acquirements of his courtiers, as well as to do them honor, the Khalif
had appointed a famous orator and poet to pronounce an address of
welcome, which should, at the same time, exalt the glories of his reign
and the grandeur of his empire. But the august presence in which he
found himself, and the consciousness of his inability to do justice to
his subject, so affected the impressible nature of the chosen exponent
of the eloquence of Cordova that he was unable to utter a single word.
Then the Khalif called upon one after another of the wise men at his
side, whose skill in improvisation had heretofore never failed them,
to greet the Grecian embassy, but they also were silent. At last,
unsolicited, a Persian, named Mondhir-Ibn-Said, a recent arrival at
the court, arose, and repeated some appropriate and extemporaneous
verses, full of the glowing images and extravagant metaphors which
are the delight of the passionate Oriental. When he concluded, neither
the presence of royalty, nor the stately and dignified etiquette of
the court, could repress the applause of the delighted audience, and
the Khalif recompensed the fortunate poet with a purse of gold, and
at once appointed him--for he was learned in the law--Chief Kadi of
Cordova. The envoys, having received every attention in the power of
their generous host, were dismissed, accompanied by a vizier charged to
offer, in the name of the Khalif, a number of splendid horses, arms,
and coats of mail to the Byzantine emperor.
The account of another embassy of an entirely different character which
arrived some time afterwards is instructive, as affording a curious
picture of the manners of the time. The Khalif having formed, from
the accounts of mendacious travellers, an exaggerated idea of the
extent and resources of Germany, and desirous of opening diplomatic
relations with that power, sent to Otho, the son of Henry the Fowler, a
letter, accompanied with the usual presents. The chief of the embassy,
a Mozarabic bishop, perished on the journey, and the missive was
delivered by his companions, who were ignorant of its contents. The
pride of Abd-al-Rahman had permitted him to incorporate into his letter
expressions which were not complimentary to the Trinitarian belief,
or, as the chronicle suggestively remarks, “in it the German emperor
was much better treated than the God of the Christians,” trusting to
the tact of the bishop to soothe any irritation that might arise from
its perusal. Otho, having read it, in the absence of all explanation,
naturally construed the language of the Moslem as a deliberate insult
to his religion, treated the envoys with marked indignity, removed them
from the precincts of the court, and for three years wholly ignored
their presence, except to restrain them of their liberty.
Then he determined to retaliate in kind. A letter was drawn up by
the Archbishop of Cologne, in which the vocabularies of profane and
ecclesiastical abuse were exhausted in search of epithets to be heaped
upon Mohammed. A messenger was now sought to convey this scurrilous
epistle, for, while many could be found who were willing to write it,
few were inclined to run the risk attending its delivery; for it was
well known that among the Moslems vituperation of the Prophet was
inexorably punished with death. Finally, John de Gorza, a fanatic monk,
whose austere life had obtained for him a reputation for unusual piety,
voluntarily offered himself as a candidate for the perilous duty which
almost necessarily involved the penalty of martyrdom. His services were
accepted in default of those of an ambassador of superior dignity, and
three ecclesiastics of equal rank were selected to accompany him, and
to share the doubtful fortunes of the enterprise. All arrangements
having been completed, this singular embassy set forth from the court
of Otho with but slight probability of its return. Arrived without
accident at Cordova, the monks were detained in one of the suburbs
pending the negotiation which Abd-al-Rahman deemed it proper to enter
into with them touching the offensive letter of the emperor, whose
contents were no secret at the Mussulman court. The Khalif found
himself placed in an unpleasant dilemma. The law was severely explicit
concerning the treatment of such as blasphemed the name of Mohammed.
Should the envoys deliver the letter of Otho, responsibility would
attach to their act as the representatives of their sovereign, and yet
their execution would be, in the eyes of the world, a serious violation
of the law of nations. Every effort was made to induce John de Gorza
to retain the letter and present only the gifts which accompanied it.
The services of the shrewdest diplomatists of the court were enlisted
for this purpose. But the stubborn fanatic, in whom the splendors of
the Moslem empire aroused only a feeling of disdain, was not to be
convinced by the insinuating arts nor intimidated by the menaces of
the emissaries of the Khalif. The difficulty was at length adjusted
by John de Gorza consenting to apply to his royal master for another
letter to be substituted for the objectionable one in his possession.
This was done, and, after a delay of eighteen months, preparations
were made for the reception of the embassy. Now, however, a fresh
obstacle was interposed by the obstinacy of monkish prejudice. The
rigorous etiquette, as well as the elegance and decorum of the Moslem
court, were insulted by the coarse and tattered garments and uncleanly
appearance of the German envoy. Attributing his condition to poverty,
the Khalif sent him a large sum of money to be expended in procuring
suitable clothing. True to his profession, the unselfish anchorite
at once bestowed the whole amount in alms upon the poor. The Khalif,
unable to repress his admiration for the consistent and uncompromising
character of the bold ecclesiastic, exclaimed, “By Allah! were he only
clothed with a bag, I will see him.”
Introduced with every form of ceremonious courtesy into the presence
of the most brilliant court in Europe, John de Gorza, unawed by the
majesty of the monarch and apparently unimpressed by the new and
dazzling scenes that met his eye, bore himself with a calm dignity and
self-possession little to be expected from his previous conduct; and
Abd-al-Rahman, greatly pleased with his candor and humility, accorded
him before his departure the unusual distinction of a private audience,
and finally dismissed him with every token of honor and esteem.
This period is remarkable for the success of a handful of adventurers,
who, in the closing years of the preceding century, had established
themselves on the coast of France, and whose enterprise, had they
received substantial aid from the government of Cordova, might have
affected, in no small degree, the ultimate fate of Christian Europe.
In the year 889, a band of twenty Moorish pirates were driven by
a tempest into the Gulf of Grimaud, which washes the shores of
Lower Provence. Their predatory habits tempted them to explore the
adjacent country; a village was surprised and plundered; and further
investigation convinced them of the advantages which chance had thrown
in their way for the foundation of a permanent colony. It was indeed
an ideal spot for a robber stronghold. The commerce of the Northern
Mediterranean was within easy reach. The harbor was retired and
capacious. Lofty mountains covered with dense forests surrounded it.
From their summits could be discerned the highly-cultivated plains of
France, for generations free from the inroads of the marauder, whose
inhabitants, ruled by a succession of incapable princes, were wholly
destitute of the martial spirit which supplies the neglect of royal
protection in a hardy peasantry, and who had been long unaccustomed to
the use of arms. Near at hand were the Alps, through whose unguarded
passes access was obtainable to the smiling valleys and rich cities of
Italy, a country which has been the goal of every military adventurer
of Western Europe in both ancient and modern times.
The Moslem freebooters lost no time in apprising their friends
and comrades of their discovery. Recruits from Spain, Sicily, and
Africa daily swelled their ranks. It was not long before a score of
castles--each the seat of a marauding chieftain--crowned the heights
overlooking the Gulf of Grimaud and the Forest of Fraxinet. With
profound sagacity, these enterprising bandits sold their support to
the feudal barons, whose quarrels perpetually vexed the petty states
of Provence, always choosing the weakest for their allies. Thus they
held the balance of power, and, enriched by the plunder of civil war,
acquired each year a larger measure of influence and importance.
Their relentless cruelty gave them a weight out of all proportion to
their numbers or their valor. Their excesses were the terror of the
peasantry. By the end of the ninth century, they had crossed the Alps,
threatened Turin, destroyed many monasteries, and laid waste the plains
of Montferrat and Piedmont. They established themselves on the Po. In
935 they had advanced to the borders of Liguria. Their depredations
extended as far as the city of Genoa. The passes of Mount Cenis and
Mount St. Bernard were in their hands. From their strongholds in
the Alps they stopped all traffic and levied contributions on every
traveller. They carried their arms into Switzerland, and penetrated to
the shores of Lake Constance. They burned churches and abbeys under the
walls of Marseilles. The city of Nice still bears, in the name of one
of its quarters, a souvenir of Saracen occupation.
In France, by reason of its proximity to their colony and the greater
facilities it offered to their movements, their incursions were more
frequent and disastrous. Much of the level country was depopulated. In
the strongest cities alone was security to be found. Almost the entire
territory of Provence, Languedoc, and Dauphiné was at one time subject
to the visitations of this awful scourge. So strongly had these daring
banditti intrenched themselves in the mountains of Southwestern Europe,
that the princes in whose dominions they were found were unable to
dislodge them. It is hinted by Liutprand that the embassy of John de
Gorza had for its principal object the cessation of their ravages,
through the intervention of the Khalif, a statement by no means
improbable.
Be this as it may, it was not long after that event that the power
of the Moslem colonists began to decline. For a time the influx of
recruits, the appropriation of women, and the institution of polygamous
households threatened a superiority in numbers as well as in arms,
and a permanency of occupation, conditions whose danger had been
exemplified by the Arab conquests in the South. These fears, however,
proved without foundation. The Christians gradually recovered their
ground. Castle after castle fell before their assaults. Dependent upon
their own efforts, the Moslem pirates could not sustain the combined
attack made upon them from every side, and, before the death of
Abd-al-Rahman, they had lost their influence as a disturbing force in
those countries which they had for three-quarters of a century made the
scene of their depredations.
The operations of these chieftains were never divested of the
character of brigandage. Except in time of common danger, they acted
independently of each other. The permanent success which is derived
from a union of forces and concerted political action never attended
their arms. Yet, without organization and deprived of the support of
any foreign government, they maintained their footing in a hostile
territory for nearly a hundred years. Their only resources were the
plunder they obtained from their neighbors. Their only recruits were
adventurers like themselves, attracted by the hope of booty. Their
harems were filled by their forays, and their race propagated at the
expense of the enemy. No chronicle, Christian or Arab, explicitly
states that they were even countenanced, still less assisted, by the
Khalifate of Cordova. Yet no opportunity so favorable to the extension
of the Faith and the conquest of Europe was ever offered to the Spanish
Moslems. The strategic importance of these piratical strongholds was
far greater than that of the exposed settlements of Septimania. They
were easily accessible by sea. With trifling labor they might have been
rendered impregnable. They controlled the passes of the Alps. They
menaced the great cities of Marseilles, Arles, and Narbonne. As a point
of concentration for an invading army their value was indisputable.
Difficult of approach, they commanded the rich plains of Provence and
Languedoc, of Piedmont and Lombardy. The facility with which their
marauding and undisciplined garrisons overran the adjacent provinces
as far as Genoa and Grenoble is suggestive of the results which might
have been accomplished by the systematic operations of a great military
power like that of Abd-al-Rahman III., supported by the resources of
the most opulent and warlike nation of the age.
The domestic policy of Abd-al-Rahman gave indications of the
same genius that directed his military campaigns and diplomatic
negotiations. The exact administration of justice, the vigilance of a
numerous and well-appointed police, the supervision of an incorruptible
magistracy, guaranteed to every class of society the full enjoyment
of the rights of person and property. The prevalence of order and the
suppression of crime were no less evident in regions far remote from
the seat of government than in the immediate precincts of the capital.
The love of pomp and the prodigal display of luxury kept even pace
with the increasing wealth and multiplied resources of the empire.
The temples were enriched with the spoils and decorated with the
trophies of the churches and monasteries of the infidel. The Great
Mosque of the capital was enlarged, its court enclosed with a graceful
arcade and cooled by delicious fountains. The palaces and gardens of
Cordova surpassed in extent and equalled in magnificence the famous
ones of Bagdad and Damascus. In the charming and luxurious retreat of
Medina-al-Zahrâ, the Khalif transacted the daily routine of business;
received foreign ambassadors; heard and decided contests for literary
precedence; determined questions of civil and ecclesiastical law.
Entertaining, not without reason, a profound distrust of the Arab
element, which composed the most intelligent portion of his subjects,
he committed the principal offices of government and entrusted the
care of his person to the Mamlouks, or Slaves, a class of servile
origin, whose numbers--through royal favor, the possession of marked
capacity for affairs, and the habit of implicit obedience--soon rose
to extraordinary power and influence in the state. This term was
applied at first to captives taken in war by the Arabs themselves,
or sold to them by the barbarian nations of Germany. But by degrees
the name acquired a more extensive significance, and came to include
all persons of foreign birth or base extraction employed in the
civil and military service of the khalifate. Almost every nation and
tribe from the shores of the Caspian to the western extremities of
Lusitania were represented in this important class, the alien birth and
dependent character of whose constituents divested them of sympathy
with the other subjects of the empire, and assured their unwavering
devotion to the interests of their master. From the earliest days of
the emirate, an enormous traffic had been carried on in slaves with
Christian countries, principally with France and Italy. Its profits,
originally monopolized by Jews, were, in time, shared by Christian
ecclesiastics; and it has been established by incontrovertible evidence
that at least one pope did not disdain to replenish the coffers of the
Church by an expedient so prejudicial to the interests of religion and
humanity. The monasteries of the South of France were largely devoted
to the manufacture of eunuchs; those on the Meuse were also especially
celebrated on this account, the unfortunate subjects for mutilation
being procured by the monks through the purchase of children from the
peasantry. The Slave caste, while it included a considerable proportion
of eunuchs, was by no means, however, limited to individuals of that
unfortunate class.
Although condemned by adverse fortune to a subordinate and frequently
to a humiliating position in the scale of society, the inferiority of
the Slave, in this respect, was more than compensated by the authority
he exercised, by the wealth he was enabled to accumulate, and by the
consideration he enjoyed as the chosen agent of the Khalif in posts of
responsibility and confidence. The highest employments were entrusted
to these strangers, to the prejudice of the ancient aristocracy whose
lineage could be traced to the Pagan guardians of the Kaaba and the
Companions of the Prophet. The royal body-guard was entirely composed
of Slaves. Introduced into the country at an age when youth is most
susceptible to outward impressions, they imbibed, through intimate
association, through the influence of example, through religious
instruction, and through considerations of personal interest, the
habits, the prejudices, and the faith of the Moslems. Some amassed
large fortunes in trade. Others rose to important commands in the army.
Many maintained establishments which surpassed those of the nobility in
pomp and extravagance, and themselves owned multitudes of slaves. Not
a few were noted for their scholarly attainments; possessed extensive
libraries; participated with credit in the public debates which amused
the leisure of the court; and acquired no inconsiderable reputation in
the pursuits of literature.
This epoch of Moorish dominion, agitated by foreign war and intestine
disturbance, was likewise oppressed by the calamities of nature and
the grievous machinations of domestic treason. In the year 915,
the Peninsula was visited by a famine of unparalleled severity. A
long-continued drought, which defied the skill of the hydraulic
engineers and the resources of an irrigating system that was the
admiration of Europe, wasted the land. A pestilence followed, as usual,
in the wake of the famine. Deprived of all means of subsistence and
consumed by disease, the unhappy peasantry perished by thousands. The
streets and highways were obstructed with the dying and the dead. The
mosques were crowded day and night with suppliants, who implored the
pity of a God who seemed to have turned His face in anger from His
children. Such was the mortality that the survivors were unable to
afford to the deceased the rites of burial. Every effort was exerted
by the government to alleviate the public misery, but the distress was
so general that the liberality of the Khalif was unable to produce any
great improvement in the lamentable condition of his subjects, whose
violent measures to obtain the necessaries of life not infrequently
required the intervention of military force. The measure of national
misfortune was filled by the ruin wrought by a terrible hurricane that
swept the coasts of Africa and Andalusia, and by a conflagration that
destroyed the larger portion of the capital.
Abd-al-Rahman had two sons, named respectively Al-Hakem and Abdallah.
Of these, the first was the heir apparent, who, though greatly esteemed
and respected for his noble character and princely virtues, was still
generally considered as inferior to his brother in literary ability as
well as in those showy qualities and accomplishments which dazzle the
eyes of the populace. In an evil hour, the ambitious Abdallah, incited
by his friend the theologian Ibn-Abd-al-Barr, was induced to agree to
the assassination of Al-Hakem, and a plot was hatched with that end in
view. Unhappily for their success, a spy had introduced himself into
the councils of the conspirators, and they were secretly arrested. Some
were impaled. Ibn-Abd-al-Barr anticipated the executioner by suicide;
and Abdallah, in spite of the magnanimous intercession of the injured
Al-Hakem, was strangled in prison. The happiness of the Khalif was
deeply and permanently affected by a deed in which paternal affection
was sacrificed to a sense of public duty; and to the day of his death
the memory of the untimely fate of his son constantly haunted his
thoughts and imparted to his character a melancholy which no diversion
could charm away, and no triumph, however glorious, could entirely
efface.
The greatness of the Moslem power in Spain under Abd-al-Rahman III.
is to be attributed to the extraordinary administrative capacity of
that renowned monarch. The glory in fact is exclusively his own. The
attention he paid to the minute details of government was not less
marked than the skill with which he directed to a successful issue
enterprises of the greatest magnitude and importance. He was the
impersonation of imperial despotism. No sovereign of his race had
hitherto centred in his person, to the exclusion of all other sources
of authority, the prestige, the honor, the dignity of empire. He
possessed in a remarkable degree those talents which facilitate the
subordination and amalgamation of hostile elements of society long
accustomed to anarchy, a task far more difficult than the conquest
of great nations. The discernment he exhibited in abolishing all
taxes not authorized by the traditional law of Islam acquired for
him the public confidence at the very beginning of his reign. The
history of that period exhibits a picture of religious toleration in
vivid contrast to the revolting crimes perpetrated by the Sees of
Constantinople and Rome. So little was this great prince influenced
by sectarian prejudice, or even by ordinary considerations of policy,
that he was with infinite difficulty dissuaded from appointing to the
highest judicial office of the realm a renegade, whose father and
mother still belonged to the Christian communion. The assumption of
the title of khalif, attended by the alteration in the coinage and the
modification of the public prayers in the mosques--acts that confirmed
to him the attributes of his new and well-merited dignity--gave him
great prominence in the Mohammedan world. The achievements of a quarter
of a century certainly entitled him to a distinction which his pride
and wisdom now induced him to appropriate, and which was destined to
contribute a new and powerful impulse to the civilization of Western
Europe. His popularity called forth such multitudes of volunteers. when
the Holy War was proclaimed that care had to be taken lest the shops be
left without clerks and the fields without laborers.
The reign of Abd-al-Rahman III. is coincident with the greatest
wealth, grandeur, and prosperity of the Hispano-Arab domination, as
those of his son and grandson indicate respectively the climax of its
intellectual supremacy and its military glory. During this, the most
flourishing era of the Saracen empire, the Peninsula presented the
aspect of a highly cultivated and extraordinarily productive garden.
The graceful and delicious plants of the Orient grew everywhere
side by side with the indigenous flora of less favored Europe. The
semi-tropical region embraced by the provinces of Valencia and Murcia,
thickly settled as they are, then supported a far more numerous
population than now clusters in their fertile valleys. The treeless
and proverbially barren steppes of Old Castile were diversified with
forests and dotted with picturesque villages. Endless fields of
ripening grain met the eye on the plains of La Mancha, where to-day
a sparse and straggling vegetation affords precarious sustenance
to the flock of the shepherd. The nature of the soil, its peculiar
adaptability to certain agricultural products, the rotation of crops,
the fertilizing qualities of all varieties of manures, the systematic
distribution and economy of water, were thoroughly understood, and the
principles of scientific husbandry applied with phenomenal success.
Not a foot of ground was wasted. The rocky hill-sides were, with
infinite labor, cut into terraces, covered with mould, and planted
with vineyards. Where even a single citron, carob, or olive-tree would
grow, a triangular enclosure was constructed of stones filled with
earth and tended with assiduous care. The yield of the harvests was
often a hundred-fold. It was not unusual, in many districts, for the
same ground to produce four crops of different kinds in the course of
a year. In the South, where the warm and genial climate assisted the
natural productiveness of the soil, the country was not inaptly termed
a terrestrial paradise. The suburbs of Cordova, Granada, and Murcia
were proverbial for their beauty, and their luxuriant vegetation was
rather suggestive of the rural surroundings of provincial hamlets
than of the vicinity of great capitals. The olive orchards of Seville
were the most extensive in the world. The banks of the Guadalquivir,
near that city, were lined with fruit-trees, and, for a distance of
thirty miles, one could travel through a succession of farm-houses,
castles, and stately villas embowered in perennial verdure. A net-work
of canals, subject to and regulated by an equitable code of laws
interpreted by rustic magistrates chosen by the people, traversed in
all directions the tillable land of every province. Gigantic aqueducts
spanned valleys and hill-sides, bearing to the parched and thirsty soil
of the distant plains the refreshing waters of the mountain springs.
The experience of the Moor enabled him to detect the presence of the
precious fluid in the most unpromising localities; and subterranean
channels, hundreds of yards in length, hewn in the living rock, still
attest his dauntless energy and perseverance.
The incessant wars and domestic feuds of the Abbasides and the
Fatimites, which consumed their resources and interrupted their
commerce, presented opportunities to the Ommeyades of Spain by which
they were ever ready to profit. The isolated situation of the latter,
and the peaceful condition of their empire for extended periods
of time, were eminently propitious to the development of foreign
trade, while the possession of a large merchant marine facilitated
transportation to points that national hostility and religious
prejudice often rendered inaccessible by land. Although the great
entrepôt of Alexandria was closed to the subjects of the Khalifs of
the West, they were amply indemnified by the hospitable reception and
official courtesies which they habitually received from the people of
Constantinople. It was a judicious and enlightened policy, and one
whose important influence on every branch of art and learning cannot
be estimated by the material prosperity, however great, which its
institution conferred, that dictated the alliance, and preserved the
close relations long existing between the princes of Moorish Spain
and the sovereigns of Byzantium. During its most prosperous era, the
merchant vessels of the khalifate numbered more than a thousand.
Permanent agencies for the purchase and sale of merchandise were
established in the most distant regions of the East,--in Ceylon,
in Sogdiana, in China. There were few bodies of water accessible to
maritime traffic where the flag of the Ommeyades was not known.
The vaunted glories of the Abbaside dynasty were surpassed, in many
respects, by the civilization of the Hispano-Arab empire. In the
extent of its public works, in the magnificence of its palaces, in
the embellishment of its temples, the superiority of the latter can
hardly be questioned. Its thorough and systematic cultivation of the
soil was not inferior in its results to the methods pursued in the most
productive fields of Mesopotamia, the Garden of Asia. No comparison
exists between the trade of Damascus and Bagdad, largely dependent
on caravans, and that of Moorish Spain, which, in addition to this
resource, employed great fleets of merchantmen.
The best indications of the prosperity of the Western Khalifate are to
be derived from its population and its public revenues. It has been
estimated by competent authorities that the subjects of Abd-al-Rahman
III. numbered at least thirty million. Great as was the extent of the
metropolis, incredible as was her wealth, superb as were her environs,
many of the other cities of the empire, while they could not rival
her power and grandeur, shared the enormously profitable benefits of
a civilization in which Cordova enjoyed a well-deserved pre-eminence.
The dominions of the Khalif included eighty municipalities of the
first rank and three hundred of the second; the smaller towns were
almost innumerable. Along the banks of the Guadalquivir alone stood
twelve thousand villages. So thickly was the country settled that the
traveller usually passed, in the space of a single day’s journey, no
less than three large cities in the midst of an unbroken succession of
towns and hamlets. Nothing comparable with the opulence and splendor of
the great provincial capitals was to be seen outside of the Peninsula.
Seville contained five hundred thousand inhabitants; Almeria an equal
number; Granada four hundred and twenty-five thousand; Malaga three
hundred thousand; Valencia two hundred and fifty thousand; Toledo two
hundred thousand.
The sanitary regulations maintained in these large communities were
almost perfect. The streets were paved and lighted. A thorough system
of drainage prevailed. Some of the sewers under the city of Valencia
were large enough to admit a cart with ease, and the smallest could be
traversed by a loaded beast of burden. Order was preserved by means of
a numerous and well-organized police, who patrolled the thoroughfares
day and night.
From the best information to be obtained concerning the revenues of
Spain under the Arabs during the reigns of different monarchs, the
conclusion is indisputable that they exceeded in amount those of all
the other sovereigns of Europe combined. The data we possess, while
much less copious and explicit than could be desired, are, as far as
they go, undoubtedly correct, although some critics have questioned
their accuracy. A single instance may suffice to convey an idea of the
wealth of the khalifs under the most flourishing conditions of their
empire. The revenue of Abd-al-Rahman III. was twelve million nine
hundred and forty-five thousand dinars, equivalent to thirty-three
million six hundred thousand dollars. The immensity of the pecuniary
resources of the khalifate may well excite the wonder, if not the
incredulity, of the scholar when it is remembered that the ratio of
the respective monetary values of the tenth and twentieth centuries
is ten to one. The fact that such a sum could be contributed for the
support of government by a nation occupying a limited territorial area
like that of Spain, without being considered onerous or in any way
impairing its commercial prosperity, is a more reliable indication
of the affluence of the Western Khalifate than a whole library of
statistics. The principal tax levied was one-tenth of the yield of
the mines, crops, mercantile investments, and industrial occupations.
In addition to this was the regular contribution, yielding fourteen
million dollars, paid by Christians and Jews as a consideration for the
enjoyment of their laws and the practice of their religion; certain
taxes on shops and on the sale of property, and duties on imports,
none of which were at all excessive. One of the most important sources
of revenue, in a warlike age, was the fifth of the booty obtained in
battle, which, after division, was deposited in the royal treasury. No
approximate computation can be made of its amount, which necessarily
varied with each campaign, and no appraisement was taken of its actual
value after its first distribution, which was, in most instances,
hastily made and inaccurate. The exigencies of warfare, and the
expenses arising from the construction of important public works, often
demanded the imposition of additional and extraordinary burdens, which,
while not countenanced by law, were usually paid without remonstrance,
as required for the propagation of the Faith and for the completion of
noble architectural monuments representing the glory and piety of the
monarch and the opulence of the state. The dignitaries of the empire
maintained the pomp and state of princes. Their palaces, their courts,
their retinues, were inferior only to those of their royal master. No
Christian potentate could vie with them in magnificence. Their wealth,
accumulated by every legal expedient, by every device of extortion, was
bestowed with lavish hand. A present made by the Vizier, Ibn-Shobeyd,
to Abd-al-Rahman III., and celebrated by the Arab writers of the age
as an instance of prodigal generosity, bears witness of the vast
treasures which must have been possessed by imperial officials of the
highest rank. It included an estate whose forests contained twenty
thousand trees; sixty slaves, male and female, selected for their
accomplishments and beauty; one hundred horses and mules; eight hundred
suits of armor; a large number of costly weapons, tents, and trappings;
carpets, cushions, and silks; rare sables and cloaks of brocade;
quantities of camphor, aloes, musk, and amber. The most important item
of this magnificent gift was coin and virgin gold to the amount of five
hundred and fifty thousand dinars. Its whole value may be estimated at
more than five million dollars.
The political sagacity of the Moorish princes neglected no precaution
which might contribute to the consolidation of their authority or
the security of their dominions. The navy of Abd-al-Rahman III. was
the most powerful in the Mediterranean. The irregular troops at his
command were practically unlimited in number; those regularly enrolled
amounted to more than a hundred and fifty thousand. The body-guard of
the Khalif was famous for the splendor of its arms and the perfection
of its discipline. It was composed of twelve thousand veterans, of whom
eight thousand were cavalry. The accoutrements of the members of this
select corps were the most costly and perfect that the military science
of the time could provide. Their uniform was of the finest silk. The
caparisons of their horses were unequalled in magnificence. The hilts
of their scimetars were jewelled; their belts and scabbards were of
solid gold.
Facilities for rapid and secure communication with the frontiers of the
empire were afforded by substantial causeways, which, radiating from
the capital, were equally available for the passage of troops and the
transportation of merchandise. The safety of the traveller was assured
by patrols and sentinels lodged in barracks distributed at regular
intervals. A system of posts transmitted intelligence by means of
couriers and relays of horses with a rapidity that to the mind of the
astonished foreigner seemed almost magical. Innumerable watch-towers,
still known to the Spaniards by their Arab name, atalayas, rose upon
every promontory of the long extended line of coast, and from their
summits beacons flashed timely notice of the movements of friendly
cruisers and hostile squadrons.
Vast sums were repeatedly appropriated from the treasury for structures
designed for public utility, solely with the object of affording
employment to the industrious artisan and laborer. Abd-al-Rahman II.
caused proclamation to be made throughout his dominions that no man,
able and willing to work, should suffer because of enforced idleness.
Thus was established by implication the salutary principle that the
accumulated wealth of the state was the property of the people, and to
its general application is to be attributed the extraordinary number of
castles, mosques, bridges, and aqueducts which cover every part of the
Peninsula once subject to Mussulman rule.
The sick and the unfortunate were housed and cared for in public
institutions erected for that purpose. Orphans were maintained and
educated from the private purse of the Khalif, five hundred being
enrolled in a single school at Cordova, a noble example of patriarchal
solicitude and royal generosity.
Equally unlike their predecessors the Barbarians and their own
conquerors the Castilians, the Spanish Arabs did not take pleasure
in the destruction of the proud memorials of Roman greatness. It is
true that where a structure was hopelessly ruined, they appropriated
the materials for their own edifices. Wanton injury of the relics of
classic antiquity was, however, always discountenanced by the liberal
spirit of the Spanish Moslem. Even from the earliest epoch of their
occupation, the grandeur of these works, which have immortalized
the power and majesty of the Cæsars, filled their untutored but not
unappreciative minds with awe and wonder. Bridges and fortifications
which had survived since the reign of the first emperors were
rebuilt. The highways, which formed such an important feature of the
military policy of the empire, were thoroughly repaired and extended.
Such objects of Greek or Roman art as came into possession of the
Saracens--with the exception of statuary, which, as representing the
human form, partook of the abomination of idolatrous worship--were
carefully preserved. In every act and sentiment was disclosed a feeling
of reverence and admiration for the imposing and graceful monuments
bequeathed to posterity by the former masters of the world.
The centre of all this wonderful civilization was the famous city of
Cordova. The capital of the empire, of itself, it possessed all the
requisites of a mighty state, a vast population, commercial wealth,
religious prestige, political power. Eight cities of the first rank
and three thousand smaller towns were subject to its jurisdiction.
Each year the sum of three million pieces of gold--sixty million
dollars--was paid into its treasury. No community of ancient or
mediæval times could compare with it in proficiency in the arts, in
scientific attainments, in intellectual culture. Its inhabitants could
not have numbered less than a million. Their dwellings, generally built
of stone, exhibited the unpretending exterior peculiar to Oriental
architecture, but within they were adorned with mosaics and arabesques,
with blooming parterres and marble fountains. The streets, adapted
to the scorching climate, were narrow, but solidly paved, perfectly
drained, and, subject to constant supervision, were kept in a state
of cleanliness unknown to the best-regulated municipalities of modern
Europe. In summer, a grateful coolness was obtained by awnings, which,
stretched from one building to another, excluded the rays of the
sun, facilitating the purposes of traffic and the intercourse of the
people. The houses--exclusive of the palaces of the nobles and public
officials, which were very numerous--amounted to the extraordinary
figure of one hundred and thirteen thousand. There were eighty thousand
four hundred shops, seven hundred mosques, nine hundred baths, and four
thousand three hundred markets, where were constantly to be seen the
costumes and the treasures of every country known to commerce in that
age.
For ten miles in a direct line on the darkest night the pedestrian
could walk securely through the city and its environs by the light of
innumerable lamps. The total area of the capital included a space of
twenty-four miles in length by six in width along the classic Bætis,
which--the only stream of Andalusia that is said to bear a strictly
Arab name--had been designated by the Saracens The Great River. The
circumference of the city proper, enclosed by fortified walls, was
fourteen miles. In the size and number of its bazaars and in the
variety of the merchandise with which its warehouses were filled,
Cordova enjoyed an undisputed pre-eminence over the most luxurious
cities of Asia, and west of the Bosphorus had no rival, with the single
exception of Constantinople.
The rarest and most expensive luxuries of the table and the harem were
to be procured in the shops of the gigantic capital. Beautiful slaves
from Greece, Italy, and Abyssinia; white eunuchs, whose emasculation
had rather enhanced than diminished their elegance of form and
regularity of feature; blacks, whose repulsive hideousness and colossal
stature were qualifications for the retinue of the Khalif; books and
manuscripts in every tongue; the choicest spices and perfumes of the
Orient; priceless jewels, whose sheen enhances to such a degree the
charms of female loveliness; robes of every hue and texture, woven with
texts and mottoes in threads of silver and gold,--all of these, and
many other wares, objects of the cupidity and the passions of man--were
daily exhibited to the covetous and admiring glance of the passer-by.
Great caravansaries afforded shelter to multitudes of merchants,
travellers, and pilgrims, who, allured by avarice, curiosity, or
devotion, daily resorted to the renowned Metropolis of the West.
Inns, where food, lodging, and alms were gratuitously distributed to
the worthy but impecunious scholar, whose means were inadequate to
the gratification of his literary aspirations, established by the
government and maintained from the funds of the public treasury, formed
a peculiar and striking feature of the varied life of the city. From
the rivulets of the distant Sierra, a lofty aqueduct, two leagues and a
half in length--and whose vermilion hue, derived from the cinnabar in
its cement, presenting a vivid contrast to the green of the surrounding
landscape, rendered it a most conspicuous object--furnished the
inhabitants with a never-failing supply of water. Fountains threw up
their glittering spray in every square, before every palace, in the
court-yard of every mosque. In some instances, the stream poured in
noisy volume from the mouth of a lion or a crocodile of gilded bronze,
grotesque and terrible in appearance; in others, the drops rippled
gently over the edges of exquisitely carved basins of porphyry and
alabaster. The air was heavy with the mingled aroma of myriads of
blossoms, as from orchard and garden were wafted the odors of many a
delicious exotic, which filled the streets with their intoxicating
fragrance.
Seven ponderous gates, covered with scales of brass, gave access
to the five different quarters, or wards, into which the city was
divided, each of which was isolated from the rest by walls and
towers, as a means of security against the turbulent populace, whose
insubordination was proverbial and whose loyalty was uncertain even
under the iron hand of the most powerful ruler. To one of these wards
the Christians, to another the Jews, were restricted, and, from their
precincts, after sunset, no individual could emerge without incurring
the penalty of death. From every gate a broad and well-paved highway
led to the frontier cities of the empire,--Malaga, Badajoz, Astorga,
Talavera, Toledo, Saragossa, Merida. The alcazar of the khalifs, built
upon the site of the palace of the Visigothic kings, was of great
size and impregnable strength. It probably included one of the wards
above referred to, and contained the citadel, the official residence
of the principal dignitaries of the court, and the barracks of the
royal body-guard, as well as the quarters of an innumerable retinue of
dependents and slaves. Near it was the gate leading to the bridge over
the Guadalquivir, the scene of more than one historical event which
changed the fortunes of the reigning dynasty in eras of revolution
and disaster. That bridge was one of the grandest works ever designed
by Roman genius. It was twelve hundred feet in length by thirty in
breadth, and stood ninety feet above the water. It was defended by
nineteen turrets. Built during the reign of Augustus, and in good
repair to-day, it has served the purposes of war and commerce for sixty
generations.
The inexhaustible fertility of the soil of Andalusia yielded, in the
greatest profusion, the most delicious products of every clime. The
necessaries of life were to be procured for a trifle. Every description
of food was offered for sale in the markets, and luscious fruits and
vegetables, classed as expensive luxuries or unattainable in the
capitals of Christian Europe, were enjoyed in Cordova by persons in
the most moderate circumstances. The attire of the humblest citizen
indicated an unusual degree of personal comfort; professional
mendicancy, that curse of Oriental communities, was discouraged and
practically unknown; the worthy sufferer found a ready welcome in the
public hospital, while the impostor was scourged into unwonted activity
by the officers of justice.
The suburbs of Cordova, exclusive of the royal residence of
Medina-al-Zahrâ, which was superior to the others in extent and beauty,
were twenty-one in number. They bore romantic names suggested by
their charming situations, and the admiring homage they received from
the people, such as “The Vale of Paradise,” “The Beautiful Valley,”
“The Path of Roses,” “The Garden of Wonders.” While subject to the
jurisdiction of the central municipal power, they, in other respects,
presented the aspect of a series of independent communities, provided
with every necessity and luxury required by a numerous and thriving
population,--shops, baths, inns, warehouses, markets, and mosques.
Two occupied the opposite bank of the river; the others encircled the
Moorish capital with a girdle of dazzling white villas, interspersed
with groves of palms rising amidst a wealth of tropical verdure.
For miles in every direction were orange orchards, whose sweetness
impregnated the air for many a league. Rivulets and fountains diffused
through street and garden a delicious coolness. Blossoms of gaudy hue
and overpowering fragrance grew in profusion along the avenues. The
columns in the court-yards were entwined with roses. Along the stone
causeways radiating in every direction from the city trooped caravans
of plodding camels, laden with products of the art and industry of
Europe, Africa, and Asia; or, riding swift Andalusian horses, sped
the royal couriers with despatches for the governors of the distant
states of the empire. The majestic bridge across the Guadalquivir was,
from sunrise to sunset, crowded to its utmost capacity with traders,
servants, soldiers, mounted cavaliers, and beasts of burden.
The pampered tastes of the khalifs found their utmost gratification in
the comparative seclusion of the ten villas which the latter possessed
in the environs of their capital. Here were provided means of sensual
enjoyment that far eclipsed, in extent and elegance, the voluptuous
attractions and wanton extravagance of Capri, Sybaris, and Antioch.
These abodes of pleasure, contrived with all the skill of the Saracen
architect, were surrounded by grounds that exhibited to perfection
the peculiar and surprising effects of the horticulture of Asia. Airy
galleries, sustained by columns of polished marble, were brilliant with
the beautiful stuccoes of Damascus. The mural decoration, imitated
from the textile fabrics of India, partook of all the richness of
silk brocade interwoven with threads of gold. The sparkling mosaics
of Constantinople, lavished in gay profusion upon arch and alcove,
contributed their share towards the embellishment of these enchanting
retreats. Curious lattices of alabaster admitted a subdued and
uncertain light. Sentences from the works of famous poets--most of them
of an irreverent and bacchanalian character--met the eye upon cornice,
architrave, and capital. The basins, wherein dashed, with musical
tinkle, the jets of countless fountains, were of massy silver. The
furniture was of aloe, sandal-wood, ebony, and ivory, delicately carved
and inlaid. Lovely female slaves of every nationality, accomplished
in the arts of poetry and music, and educated under the supervision
of famous instructors, ministered to the wants of the Commander of
the Faithful, entertained his leisure with animated and intellectual
discourse, or relieved his care with their endearments and with the
charms of song. Vast numbers of white and black eunuchs--the former
selected for their beauty, the latter prized for their lofty stature
and transcendent ugliness--glided mysteriously through the shadowy
apartments, or, armed with jewelled weapons, guarded the forbidden
portals of the harem.
In the gardens, the fertile imagination of the Oriental artist rioted
in its marvellous creations. The walks, paved with colored pebbles,
formed arabesques of quaint and varied patterns. The hedges were
fashioned into imitations of fortified walls, with battlement, tower,
and barbican. From concealed sources, fountains cast at regular
intervals their waters high into the air. Labyrinths, from whose
intricate paths escape was impossible without a guide, beset the way
of the incautious guest. The scene was diversified with lakes, upon
whose crystal surface floated swans and other water-fowl of silver;
by grottos, whose cool recesses were suggestive of luxurious repose;
by arcades of glossy evergreen; by plants of variegated foliage
whose tints, at a distance, resembled a surface of rich enamel; by
enchanting vistas, where clumps of odoriferous shrubs and colored
grasses, interspersed with beds of brilliant flowers arranged in
sentences expressing wishes for the happiness of the monarch and the
glorification of Allah, covered the landscape like a piece of tapestry,
more gorgeous than the most exquisite creations of the weaver that ever
issued from the looms of Persia or Flanders.
The oldest and one of the most famous of these villas was Rusafah,
the favorite resort of Abd-al-Rahman I. It was not merely a place of
relaxation and enjoyment, for in its garden was first attempted the
scientific cultivation of the botanical treasures of the East. Ever
devoted to the romantic traditions of his Syrian home, the exiled
prince had named his palace after one possessed by his ancestors in the
vicinity of Damascus.
The other suburban residences of the khalifs were each distinguished by
some peculiarity of location, structure, or ornament. One was famous
for its innumerable fountains. In another were exhibited, in their
greatest variety and beauty, the charming effects of floral decoration.
A third, from the magnificent view it afforded, was called “The Abode
of the Fortunate.” A profusion of mosaics and enamels had acquired for
the most ornate of all the significant and appropriate name of “The
Palace of the Diadem.”
To the northwest of Cordova, at the base of the picturesque Sierra
Morena, three miles from the city, yet connected with it by a
succession of mansions and gardens, was the palace and suburb of
Medina-al-Zahrâ. Its traditional origin partakes of the romance which
so frequently embellishes the history of the Orient. It is related
by the Moorish historians that a wealthy concubine of Abd-al-Rahman
III., being on her death-bed and desirous that her last act should
be the fulfilment of one of the noblest obligations of her religion,
requested that the wealth she owed to the generosity of her royal
lover be expended in the ransom of Moslem captives. Anxious to comply
with this pious request, the Khalif sent messengers to the Christian
states of the North, but, even with the diligent co-operation of
their princes, who were his allies or tributaries, he was unable
to find a single slave to be redeemed from bondage. Then, at the
suggestion of another concubine, the favorite of his harem, whose
name, Al-Zahrâ, in the poetic nomenclature of the Arabs means The
Blossom, he determined to use the treasure in building a palace whose
unparalleled splendor might form a fitting climax to the glories
of his reign. A third of the public revenues, a sum which, without
including those derived from the taxes of Jews and Christians and
the fifth of the spoils of battle, amounted annually to more than
two million pieces of gold, was also devoted to the work by the
enthusiastic monarch. Ten thousand laborers and twenty-eight thousand
beasts of burden were daily employed. The minuteness and prolixity
with which are described the quantity of materials used and their
value, the nationalities of the artisans and their remuneration, as
detailed by the Arab chroniclers, are instructive though tedious, and
impart an air of veracity to a narrative which would otherwise almost
transcend belief. The plans were drawn by the most eminent architects
of Constantinople. The walls, substantially built of stone, measured
seventeen hundred by twenty-seven hundred cubits, and were provided
with all the outworks and defences of a formidable castle. As was
the case with the Great Mosque, the materials of the edifice were
collected largely from foreign sources and were put together under the
supervision of Byzantine artificers, aided by the most skilful native
workmen. Its construction was supervised by the Khalif in person,
who, in his devotion to the undertaking, having absented himself for
three successive Fridays from the services of the Mosque, was publicly
rebuked by the kadi for this flagrant neglect of duty.
The quarries of Numidia, Greece, and Andalusia contributed supplies
of the finest marble and alabaster. Capitals of Roman origin were
furnished by the ruined temples of Narbonne, Tarragona, Utica, and
Carthage. The Byzantine emperor sent as a present to his ally a number
of columns, whose beautiful tints of green and rose called forth the
admiration of all who beheld them.
The palace was divided into three distinct sections. On the slope of
the mountain rose the magnificent alcazar, within whose apartments
were lodged the monarch and the members of his seraglio, composed of
sixty-three hundred women, with their slaves and attendants. The number
of the latter was, all told, seventeen thousand.
Lower down, towards the city, were the quarters of the body-guard,
the eunuchs, and the pages of the court, for whose accommodation
four hundred houses were required. Next in order came the gardens,
filled with choice plants and delicious fruits, and diversified with
artificial cascades and lakes abounding in goldfish. Within the
precincts of this horticultural paradise were to be encountered every
specimen of the extensive flora--both native and foreign--known to
the accomplished botanists of Andalusia. Hedges of myrtle, box, and
laurel, trimmed in fantastic designs, separated the broad and winding
walks of rustic mosaic. Summer-houses and shady bowers invited to the
siesta after exposure to the glare and heat of a semi-tropical sun. The
prolific ingenuity of the hydraulic engineer had exhausted itself in
the wonderful distribution of streams of water--in the varying play of
a thousand fountains; in miniature rivulets, whose tiny channels were
chiselled in the balustrades of marble staircases; in fairy grottos,
over whose roofs of painted glass the spray from revolving jets shone
with kaleidoscopic effect; in roaring cascades, from whose sombre
depths were constantly visible the iridescent hues of the rainbow.
Some of the fountains were masterpieces of the sculptor’s art. Two of
them are mentioned as being especially remarkable. The larger was of
gilded bronze with human figures elegantly carved in relief, and came
from Constantinople. The basin of the other, of green marble, was of
Syrian workmanship, and disposed about its rim were twelve grotesque
representations of animals and birds, cast in gold, and glittering with
jewels. From the mouths of these curious monsters jets of water were
projected into the basin below.
Over the main portal of the edifice, carved in alabaster with
consummate skill, stood the effigy of the lovely slave whose suggestion
had evoked this palace of the genii, and from whom it had received its
name.
The portion of the gorgeous edifice upon which the Moorish chronicler
most delights to dwell was the central pavilion. Elevated on a terrace
of white marble, in both its exterior and interior it afforded a
dazzling example of the wealth of its owner and of the exquisite taste
of its architect.
Circular in form, its dome was supported by columns of precious
marble and rock-crystal, whose capitals were inlaid with pearls and
rubies. The walls and dome were of translucent onyx; the roof of
gold and silver tiles, placed in alternate rows. The spandrels and
the inscriptions of the frieze exhibited the imperishable tints and
jewelled play of Byzantine mosaic. Doors of odoriferous woods inlaid
with ivory, ebony, and gold, enriched with gems of great value, gave
access to this magnificent apartment. Under the centre of the dome
stood a movable basin of porphyry filled with quicksilver. In some
manner, probably by the use of mirrors, the rays of the sun could be
concentrated upon the metal and the basin caused to rotate rapidly by
hidden mechanism, casting blinding flashes of light in every direction;
dazzling the beholders with the intolerable glare, and striking with
amazement and terror the ambassadors of foreign powers, for whose
benefit this ingenious contrivance, which would seem rather to belong
to the stage than to the audience-chamber of a powerful monarch, was
repeatedly exhibited.
The hall of this pavilion was the scene of many of the most imposing
ceremonies and remarkable events in the history of the khalifate.
Here, the heir to the crown was publicly acknowledged and invested
with his dignity. Here, the princes of the blood, the magnates of the
realm, the heads of departments, the governors of provinces, assembled
after the death of the sovereign to swear allegiance to his successor.
Here, also, the envoys of the monarchies of Europe and the East were
granted an audience under circumstances far exceeding in splendor the
boasted pomp of Constantinople, Aix-la-Chapelle, and Bagdad. Under
this translucent and glittering dome were received the Kings of Leon
and Navarre, suppliants for the favor and alliance of the hereditary
enemy of their people and their faith. On these occasions was displayed
all the ostentatious magnificence of which the most brilliant court in
Europe was capable. The decorations of the audience-chamber--already
unparalleled in richness--were heightened with silken carpets and
hangings of cloth of silver. The Khalif, seated on a throne blazing
with diamonds, rubies, and emeralds, was surrounded by his family and
his courtiers attired in their robes of state. About the pavilion and
around the terrace was marshalled the royal guard, unrivalled in the
elegance of its appointments by any similar body of soldiers in the
world. The white robes of the eunuchs and slaves formed an appropriate
background to the gorgeous picture, which imparted to the bewildered
barbarians of the German forests and the Pyrenean mountains a startling
impression of the civilization and resources of the detested infidel.
The mosque of Medina-al-Zahrâ corresponded in its general details with
the palace, for the convenience of whose occupants it was erected. In
some respects, it surpassed in the elegance of its ornamentation the
great temple of the capital, after whose plan it was modelled. It
contained five aisles; its gilding and mosaics exhibited the finished
labors of the Asiatic artist; its sanctuary and pulpit were marvels
of Oriental taste and skill. A minaret of polished stone, ten cubits
square and forty in height and covered with arabesques in relief,
surmounted the graceful edifice. The court was paved with wine-colored
marble, and provided with a fountain elaborately carved and gilded.
From a royal villa, Medina-al-Zahrâ insensibly expanded into a
miniature city. Around the palace clustered the luxurious dwellings
of the courtiers, the merchants, and the officers of the army. The
avenues were lined with trees, whose foliage formed a continuous arch.
Not a house could be seen that was not embosomed in gardens abounding
with gushing waters and rare exotics. Even the sides of the Sierra had
been stripped of the sombre growth of evergreens which had originally
covered them, and, planted with fig- and almond-trees, appeared in all
the beauty of luxuriant foliage and fragrant blossoms. Not far away,
extensive plantations of the sweetest of flowers gave to the locality
the name of Gebal-al-Wardat, The Mountain of the Rose.
Three hundred baths, exclusive of those appropriated to the use of
the imperial household, contributed to the health and the ceremonial
purity of the inhabitants. The favorite residence of the khalifs,
Medina-al-Zahrâ became the seat of the muses, the home of the arts,
the centre of the intellectual society of the empire. Institutions of
learning sprang up within its borders. The literary contests which
constituted an unique and prominent feature of the Andalusian court
were celebrated there in the presence of the monarch and the companions
of his greatness and his leisure. Forty years were required for its
construction, twenty-five under Abd-al-Rahman and fifteen under his
son Al-Hakem. Its cost represents, at a modern valuation, the enormous
sum of one hundred and fifty million dollars. Experienced travellers of
every nation pronounced, without a dissenting voice, that the world did
not possess, in point of picturesque situation, royal magnificence, and
architectural beauty, a rival of the incomparable city and palace of
Medina-al-Zahrâ.
It is difficult to conceive, from their present forlorn and deserted
condition, of the aspect once presented by the environs of imperial
Cordova. Independent of its populous suburbs, the commercial
tributaries of the capital represented vast mercantile interests, and
furnished support to multitudes of industrious artisans. Five thousand
mills lined the banks of the rapid Guadalquivir. Encouraged by the
profit derived from a regular and extensive trade with foreign nations,
manufacturing establishments had sprung up in every city of importance.
Each of these towns had its mosques and its imams, who, in addition to
their ecclesiastical duties, discharged the functions of magistrates
and reported regularly to the authorities of the capital.
In the patronage of letters, Abd-al-Rahman III. was in no respect
inferior to any of his most liberal predecessors. He himself excelled
in improvisation, that talent so highly prized by his countrymen. His
fame and his munificence allured to the court of Cordova the most
accomplished scholars from every region of the world. The capital
abounded with colleges, academies, lyceums, and other educational
foundations. The medical profession had attained to a high standard
of excellence, and the Jewish surgeons of Cordova were universally
recognized as unrivalled in the extent and variety of their knowledge.
Many physicians held important employments under the government,
deserved tributes to their skill; but such was their charity that
the doors of even the most distinguished of them were always open to
the poor, and their gratuitous ministrations at the service of the
most humble sufferer. The sciences of astronomy and chemistry, based
upon observations at Bagdad and experiments at Cairo and Damascus, had
made an unprecedented advance. In the royal alcazar, in the palaces
of princes, in the mansions of the rich, in the homes of the learned,
the mind of the seeker after knowledge was daily exercised by the
discussion of subjects of universal interest, by the prosecution of
scientific inquiry, by lectures, by improvisations, by the spirited
contests of poets for literary supremacy. In every calling and
profession, in every position of life, the useful and the ornamental
arts, the noble and elegant pursuits of literature were cultivated by
both sexes with an ardor akin to enthusiasm.
The name of Abd-al-Rahman III., glorious in the annals of Moorish
Spain, has not, however, escaped the condemnation of history. His
great deeds; his triumphs in war and diplomacy; his skill in the
reconciliation of adverse factions; his generous clemency; his
encouragement of letters, may well be the subject of extravagant
eulogy. But the sensual passions of his nature bordered upon insanity;
and his character was defiled by that nameless and unnatural vice
which, practised and even defended by one of the most famous of the
Greek philosophers, has from the earliest times been the blemish and
the reproach of Oriental civilization.
The infirmities of age and the irksomeness of satiety embittered
the declining years of the Khalif. He virtually abandoned the
administration of the empire to his heir, Al-Hakem. Renouncing the
gay frivolities of the court, he attached himself to a fanatic named
Abu-Ayub, whose ascetic manners and ostentatious poverty were received
by the vulgar as evidences of extraordinary sanctity. In the society
of this singular companion he passed much of his time in fasting, in
prayer, in the distribution of alms. After his death, in a journal
which recorded his most secret thoughts, were found the following
significant reflections on the disappointments of life and the delusive
attractions of human greatness and imperial ambition. “I have reigned
fifty years in peace and in glory, beloved by my people, feared by
my enemies, respected by my allies. My friendship has been sought by
the great kings of the earth. I have wanted nothing that the heart of
man could desire,--neither renown, nor power, nor pleasure. During
this long life, I have counted the days when I have enjoyed complete
happiness--and they amount to only fourteen! Praise be to Him who alone
possesses eternal glory and omnipotence, there is no other God than
He!”