WARS WITH THE CHRISTIANS, THE ALMORAVIDES
1044–1121
Dissensions in Castile--Alfonso the Guest of the Emir of
Toledo--Civilization of that Moorish Capital--Motamid, Prince of
Seville--His Prodigality---Valencia and Murcia become subject
to Mamun--Motamid takes Seville--Military Genius of Alfonso
VI.--The Famous Game of Chess--Siege of Toledo--Capitulation of
that City--Depredations of Bands of Outlaws--Danger and Distress
of the Moslems--Rise of the Almoravides--Their Fanaticism and
Prowess--They conquer Northern Africa--The Spanish Emirs appeal
to Yusuf--He crosses the Strait--Rout of the Christians at
Zallaca--Second Expedition of Yusuf--His Popularity--He claims
the Sovereignty of the Peninsula--The Cid: His Character and
His Exploits--He serves the Emir of Saragossa--He obtains
Control of Valencia--Revolt and Siege of that City--Cruelties
of the Cid--Death of Yusuf--Greatness of the Almoravide
Empire--Accession of Ali--Demoralization of the Conquerors.
The temporary union of the Christian powers under Ferdinand I., which
had so effectually demonstrated the weakness of the Moorish states
of the Peninsula and had conferred such distinction on the Castilian
arms, was followed by a series of domestic misfortunes culminating in
civil war, seriously threatening the stability of the newly founded
kingdom, and affording the Moslems an opportunity for recuperation
by which they unfortunately had no longer either the energy or the
capacity to profit. Ferdinand’s impolitic testamentary disposition of
his dominions among his children indicated an amiable weakness, which,
while it might be deserving of praise in a private individual, was
discreditable to the experience and political foresight of a sovereign.
With the public sanction of the nobles, his kingdom was divided into
three portions, of which his son Sancho received Castile and a part of
what is now Aragon; Alfonso, Leon and the Asturias; and Garcia, Galicia
and the Portuguese conquests. To his daughters, Urraca and Elvira, were
assigned respectively the cities of Zamora and Toro. As was inevitable,
ambition and discontent with this arrangement eventually produced
consequences fatal to the interests of the crown. Hostilities first
broke out between Sancho and Alfonso with indecisive results. Then
they mutually agreed to stake their kingdoms on the result of a single
battle. Fortune favored the cause of Alfonso, and, with a clemency
unusual in that age, his followers were not permitted even to pursue
the routed Castilians, who, by the conditions of the compact, had
become the subjects of the victor.
At this time first appears in history the name of a personage whose
exploits, for the most part fabulous, have acquired for him a renown
not inferior to that enjoyed by the demigods of antiquity,--Rodrigo
Diaz de Bivar, popularly known as the Cid and the Campeador. His
origin was illustrious, for he could trace his lineage to one of the
noblest houses of Castile, one of whose members more than a century
before had stood high in the councils of the nation, while his own
courage and address had been conspicuous in the contests recently
inaugurated by the rival aspirants for supremacy, as well as in
campaigns against the infidel. He was one of the most trusted adherents
of Sancho, and occupied the responsible position of second in command
in the Castilian army. His unprincipled adroitness now revived by an
outrageous violation of faith the desperate fortunes of his sovereign.
The soldiers of Sancho, no longer apprehensive of the carnage
usually consequent upon defeat, were soon again united under their
standards. At the suggestion of Rodrigo, the Leonese army was attacked
at daybreak; their camp was stormed; a dreadful massacre avenged the
disaster of the preceding day and punished the negligence unpardonable
in the vicinity of an enemy which had rendered such a catastrophe
possible. Alfonso fled to the neighboring cathedral of Carrion; but
the privilege of sanctuary was little considered in those times,
especially when it conflicted with important political interests; and
the King of Leon, having been seized, in defiance of the anathemas
of the clergy, at the very altar, was carried in chains to Burgos.
His life would have been sacrificed had he not unwillingly consented
to receive the tonsure and assume the monastic habit, an obligation
which, according to the institutions of the kingdom inherited from
the ancient Gothic polity, ever after incapacitated him from becoming
a candidate for the royal dignity. Becoming weary of the restraints
of conventual discipline, which were even more rigidly enforced than
usual owing to the peculiar circumstances of his novitiate, Alfonso
succeeded in eluding the vigilance of his holy brethren, and, passing
the frontier, was hospitably received by Mamun, the Moorish prince of
Toledo. In the course of time Sancho managed to deprive his remaining
brothers and sisters of their inheritance, with the single exception of
Urraca, who still held the strong city of Zamora. While reconnoitring
that fortress, he was surprised and killed by a cavalier who suddenly
issued from one of the gates. The Castilian nobles, duly assembled in
the Great Council of the kingdom, agreed to the election of Alfonso
on condition that he would make a solemn oath that the death of his
brother had not been instigated by his suggestions. Alfonso complied;
Rodrigo Diaz was chosen, as the most powerful subject, to receive the
political absolution of the monarch elect; and the latter, placing
his hands between those of the man to whom was wholly due his present
humiliation, publicly purged himself from all complicity in fratricide.
Public considerations, as well as the necessity of retaining the
support of a warrior of such redoubtable character, induced Alfonso not
long afterwards to give him in marriage Ximena, a daughter of one of
the most distinguished of the Asturian nobility.
The government of Alfonso VI. was characterized by reforms in every
part of the administration, by the reorganization of the tribunals
whose decrees had been long supplanted by the exactions and the
outrages of arbitrary violence, and by the general re-establishment of
order and security. The highways were thoroughly repaired and freed
alike from the rapacious impositions of the nobles and the plague of
brigandage. All offenders were treated with impartial justice. Neither
the wealth, the position, nor the former services of a violator of the
law could purchase exemption from punishment. Devoted to the Church,
while not untainted with the prevalent Pagan superstition which still
clung to spurious revelations of the future by the aid of astrology,
divination, and augury, Alfonso was noted for his scrupulous adherence
to the forms of worship and for his liberality to the ministers of
religion. During his residence at Toledo, the exiled prince, becoming
accustomed to the refined manners and superior civilization of the
Moors, did not fail to profit by his experience, and to adopt, to
some extent, institutions and customs so conducive to the material
and intellectual progress of a people. Mamun, whose court was one
of the most polished in the Peninsula, treated his royal guest with
every courtesy and attention which the most generous sympathy and
hospitality could dictate. He was lodged in the royal palace. A
numerous train of slaves was appointed to obey his most trifling
behests. He was provided with a seraglio of Moorish beauties for his
special delectation. The greatest deference was habitually shown to
him by the nobles, and he was permitted to share the intimacy of the
monarch; he participated in the martial amusements of the court and in
the excitements of the chase; he even received a command in the army,
and fought bravely by the side of his infidel companions against the
forces of hostile principalities. During all this time he was looking
forward to an opportunity to obtain possession of Toledo, famous from
the highest antiquity for its strength, its traditions, and the brave
but riotous character of its populace. Of the difficulties attending
such a project he was thoroughly aware. The place was believed to be
practically impregnable to assault. Castilian hyperbole declared that
“The Spaniards have drawn the meridian through that city because Adam
was the first King of Spain, and God placed the sun at the moment of
creation directly over that ancient stronghold.” Its natural advantages
for defence had been improved by the ingenuity and the resources of
many successive dynasties. Long anterior to the Punic occupation it
had been the seat of power. Its formidable situation had awakened
the astonishment of the Romans in the days of Pliny. The Visigoths
had rebuilt its walls and made it their capital, a distinction it
maintained over the charming Andalusian cities while that domination
endured. The Saracens had strengthened the fortifications and
embellished the suburbs with magnificent villas, pleasure-grounds,
and gardens. Under the rule of the Beni-Dhinun, Toledo contained a
larger and more thrifty population than it had ever before possessed.
Encircled, except on the north, by the waters of the Tagus, the
foundations of its walls stood more than a hundred feet above the level
of that rapid stream. An inaccessible precipice insured it against a
hostile attack from the direction of the river, while upon the land
side the great height and enormous solidity of the walls and towers
might well defy the efforts of a besieging army provided only with the
imperfect military appliances of antiquity.
The political influence and extensive trade enjoyed by the city of
Toledo as the capital of one of the great Moorish principalities were
eclipsed by the splendor displayed by its emirs in the royal residences
which were scattered through its environs. One of the most remarkable
of these was called, in the picturesque imagery of the Arabic tongue,
The Mansion of the Hours. It stood on the bank of the Tagus a short
distance west of the city, and was decorated with all the magnificence
and ingenuity of Moorish art. Its walls sparkled with mosaics and
gilded stuccoes. In its construction the rarest marbles were used with
lavish profusion. Fountains of exquisite proportions cooled its halls
and court-yards. In the largest of these was placed one of the most
curious pieces of hydraulic mechanism ever invented. It was a clepsydra
contrived by the famous astronomer Al-Zarkal, and consisted of two
basins or reservoirs supplied with water, whose quantity was regulated
exactly according to the phases of the moon. With the appearance of the
crescent on the horizon the water commenced to run into the reservoirs,
which it continued to do until the fourteenth day, when they were
filled, and then it gradually diminished in quantity until the
twenty-ninth day, when they were entirely empty. If at any time water
was added to or taken from these basins the amount was not affected;
the concealed mechanism, acting automatically, at once removed the
surplus or supplied the deficiency. The movement of the water was
accurately calculated according to the constantly varying inequality of
the days and nights,--at sunrise on the first day a twenty-eighth
part, and at sunset a fourteenth part, appeared. The inventive genius
requisite for the construction of a mechanism capable of producing such
extraordinary results may be readily imagined, if not appreciated,
by a non-scientific reader. This wonderful contrivance, whose fame,
embellished with many fabulous additions, extended to the limits of the
Peninsula, was mentioned with awe by the ignorant, who considered it
as a mysterious talisman to be attributed to the supernatural powers
of the genii and solely adapted to the unholy operations of magic. But
there is no question that the clepsydra of Al-Zarkal was constructed
for astronomical purposes, although at times it may have been diverted
from its original uses to aid in the calculations of the profane but
popular science of judicial astrology. The predilection of Mamun for
scientific investigations and for the society of highly educated men
was not unworthy of the most distinguished khalifs of the Ommeyade
dynasty. His intellectual tastes and munificent patronage reawakened
public interest in studies which had long been neglected amidst the
oppression of petty tyrants and the din of perpetual revolution. His
capital became one of the principal centres of Moorish culture, and
the conversation of the learned was the delight of a court renowned
far and wide for its civilization, its luxury, and the liberality and
accomplishments of its sovereign.
In the garden of another villa belonging to the Moorish kings of Toledo
was a pavilion built in the centre of an immense fountain. It was
approached by a subterranean passage. The sides and roof were covered
with glass of many hues relieved by gold and silver arabesques; the
floor was of exquisite mosaic. In the mid-day heat of summer the Emir,
accompanied by his favorite slaves, was accustomed to resort for his
siesta to this pavilion, which stood in a shady grove. As soon as the
royal train had entered, the building was completely enveloped with
the dashing spray of the fountain, the musical ripple of whose waters
soon lulled the occupants to sleep. A delicious coolness was obtained
by this simple but ingenious device, and the refraction of the drops
of water as they fell on the surface of the painted glass produced
all the iridescent and blending colors of the rainbow. The luxurious
appliances of the Arabs of Toledo, who were forced to contend with the
drawbacks of a rigorous and variable climate and an unproductive soil,
were far more creditable to their talents and industry than were those
of the Andalusians, who were aided to an extraordinary degree by the
advantages of situation and the prodigal gifts of nature. The banks of
the Tagus were dotted for miles with the country-seats of the Moorish
nobles and of the Jews, whose political and financial influence in the
society of the venerable city preceded even the Visigothic domination,
so that, when viewed from the commanding height of the walls, they
resembled a continuous garden stretching as far as the eye could reach.
Such was Moorish Toledo, a prize well worthy of the ambition of any
conqueror.
The prophesies of astrologers and charlatans had embittered the closing
hours of Motadhid, the tyrant of Seville. They found no encouragement
for the perpetuation of his dynasty in the mysterious ceremonies of
divination or the casting of horoscopes. The oracles of imposture,
prompted perhaps by the occurrences of the past century as well by the
inevitable tendency of African invasion towards the attractive shores
of Andalusia, had declared that the empire of the Beni-Abbad would be
conquered by warriors of foreign origin. The fears and the discernment
of Motadhid correctly attributed this allusion to the barbarians of
the Libyan Desert, now pouring with irresistible force over the entire
region of Northern Africa. And even if this prediction should fail,
there could be little doubt in his mind of the ultimate triumph of
the Christian arms. The empire which he had founded was held together
solely by the influence of terror. His vassals were ready to revolt at
the slightest prospect of political benefit. His dynasty was regarded
with contempt by the aristocracy and with execration by the populace.
The extent of his dominions instead of being a source of strength was
in reality only an indication of weakness. With all the artifices he
could employ, he had been compelled to purchase the forbearance of the
Castilian princes by an onerous and degrading tribute. It required
no great degree of penetration to discover that the end of the Arab
domination in the greater part of the Peninsula was at hand.
Motamid, who now ascended the throne of Seville, was not the ruler to
restore the fortunes or even to sustain the burdens of a tottering
monarchy. Endowed with excellent abilities, his inclinations led
rather to the refined enjoyments of a sedentary life than to the
responsibilities of government or to the hardships and perils of
a military career. From early youth he had evinced a passion for
literature. His faculties had been developed under the instruction
of the best scholars of the time, and, possessing unusual powers of
improvisation, he had made considerable progress in that art, prized
among his countrymen as an indication of the highest poetical genius.
Already intrusted with the conduct of important military enterprises,
none of which, however, were successful, his disastrous campaign at
Malaga sufficiently demonstrated his utter incapacity for command. The
society of women divided with the love of letters the domain of his
affections; a slave to female charms, he was helplessly subjected
to the imperious caprices of his favorites, who exercised over his
plastic mind a tyranny which admitted of no compromise and brooked
no contradiction. His chief sultana was Romaiquia, a slave purchased
from a master who exercised the respectable but plebeian calling of a
muleteer. In an accidental encounter she had enchanted him with her
quickness of repartee and her readiness in improvisation and poetical
dialogue, and, in accordance with a custom not infrequent among a
race with whom social rank is often subordinated to intellectual
accomplishments, he had made her the companion of his leisure and the
sharer of his throne. The minister of Motamid was Ibn-Ammar, whose
principal qualification for office in the eyes of his sovereign was
his devotion to the Muses. Under such conditions it is not surprising
that the affairs of the kingdom assumed a very different aspect from
that which they bore during the reign of the stern and merciless
Motadhid. The revenues decreased through the intentional neglect of
vassals to forward their tribute, and the dishonesty of collectors of
taxes who appropriated the bulk of the funds which had been amassed
by oppression. Robbers once more ruled the highways. Scarcely a night
passed without the pillage of a house or the murder of a citizen within
the walls of the capital, often under the very shadow of the palace.
Vast sums, whose judicious expenditure would have greatly contributed
to the comfort of the people and the security of the kingdom, were
bestowed upon foreign poets, whose ingratitude and impudence were far
more conspicuous than their talents, or squandered to indulge the whims
of rapacious and frivolous women. The army, upon whose discipline
everything depended, partook of the prevalent demoralization. The
officers neglected their duties. The soldiers supplied the frequent
deficiencies of their pay by the plunder of individuals known
to be obnoxious to the government or by the precarious gains of
half-concealed robbery. Thoughtful persons viewed with dismay the wild
disorder that reigned in every province and in every town; heard with
apprehension of the approach of the two great powers from the North and
the South, whose proximity boded ill to the interests of civilization;
and, sunk into despair, awaited in silent terror the final destruction
of the empire.
The various changes which were constantly affecting the political
complexion and mutual relations of the Moslem states of the Peninsula
had finally concentrated the Arab supremacy in the three kingdoms of
Granada, Toledo, and Seville. The encroachments of their formidable
neighbors, and the consciousness of their own weakness, had merged the
smaller principalities and cities, which had, for a brief and stormy
period, enjoyed the appearance of independent states, into the domain
of potentates who possessed the means as well as the inclination to
uphold their pretensions to sovereignty. Of these, Granada, protected
by her comparative isolation from the designs of her rivals, pursued
her career of aggrandizement disturbed only by occasional internal
commotions. Toledo, under the enlightened rule of the Beni-Dhinun,
eclipsed in the splendor of its court and the genius of its monarch
the reputation of all the other principalities. The enterprise of
the Toledan prince had recently acquired for his dominions a large
accession of valuable territory. A close alliance existed between him
and Alfonso VI., and numbers of Christian cavaliers served gallantly
under the Moslem standards. Valencia and its rich plantations fell
without resistance into the hands of Mamun. The provinces of Murcia
and Orihuela, teeming with exotic vegetation and abundant and multiple
harvests, after an invasion of a few weeks, yielded to the prowess
of the warriors of the North, and the garden of Eastern Spain was
added to the domain of the flourishing kingdom of Toledo. These easy
and profitable triumphs were far from satisfying the ambition of the
aggressive Mamun. His eyes were constantly fixed upon the venerated
capital of the khalifs, which, although deprived of its honors, its
wealth, and its magnificence, still retained a diminished portion of
the prestige it had formerly enjoyed, while its weakness tempted attack
and annexation.
Ibn-Djahwar, whose wisdom had so long directed the counsels of the
oligarchical commonwealth which had been founded on the ruins of the
khalifate, oppressed with the infirmities of age and declining health,
had resigned the conduct of affairs to his sons, Abd-al-Rahman and
Abd-al-Melik. To the former was committed the management of the civil
administration; the latter was invested with the command of the army.
The superior talents of Abd-al-Melik, aided by the support of the
military, gained for him the ascendant; but his despotic treatment of a
people who had enjoyed for a brief period the advantages of political
and individual liberty made him at the same time an object of universal
detestation. In the midst of the discontent and confusion arising
from the enforcement of his oppressive measures, Abd-al-Melik was
confounded by the approach of the enemy. The diligence of the Prince of
Toledo, prompted by secret intelligence conveyed by the disaffected,
had anticipated the military dispositions of his adversary, and he was
almost at the gates of Cordova before the latter received information
that he had passed the frontier. The condition was critical. The sons
of Ibn-Djahwar, far from inheriting the capacity of their father, had
wantonly undermined the foundations of his power. The old vizier,
Ibn-al-Sacca, who enjoyed the confidence of every class of citizens,
had been summarily executed under an unfounded accusation of treason.
His death, inexcusable in the eyes of the unprejudiced, had alienated
the attachment of a large and respectable portion of the community.
The popularity and veneration inspired by his love of justice and
the wisdom of his administration caused the retirement of many of
the most prominent and experienced officers of the army; while the
people, who regarded him with almost filial reverence on account of
his acts of benevolence, saw, with ominous murmurs, the efforts of
an inexperienced youth to secure for himself, without sanction of
law, public service, or personal sacrifice, the unlimited exercise
of arbitrary power. In his extremity, Abd-al-Melik appealed to his
neighbor Motamid, Emir of Seville. The latter responded with suspicious
alacrity. A formidable detachment of Sevillian troops was admitted into
the city; and the besiegers, unable to effect anything against such a
garrison, were obliged to retire after the incomplete gratification
of their malice by the pillage of the already wasted suburbs and the
destruction of a few scattered and insignificant settlements. But
while endeavoring to thwart the plans of a foreign enemy, the Prince,
whose incompetency was destined to accomplish the subjection of his
capital and the ruin of his family, had unconsciously exposed himself
to a more imminent and fatal peril. The officers of Motamid lost no
time in ingratiating themselves with the citizens of Cordova. They
lauded, with extravagant praises, the character of their own sovereign;
they incited the discontented and the ambitious to revolt; they
overcame with costly gifts and specious arguments the scruples and the
wavering allegiance of the hesitating; they aggravated, by appeals
to passion and prejudice, the evils produced by the abuse of power,
and pictured in glowing colors the present opportunity for a safe and
speedy deliverance. These representations were received with avidity
by the people of Cordova, who, after years of bloodshed and tyranny,
had lost none of their predisposition to rebellion. A conspiracy
was organized to transfer the city to Motamid. The negligence, the
stupidity, or the corruption of the government officials permitted
the arrangements essential to the success of the plot to be perfected
without interference, and probably without detection. While the
perfidious allies of Abd-al-Melik were drawn up in apparent preparation
for departure, a tumult arose among the inhabitants; the palace was
surrounded; the gates of the city were closed; and before the family
of Ibn-Djahwar was able to realize the peril of the situation, its
supremacy was overthrown and the imperial city of the khalifs had
acknowledged the jurisdiction of the princes of Seville. Elated by
the facility of his conquest, Motamid exhibited in the treatment of
his illustrious prisoners a generous and unusual clemency. He caused
them to be transported to the island of Saltes, where the comforts of
a pleasant and commodious habitation might indifferently replace the
cares, the disappointments, and the splendors of royalty.
The triumph of the Beni-Abbad was, however, of short duration. Mamun,
who determined to secure by stratagem what he could not gain by force,
enlisted the services of Ibn-Ocacha, a personage of considerable
abilities and unsavory reputation, who had, in a long career of
crime, successively exercised the congenial employments of assassin,
highwayman, and soldier of fortune. The government of Cordova had been
nominally committed to Abbad, heir-apparent of the royal house of
Seville; but the power in reality was vested in Mohammed, an officer
whose distinguished merit in the profession of arms was obscured by
the vices of brutality, licentiousness, perfidy, and avarice. His
conduct provoked the resentment of the people, a feeling which even the
amiable qualities of Abbad were insufficient to counteract; and the
suggestions of Ibn-Ocacha found a ready acceptance among a population
whose inclination to sedition, transmitted through many generations of
revolutionists, had become hereditary and habitual. In the midst of
a terrible storm, and in the dead of night, Ibn-Ocacha, with a band
of outlaws and desperadoes, was admitted by his fellow-conspirators
into the fortifications of Cordova. As they approached the palace of
the governor the alarm was given, and Abbad, half clad and without
his armor, at the head of a few attendants, bravely confronted the
assailants who sought his life. A desperate conflict followed; the
valor of the prince aroused the fear of his ferocious enemies; they
began to waver; when he lost his footing upon the pavement, slippery
with blood, and fell prostrate, to be instantly pierced with a score
of weapons. At daybreak, his head having been raised upon a pike, the
soldiers took to ignominious flight; the fickle multitude greeted with
execrations the features they had so recently admired; the aristocracy
and the merchants embraced a cause which might afford protection to
their persons and their estates; and, Ibn-Ocacha having convoked
the citizens in the mosque of Abd-al-Rahman, the vast assemblage
proclaimed, with vociferous but hollow acclamations, their doubtful
allegiance to the Emir of Toledo. Intelligence of the success of the
enterprise having been communicated to Mamun, he at once repaired
to the scene of his final triumph, the famous city so indissolubly
associated with the glories and the misfortunes of the Moorish empire.
He was hailed as a deliverer by the people that crowded the streets,
whose fidelity had been so often tested and so often found wanting as
to have passed into a proverb. Ibn-Ocacha received the rewards due
to the distinguished services he had rendered, but the high-spirited
Mamun shrank from daily contact with a notorious criminal, and his soul
revolted at the insolent familiarity of an assassin whose hands had
been unnecessarily stained with royal blood. His feelings could not
be concealed from the object of his contempt; in an unguarded moment
he suffered an expression of ominous significance to escape him; and,
while planning the sacrifice of a tool whose existence must eventually
jeopardize his interests, his designs were frustrated by the vigilance
of his enemy, and the prince who had issued unscathed from the exposure
of a hundred battles perished miserably by poison.
The occupation of Cordova was the signal for unremitting hostilities by
the Emir of Seville. Over his proud and sensitive nature the sentiments
of indignation, sorrow, and disappointment alternately held sway. The
entire resources of his kingdom, the skill of his bravest generals, the
valor of Christian mercenaries, the encouragement of his own presence,
were, during three years, employed for the recovery of the city. The
persevering vengeance of Motamid was at last crowned with success;
the venerable metropolis of the West once more endured the savage
excesses of a licentious soldiery; and the Toledan garrison expiated by
a shocking massacre its attachment to its latest sovereign. The death
of Ibn-Ocacha, who was crucified head downward, in company with a dog,
before the principal gate of Cordova, appeased in some measure the
fierce resentment of the devoted father of Abbad, while the subsequent
conquest of the territory between the Guadiana and the Guadalquivir
signally rebuked the presumptuous ambition of the King of Toledo.
The genius of Alfonso VI. had with each year of his reign cemented the
foundations and expanded the resources of the Christian power. After
the overthrow of his brethren no domestic rivals remained to dispute
his authority. His frequent expeditions against the Moslems exercised
the valor of the troops in frequent campaigns, gratified the prejudices
of the clergy by the prosecution of a crusade, and stimulated the
ruling passion of both of these castes by the judicious distribution of
the rich spoils of the Moslem. Never since the time of the Goths had
the influence of the Christians been of such extent and importance.
Their dominions already embraced no inconsiderable portion of the
Peninsula. Their conquests began to assume the aspect of permanent
acquisitions. The great principalities of Seville and Toledo were
tributaries of the King of Castile, but their regular and involuntary
contributions were not always sufficient to ward off invasion. Upon
the smallest pretext, and often absolutely without provocation, the
mailed chivalry of the North swept like a devastating torrent the
plains of the Tagus and the Guadalquivir. The obligation of immunity
implied by the annual delivery of tribute was seldom observed by the
adroit exponents of Christian casuistry. Already had appeared the germ
of that maxim, afterwards so popular and lucrative, that no contract
was binding when made with an infidel. The treasures transmitted by
the Moors each year to the court of Castile, and which were apparently
collected without inconvenience or effort, stimulated the cupidity
and ambition of the monarch, and deeply impressed his impoverished
subjects with the fabulous wealth and inexhaustible resources of the
diminished but still opulent provinces of the once prosperous Moslem
empire. The immediate occupation of these provinces was merely a
question of political expediency. Their ultimate absorption by the
Christian monarchy was no longer doubtful. The determination of the
problem rested with the sovereign, who, by this time, had concluded
to substitute for the capricious predatory excursions, constantly
undertaken in contravention of the faith of solemn engagements and
in defiance of the most obvious principles of justice, the regular
operations of an organized campaign. The first demonstration was made
against Seville. At the head of the largest Christian army which
had ever invaded Andalusia, Alfonso VI. appeared before the gates
of the capital. The city was thrown into consternation. No adequate
means of defence were available, for the constitutional negligence of
Motamid--who, besides, naturally presumed that the position of vassal
would insure his security--had abandoned the supervision of military
precautions for the diversions of midnight banquets and literary
assemblies. By the ingenuity of Ibn-Amman, however, the impending
catastrophe was prevented, and a respite afforded the terrified
citizens, who anticipated with just dismay the savage license of
their enemies. The stratagem by which this was accomplished, although
in perfect harmony with the character and the customs of a romantic
age, seems hardly credible when contrasted with the present prosaic
negotiations of contracting powers. Among the amusements that were
popular with the princes of Spain, both Moorish and Christian, was the
game of chess, which the Arabs had brought from India. This diversion
was a favorite one with Motamid, and he possessed a chess-board which,
made by the most accomplished artificers of the kingdom, was the
wonder of the court. The board itself was constructed of many pieces
of sandal and other costly woods, embellished with exquisite gold and
silver arabesques and glittering with gems. The squares were of ivory
and ebony, the men of the same materials, carved with marvellous skill
and mounted in solid gold. This beautiful toy Ibn-Ammar determined to
use as the instrument for the salvation of his country. Carrying it
under his robes, he visited the Christian encampment, and having, as
if undesignedly, permitted some of the Castilian knights to examine
it, awaited the effect of this exhibition upon the curiosity of the
King. The latter, who was devoted to the game and was an excellent
player, challenged Ibn-Ammar, who himself had no superior in Cordova,
to contend with him in this the most fascinating pastime of royalty.
The wily vizier consented, with the understanding that if Alfonso
prevailed he should receive the chess-board, but if not, that he
should grant the first request his successful opponent should demand
of him. The discernment of the King led him to at once reject this
insidious proposal, and Ibn-Ammar retired to his tent. The spirit of
the minister was not discouraged by his apparent failure; he quietly
secured the co-operation of some of the most influential nobles of the
court by the bestowal of treasure with which he was amply provided
with a view to just such an emergency. The plausible presentations
of these powerful allies soon overcame the fears of the monarch, and
an insignificant plaything was deposited as the prize of the winner
against the magnificent stake of an empire. The tact of the Moslem
procured the appointment as judges of those nobles already purchased
with his gold. The game proceeded; Alfonso proved no match for his
practised opponent, who, when the time arrived to announce his request,
demanded the unconditional evacuation of Andalusia by the Christian
army. The mortification of the King at this unexpected demand may be
imagined, and, in a moment of anger, he even meditated the violation
of his royal word; but the efforts of the courtiers, and the tender
of a double tribute willingly contributed by the government of
Seville, appeased his vexation, and he relinquished with reluctance
the splendid prize already within his grasp. Thus, by the shrewdness
and cunning of a statesman, whose act has no parallel in the annals
of diplomacy, the matured plans of an able sovereign were foiled; a
national calamity was averted; and means were even provided for the
further aggrandizement of a territory whose effeminate government and
demoralized condition had invited the attack of a formidable invader.
Not only Seville, but not improbably the other states of Andalusia and
of Eastern Spain as well, were saved by the ruse of Ibn-Ammar, and the
end of the death-struggle between Christian and Moslem in the Peninsula
was protracted for more than four hundred years. The military genius of
Alfonso, the distinction and experience he had gained in a long series
of victorious campaigns, the tested valor of a numerous army excited by
the spirit of military emulation, and the blind fury of religious zeal
constantly inflamed by fanatics, justify the presumption that the fall
of Seville would have soon been followed by the subjection of every
other Moslem state, and that, upon apparently so insignificant a thing
as a game of chess, once depended the existence and the destinies of
the Hispano-Arab domination. The obligation due to the ingenuity and
perseverance of Ibn-Ammar may be appreciated when it is recalled that a
hundred and sixty-three years elapsed after the retirement of Alfonso
from the walls of Seville before that city passed into the hands of
the Christians, and that it was more than three centuries after that
event when, by the surrender of Granada, the Moorish dominion in the
Peninsula was finally terminated.
Thwarted in the enterprise upon which he had founded so many ambitious
hopes, Alfonso now directed his attention to Toledo. That principality,
raised to such eminence by the genius of Mamun, had since the death
of that monarch greatly declined in power and prestige. His son and
successor, Kadir, inherited none of the talents or the energy of his
illustrious father. Of effeminate tastes and luxurious habits, he
was the tool of astrologers, women, and eunuchs. The peace of the
palace was disturbed by the incessant quarrels of these rapacious and
vindictive parasites. Their disputes consumed the time usually devoted
by the councils of princes to the discussion of important questions
of state policy; and a contest for precedence in some idle ceremonial
or the ignominious competition for a bribe attracted more attention
at the court of Toledo than the imposition of a tax or the defence
of a city. The most trivial employment, the most frivolous pastime,
was not undertaken without a solemn consultation with charlatans. The
relative positions of the planets were carefully ascertained before
the departure of expeditions of pleasure, and the daily movements
of the court were determined by the benign or malignant aspect of
the stars. In an age of martial exploits, a prince who countenanced
such impostures, and was not endowed with the redeeming qualities of
personal courage or military ambition, could not retain the respect of
his contemporaries. The boundaries of his dominions contracted year
by year. Murcia was taken by the troops of Motamid. Valencia again
declared and for a time maintained her independence. The districts on
the borders of Portugal, comprising a part of what is now included
in the province of Estremadura, were appropriated by Alfonso, who
was no longer bound by the obligations of friendship contracted
with his ancient host and protector Mamun. The internal affairs of
the kingdom of Toledo were in dire confusion. The exactions of the
government finally became intolerable. Kadir and his swarm of eunuchs
and astrologers were expelled from the city; a provisional government
was established; and the rebellious citizens placed themselves under
the protection of the Emir of Badajoz. In his extremity, the terrified
and superstitious prince applied to his powerful suzerain, the King of
Castile. But the latter was not willing to undertake such an invidious
task without the previous assurance of some tangible advantage. He
required the delivery of all the treasure that Kadir had succeeded in
bringing away from Toledo, which included vessels and plate of immense
value, as well as many thousand pieces of gold, and the surrender of
the most important castles which still acknowledged his authority.
The desperate circumstances of the dethroned ruler admitted of no
temporizing. A sullen but unconditional acquiescence followed the
exorbitant demands of Alfonso, and the treasure was conveyed by slaves
to the palace at Burgos. The soldiers of Castile and Leon were then
introduced into the citadels of the frontier; and the degenerate son of
Mamun, who had already lost his capital, now saw himself about to be
deprived of the remainder of his inheritance. Aware of the hopelessness
of an attempt to reduce such a fortress as Toledo by means of mining
or escalade, the Castilian sovereign resolved to try the tedious but
more certain operation of famine. The walls were consequently invested;
all avenues of supply were blockaded; and the beautiful valley of the
Tagus was denuded of its orchards and its harvests. By a refinement of
policy suggested by the peculiar relations existing between the crown
of Castile and the Moorish governments of Andalusia, Alfonso adopted
the profitable expedient of utilizing the Moslems as instruments of
their own destruction. At regular intervals fiscal messengers were
despatched to the capitals of the independent municipalities, and the
sums thus collected defrayed the expenses of the siege of Toledo. So
indispensable, indeed, were these contributions that without their aid
no campaign of any length could, during the period under discussion,
have been successfully prosecuted by the Christian monarchs of Spain.
The revenues of states whose soil and climate were unfavorable to
the operations of agriculture, and which were inhabited by a people
constantly engaged in warfare, hardly sufficed to maintain the royal
establishment, even in time of peace. The booty derived from predatory
expeditions, although often of great value, was usually apportioned
among the victorious soldiery in the field of battle, and was at once
dissipated by the notorious improvidence of its recipients, while the
uncertainty of its amount and the difficulty with which it was obtained
rendered this source of supply unavailable for the pressing exigencies
of the public service. Thus it may be seen how opportune was the
regular income of Moorish gold which sustained for years the precarious
fortunes of the Castilian monarchy, and by whose aid the vassals of the
same suzerain were induced involuntarily to compass each other’s ruin.
Familiarity with the use of such an invaluable expedient soon suggested
various methods of improving its efficiency. The stipulated amount of
the tribute was doubled. Extraordinary contributions were occasionally
levied under the name of “gifts,” a species of extortion centuries
afterwards adopted by the arbitrary sovereigns of civilized Europe as a
convenient means of refilling a depleted treasury. In these financial
transactions, the agency of Hebrews, whose heterodox opinions were not
openly condemned so long as their unscrupulous schemes could be made
to enure to the profit of the state, were exclusively employed. The
arrogance of these emissaries, who exaggerated the importance of their
trust, and, emboldened by their influence with the monarch, made no
effort to disguise their power, was often intolerable. During the siege
of Toledo, the Jew Ben-Kalib was sent with a small retinue by Alfonso
to collect the tribute of Seville. When the money was tested, it was
found to have been alloyed with baser metal. The vizier of Motamid, who
had delivered it, was summoned to the camp of the embassy. As soon as
he arrived, the fury of Ben-Kalib prevailed over his discretion, and he
exclaimed, “How dare you try to impose upon me with these counterfeits?
I will not depart until after you have furnished me with coin of the
stipulated weight and value, and next year I shall exact the tribute
of my master in cities, not in gold!” This insolence was immediately
reported to Motamid; the Christian envoys paid for the imprudent
conduct of their comrade with imprisonment; and Ben-Kalib, realizing
when too late the fatal error he had committed, after having offered
in vain his weight in gold as a ransom, was crucified like the most
degraded malefactor.
The rage of the King of Castile when he heard of the treatment of his
ambassadors knew no bounds. The survivors were ransomed by the delivery
of the castle of Almodovar; and then Alfonso, leaving behind him a
sufficient force to blockade Toledo, carried fire and sword through the
dominions of Motamid to the very shores of the Mediterranean.
There is nothing so indicative of the helpless condition of the Moslems
in these wars as their evident inability to obstruct the progress or
harass the movements of an invading army. They seem to have trusted
solely to the defences of their strongholds. The plantations, the
peasantry, the flocks, and the harvests were precipitately abandoned
to the enemy. Not a vestige remained of that ancient spirit which had
repelled the martial chivalry of Europe in many sanguinary encounters,
which had planted the Moslem standards in the plains of Central France,
on the mountains of Sardinia, on the banks of the Po and the Tiber, on
the towers of Palermo and Syracuse, on the ruined walls of Narbonne and
Santiago.
His vengeance for the moment satiated, Alfonso returned to the siege of
Toledo. The continuous investment of seven years’ duration had almost
exhausted the resources, and had entirely shaken the resolution, of
the inhabitants of that proud and rebellious city. They now consented
to make terms with their exiled sovereign, and Kadir, followed by his
greedy train of eunuchs and conjurers, was again permitted to ascend
the throne of his ancestors. The price exacted for this restoration by
his allies made it, however, a costly triumph. The exorbitant demands
of Alfonso impoverished the treasury and appropriated the most valuable
domain of the once splendid inheritance of the princes of Toledo. All
of his own portable possessions, together with the vast wealth amassed
by his family, were laid at the feet of his rapacious ally. But even
this did not satisfy the King of Castile, who, in pursuance of the
astute policy which had hitherto proved so successful, had adopted a
safer and a less expensive mode of conquest than a direct appeal to
arms. The fortresses which had been transferred to the Christians as
security were appropriated, nominally to defray the expenses of the
war. Others were demanded and given up, until little remained to Kadir
but a comparatively small extent of territory, which had been ravaged
alternately by both Christian and Moslem armies, and the perilous
jurisdiction of a discontented and turbulent capital. Deprived of
his revenues and almost without means of subsistence, Kadir had now
no resource to employ for the maintenance of his household and his
dignity but the oppression of his subjects. The people, however,
were not willing to longer endure the exactions of a frivolous and
tyrannical master, and sought in the neighboring states an asylum from
persecution. Some fled to the fertile and hospitable regions of the
South,--to Seville, Granada, Malaga. Others settled in the kingdom of
Saragossa. Many of those who remained, stripped of all their property
and unable to procure food for their families, died of hunger. Once
populous districts were entirely deserted. Towns of considerable size
were abandoned to ruin; not a living thing was to be seen in the empty
streets; and among the decaying habitations everywhere prevailed the
awful and impressive silence of the tomb. In the presence of the public
distress, the regular payment of tribute was inexorably enforced by
Alfonso. The inability of Kadir to respond to the demand precipitated
the seizure of his remaining estates, which, since his restoration,
he had only held by the sufferance of his Christian neighbors. Unable
longer to maintain his failing power, he opened negotiations looking
to the surrender of his capital. The conditions imposed and accepted
were such as, while extremely favorable to the Moslems, could be
readily conceded by the magnanimous spirit of Alfonso. The privileges
of unmolested residence, of the enjoyment of property, of the practice
of religious rites, were granted to the Toledans; and they were also
permitted to retain the services of their own magistrates and to be
subject to the operation of their own laws. The tribute to the new
sovereign was fixed at the same amount which had been payable to the
old in accordance with the legal tax of the Mussulman code. The grand
mosque was to be forever inviolate and solely devoted to the worship
of Islam. The fortifications, the public works, the royal palace and
gardens, were to become the property of the Castilian crown. A private
article closely affecting the political fortunes of the King of Toledo
was one of the important provisions of the treaty. It stipulated that
the latter was, as soon as practicable, to be placed on the throne of
Valencia, even if the entire power of the Christian monarchy should
be required to carry it into effect. The last hours of Kadir in his
lost capital were passed in consultation with astrologers to determine
the most auspicious moment for his departure. His ludicrous distress
aroused the ridicule and amazement of all who beheld him as, carrying
an astrolabe, he rode slowly out of the gate at the head of his escort.
Great numbers of Moslems in a short time abandoned their homes on
account of the open and unrebuked violation of the compact which had
conferred upon them the exercise of their religion and the enjoyment of
their ancient privileges.
As soon as the treaty was signed, the King of Castile entered the city,
followed by an imposing train of ecclesiastics and cavaliers. All the
pomp of the Christian hierarchy, all the barbaric luxury of the Spanish
nobles, were displayed on this occasion of triumph, an occasion which
portended the speedy overthrow of the Moorish sovereignty in the North.
The prelates, attired in their official vestments, bore aloft the
crosses and the sacred vessels once the property of the Gothic clergy
of imperial Toledo. These, rescued from the polluting grasp of the
Saracen and preserved for nearly four hundred years in the inaccessible
depths of the Asturias, were now to be restored to their altars, a
convincing proof of the truth of the gospel and of the justice and
power of the Christian God. Behind the ecclesiastical dignitaries
came the nobles, many of them descendants of families that had once
inhabited the palaces of the Visigothic capital,--the ancestors of the
most illustrious houses of the Spanish monarchy. The rear was closed by
the ladies of the court, guarded by a detachment of the Castilian army.
Affairs having been settled in Toledo, a large force was sent to
Valencia to secure that rich kingdom through the instrumentality of
Kadir. The co-operation of a faction friendly to the Prince of Toledo
facilitated the occupation of the capital, and the provinces soon
followed its example. But the majority of the people detested their
new ruler, who incurred all the odium of an intruder and possessed
none of the dazzling qualities which usually attach to the character
of a conqueror. The country groaned under the impositions exacted by
the maintenance of a host of half-savage Castilians. Their pay and
rations absorbed each day the great sum of six hundred pieces of gold.
To meet this extraordinary demand, heavy taxes were levied; the rich
were plundered; and the license of the soldiers, who respected neither
the laws of military discipline nor the rites of hospitality, was, of
necessity, ignored. Then, as a compromise, these troublesome guests
were established on lands in the fertile valley of the Segura, which
had been depopulated by the accidents and calamities of war. But this
experiment proved unsatisfactory. The plantations were consigned by
their owners to the labors and the supervision of slaves; while the
adjacent territory was vexed by the incursions of bold riders who,
in the exercise of their rapacious instincts, made no discrimination
between friend and foe. The prevalence of factious disorder, the
absence of recognized authority, and the consequent immunity enjoyed
by outlaws of every description caused the profession of brigandage
to be regarded as the most popular and lucrative of employments. The
numbers and invincible reputation of the Castilians soon made their
camp the asylum of every fugitive from justice, proscribed rebel, and
religious apostate in Southeastern Spain. Thoroughly demoralized by
such associations, the soldiers of Kadir, prompted by their infamous
recruits, openly assumed the profession of banditti and became the
scourge of the kingdom. They stripped travellers. They extorted
immense ransoms from the wealthy residents of cities. They quartered
themselves on the citizens, and violated the chastity of the female
members of their households. They mutilated their victims in ways
that forbid description. No rank, no creed, was exempt from their
murderous brutality. The noble was beaten to reveal the whereabouts of
his treasures. The peasant, whether Moslem or Christian, was seized
and sold as a slave. A handful of copper, a measure of wine, a loaf
of bread, or a pound of fish was sufficient to purchase one of these
unfortunates. Those who were unsalable on account of age or physical
infirmity were made the objects of ingenious and protracted tortures;
they were blinded by fire; their flesh was pierced with red-hot irons;
their tongues were cut out; or they were thrown to famished and
infuriated dogs.
At this time, throughout the Peninsula, the isolated remains of Moslem
power seemed about to yield to Christian supremacy. The prestige of
the kingdom of Castile, under the guidance of an adroit and valiant
monarch, daily increased. Toledo had fallen. Saragossa was besieged
by a powerful army. The Castilians had established themselves at many
points in the heart of the enemy’s country. The principality of Almeria
was incessantly harassed by the expeditions of a predatory band which
had seized the town of Aledo. Valencia was practically dominated by the
subjects of Alfonso. The Christians of Granada regularly communicated
with their brethren domiciled in the neighboring kingdoms, and, as the
result of this intercourse, a small troop of adventurous cavaliers had
penetrated to a point within a few miles of that city. The prowess
of the Christian knight was so dreaded that his very appearance was
able to put to flight a score of Moslems. In this age of transition
between the historic achievements of the khalifate and the martial
exploits which distinguished the Conquest of Granada, Moorish loyalty
and courage were but a reminiscence. The ultimate destiny of the
Hispano-Arab states of Spain--a destiny which implied destruction and
servitude--was obvious and inevitable. The most fortunate of them was
no longer able to preserve a condition of even nominal and ambiguous
independence. The haughtiest of their princes were mere vassals, whose
domains were held by an arbitrary and precarious tenure. There was
no longer a possibility either of concerted action or of successful
individual exertion among these mutually jealous and disorganized
communities. North of the Sierra Morena, south of the Strait of
Gibraltar, two great powers, equal in valor, distinct in nationality,
antagonistic in religion, urged on alike by the fierce passions of
fanaticism and avarice, were fast converging to a common centre,--the
smiling plains of Andalusia. It was no longer a question whether the
disrupted remains of the khalifate were to be Edrisite, Slave, or
Amiride. The choice was now to be made between two masters, and it must
be speedily determined whether Spain was to become Berber or Castilian.
The emergency admitted of no delay. So pressing indeed was it, that a
national and universal emigration was seriously discussed. Any evil was
deemed preferable to the persecutions and outrages of the Christian
soldiery. Since his occupation of Toledo, the military operations of
Alfonso had evinced a wider and more portentous activity. His resources
had been materially augmented. His army was almost doubled by the
foreign mercenaries and adventurers who flocked to his standard. His
arrogance increased in a direct ratio to his territorial acquisitions.
He assumed the title of emperor, which had no foundation but his
own inordinate vanity. He adopted the grandiloquent appellation of
Sovereign of the Men of Two Religions, a title whose absurdity was the
more apparent inasmuch as his orthodoxy was seriously questioned and
his intolerance of the dogmas of Mohammed notorious and proverbial.
He at all times made no secret of his intention to place the Moorish
provinces of the Peninsula under the Castilian sceptre as soon as his
martial preparations had been completed.
To understand the course of subsequent events, it is now necessary
to turn to the continent of Africa, where an ominous political and
religious revolution had obliterated the boundaries of great nations
and changed the face and the conditions of society.
In the Desert of Sahara, south of ancient Numidia, there existed from
time immemorial a race of nomadic warriors who traced a doubtful
genealogy to the inhabitants of Yemen, in Arabia. The western part
of the Desert was inhabited by the Lamtounah, a division of this
race, affiliated by ties of tribal connection and intimacy with the
Sanhadjah, who, from the time of the conquest of Musa, had been
prominent in the wars and seditions of Al-Maghreb and Spain. The
Lamtounah, with their kindred, belonged to the Berber nation, and
pursued the primitive avocations of a pastoral life. In addition
to their flocks, they maintained large numbers of ostriches and
camels, which constituted the bulk of their movable possessions.
Their food was camel’s flesh and milk; the barren sands of the Desert
afforded no encouragement to the operations of agriculture, and the
tribes of the Sahara were wholly unacquainted with the culture and
the enjoyment of the products of the soil. The seclusion of their
country, rarely penetrated by traders, who could find among such an
uncivilized people few objects of barter, kept them in ignorance of
the most ordinary commodities of life; of its luxuries they had no
conception; and when, at rare intervals, a loaf of bread came into
their hands through the medium of some generous traveller, it was
regarded as a great curiosity. These nomads differed both in mental
and physical characteristics from their neighbors. They were more
fierce, more haughty, more brave. Their religion was idolatrous,
slightly veneered with a spurious and corrupt Islamism; for, although
the principal maxims of the Mussulman faith were not unfamiliar to
the most intelligent, the great mass of the population knew little
and cared less about the mission and the precepts of the Prophet of
Mecca. The Lamtounah were tall and handsome, the men being models of
strength and symmetry, while the women possessed unusual charms of
person and manner. The swarthy complexion ordinarily associated with
the inhabitants of Africa was absent from the Berbers of the Sahara,
whose skins, where not exposed to the scorching rays of the sun,
were as white as that of any European. Their garments were of blue
and striped cotton or of the tanned hide of the antelope. A terrible
and mysterious aspect was imparted to their faces by the practice of
covering them below the eyes with a pendent cloth, which, like a veil,
protected the features and the respiration of the wearer from the heat
and the sand-storms of the Desert. Their sandals were of black leather,
attached to the foot by scarlet fastenings curiously embroidered with
gold. Of their weapons,--identical with those used so effectively by
the Numidian horsemen of Sallust,--the lance and the javelin were the
most commonly employed; the scimetar and the poniard were reserved
for the emergencies of a hand-to-hand encounter. The courage of these
barbarians was proverbial from the highest antiquity; their subjugation
had never been seriously attempted by any conqueror; they had defied
the power of Carthage, repulsed the desultory attacks of the Arabs, and
confronted with inflexible resolution the arms and the discipline of
the Roman legions under both the Consuls and the Emperors.
A certain chieftain, Yahya-Ibn-Ibrahim, belonging to the tribe of
Djidala, a subdivision of the Lamtounah, and a zealous but ignorant
Moslem, performed, through motives of curiosity and devotion, about the
year 1036, the pilgrimage to the Holy Cities of Arabia enjoined upon
his sect, but rare among his countrymen. The simple pilgrim, to whom
the world outside of the limited area of the Desert was even by report
wholly unknown, was astonished and delighted with the revelations and
experiences of civilized life. While on his return, he attended the
lectures of a learned and celebrated theologian and scholar, named
Abu-Amram, whose eloquence daily attracted great audiences in the court
of the principal mosque of Kairoan. The enraptured attention of the
new disciple awakened the curiosity of the lecturer; he inquired the
nationality, the sect, and the tribe of the attentive auditor; and
learned with surprise and regret of the religious ignorance of the
countrymen of the latter, whose credulity and favorable disposition
seemed, on the other hand, to promise an easy and enduring conversion.
Inspired by the fervent zeal of a proselyte, Yahya requested of his
teacher that one of his followers might be selected to accompany
him to expound to the benighted tribes of the Sahara the doctrines
and the duties of Islam. The proposal was made to the assembly; but
the perils of the journey and the uncertainty of its issue caused
even the most zealous to hesitate; while the exaggerated ferocity
of the Berbers, to whom the most shocking cruelties were popularly
attributed, caused the students of Kairoan to shrink from exposure to
the sufferings and glories of voluntary martyrdom. But in the distant
province of Sus-al-Aksa, where Yahya repaired under the instructions
of Abu-Amram, a missionary was found who signified his willingness to
penetrate the unknown region, at the risk of liberty and life and to
brave the prejudices of a race of savages, for the sake of imparting
the sacred instructions of the Koran. The name of this zealot was
Abdallah-Ibn-Jahsim. Possessed of great erudition, an eloquent orator,
a practised controversialist, he was, in all respects, admirably
qualified for the task he had undertaken. His familiarity with the
various dialects of the Berber tongue and his knowledge of human nature
obtained by travel in many lands, combined with a graceful address and
winning manners, at once gained for him the attention and the esteem
of his new associates. His discourses were listened to with mingled
curiosity and veneration. His disciples multiplied by thousands. The
most influential chieftains were charmed by his eloquence; and the
fame of the accomplished messenger of Islam soon extended from the
Mediterranean and the Atlantic to the outermost limits of the Desert.
His calling, and the amazing success with which it was prosecuted
among a people naturally credulous, were not long in investing him
with mysterious and supernatural attributes; the intimate association
of divine inspiration and royal authority always existing in the minds
of the nomads of Africa and Asia raised him still higher in the public
estimation; while the voluntary allegiance of tribal dignitaries,
and the fanatical devotion of multitudes of proselytes, heralded the
foundation of a new spiritual and temporal empire.
The example of his Prophet could not fail, under the circumstances,
to suggest to the mind of the reformer the most flattering dreams
of ambition. By every expedient of political ingenuity he tightened
his grasp upon the superstitious myriads who already adored him. His
rigid austerities edified the devout. The simplicity of his attire,
the plainness of his table, and the regularity of his habits served
to effectually disguise the lofty aspirations which he cherished
in secret. He boldly assumed the hazardous authority of appointing
the sheiks of the various tribes, an office heretofore elective and
jealously guarded by the barbarians as an essential indication and
guaranty of independence. He aroused the cupidity and fanaticism of his
auditors by enumerating the spoils to be obtained from the infidel, by
representing the merits of perpetual warfare, and by delineating, with
all the embellishments of Oriental hyperbole, the sensual pleasures of
the Mohammedan paradise. At length the desired consolidation of the
tribes of the Desert was complete. The portentous union of implicit
faith and unhesitating obedience had been accomplished; and, for
hundreds of leagues throughout the Sahara, hosts of redoubtable and
eager warriors impatiently awaited the signal for action. Their numbers
were enormous. Their fanaticism was blind, furious, irresistible. Their
strength and dexterity were so great that it was a trifling feat for
one of them to completely transfix a horse with a lance or to cleave
his rider to the saddle with a single blow of the scimetar. With such
potent auxiliaries it was not impossible to conquer a world.
The denizens of the Atlas were the first to experience the power of
the newly-organized empire. The courage of these mountaineers and
the natural defences of their country had enabled them to repulse
the cavalry of Musa, and that skilful general had been compelled to
tolerate the presumption of a race which the experience of military
commanders had for centuries pronounced invincible. But the mountain
tribes were unable to sustain their well-merited reputation in the
face of the followers of Abdallah. They were driven from the plains.
Their haunts were invaded, and fastnesses heretofore considered
inaccessible were penetrated by the swarming legions of the Desert.
Their flocks were swept away. Their families were borne into slavery.
Finally, broken in spirit, they acknowledged the divine mission of
the reformer; repeated with superstitious and unmeaning reverence the
formula of the Mussulman creed; accepted with meek submission the
political superiority of the Lamtounah; and contributed a considerable
reinforcement to the already formidable army of the conqueror.
Abdallah did not long enjoy the substantial fruits of his victories.
He was killed in a skirmish twenty-two years after the commencement of
his public career as a missionary, and the government and destiny of
the Berber nation devolved on Abu-Bekr-Ibn-Omar, Emir of the Lamtounah,
whose appointment had been dictated by the authority of Abdallah
himself. Abu-Bekr, while not aspiring to the divine character assumed
by his predecessor, was none the less fortunate in prosecuting his
designs of conquest. He invaded and subdued the ancient kingdom of the
Edrisites, and incorporated it into his vast dominions. He occupied,
in turn, the capitals of Fez and Mequinez, and, dissatisfied with
their surroundings, or craving distinction in a new field, he began
the construction of the city of Morocco as a residence for the dynasty
he had founded. Summoned unexpectedly to the borders of the Desert to
suppress a rebellion, he left the administration of the empire in the
hands of his cousin, Yusuf-Ibn-Tashfin. This chieftain, destined to
enduring celebrity as the deliverer and conqueror of Spain, had already
passed the term of middle life. His person was agreeable, his manners
fascinating, his reputation for valor and capacity unsurpassed. He
constantly practised, without effort or ostentation, the abstemious
habits of his nomadic ancestry. The devout and the indigent received
with grateful acknowledgments the frequent tokens of his charity and
benevolence. In the high station which his birth and talents had
secured for him he had always acted as a wise and discriminating
ruler. His character was, however, obscured by many degrading vices,
and, under the mask of a political ascetic, he concealed the sinister
designs of a calculating and unscrupulous ambition. The opportunity for
personal advancement now offered him was eminently congenial with the
dark and perfidious maxims of policy which regulated his conduct. By
judicious donations he courted and secured the favor of the army. The
populace was profoundly edified by the sight of their prince working
daily, like a common laborer, on the mosque of the rising capital.
The fame of the new city, the extent of its plan, the rapidity of
its construction, the splendor of its edifices, the abundance of its
waters, the beauty of its gardens, attracted from every quarter of
Northern Africa a numerous and enterprising population. On a commanding
eminence at the northern extremity stood the palace and citadel,
fortified by all the art of foreign engineers. The protracted absence
of Abu-Bekr by degrees obliterated the remembrance of his rights from
the minds of a people to whom his person was unfamiliar; and his
authority was soon eclipsed by the increasing popularity and influence
of an ambitious subordinate who aspired to absolute independence.
Not content with despoiling his cousin of his throne, Yusuf even
appropriated his favorite wife; and the lovely Zeinab, a woman of
great talents and beauty, not unwilling to exchange the neglect of
an absent lord for the immediate prospect of love and empire, passed
without a sigh into the harem of the daring usurper. Aware of the
vital importance of preserving the affection of his followers, Yusuf
lavished upon them the most expensive garments, horses, and armor; his
bodyguard, equally composed of Christian captives and negro slaves,
resplendent in silks and jewels, was daily exercised in the rapid and
bewildering evolutions peculiar to the cavalry of the Desert; and less
than one year after the departure of Abu-Bekr, a hundred thousand
warriors, impelled by a blind fanaticism and who revered their leader
almost as a divinity, stood ready, at an instant’s notice, to respond
to his call to arms.
At length, after many months, Abu-Bekr returned to his capital. Long
before he reached it, his ears were saluted with the rumors of the
quiet revolution which had virtually deprived him of his consort and
his crown. The satisfaction he derived from the triumphant issue of
the expedition, the fond anticipations he cherished of the joyous
acclamations of his subjects and of the affectionate embraces of his
wife, were obscured by sad and gloomy apprehensions. He heard with
wonder of the prodigious growth and opulence of the city he had so
recently founded. His credulity was taxed by the marvellous accounts
of its mansions and its suburbs; of the vast revenues collected and
expended by the imperial treasury; of the magnificence of the court;
of the numbers and equipment of the army. Soon the emissaries of Yusuf
secretly penetrated his camp. His soldiers were corrupted with rich
bribes and the assurance of booty or promotion, and, their loyalty
once shaken, they awaited with impatience the signal for desertion
or mutiny. These intrigues and their inevitable tendency could not
be concealed from the unfortunate Abu-Bekr. Aware that resistance or
reproach would cost him his life, he wisely resolved to dissemble his
feelings and accept his fate. By a public and solemn abdication he
renounced his rights in favor of Yusuf, and, broken-hearted, retired
with a few trusty followers to the solitude of the Desert. The title of
the new Sultan of Africa having been thus confirmed by every requisite
of inherited prestige and legal authority, he continued to increase the
area of his already immense dominions. Far from being satisfied with
the growth of his empire, he was scarcely seated on the throne before
he began to meditate the invasion of the Spanish Peninsula. The example
of Tarik, the demoralized condition of his co-religionists beyond the
strait, the menacing attitude of the Christian powers, the prospect of
political aggrandizement, the hope of military distinction, the merit
of protecting the faith of which he was now the most distinguished
exponent,--all these considerations, and others far less praiseworthy,
urged the energetic Yusuf to a more glorious career. As a prelude to
future operations, he stormed the cities of Tangier and Ceuta, repaired
or rebuilt their fortifications, constructed within their walls great
magazines and arsenals, and garrisoned them with large bodies of
veterans of tried courage and fidelity. His dominions now reached from
the eastern boundary of Tunis to the Atlantic, from the Mediterranean
to the burning regions of Senegal. No African potentate had ever before
wielded such enormous power. No Moslem prince had ever exercised
jurisdiction over so extensive a territory. In area and population it
greatly exceeded, in civilization and intelligence only was it inferior
to, the mighty domination of Carthage. Such was the ruler, and such the
empire whose potent aid the distressed Moslems of Andalusia were about
to invoke.
It was only after much deliberation that the Hispano-Arab princes
determined to adopt the desperate expedient of appealing to Yusuf. The
imams and the other ecclesiastical authorities had from the beginning
urged this step, foreseeing, through its acceptance, a certain
accession to their professional importance and a probable augmentation
of their political power. But the sovereigns, who cared more for the
possession of their thrones, precarious though that might be, than for
the reformation of their faith or the exaltation of its ministers,
were loath to admit into their dominions a conqueror flushed with
victory and supported by the vast treasures and the innumerable hordes
of Northern and Central Africa. But, unhappily, no other alternative
remained. Rumors of the great preparations of Alfonso increased day by
day, and at length the question was decided by Motamid, who resolutely
declared, when the danger of inviting the Berbers was enlarged on by
his courtiers, “If it is the will of Allah that I should be deprived of
my kingdom and become the slave of a foreigner, I would far rather be a
camel-driver in Africa than a swineherd in Castile.”
The preponderating influence of the lord of Seville overcame the
indecision of the other Moorish princes, and the kadis of Granada,
Badajoz, and Cordova, duly empowered to act as ambassadors with the
vizier of Motamid, repaired to the court of Yusuf. The enterprise
was agreeable to the ambitious designs of the Sultan of Africa,
but he insisted upon the transfer of the island of Algeziras as an
indispensable condition of the alliance. This the envoys having neither
the authority nor the inclination to grant, matters remained in
suspense until the influence of his religious advisers, who exercised
a singular ascendant over the mind of Yusuf, urged him to seize
the island if its possession was refused to him. A hundred vessels
suddenly set sail from Ceuta, and a great force landed at Algeziras.
The possession of the place was peremptorily demanded by the general
of the African army; the governor refused compliance; and hostilities
were only prevented by a timely order from Seville requiring the
evacuation of the city by the Moorish commander. Yusuf soon arrived
with his guards; the citadel was put in the best possible condition
for defence; the magazines were replenished; and every means adopted
for the strengthening and preservation of a fortress so essential to
secure reinforcements or to protect the retreat of an invading army.
Under such sinister auspices did the Almoravides, or Wearers of the
Veil, first set foot on Spain. The occupation of Algeziras, recognized
by both Moor and Berber as permanent and equivalent to the practical
surrender of the key of Andalusia to a foreign government, portended
even to the most careless observer the speedy dissolution of the
Saracen power.
Yusuf was received near Seville by Motamid with the honors due to his
exalted rank; and the treasury of the latter was almost exhausted by
the splendid gifts with which he endeavored to propitiate the favor and
secure the attachment of his dangerous ally. Such was his liberality
that every soldier of the Almoravide army received a present, a
proceeding which, in view of the weakness of the government and the
exaggerated idea of its resources which it conveyed, was, to say the
least, highly impolitic.
The rulers of the various states of Andalusia contributed all
the troops which could possibly be spared from their small and
ill-appointed armies, and the allied forces, amounting to nearly twenty
thousand men, proceeded northward in search of the enemy. Meanwhile,
the King of Castile had not been idle. The siege of Saragossa, which
had for months engaged his attention and consumed the energies of his
impatient followers, was hastily raised. Orders were despatched to
every vassal to repair with his retainers to an appointed rendezvous.
The bold peasantry of the Pyrenees were exhorted by religious
emissaries to imitate the glorious example of their ancestors, who had
preserved, amidst the most discouraging circumstances, their national
faith and their political liberties. A formidable contingent of French
cavaliers, whom the prospect of booty and the love of adventure had
attracted to the Castilian standards, materially strengthened by their
numbers and their prowess the confidence and the enthusiasm of the
Christians. On the plain of Zallaca, in the province of Badajoz, the
hostile forces were marshalled in menacing array. The devout prejudices
of the Catholic king were insulted by an imperious summons from Yusuf
to renounce his belief or pay tribute to the representative of Islam. A
lengthy answer couched in the grandiloquent style of the age and ending
with an expression of defiance was returned to this menacing epistle;
the armies encamped within sight of each other; and, in compliance with
the practice of those chivalrous times, the day of battle was appointed
by mutual consent. The messengers of Alfonso suggested the second day
from that date, which would be Saturday; the choice was approved by the
unsuspecting Africans; but the astuteness of the experienced officers
of Motamid detected in this plausible arrangement the evidences of a
deep-laid and dangerous stratagem. The Andalusians, who formed the
advance-guard, were, in such an event, most exposed to a surprise, and
the fate of the entire army depended, in fact, on their vigilance.
No precaution was overlooked. The sentinels were doubled. Patrols
made frequent rounds along the lines. The soldiers were admonished to
sleep upon their arms. Reconnoitring parties were sent to report the
slightest signs of unusual activity in the enemy’s camp. It was not
without cause that a universal feeling of anxiety pervaded the Moslem
army. Upon the result of the impending conflict hung all that was dear
to the soldiers of Islam,--their fortunes, their liberties, their
lives, and their religion. The prospect was far from encouraging. The
enemy had the advantage in numbers, in organization, in discipline.
Their forces, sixty thousand in all, exceeded those of the Mussulmans
in the overwhelming proportion of three to one. The Castilians were
superior in the strength of their horses, in the character of their
weapons, in the weight and temper of their armor. Conspicuous among
them were the French knights completely sheathed in glittering steel.
The Christians were, to a man, warriors tried in many a bloody fray;
they were animated by a common purpose and obedient to a single
commander; and they considered the enterprise in which they had
embarked as one peculiarly favored by Heaven. Their zeal was inflamed
daily by distinguished prelates, whose presence imparted additional
sanctity to a crusade nominally waged for the glory and the propagation
of the Faith. On the eve of battle, these ecclesiastical counsellors,
in all the splendor of full canonicals, harangued the ranks of the
soldiery; and not infrequently were they to be found, like the members
of the ancient Visigothic hierarchy, contending with carnal weapons in
the heat and peril of deadly conflict, where their words of sympathy
brought composure and hope to the dying, and their consecrated hands
performed, with its impressive ceremonial, the last solemn rites of the
Church for the dead. Despite the weakness of faith characteristic of
the military profession, and especially marked in the minds of soldiers
of fortune, the exhortations and labors of the Spanish clergy played
no inconsiderable part in the Reconquest. No matter how skeptical a
Castilian prince might be on inconvenient points of doctrine,--and
few in that age were sincerely devout,--they rarely neglected the
punctilious observance of the ritual of the Church, and, what was even
more indispensable in the eyes of the clergy, the constant and liberal
support of its ministers.
Among the Moslems, on the other hand, there was far less of that unity
and confidence which contribute so much to the certainty and ease of
victory. The generals of the Andalusians distrusted their troops;
the sovereigns suspected each other. It was no secret that public
sentiment had been hostile to the enlistment of the Africans, and that
their presence was only the last resort of a desperate emergency.
The Spanish Arabs regarded the Berbers rather as intruders than as
allies, while the intrepid warriors of the Desert looked down with
contempt on an effeminate soldiery unpractised in arms, arrayed in
the silken vestments formerly allotted to women, who were not strong
enough to endure the fatigues of an ordinary campaign, whose courage
was doubtful, and who had long since demonstrated their incapacity
to even partially recover the prestige or to defend the remains of
a once magnificent empire. The defiant seizure of Algeziras had
raised the most alarming apprehensions as to the ultimate designs of
Yusuf. The ambition of that prince was known in every city of Spain.
Moorish traders and spies had brought back from the court of Morocco
accounts of menaced invasion, descriptions of fortresses equipped to
cover a possible retreat, mysterious hints of a prospective gigantic
Hispano-African monarchy. Each Andalusian, as he viewed the swarthy
and ferocious legions of the invader, reflected, with terror, that he
might even then, by increasing the power of his allies, be indirectly
contributing to the subjugation of his country and the enslavement of
himself.