settlement of future military operations, as determined by the

arguments and the experience of the veteran warriors whose influence

decided their deliberations. The abortive results of preceding

enterprises had provoked the impatience rather than damped the ardor

of the Frankish chieftains, and the unanimous voice of the Council

tumultuously demanded the capture of Barcelona. Before the close of the

year an immense army, which is designated by vainglorious chroniclers

as composed of many distinct nations, emerged from the defiles of

the Pyrenees. The vanity of Louis, which had suffered through the

unprofitable issues of former campaigns, or possibly the entreaties

of his lieutenants who knew his incapacity, induced him to remain

at Rousillon until the event of the expedition could no longer be

doubtful. The invading force was marshalled in two divisions,--one,

under the Count of Gerona, pressed the siege of the city, and the

other, commanded by William, Count of Toulouse, was stationed as

a corps of observation between Lerida and Tarragona to prevent any

attempt at relief by the Moslems of Cordova. The fortifications were

fearlessly attacked and obstinately defended. Zaid, the wali of the

city, abandoning the vacillating and treasonable conduct which had so

long obscured his character, conducted the defence with an intrepidity

and a resolution worthy of the greatest military heroes. Animated by

his example, the garrison repulsed the storming parties, one after

another, with great slaughter, although these were directed by the

Frankish general in person. The losses sustained in these assaults

impelled the besiegers to resort to the tedious but more certain

measure of a blockade. The lines were drawn so tightly that the

inhabitants soon began to experience the pressure of hunger. While

the port does not seem to have been closed, still no supplies were

sent to the suffering garrison by the government of Cordova. Many of

the inhabitants perished; the remainder were reduced to contend with

each other for the vilest and most revolting means to sustain their

failing strength. They devoured the refuse of the streets. They fought

desperately for fragments of the leathern curtains which hung before

the doorways of their houses. Some in despair threw themselves from

the walls. Others rushed headlong upon the weapons of the enemy. But

despite the harrowing scenes of universal misery, there was no whisper

of surrender. Even the Christians, who were numerous, took their turns

upon the battlements and crossed swords with their co-religionists in

the breach. No one believed that the Emir would abandon, without an

attempt at relief, a city whose commercial advantages and geographical

position rendered it one of the keys of his empire. At length a new

army, commanded by King Louis himself, reinforced the besiegers. The

distress of the garrison was increasing daily, and, his resources

exhausted, Zaid determined to endeavor to reach Cordova and by a

personal appeal to Al-Hakem obtain means to relieve the city. The

intrepid governor, issuing unattended from a secret postern by night,

had almost succeeded in penetrating the enemy’s lines when the neighing

of his horse gave the alarm and he was captured. These depressing

events exerted their influence on the besieged, but their constancy

and courage still sustained them. At length, after several breaches

had been made in the walls, and the Moslems, decimated in numbers, had

been reduced to despair, negotiations were opened with the Franks. The

most favorable terms obtainable involved the loss of property and the

hardships of exile. The gates were finally thrown open, and a long

and melancholy procession of unfortunates, tottering with weakness

and emaciated by famine, upon whose faces were stamped the signs of

protracted suffering, filed painfully through the camp of the enemy;

and the Frankish chieftains, preceded by the ministers of the Christian

faith arrayed in all the pomp and splendor of their order, entered the

city, to celebrate before the altar of its principal temple the triumph

by which the most important province of Eastern Spain had passed

forever from beneath the Moslem sceptre.

The Christian population welcomed its change of masters with no

manifestations of joy or enthusiasm. A gloomy silence pervaded the

crowds lining the streets, as the prelates in gorgeous vestments and

the men-at-arms in glittering steel swept by in majestic procession,

to solemnize, with every circumstance of ecclesiastical ceremony and

military ostentation, the fortunate termination of their enterprise.

In the early ages of Islam the beneficent and tolerant rule of

the Moor seems to have universally won the respect and inspired

the confidence of conquered nations and hostile sectaries alike.

For the happy conditions promoted by the exercise of the generous

principles of equity and religious freedom, the ignorance, tyranny, and

intolerance of a foreign hierarchy offered no adequate compensation.

From the hamlets of Provence to the plains of Andalusia, the tributary

Christians, save only such as were invested with the dignity of the

sacerdotal order, appear to have always beheld, with unconcealed

regret, the discomfiture and displacement of their infidel lords.

Well apprized of the uncertainty and difficulty of retaining his

conquest, Louis repaired--as well as circumstances would permit--the

walls of Barcelona, which had sustained considerable damage from the

mines and military engines of his soldiery. A governor of Gothic race

was left in command of a well-appointed garrison, and, his object

finally attained, the King of Aquitaine retired from the scene of such

devotion, self-sacrifice, and valor. The heroic Zaid, after receiving

the reproaches and vituperation of his conqueror, who, actuated by

some unknown motive, condescended to spare his life, was condemned to

perpetual banishment, and henceforth disappears from history.

The introduction of the Feudal System into Spain practically dates from

the capture of Barcelona by the army of Louis. That system had long

before been instituted in France. Its germs, as yet undeveloped, had

appeared in many of the regulations of the Visigothic constitution. But

the minutely defined and mutual obligations of vassal and lord, and

the exact nature of the allegiance due from the noble to his prince as

suzerain, had been neither established by prescription nor formulated

by law. Nor did its rules ever acquire among the independent races of

the Peninsula the force and extent accorded to them elsewhere. The

humiliating seigniorial rights claimed and exercised by the dissolute

barons of England, France, and Germany were never imposed upon the

brave and self-respecting peasantry of Spain. It was long before the

hereditary transmission of fiefs was fully recognized in that country.

North of the Pyrenees the duties of feudalism, once assumed, could

never be relinquished. In Castile and Aragon the vassal could renounce

the service of one protector for that of another, if he had previously

surrendered all property received from the former or its pecuniary

equivalent. This establishment of feudal institutions in the Gothic

March not only assured the permanence of its conquest, but gave the

Franks an influence in the affairs of the Peninsula as advantageous

to the promotion of Christian success as it was prejudicial to the

continuance of Moslem power.

The loss of Barcelona was, as soon became evident. a catastrophe

of signal importance, whose consequences seriously affected the

prestige and diminished the strength of the Moorish empire in Spain.

No explanation has ever been adduced to account for the surprising

indifference or culpable neglect of Al-Hakem in allowing the enemies of

his faith and his dynasty to wrest from its brave defenders one of the

most considerable and prosperous cities in his dominions. A mysterious

silence pervades the ancient chronicles in regard to the reasons for

his conduct,--so extraordinary; so at variance with the energy of

his character; so detrimental to the interests of his kingdom; so

destructive to his hopes of future greatness. Experience had proved

him to be endowed with many of the qualities of a daring and active

leader. From his very youth, the excitement of war had been to his

fiery spirit a favorite and exhilarating pastime. His resources were

unlimited, his army well equipped and numerous. So far as we have any

information, the remainder of his kingdom was at peace. In case the

Christian host was too powerful to encounter in battle, the sea offered

a broad and unobstructed highway for the transportation of supplies

and reinforcements. Time was not wanting, for the siege lasted seven

months. Whether the menacing attitude of the King of the Asturias,

or some obscure domestic sedition, which, obscured by the crowning

exploit of the Frankish crusade, has escaped the notice of historians,

is responsible for this apparently unaccountable and suicidal apathy,

must remain forever a matter of conjecture. But whatever was the cause,

the misfortune was irreparable. The iron grasp of the Frank never

slackened its hold. The colony became a principality, the principality

a kingdom, which, in time, consolidated with other provinces into the

monarchy of Aragon, led the van of the Christian armies in the War of

the Reconquest.

All authorities agree, however, that the Emir was on the point of

marching to the relief of Barcelona when information reached him of its

surrender. Unwilling to disband his army without an attempt to at least

partially regain his lost prestige, he proceeded to Saragossa, and

then, following the course of the Ebro, succeeded in retaking Huesca,

Tarragona, and some other places of inferior importance. The rebel

chieftains, Hassan and Bahlul, to whose treasonable artifices is mainly

to be credited the loss of Eastern Spain, were captured and beheaded.

No demonstration was made before Barcelona, a fact that would seem to

suggest either the inferiority of the troops in numbers and equipment

or the prudence or fears of their commander.

The religious enthusiasts of the capital had seen, with alarm and

disgust, the accession of Al-Hakem. While not eminent for piety like

his father, he, on the other hand, had manifested no particular

hostility to the theological faction. Its members, however, were not

his favorites. He was devoted to amusements and practices abhorrent to

the principles openly preached and secretly neglected by these rigid

precisians. His frequent intoxication, a vice which outraged public

opinion and provoked the contempt of the conscientious Moslem, made the

palace the scene of orgies that were the reproach and the scandal of

the capital. From childhood he had been immoderately devoted to sensual

indulgence. The pastime of the chase, which involved the employment

of animals declared unclean by the Koran, occupied no small part of

his leisure. A ferocious temper, an exaggerated idea of his authority,

an implacable spirit, and a merciless severity in the infliction of

punishment for even trifling offences increased the terror with which

he was regarded by noble, peasant, and theologian. But these sins were

venial when compared with the indifference with which he treated the

saints and the doctors upon whom Hischem had bestowed distinguished

honors and unbounded confidence. Those who had formerly been entrusted

with important secrets of state, which they were able to use for their

personal advantage, were now excluded from the Divan. Instead of

entering the royal presence without ceremony, they were compelled to

wait the pleasure of their master in the antechambers. The donations

from the public treasury, which had been bestowed with unstinted hand

upon every specious pretext, were now withheld. Degraded in the popular

estimation, humbled in pride, diminished in wealth, derided by the

court, but still retaining the sympathy of the masses, the fanatics

of rival sects began to overlook their mutual animosity in the hope

of restoring the vanished importance of their order, and to entertain

designs against the life as well as the government of Al-Hakem.

The scheming and disappointed Malikite faquis, whose ecclesiastical

character, assisted by a talent for imposture, had caused the multitude

to attribute to them supernatural powers, were the chief promoters of

the conspiracy. The prestige of a royal name being considered essential

to their success, they approached Ibn-Shammas, son of Abdallah, and

a cousin of the Emir, and, finding him apparently favorable to their

designs, openly tendered him the crown. The ambition of that chieftain,

however, was not sufficiently strong to induce him to compromise his

loyalty. Dissembling his indignation at the presumption of those who

could think him capable of such flagrant ingratitude and treason, he

demanded a list of the principal conspirators as an indispensable

condition of his compliance. The deputation, headed by a faqui named

Yahya, readily agreed to this, and a night was designated when the

information would be given. Meanwhile, Ibn-Shammas informed the Emir of

what had happened, and when Yahya and his companions were introduced

into his apartments, Ibn-al-Khada, the private secretary of Al-Hakem,

was already there concealed behind a curtain, and ready to write down

the names as fast as they were communicated. The list included many

of the most considerable nobles and citizens of Cordova, and the

secretary, fearing lest the conspirators, to magnify their importance,

might include his own name among the number, an act which would insure

his destruction, designedly allowed the reed with which he was writing

to scratch upon the paper. The traitors instantly took the alarm; the

house of Ibn-Shammas was deserted in a moment; all implicated who had

time to escape fled precipitately from the city, and the others, to the

number of seventy-two, were crucified.

The year 805 witnessed the institution of an alliance between the

Emirate of the West and the newly founded kingdom of the Edrisites

in Africa, destined to exercise a marked influence upon the fortunes

of the former power, and whose close relations in peace and war were

not finally sundered until the kingdom of Granada was incorporated

into the Spanish monarchy. Several years previously a noble Syrian

named Edris, a fugitive like Abd-al-Rahman from the persecution of

the Abbasides, had sought a refuge in the mountain defiles and desert

wastes of Western Africa. Without friends, money, or influence, he

nevertheless received a hearty welcome from the tribes of the Atlas.

His manly traits and chivalrous bearing soon secured for him the esteem

of his protectors, and, from a penniless refugee, he rose by degrees

to be the chieftain of a clan, the founder of a nation, and the head

of a dynasty. It was to his son and successor Edris that Al-Hakem now

sent an embassy to felicitate him upon his accession, and to propose

an alliance which might be employed to contract the dominions and

weaken the power of the detested tyrants of the East. The importance

of the occasion was disclosed by an escort of five hundred Andalusian

nobles, and the interchange of magnificent presents. The embassy was

splendidly entertained by the African monarch, and a treaty concluded

which, by its provisions for mutual support and constant hostility

against the common enemy, accomplished much towards the consolidation

and perpetuity of the Moslem power in the West. Two years afterwards

the city of Fez was founded. Its population, composed largely of

Christians, Jews, fire-worshippers, and idolaters, excited the wonder

and contempt of the pious Mussulmans who visited it; and the incessant

strife promoted by the political adventurers and zealots of the various

forms of faith, who had established their abode within its walls,

augured ill for the future peace or prosperity of the Edrisite capital.

While absent on the expedition to Eastern Spain, the mind of Al-Hakem

had been disturbed by tidings of another outbreak at Toledo. Yusuf,

the son of Amru, who, through paternal fondness and the partiality

of the Emir, had been exalted to a position to the discharge of

whose responsibilities his experience and qualifications were wholly

inadequate, had signalized his promotion by flagrant and repeated

acts of tyranny and insolence. The Toledan populace, seditious by

inheritance and practice, and which, from time immemorial, had been

ready to assert, on the slightest provocation, the dangerous privilege

of resistance, at the perpetration of some outrage of unusual atrocity

ran to arms, attacked the palace, and overpowered a detachment of

the guard. The principal citizens, dreading the consequences of an

insurrection, interposed their good offices between the governor and

the mob, and, with great difficulty, prevented the sack of the palace

and the death of its master. But the latter, far from appreciating

either the efforts of his benefactors or the peril which he had just

escaped, meditated and planned, without concealment or precaution, a

bloody and merciless revenge. Informed of his intentions, the nobles

deprived him of his office without ceremony, and threw him into prison.

A messenger was sent to Al-Hakem to acquaint him with the facts, and

to explain the danger which justified the adoption of such extreme

and arbitrary measures. The Emir, with every appearance of kindness,

excused the violence of his subjects; gave orders for the removal of

the obnoxious Yusuf; and reinstated, at his own solicitation, Amru as

wali; the grateful inhabitants returned to their avocations, and the

city once more assumed the appearance of its former tranquillity.

But the habitual defiance of his authority by the Toledans rankled

in the breast of Al-Hakem. The city had long been the focus of

insurrection, the rallying-point of the discontented, the head-quarters

of every turbulent and ambitious chieftain. Not even the metropolis

itself surpassed it in its influence on the politics of the kingdom.

The audacity of its citizens and the pride of its clergy concurred in

supporting its extravagant pretensions to supremacy. The limited area

enclosed by its walls had always been occupied by a dense population,

among whose members the Christians largely preponderated, and over

whose minds the traditions of the Visigothic monarchy exerted a

power constantly distrusted and feared by every Moslem ruler who

exercised jurisdiction over its territory. The Arab historians have

repeatedly asserted, with every appearance of truth, that no other

body of subjects within the dominions of Islam were so infected with

the spirit of mutiny and disorder as the populace of Toledo. Even

the descendants of renegades who had renounced their creed and their

nationality--a class whose religious zeal and uncompromising fidelity

are proverbial--were not insensible to the time-honored legends and

historical souvenirs that recalled, on every side, the glorious events

and vanished grandeur of the ancient capital of the Visigoths. The

Moslems, who had settled principally in the environs, were overawed

by the insolence of their neighbors, who, although their tributaries,

maintained all the haughtiness that ordinarily attaches to superior

birth and exalted station. Once more installed as governor, Amru

exerted all his tact to allay the apprehensions of the people, who

feared that his paternal pride might impose upon them a heavy penalty

for their former disobedience. By every expression of solicitude, by

every show of partiality and consideration, he sought to regain their

confidence. He privately assured their leaders of his approval of, and

sympathy with, their efforts to obtain their independence and resist

the imposition of tyrannous exactions and unjust laws. He even went so

far as to denounce the Emir, and to promise his own co-operation in

case of future unwarrantable encroachment upon the lives and liberty

of the Toledans by the despotic court of Cordova. Thoroughly imposed

upon by his duplicity, the masses, as well as the nobles and the

priesthood, regarded him as their benefactor, and bestowed upon their

crafty governor every mark of honor and esteem. Then, instructed by

Al-Hakem, Amru represented that, as the ordinary practice of billeting

soldiers upon the families of the citizens was a serious grievance

and productive of much disorder, this inconvenience could be obviated

by the erection of a strongly fortified citadel, which he suggested

would also be of incalculable value in the assertion of popular rights

in future insurrections. Public approval was readily obtained; the

fortress rose on the most commanding point of the city; the wealthy

contributed of their means, the poor donated their labor, to aid in

its construction; the advantages of location and the resources of

engineering skill conspired to make its defences almost impregnable. A

powerful garrison was introduced, and Al-Hakem was notified that the

time had finally arrived for the gratification of his long-meditated

vengeance.

A despatch was now sent to the frontier directing one of the officers

who commanded in that quarter to petition for reinforcements, in view

of a pretended demonstration of the Franks. This was accordingly done;

and a force of several thousand troops, commanded by the young prince,

Abd-al-Rahman, heir to the throne, who was assisted by the counsels of

three viziers of age and experience, marched out of Cordova, apparently

destined for service in the Pyrenees. When the army reached Toledo,

it was informed that the anticipated danger had been exaggerated;

that the enemy had withdrawn from the vicinity of the frontier,

and consequently that all prospect of hostilities had disappeared.

While encamped in the vicinity, the officers received a visit from

the governor, who was accompanied by a number of the most prominent

citizens. The deputation was received and entertained with distinction

and hospitality, and the guests were delighted with the politeness,

the condescension, and the precocious talents of their prospective

sovereign, who had not yet attained the age of fifteen years. Then,

at the suggestion of Amru, an invitation was extended to the prince

to make the city his home until his departure, a proposal which was

accepted with well-feigned reluctance. Preparations were made for a

sumptuous banquet. In the long list of guests appeared the names of the

most distinguished nobles, the most opulent citizens, the most eminent

leaders, who were either suspected of disaffection or had openly

signalized their zeal for the popular cause, either by open resistance

or by instigation to rebellion. When the hour designated for the

festivities approached, the guests were introduced, one by one, through

a postern, where they successively fell by the hands of the soldiers.

As each party arrived, the equipages and attendants were sent to the

opposite gate of the fortress, there to await the reappearance of their

masters. An immense crowd, attracted by the novelty of the occasion and

the presence of royalty, surrounded the citadel. Among the spectators,

a physician, shrewder or more suspicious than his companions, had

remarked the ominous stillness that reigned within the walls, and

the fact that of all the guests who had been known to enter none had

been seen to leave, although the sun was now far past the meridian.

A bystander directed his attention to a cloud of vapor faintly

discernible above the ramparts as an evidence that the festivities had

not ceased. The experience of the practitioner at once detected the

cause, and raising his hands in horror, he exclaimed: “Wretch! that is

not the smoke which proceeds from the preparation of a banquet; it is

the vapor from the blood of your murdered brethren!”

The number of victims of this awful crime is variously stated at from

seven hundred to five thousand. As the bodies were decapitated, they

were cast into a trench which had been dug during the construction of

the castle; and from this fact the deed which violated the rites of

hospitality so sacred in the eye of the Arab became known in the annals

of the Peninsula as the “Day of the Ditch.”

The next morning the heads of those who, by an act of unparalleled

treachery, had so severely expiated their past offences and the faults

of their kindred, were ranged in bloody array upon the battlements.

There was scarcely a household among those of the most distinguished

residents of the city which was not filled with mourning. A feeling of

deep but smothered exasperation pervaded the community. But the object

of the tyrant was attained; a lesson of terror had been inculcated; the

leaders were gone; the spirit of insurrection was effectually crushed;

and many years elapsed before Toledo was again vexed by the tumults and

the violence of a seditious demonstration.

About this time a serious difficulty arose at Merida. Esbah, the wali

of that city, was, as will be remembered, at once the cousin and the

brother-in-law of the Emir. For some cause he dismissed his vizier,

and the latter, by false statements concerning the ambitious designs

of his superior, induced Al-Hakem to deprive him of his office and

confer it upon himself. The wali, indignant at being thus unjustly

accused, defied the royal edict; the people, by whom he was greatly

beloved, espoused his cause; and a formidable rebellion seemed

imminent, when the beautiful Kinza, the sister of Al-Hakem, succeeded

by her entreaties in averting the impending calamity. Explanations were

tendered, the incensed and alienated kinsmen were reconciled, and Esbah

was reinstated in his authority amidst the congratulations of his wife

and the acclamations of the people.

The habitual distrust of Al-Hakem, his love of military pomp, and the

knowledge of the turbulence and duplicity of a large proportion of

his subjects, had led him to increase his body-guard to the number of

six thousand. The impatience of the Arab under restraint, as well as

his suspicious fidelity, excluded him from the select corps entrusted

with the protection of the life of the sovereign. The lessons of

experience, and the well-recognized principle of despotism which

discourages all sympathy between the people and the army, suggested

the enlistment of foreigners and infidels. Three thousand of the guard

were Spanish Christians, the rest were slaves--Ethiopian and Asiatic

captives purchased in the marts of the eastern Mediterranean, who

were popularly designated mutes on account of their ignorance of the

Arabic language. Their arms and equipment were of the finest and most

expensive description. Their discipline was as thorough as the tactics

of the age could inculcate. Two thousand were quartered in extensive

barracks erected on the southern side of the Guadalquivir, whose

banks were constantly patrolled by their sentinels. The others, whose

numbers were swelled by hundreds of eunuchs and retainers of the Emir’s

household, were stationed in the palace, whose defences were more

characteristic of an impregnable fortress than of the ordinary abode of

a sovereign. The great mass of the people, and especially the severely

orthodox, viewed the establishment of this large military force--whose

existence was a silent reproach to their loyalty and whose opinions

were considered idolatrous--with mingled feelings of hatred, jealousy,

and contempt. The fierce zealots and ecclesiastical demagogues, whose

arts had acquired for them a dangerous pre-eminence and whose influence

had been of late years a perpetual menace to the government, regarded

the royal guards with sentiments of peculiar aversion. The maintenance

of this splendid body of soldiers, whose expenses far exceeded those of

an ordinary division equal to it in numbers, was a heavy charge upon

the treasury. To meet the increasing expenditure, a new duty was levied

upon all merchandise imported into the capital. The burdens arising

from the imposition of this tax, and the inconvenience attending its

collection, were the most keenly felt by the southern suburb. Of this

densely populated quarter, fully one-fifth of the inhabitants were

teachers and students of theology. Not only over these, but over the

various guilds of merchants, tradesmen, and laborers, the authority of

a few faquis, who united the qualifications of religious instructors

with the privileged attributes of saints, was despotic. A soldier who

ventured alone into the stronghold of these desperate fanatics did so

at the risk of his life. No opportunity was suffered to pass whereby

indignity could be heaped upon the guards of the Emir. The monarch

himself was not less unpopular. The theological faction constantly

made unfavorable comparisons between his skepticism and luxury and

the austere virtues of his father, Hischem, whose partiality for

their sect had formerly obtained for its dogmas the highest respect

and consideration. The failings and vices of royalty received scant

indulgence at the hands of the Malikites. When, from the summit of the

minaret, the muezzin proclaimed the hour of public devotion, a hundred

voices responded in derision from street, bazaar, and garden: “Come to

prayer, O Drunkard, come to prayer!” Aided by the encouragement and

sympathy of their companions, the culprits foiled without difficulty

every attempt at detection. Neither the sacred associations of the

mosque, nor the moments consecrated to divine communion, when the

assembly of the faithful bowed reverently before the Kiblah, nor the

prospect of condign punishment, were sufficient to deter fanatical

agitators, who prided themselves on their piety and orthodoxy, from the

perpetration of outrage and insult. They vilified the monarch while

in the exercise of his sacred duties as the officiating minister of

Islam. They ridiculed his actions and mocked his resentment in the

streets. Exasperated beyond all endurance, Al-Hakem ordered that ten

of the leaders should be arrested and delivered to the executioner

to be crucified. This summary proceeding, far from allaying the

excitement, only intensified it. The desire to wreak their vengeance

on the persecutor of their martyred brethren was now the paramount

consideration, compared with which the prevalence of vice, the evils

of taxation, and the tolerance of heretics were matters of trifling

importance. It soon became evident that a serious disturbance was

impending.

The most influential and dangerous instigator of the populace

was another Yahya, part knave and part zealot, whose learning

and effrontery had procured for him great renown both as a saint

and a politician. He had been a pupil and disciple of the famous

Malik-Ibn-Anas at Medina, and had been distinguished by the favor of

that oracle of Islam. The fame of his sanctity, and an extravagant

idea of his attainments and his virtues entertained by the members of

his sect, had increased his reputation and inflated his pride. His

intriguing genius was now exerted to precipitate the explosion.

It was the month of Ramadhan, the Mohammedan Lent, and the outbreak had

been planned for the last Wednesday, a day of ill omen in the Moslem

calendar. The efforts of Yahya and his coadjutors were being constantly

exerted to inflame the passions of the populace by private exhortations

and public discourses under the pretext of religious instruction, when

a quarrel arose between a soldier and an armorer which resulted in the

death of the latter. In an instant the southern suburb was in arms.

The contagion of rebellion and vengeance spread fast through the other

disaffected quarters of the capital. A raging mob rolled down upon the

citadel, driving before it the scattered eunuchs and dependents of

the palace and the soldiers of the outposts. In vain was the cavalry

ordered to clear the streets; the veteran troopers of the Emir were

overwhelmed and driven back in confusion. The gates of the castle were

closed and barred, and the multitude, wild with baffled rage, at once

prepared, with the aid of fire and heavy timbers, to force an entrance.

The serious aspect of the situation was fully appreciated by the

inmates of the palace, who knew that in case the fanatics succeeded in

penetrating the walls not a soldier or servant of the royal household

would be left alive. As conscious of his peril as the rest, not a sign

of emotion clouded the placid visage of Al-Hakem. While the shouts of

the mob were resounding through the courts and gardens, he ordered

his favorite page to bring him a bottle of civet. The lad in wonder

obeyed, and the monarch carefully and deliberately poured the perfume

upon his hair and beard. The curiosity of the page prevailing over his

discretion, he inquired the cause of this singular proceeding at a time

of such imminent danger. “O son of an unbeliever,” responded the Emir,

“how can he who will cut off my head distinguish my rank unless by the

sweet odor that exhales from my beard!”

His toilet completed, Al-Hakem directed the captain of the guard to

expose at once upon the battlements the heads of certain faquis who had

been imprisoned since the former insurrection. Then, clothing himself

in complete armor, he summoned his cousin, Obeydallah, and ordered him,

at the head of a picked body of cavalry, to cut his way through the

streets and set fire to the southern suburb, shrewdly judging that the

attention of the insurgents would be distracted when they perceived

that their homes were in flames. The event justified his expectations.

The sudden sally of Obeydallah disconcerted the rabble; the river was

reached and forded; and in a few moments, the smoke rising in twenty

different places beyond the Guadalquivir announced the success of the

stratagem. The insurgents, forgetting the animosity to their sovereign

in their solicitude for their families and their property, rushed in

confusion over the bridge. Then Al-Hakem fell upon their rear with his

guards, and Obeydallah, reinforced by detachments from the neighborhood

which had been attracted by news of the revolt, assailed them in front.

Overcome with terror and incapable of resistance, the unhappy fanatics

were massacred by thousands. Three hundred of those conspicuous for

their rank, or for the part they had taken in fomenting disorder, were

nailed, head downward, to posts on the bank of the river. A council

was then held to determine the fate of the survivors. Some of the

viziers advocated extermination, but milder opinions prevailed, and

it was decreed that the suburb should be razed and the inhabitants

banished, within three days, under penalty of crucifixion. This

sentence was ruthlessly executed; the condemned quarter was delivered

to pillage and the houses destroyed. The exiles, driven from their

country, variously experienced the effects of both good and adverse

fortune. Many parties were plundered by brigands before they reached

the border. Eight thousand families were invited by Edris to form

a part of the population of the new city of Fez, where neither the

hospitality of their reception nor their subsequent prosperity was

able to prevent them from indulgence in perpetual strife with their

neighbors, the Arabs. A great body, which included fifteen thousand

fighting-men, was transported by sea to Egypt at a time when the

country was in arms against the Khalif of Bagdad. Forming an alliance

with the malcontents, they stormed Alexandria; and then, declaring

their independence, retained possession of that great entrepôt of the

Mediterranean against all the power of the Abbasides for more than

twelve years. Finally, reduced by the forces of Al-Mansur, they were

removed to Crete, a part of which still acknowledged the authority

of the Emperor of Constantinople. This island they conquered, and

they then founded a state whose piratical expeditions for more than a

century were the scourge of the Mediterranean until Crete once more,

in the year 961, was added to the dominions of the Byzantine Empire. A

reminiscence of the Moslem occupation of the island is suggested by its

present name, which, a corruption of the Arabic khandik, a “trench” or

“fortification,” survives in the name of Candia.

But while the offences of the populace were thus punished with

inexorable rigor, the principal offenders, the promoters of sedition,

were the recipients of extraordinary clemency. The explanation of this

partiality is to be found in the fact that the mass of the insurgents

was of a foreign and, despite their bigoted adherence to the orthodox

faith, of a detested caste. The religious teachers of the Malikites,

on the other hand, were largely descended from the Koreish, and the

ties of blood and the antipathies of race were considerations of

greater moment in the mind of Al-Hakem than the insult to his person

or the danger to his crown. Some of the leaders who had been prominent

in the late troubles were permitted to escape; others underwent short

terms of imprisonment; many received the benefit of a general amnesty.

The arch-conspirator, Yahya, was of this number, and his talents or his

audacity soon restored him once more to a certain degree of royal favor.

The military operations maintained for years in Eastern Spain by the

ambition of the Franks, the treachery of the walis, and the weak

and faltering policy of Al-Hakem, were not productive of decisive

action or enduring results. The city of Tortosa was twice invested,

and twice abandoned in disgrace, by the armies of Charlemagne. The

first siege was raised after a disastrous defeat sustained by the

Franks, of which the Arabs neglected to take advantage; the second

was undertaken without adequate preparation, and relinquished under

circumstances suggestive of irresolution and cowardice. The hostilities

gradually assumed the character of predatory expeditions rather than

the systematic efforts of organized warfare. The crusading ardor of

the new colonists of the Gothic March soon abated under the tyranny

of their feudal masters, who appropriated their lands, oppressed them

with taxes, and violated the rights which had been solemnly guaranteed

to them conditional upon their allegiance. The justice of Charlemagne

was invoked to suppress these increasing disorders, but the distance

from his court and the arrogance of the nobles enabled the latter to

practically nullify his edicts. The præcepta, or fueros, addressed to

the Counts of the Gothic March, and issued from time to time by the

Emperor, exhorting these lords to equity, and defining minutely the

privileges of their dependents, constitute some of the most interesting

and remarkable documents of mediæval jurisprudence. The last three

years of the reign of Al-Hakem were passed in peace with the Franks,

under a truce concluded between the courts of Aix-la-Chapelle and

Cordova.

The hostilities between the Asturian and Moorish kingdoms were, during

the reign of Hischem and Al-Hakem, prosecuted with energy, but with

constantly varying success. The Christians had not become sufficiently

strong to provoke with impunity the power of the Moslem sovereigns.

The attention of the latter was so occupied with the suppression of

intestine turmoil and ineffectual attempts to counteract the ambitious

projects of the Franks that they suffered many of the incursions of

their infidel neighbors to pass unnoticed. Some expeditions that

entered the Asturias returned in triumph, others were annihilated.

The forays of the Christian princes spread dismay through the Moorish

settlements of Galicia and Lusitania. Occasionally they met with

serious reverses, but these were generally retrieved in the next

campaign; and when the results of the year were compared, the advantage

was always with the Christians. They enlarged their influence and

cemented their power, by alliances with the Basques, with the lord of

the Gothic March, with the renowned Charlemagne. The limits of their

little monarchy, once so insignificant, began to extend south of the

mountains, those natural barriers beyond whose protecting peaks and

ravines they at first had feared to venture. Constant practice in

warfare formed a race of warriors whose prestige increased with their

success, and whose experience taught them the importance of loyalty,

obedience, and discipline. Their monarchs were, for the most part,

eminently fitted for the arduous duties imposed upon them by the

accidents of birth and fortune. Of these princes none attained to such

eminence in the pursuits of peace or the art of war as Alfonso II.,

surnamed The Chaste, whose singular title has been variously attributed

by historians to mistaken piety and constitutional impotence. His

life was one long crusade against the infidel. By every resource of

diplomacy, by every exertion of courage, by every sacrifice of comfort

and even of independence, he endeavored to promote the interest of that

cause which was identified with the honor of the Christian name. He

sent gifts and did homage to Charlemagne to secure his aid; and thus,

within less than a century of its foundation, the Asturian monarchy

twice became the fief of a foreign power; under Alfonso II., whose

allegiance was rendered to a Christian king in contradistinction to the

conduct of his predecessor Mauregato, the natural son of Alfonso I.

and a Berber captive, who had acknowledged the Emir of Cordova as his

suzerain, and whose dependence was, in addition to the customary acts

of fealty, manifested by the humiliating annual tribute of a hundred

virgins. The arms of Alfonso were carried repeatedly beyond the Douro

and the Tagus. He took and plundered Lisbon, already a flourishing

city, but its distance from his dominions and the small force at his

command compelled him soon afterwards to relinquish his prize. His

desperate valor and his superiority in partisan warfare frustrated

every attempt of the Moslems to effect a permanent lodgement in his

dominions. Amidst the excitement of his campaigns, he found time to

erect churches, to endow convents, to enlarge and embellish Oviedo,

the capital of his little monarchy. The clergy derived liberal support

and patronage from his devotion. It was during this period that the

invention of an absurd legend produced effects upon the political and

religious destinies of Spain little anticipated by the unscrupulous

ecclesiastics who promulgated it. In an unfrequented portion of the

wilderness of Galicia a mysterious light of celestial radiance, watched

by an angel, revealed the burial spot and the body of St. James the

Apostle. The Bishop of Iria, to whom posterity is indebted for the

discovery of this priceless treasure, communicated without delay

the intelligence of the miracle to his sovereign; and a chapel was

erected upon the hallowed spot, which, in time, became a magnificent

temple and a place of pilgrimage for thousands of the faithful and

the curious from every country of Europe. A city sprang up around the

church, which, by the translation of the Bishopric of Iria, at once

rose to the greatest importance, and its inhabitants were benefited

by the trade of the pilgrims, as the shrine was enriched with the

contributions prompted by their piety and their gratitude. The simple

Asturians never questioned the truth or even the probability of the

legend; the priesthood, who sustained the credit of the fiction by

every expedient of intimidation and imposture, advanced steadily in

consideration and wealth, while the miracles daily wrought by the

precious relic confirmed its holy character,--a relic which surpassed

in the efficacy of its miraculous virtues the wonderful mementos of

the martyrs which had been rescued from obscurity and decay in the

catacombs of Rome. Such was the origin of the city and cathedral of

Santiago de Compostella, whose foundation contributed so materially

to the extension of the Castilian empire and the triumph of the

Christian religion. Here first appeared the germ of that enthusiastic

spirit--partly military, partly monastic--which prompted the foundation

of the numerous orders of knighthood and culminated in the disastrous

expeditions for the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre. The retired

situation and primitive surroundings of the shrine, corresponding with

the humble origin of the Saint and his mission, increased the popular

faith in its genuineness and sanctity. The fact that the relics were

spurious and their discovery a fable was wholly indifferent so long

as the reverent credulity of the masses remained unshaken. The hope

of salvation, the religious aspirations of the devout, the increase

in prestige of the hierarchy, were all centred in the pretended tomb

of the Apostle. The apparition of the Saint upon his white charger in

the critical moments of battle roused the faltering courage of the

champions of the Cross on many a doubtful field, and it may safely

be asserted that neither the policy of the wisest statesmen nor the

victories of the most accomplished generals of any reign effected

more for the glory of the Spanish arms than did the fabrication of a

preposterous legend by an obscure prelate in the savage and almost

unknown region of Galicia.

The uniform success of the piratical excursions of the Saracens,

originated under the rule of the emirs and continued by the Ommeyades,

promised the adventurous aspirant for glory and wealth a more certain

and less hazardous career than the military profession. The Moorish

corsairs spread terror through the harbors and along the coasts of the

Mediterranean. They reduced to final subjection the Balearic Isles.

They plundered Corsica, established a temporary settlement in Sardinia,

and threatened the environs of the most opulent seaports of Italy. But

the fascinations attaching to the reckless profession of the pirate

were more congenial with the spirit of the Arab than the slower and

less brilliant results which must have proceeded from the maintenance

of an organized maritime power, and the Moslem princes seem never to

have seriously considered the construction of a navy which might, with

comparatively little exertion or expense, have acquired for them the

undisputed dominion of the seas.

The closing years of Al-Hakem were passed in the seclusion of the

harem, where, diverted by the companionship of the beauties of his

seraglio, amidst the excitements of intemperance and of every species

of debauchery, he endeavored to forget the sinister events of his

checkered career and the manifold acts of cruelty which had avenged

the crimes and errors of those who were unfortunate enough to incur

his resentment. The controlling maxim of his policy had always been

that mildness was synonymous with cowardice, and that the people

must be governed by the sword alone. To the adoption and enforcement

of this principle are to be attributed the frequent massacres and

executions of his reign. He was the first Moorish sovereign of Spain

who established a standing army, that menace to popular liberty and

indispensable support of despotism. The safety and health of his

soldiers were secured by the erection of commodious barracks; by the

collection of provisions and military stores in extensive magazines

and arsenals; by the enforcement of a system of perfect and rigorous

discipline. His guards, composed of slaves alien to the people and

devoted to their master, were the prototypes of the Janizaries and

the Mamelukes, whose pride and insubordination were long subsequently

productive of such disasters to the monarchies of Turkey and Egypt. The

mental constitution of Al-Hakem was disfigured by a vice not common

in the natures of men whose courage was never known to falter,--an

insatiable thirst for blood. Not a day elapsed when an order did not

issue from the tyrant, long invisible to his subjects, delivering some

unhappy wretch to the executioner. At length the effects of remorse

and prolonged intemperance reduced the Emir to a condition bordering

upon insanity. Oppressed with the memory of his crimes, haunted by the

groans and imprecations of his expiring victims, he became the prey

of frightful hallucinations, the offspring of a disordered brain. In

the middle of the night he startled the palace with his shrieks of

anguish. The slightest delay or opposition provoked him to fury. He

summoned his drowsy councillors in haste from their beds as if for the

discussion of affairs of the greatest moment, and, as soon as they were

assembled, dismissed them without ceremony. He reviewed his guards at

midnight. The hours of darkness were usually whiled away by the women

of the harem, who strove to amuse their capricious master with music,

songs, and lascivious dances. For four years Al-Hakem continued in

this deplorable condition, until relieved by a painful and lingering

death. His character was not deficient in many of the attributes of

greatness. He was brave, generous, sagacious, constant in friendship,

the implacable foe of hypocrisy, the welcome companion of philosophers

and poets. Prompt in action and resolute in battle, his indecision

at times of emergency nevertheless cost him an important part of his

dominions. His reign of twenty-six years was filled with stirring

events,--events which too plainly indicate the declining tendency of

the Saracen empire, which, deficient in all that constitutes the unity

and permanence of a state and a prey to constant disorder, was only

saved from precipitate destruction by the statesmanship and military

talents of its sovereigns.