In the ever-changing panorama of the Reconquest there frequently

appears the Moslem of Africa, descendant of the Almoravide or the

Almohade dynasties; proud of the fame of his ancestors, and perpetual

claimant of the legacy of their valor; as ambitious of the regaining

of Cordova and the purification of its desecrated temple as were his

contemporaries, the crusaders, of the conquest of Jerusalem and the

recovery of the Holy Sepulchre. The Emirs of Fez, of the family of

the Merynites, had risen to great distinction among the rulers of

Africa. Their dominions included the entire northern portion of that

continent. Their capital was the resort of all that was intelligent

and accomplished among the Mussulman nations. In the incessant

political disorders of the Peninsula, hundreds of merchants, scholars,

philosophers, had sought amidst the quiet and security of distant

regions that refuge from incessant revolution and Castilian conquest

no longer to be enjoyed at Granada. Not a few of these found their way

to Fez. Picturesque in its situation, the taste and liberality of its

rulers had made it a beautiful city. Its gardens, planted with every

variety of tropical plants and flowers, and refreshed by innumerable

fountains, offered a vision of Paradise to the tired and thirsty

wayfarer who had toiled for many leagues through the stifling heat and

drifting sands of the desert. A high degree of civilization had been

attained by the people of Morocco, who, with the natural inclination

of the Arab mind to scientific investigation and mathematical studies,

had made considerable progress in astronomy, chemistry, botany,

and medicine. Their efforts were materially aided by the precious

manuscripts once part of the great library of the khalifs, and the

treasures of private collections rescued from barbarian ignorance and

Christian bigotry during the destruction of the Ommeyade empire. To

Fez, where it was revered as a priceless relic, and where perhaps to

this day it is still preserved, was transported by the Almohades the

famous Koran, partly written by the hand of the martyred Othman, which

was formerly exposed for the veneration of the faithful in the Kiblah

of the Great Mosque of Cordova. Heedless of the change in national

conditions, of the decline of religious enthusiasm, of the decay of

that martial spirit which renders the fanatical soldier invincible,

the Emirs of Morocco never lost sight of their favorite project, the

recovery of Spain. Their repeated efforts for that end were rendered

inoperative by the religious feuds between their subjects and the

Andalusian Moslems; the resources of both kingdoms, which might have

been profitably exerted against the infidel, were wasted in the

infliction of mutual injuries; and the Castilian sovereigns, taking

advantage alternately of the animosities of either faction as best

suited their purposes, directed their arms against each other for their

common ruin.

In the year 1333, a body of Moorish cavalry, seven thousand strong,

under command of Abd-al-Melik, a prince of the blood, disembarked at

Algeziras. Invited by the rebels of Granada, and expected to unite with

the Castilian forces against Mohammed, their operations were begun in

an unexpected quarter. With a celerity that indicated the previous

arrangement of a well-conceived campaign, the invaders and their

countrymen of Algeziras invested Gibraltar. Considering the defences

of that fortress, greatly improved since the Castilian occupation,

the enterprise seemed hopeless. But either through the peculations

of the governor or from neglect of the court to provide the garrison

with supplies, the place was in a few weeks reduced to the greatest

distress. Deprived of all ordinary means of sustenance, the hungry

soldiers devoured the leather of their belts and bucklers. When too

late, the difficulty of the situation was realized. The selfish and

tyrannical policy of Alfonso XI. had alienated the attachment of his

subjects. The voluptuous King had lingered too long in the arms of

his mistresses, and the pugnacious nobility were engaged in gratifying

their hereditary grudges in the congenial occupation of private

war. Official incompetence and delay had prepared the way for great

disasters. The African fleet commanded the sea. No force available by

the Christians could dislodge from its intrenchments the well-appointed

army of Abd-al-Melik, with success within its grasp. The Castilian

princes, as well as the nobles, listened with haughty indifference

to the patriotic appeals of their sovereign. So low had the royal

authority fallen that some cavaliers of the highest rank disregarded

the peremptory messages of the crown; others demanded compensation

for contributing to the defence of their country. Alfonso, abandoned

by the nobles, found his only reliance in the uncertain and selfish

adherence of foreign soldiers of fortune, attracted to Spain by the

expectation of plunder; and in the co-operation of the grand-masters

of the military orders, who, compelled by their vows, furnished a

lukewarm and reluctant support to the throne. Long before the Castilian

army could arrive at Gibraltar, messengers brought the unwelcome news

of its surrender. The standards of the Prophet were raised, amid the

acclamations of the soldiery, upon the highest point of the citadel,

and the African vessels occupied the harbor. The garrison was suffered

to retire with the honors of war, and the exultant Moslems, intoxicated

by victory, already pictured to themselves the speedy recovery of the

seats of their ancestors and the revival of the ancient glories of the

khalifate.

The King of Castile, convinced that the Moors were not firmly enough

established in their new conquest to maintain a siege, pushed forward

to Gibraltar. Harassed by the enemy’s cavalry, his force reached its

destination after many conflicts of doubtful issue and unimportant

results, and the Africans were, in their turn, besieged. In their

exposed situation, with a vigilant enemy in their rear and the sea

patrolled by the African fleet, the Castilians endured unspeakable

hardships. The day was one incessant conflict, the night a succession

of alarms. The convoys were intercepted. Famine, with its attendant

horrors, stalked through the wretched camp. The faltering loyalty

and insufficient discipline of the troops encouraged desertion, and

the numbers of those spared by want and disease began to be sensibly

diminished. Many who fled from their standards encountered a more

deplorable fate, for none escaped the vigilance of the Moorish

scouting parties; and captives were so numerous that in the market

of Algeziras the choice of Christian slaves could be obtained for a

doubloon of gold. To add to the general distress, the Emir of Granada

was approaching at the head of a numerous body of troops with the

design of effecting a junction with Abd-al-Melik. At this critical

moment, when the Christian cause seemed all but lost, the course of

events was changed by one of those unexpected occurrences which,

while common in the annals of those times, is apparently inexplicable

unless attributed to the influence of the chivalrous instincts that

during the prosecution of the Moslem wars often changed ferocity into

courtesy and enmity into friendship. The narrow space which separated

the hostile camps was, according to the practice of the age, the scene

of many knightly encounters. As the result of one of these, proposals

of peace were offered and accepted, a truce of four years was signed,

and the enemies, who but a few hours before had fiercely contended

for each other’s destruction, now mingled together upon terms of

familiar intimacy. An interchange of presents took place between the

monarchs of Castile and Granada. The different degrees of civilization

existing in the two kingdoms, and the marked superiority of the

Moors in the knowledge and adaptation of the mechanical arts, are

disclosed by the accounts that have descended to us concerning this

exhibition of royal courtesy. The articles presented by the King of

Castile are scarcely alluded to by the ancient chroniclers. Had they

been objects of curiosity, elegance, or value, Castilian pride would

not have been silent concerning them. On the other hand, the gifts of

the Emir of Granada, their intrinsic worth, the excellence of their

workmanship, the number, variety, and setting of the jewels with which

they were adorned, are the subject of minute and accurate description.

They included splendid arms and armor; among them a helmet enriched

with rubies of extraordinary size, and a sword, with a damascened

blade of the finest temper, whose scabbard, formed of overlapping

plates of gold, was studded with magnificent topazes, sapphires, and

emeralds. Not the least remarkable of these articles of elegant luxury

were beautiful silks of many colors and pieces of cloth of gold. In

Granada, the manufacture of silk had long since reached perfection, a

considerable portion of the great bazaar of the capital was reserved

for its merchants, and the superior quality of its product had brought

it into great demand in every port accessible to commerce. In Castile,

distant scarcely a day’s journey, this fabric, not beyond the reach of

persons in moderate circumstances under the advanced civilization of

the Spanish Arabs, was practically unknown, and so far from being an

article of merchandise was an object of curiosity, and worth far more

than its weight in gold.

The ceremonies of the treaty ended with a banquet, and Mohammed,

forgetful or regardless of the prejudices of religion, accepted the

hospitality of the King of Castile. This concession to a Christian

misbeliever offended the bigotry of the Africans; the fancied

partiality shown to the Emir of Granada by his host was resented as

a national affront; and the ill-concealed mutual jealousy of the

rival sectaries of Islam was again emphasized by a bloody tragedy.

On his return to the camp, Mohammed was waylaid and slain by his

fierce and treacherous allies, who had so greatly profited by his aid,

and who could neither comprehend nor suffer the generous courtesy

which recognized the virtues of good faith and toleration even in

an hereditary foe. The Emir had scarcely breathed his last when the

vizier Redwan, by a bold stroke characteristic of the crooked methods

of Oriental politics, secured at the same time the public tranquillity

and the continuance of his own power. Hastening to Granada, he caused

Yusuf, the younger brother of Mohammed, to be proclaimed Emir, and

conducted him with a magnificent escort to the Moslem camp, where

allegiance was at once sworn to him by the army.

The year 1339 opened with extensive preparations for another African

invasion, whose object was avowedly the conquest of the entire

Peninsula. Every means to insure success was taken by the shrewd and

active Abul-Hassan, Sultan of Fez, whose talents had raised his empire

to the first rank among the Moslem powers of the West. Fanatical and

eloquent missionaries were despatched to preach the Holy War among the

wild tribes of the Desert. A treaty of alliance was concluded between

the Sultan and Jaime III., King of Majorca. The friendly relations

interrupted by the murder of an emir were resumed with Granada. For

the moment, the instinct of self-preservation and the interests of

a common faith outweighed national jealousy and the bitterness of

theological hatred. An innumerable army was raised and equipped. The

African navy, already more formidable than that of the enemy, was

greatly strengthened. The possession of Gibraltar and Algeziras

invited an enterprise which Moslem fanaticism easily persuaded itself

was practicable, and, in case of failure, afforded means of security

and retreat. Daily, for months, soldiers accompanied by their families

crossed the strait. The sagacity of Abul-Hassan convinced him that by

the presence of their wives and children the fidelity of the troops

would be confirmed, their valor animated, and their confidence in the

success of an undertaking, conducted with the sanction of religion,

fully assured. Great numbers of these armed colonists entered Granada,

where they were received with every evidence of consideration by Yusuf,

who saw, with great satisfaction, this important addition to the

military strength of his kingdom.

Information of these events, serious enough in themselves, and

doubtless much exaggerated by fear and ignorance, spread terror through

the realms of Portugal, Aragon, and Castile. The rivalry of the

monarchs, the enmity of the nobles, the ambition of the clergy, were,

for the time, laid aside in common apprehension of the approaching

deluge. The naval forces of the three kingdoms were united under

the command of the Castilian admiral, Don Geoffrey Tenorio. His

fleet consisted of but thirty-six vessels, ill-manned, imperfectly

equipped, and wholly unfitted to cope successfully with the swift

and well-appointed galleys of the Sultan of Fez. In the general

consternation, and to counteract the religious fervor of the Moslems,

the sanction of divine aid was solicited through the Pope, and the

Holy Father issued from Avignon a grant of plenary indulgence to all

Christians who should participate in the impending contest.

The commencement of hostilities, near the close of the year 1339,

was marked by a series of predatory expeditions, undertaken in turn

by each nation, and characteristic of the disorderly and indecisive

conflicts so popular in those times. After the capture of considerable

booty, the African general, Abd-al-Melik, encamped with the bulk of

his army in the plain of Pagana. The Christians, hastily assembled at

the summons of their lords and commanded by the heads of the noble

houses of Guzman and Ponce de Leon, names subsequently famous in the

conquest of Granada, by a forced march surprised the enemy’s camp.

Attacked in their tents, stupefied by slumber, and confounded by the

din of combat, the Moslems, incapable of either resistance or flight,

perished by thousands. Abd-al-Melik, pierced with many wounds, died

among the reeds of a neighboring stream where he had concealed himself.

The loss of the invaders exceeded ten thousand men, and a multitude of

captives were led away in chains. A treasure of great value was secured

by the victors; and the booty acquired in the last campaign, composed

principally of cattle and sheep, was retaken and appropriated for the

use of the Castilian army.

The effects of this brilliant exploit, in which were exhibited alike

the skill and prowess of the Castilian soldiery, were, as usual,

nullified by aristocratic jealousy and court intrigue. The signal

advantage obtained was not pursued; and the Moors, encouraged by the

want of spirit displayed by the enemy, were aroused to fresh exertions

by the consciousness of power and the mortification of defeat. Bent on

revenge, the Sultan, Abul-Hassan, redoubled his preparations for the

coming invasion. Every man subject to his authority throughout his vast

dominions was enlisted. The ports of Northern Africa resounded with the

din incident to the repairs and the equipment of the fleet. The Sultan

himself superintended the embarkation of the troops at Ceuta, and

assumed command of the expedition. The Moorish armament, comprising

two hundred and ten vessels, of which more than seventy were galleys

of war, finally sailed from Ceuta; and the Moorish host, nearly two

hundred thousand strong, landed without accident at Gibraltar and

Algeziras. Every resource at the command of Abul-Hassan had been

employed to collect, and to provide with munitions of war, this immense

body of men. All the most powerful motives which actuate the human mind

had united to further the project of invasion,--royal ambition, private

vengeance, the admonition of religious duty, the thirst of empire,

the hope of Paradise. For nearly two centuries so formidable a force

had not threatened the Christian domination in the Peninsula. It was

not without reason that the number of pilgrims to famous shrines was

quadrupled; that the intervention of local saints was invoked in every

hamlet; that the terrified inhabitants of Andalusia asked themselves if

the inheritance of their fathers, won foot by foot from the infidel,

was to be wrested from their hands at one blow by the barbarians of

Africa; if the cathedral of Cordova, that priceless trophy of conquest,

still existing in all its pristine beauty and consecrated to the

worship of God, should once more be occupied by the slaves of the

Arabian Prophet.

The enemy’s fleet had passed the strait during the night, apparently

through the supineness of the Spanish admiral, whose inferior force,

however, could not have even delayed its progress; but, from this

apparent neglect of duty, a rumor arose that Don Geoffrey Tenorio,

one of the most honorable and high-spirited of men, had betrayed his

trust for a bribe. Stung to the quick by the unjust imputation, the

brave soldier ordered his ships to prepare for battle. His adversaries

outnumbered him three to one, and no courage or dexterity could

compensate for the disadvantage of position or the disparity of

numbers. The conflict was short and bloody. The Christian admiral,

after a desperate struggle on the deck of his ship, fell sword in hand;

the majority of the Christian vessels were taken or sunk; and only

five succeeded in reaching the harbor of Tarifa. Abul-Hassan, from the

loftiest minaret of Ceuta, witnessed the victory which established his

maritime supremacy in the Western Mediterranean, and destroyed for

nearly a generation the naval power of the kingdom of Castile.

In September, 1340, the Sultan of Fez formally assumed command of his

troops at Algeziras. Not long afterwards the army of Granada, commanded

by Yusuf, arrived, and the long-expected campaign began in earnest.

The chronicles of the time differ greatly in their numerical estimates

of the allied host. That it was very large, however, does not admit

of doubt, and, even after due allowance for priestly exaggeration

and Castilian gasconade, it would seem to have exceeded two hundred

and fifty thousand men. Of these, nearly a hundred thousand were

Mauritanian and Granadan horsemen, the finest light-armed cavalry

in the world. The military skill which disposed of this great force

corresponded in no degree with the irresistible power it was capable

of exerting if intelligently directed. The most obvious course would

have been to advance rapidly into the country of the enemy, already

paralyzed with fear at its approach, and bring about an engagement

before the Christians were fully prepared. The capture of Tarifa was,

however, in the eyes of the two sovereigns, a more certain advantage

than the precarious issue of a pitched battle on their own ground

with the redoubtable chivalry of Castile, and, in consequence of

their determination, a line of intrenchments was drawn around that

city. It is uncertain whether any incentive other than mere caprice

influenced the Moslem commanders in their decision. Tarifa was a place

of comparatively small strategic value. So long as the more important

fortresses of Gibraltar and Algeziras remained in the hands of the

Moslems, affording ready communication with the shores of Africa, no

material advantage could result from its possession. Its harbor was

neither extraordinarily safe nor commodious. While the country in its

vicinity was rich and fertile, its extent was not great enough to

justify the expenditure of any large amount of blood and treasure for

its subjection. And finally, the formidable character of the defences

of Tarifa, which had, upon more than one occasion, demonstrated that a

garrison insignificant in numbers could readily maintain its position

against an immense army, should have convinced the Moorish princes of

the difficulties to be encountered in its reduction, in addition to the

probabilities of ultimate disaster. The siege of the city, once decided

upon, was pushed with the utmost energy. Quantities of munitions of

war, provisions, the ponderous engines used in military operations,

and a few pieces of rude artillery were transported from Ceuta. The

Castilian galleys which endeavored to intercept these supplies were

wrecked by a tempest, and the sailors were killed by the enemy or

captured and compelled to renounce their religion. The apathy of the

Christians, partly the result of constitutional indifference, but

largely due to royal oppression, seemed about to abandon their country

to ruin. Alfonso XI., reduced to despair, convoked an assembly of the

grand masters of the military orders, the most eminent prelates, and

such of the principal nobles as he had not degraded, exiled, or put to

death. After a pathetic appeal to their patriotism, he deposited upon

a table his sword and crown, and, leaving with them these insignia

of royal dignity as mute representatives of his honor and distress,

he retired from the room. In the deliberations which followed, it

was resolved to at once attempt the relief of Tarifa, an undertaking

which, if successful, would avert a national misfortune. Every effort

was exerted to assemble an army. The nobles summoned their retainers

and vassals. The clergy proclaimed a crusade, raised the holy banner

blessed by the Pope, and inflamed the religious zeal of their audiences

by all the artifices of bigotry and all the powers of eloquence of

which they were masters. Appeals were made to the Kings of Aragon and

Portugal. A fleet of galleys was obtained from the Republic of Genoa, a

proceeding which utterly exhausted the already bankrupt treasury of the

kingdom, while the well-known duplicity of these mercenaries caused no

little apprehension lest their power might yet be turned against their

allies through the machinations of a rich and unscrupulous adversary.

After an investment of several weeks, after numerous assaults and

many stratagems, all of which were repulsed or foiled, the undaunted

garrison of Tarifa still maintained unimpaired the honor and reputation

of the Castilian arms. To this handful of heroic soldiers the prospect

was indeed discouraging. From the battlements of the castle, as far

as the eye could reach, could be descried the countless tents of the

besieging army. Amidst the coarse brown shelters of camel’s hair, the

home of the migratory Arab, appeared the more pretentious quarters of

the various division commanders, indicated by pennons of gaudy colors

and by patrols of heavily armed sentinels. On a slight eminence, in the

centre of the vast encampment, stood side by side the royal pavilions

of the Sultan, Abul-Hassan, and Yusuf, Emir of Granada. Embellished

with every adornment procurable by the boundless resources of wealth

and power, they were conspicuous from afar. Their material was blue

and crimson silk, profusely and elaborately embroidered. Globes of

silver surmounted the stakes which sustained their folds. Before the

tent of the Sultan of Fez waved the great standard of the Holy War,--of

green silk inscribed with passages from the Koran, and with the name

of Allah repeated hundreds of times in characters of gold. With armor

and weapons glittering with jewels, a numerous guard watched over the

safety of their sovereigns,--fierce warriors of the Zenetah, and of

the Beni-Saraj, those “Sons of the Saddler,” destined in after-years

to play a prominent part in the history of Granada, and whose valor,

amidst the sinking fortunes of the Moslem empire, sustained in many

sanguinary battles the reputation of their ancestry and the terror of

their name. Outside the harbor was ranged the hostile fleet, covering

the sea with its snowy sails; its gay ensigns emblazoned with the

devices of the commanders or with the mottoes of the Koran assumed as

their peculiar insignia by the princes of the House of Fez.

Well might the hearts of the little band of Christians in the

beleaguered city of Tarifa sink within them. To all appearances, they

were abandoned by their sovereign. No tidings of approaching relief

could reach their ears. The din of incessant battle resounded through

the streets. The walls were crumbling under the blows inflicted by

formidable engines of war. More than once had scaling-parties obtained

a foothold on the ramparts, only to be repulsed by superhuman efforts.

Even in capitulation there was little prospect of safety, for such

of their comrades as had fallen into the enemy’s hands were tendered

the alternative of apostasy or death. For in this Holy War, waged

more earnestly for the extension of religious faith than for the

acquisition of territory or the spoils of conquest, the humane rules

which ordinarily governed the surrender of enemies or the treatment

of prisoners were either suspended or abrogated. Their stubborn and

prolonged resistance had exasperated the besiegers, and there was

slender hope of quarter in the event of submission or capture. The

Moslem army was largely composed of barbarians, ignorant of the laws

and usages of civilized nations; and, whether taken by storm or

surrendered, the city would inevitably be sacked and would probably be

destroyed. In the last moment of extremity and despair the Christian

banners were discovered from the battlements. In the organization of

the approaching army the efforts of the Spaniards had been absolutely

exhausted. Castile, in the fourteenth century, could not command

the men, the funds, the military resources, which had been under

the control of the grim old warrior Ferdinand III. The population

was diminished by wars, sedition, famine, disease. Agriculture was

impossible where life and property were constantly unsafe. Articles

which in the contiguous kingdom of Granada were in the hands of every

peasant were unknown to most Castilians. The flocks, once the chief

source of Estremadura’s and Andalusia’s wealth, had been swept away

by the alternate incursions of friend and foe. The extravagance of

mistresses, the peculation of officials, the exactions of the clergy,

the rapacity of the nobles, had drained the public treasury. The

administration of the finances was mainly in the hands of Jews and

churchmen, who thwarted each other whenever possible, and always at

the expense of the state; who, not unjustly, regarded each other with

suspicion; and who, in turn, were cordially hated by those on whom

were imposed the onerous burdens of tribute and taxation. Successive

regencies organized for plunder; the flagrant abuse of power, and the

prostitution of justice to the gratification of personal revenge; the

insolence of royal concubines; the sanguinary tyranny which disgraced

the throne; the invasion of private rights and the insecurity of

private property; the impunity of crime; the omnipresent evidences of

distress and penury; the degradation of labor, and the distinction

attending the prosecution of successful rapine, had embittered public

sentiment, and alienated the allegiance of a gallant and romantic

people who formerly held the royal dignity of Castile as second only

to the omnipotent authority of God. It was a momentous crisis in the

history of Spain. The existence of an extensive monarchy, the integrity

of a religion hoary with the venerable traditions of thirteen hundred

years, were at stake. The numerical superiority of the Moslems was

overwhelming. In the Christian ranks, on the very eve of battle,

dissension still reigned, and princes of the royal blood were suspected

of treasonable correspondence with the enemy. Under such circumstances,

when every hand was needed, the publicity of such rumors, giving rise

to mutual distrust, greatly impaired the efficiency of the army. The

importance of the contest was evinced by the rank of those who followed

in the train of the sovereigns of Castile and Portugal. The Primate

of Spain; the Archbishops of Santiago, of Seville, of Braga; the

bishops of Palencia and Mondoñedo; the grand masters of every martial

brotherhood in both kingdoms; the representatives of every noble house

from the Pyrenees to the Mediterranean, from the frontiers of France

to the shores of the Atlantic, rode in the train of the monarch.

The duties of these belligerent prelates were not restricted to the

celebration of masses, to the invocation of saints, to the shriving

of sinners. Nearly all of them had laid aside the sacred habiliments

of their profession, and appeared sheathed in mail at the head of

companies of well-appointed retainers. No contemptible adversaries were

they, these sturdy champions of the Cross, equally at home before the

quiet altars of magnificent cathedrals or surrounded by tumult and

carnage in the very front of the line of battle. Such had been the

custom of members of the Christian hierarchy even before the battle of

the Guadalete. The crusading character of the Moorish wars, undertaken

for the spread of religion, indorsed by the infallible authority of the

Pope, assisted by the generous piety of foreign princes, had imparted

a martial cast to every ecclesiastical organization in the Peninsula.

There were more military orders in Spain than in any other country in

the world. Not only were the Templars and Hospitallers represented

there by wealthy priories and commanderies, but no less than four

powerful bodies of monastic knights owed their origin to the wars of

the Reconquest. The influence of these military monks in politics and

war was extensive and formidable. They appointed regencies. They made

and unmade sovereigns. Their counsels directed the measures of great

principalities and kingdoms. Under the cloak of religious austerity

they concealed many odious vices, ambition, venality, licentiousness,

cruelty, avarice. In conjunction with the Church, they absolutely

controlled the policy of the monarchy of Castile. To no class of its

subjects was that monarchy so greatly indebted for its origin, its

extension, its glory, the consolidation of its power, the formation of

its manners. Ecclesiastical domination, established during a crusade of

seven hundred years, made possible the atrocities of the Inquisition.

It placed its seal upon the national character, noticeable in the

grave and haughty demeanor, the taciturn disposition, the suspicious

nature of the modern Spaniard. It was not without far-reaching results

that the iron grasp of episcopal despotism was placed upon a people

at its formation, and continued through long and eventful centuries

of alternate success and disaster. As no caste contributed so much

to the greatness of Spain as the clergy, none profited so much by its

opportunities. Theirs was the most opulent branch of the Catholic

hierarchy in Christendom. Their primate, first in precedence among

prelates of corresponding dignity, ranked next to the Pope. No other

country could boast such rich benefices, such vast domains, such

princely revenues; religious houses like palaces in their variegated

marbles and mosaics; cathedrals which even after ages of neglect are

still matchless specimens of grandeur and beauty, filled with works

of art of unapproachable excellence, furnished with sacred vessels of

massy gold and sparkling gems, lighted by windows whose gorgeous tints,

mellowed by age, offer to the admiring and awe-stricken worshipper a

veritable glimpse of Paradise. Notwithstanding all these evidences

of opulence and splendor, with its boundless possibilities for human

happiness and human progress, the country did not advance. Its

subsequent acquisitions cursed instead of benefiting it. The present

degeneracy and weakness of the Spanish monarchy afford a melancholy

example of a country founded upon, sustained by, and destroyed through

the influence of superstition.

On the morning of the thirtieth day of October, 1340, upon the banks of

the Salado, an insignificant stream, but one destined to immortality in

the annals of the Spanish Reconquest, the two great armies prepared for

battle. The first intelligence of the enemy’s approach was the signal

for the abandonment of the siege. The outposts were recalled. The lines

of circumvallation which for so long had enclosed the suffering and

famished city were deserted. The cannon and catapults whose projectiles

had opened many breaches in the walls were broken up or burnt. With

the first light of dawn the King of Castile and his entire army

received the communion administered by the Archbishop of Toledo, whose

sacerdotal robes were thrown over his armor. The decimated garrison of

Tarifa, leaving its defences, took up a position in the rear of the

Moslems. The left wing of the latter was commanded by Abul-Hassan; in

front of him was the great standard of the Faith; in his hands the open

Koran. At the right was posted Yusuf with the chivalry of Granada. In

the mighty host of the invaders there was little knowledge of tactics

and still less of discipline, each tribe fighting independently

under the banner of its chieftain, and relying on the impetuosity of

the first attack; in case of repulse equally unable to rally or by

skilful evolutions to take advantage of the errors or the momentary

disorder of an enemy. At this distance of time, it is impossible to

even correctly approximate to the numbers of the opposing forces, as

each was interested in magnifying the strength of the other, either to

increase the credit of victory or to diminish the ignominy of defeat.

The numerical preponderance of the Moors was, however, unquestionable.

Their superiority in this respect was largely modified by the character

of their adversaries. The Christian knight, sheathed with his horse

in steel, was more than a match for a score of ill-armed, half-naked

barbarians. A few resolute cavaliers, acting in concert, could rally

many thousands of fugitives; to an undisciplined mob, once stricken

with a panic, numbers were only an impediment.

Thus, upon the opposite banks of the Salado were ranged the hostile

armies whose respective success or misfortune was to decide the fate

of the Peninsula. After a few skirmishes the Christians succeeded in

crossing the stream. A body of nobles, by a flank movement, entered the

enemy’s camp and destroyed it. Alfonso XI., advancing with the main

body, encountered Abul-Hassan and was at once enveloped by the entire

left wing of the Moslem army. The Castilians were almost overpowered;

the royal guards were struck down by a hail of missiles; and the King,

in despair, was with difficulty restrained from rushing almost alone

upon the lances of the enemy. At this moment the flanking party and

the garrison of Tarifa fell suddenly upon the rear of the Africans.

Taken by surprise, the ranks of the latter were thrown into disorder,

and, the confusion spreading on all sides, they broke into flight. In

another part of the field the King of Portugal was engaged with the

Emir of Granada. The troops of the latter, now forced to sustain the

onslaught of the entire Christian army and dispirited by the retreat

of their allies, abandoned their position. Their retirement became a

rout, and the immense multitude, defenceless, and crowded together in

an unwieldy mass, fell an easy prey to their merciless pursuers.

Nothing is so remarkable in this decisive battle as the short time it

took to gain it. But a few hours sufficed to destroy that gigantic

armament which required the combined efforts of two powerful kingdoms

many months to organize and bring into the field. Frightful slaughter

ensued. The plain, slippery with blood, was strewed with tens of

thousands of corpses. A crimson torrent rushed through the narrow and

precipitous channel of the Salado. The dead far exceeded the prisoners

in numbers, but the greater part of the defeated army escaped to

Granada. Both the Emir and Abul-Hassan regained their capitals by

sea. The harem of the Sultan of Fez, and several of his sons, who, in

the vain confidence of victory, had accompanied him, fell into the

hands of the Christians. The implacable character of the struggle is

shown by the treatment of these helpless unfortunates, whom the savage

Castilians butchered in their tents. Since the memorable day of Las

Navas de Tolosa, no such a display of booty had regaled the eyes of

a victorious soldiery. The quantity of gold and silver bullion was so

great that the commercial value of those metals was, in consequence,

decreased one-sixth throughout the kingdoms of Spain and France. The

wealth represented by bracelets and necklaces, by jewelled scimetars

and enamelled daggers, by spurs whose material of massy gold was

entirely concealed by their sparkling settings, by heaps of gems of

unusual size and dazzling brilliancy, by precious ingots, requiring the

united efforts of many men to lift them, was beyond all computation. To

these attractive objects were added others of less interest, perhaps,

but of more utility,--magnificent saddles and housings set with

sapphires and topazes; pavilions of silk brocade; garments curiously

embroidered with texts from the Koran; robes stiff with cloth of

gold and silver; thousands of Arabian horses renowned for swiftness,

gentleness, beauty, and endurance. The money subsequently obtained from

the ransom of illustrious captives formed no inconsiderable amount of

the spoils of this great victory. One hundred of the finest chargers,

fully caparisoned, each led by a Moor of rank in splendid apparel,

the royal standard of Castile, and the captured arms and armor of the

Sultan of Fez were sent to the Pope at Avignon, as evidences of the

power of papal intercession and as trophies of Christian triumph.

With the defeat of the Salado disappeared the active interference

of the Sultans of Africa in the affairs of the Peninsula. They no

longer seemed to possess either the capacity or energy to conduct

great military enterprises to a successful issue. Henceforth defensive

warfare alone exercised the talents and wasted the resources of the

kings of Granada, the sole representations of Saracen power in Europe,

in a conflict which, protracted for nearly two centuries longer by the

suicidal feuds of Spanish princes, was destined to exhibit features

that seem to belong rather to the fabulous realms of romance than to

the rugged domain of history; while the royal line of the Alhamares,

preserving from destruction the remnants of Moorish civilization

transmitted from the Western Khalifate, by the protection of the arts

and the encouragement of letters, for a time seemed about to restore

the glories of Cordova and to render instinct with life and vigor the

fast-vanishing phantom of Moslem greatness.

Abul-Hassan justly imputed the calamity which had overtaken him to the

cowardice of his allies, who fled almost before they had crossed swords

with their adversaries; and, henceforth, the struggling Moslems of

Granada were abandoned to their own resources against the combined and

overwhelming energy of the Christian powers.

Two years after the battle of the Salado, Alfonso XI. laid siege to

Algeziras. For nineteen months the garrison held out against the entire

forces of the Castilian monarchy. An ineffectual attempt was made by

the Emir of Granada to relieve the city; but the memory of the recent

catastrophe was too vivid, and the troops of that kingdom could not

be driven to encounter their terrible enemies in battle. Algeziras

surrendered, and its inhabitants and garrison were permitted to retire

under a safe-conduct; the former with their personal effects, the

latter with their arms and the honors of war.

The capture of Gibraltar was the next enterprise which claimed the

attention of the martial King of Castile. In the year 1349, this

stronghold, whose position and defensive works had made it proverbially

impregnable, was invested. Unable to carry it by storm, an attempt was

made to reduce it by famine. The siege had lasted a year, when, the

plague having broken out in the Castilian camp, Alfonso became one

of the first victims, leaving the crown to his son, Pedro el Cruel, a

name of hideous import in the annals of royal infamy. The magnanimous

courtesy of the Moslems was never more conspicuously exhibited than on

this melancholy occasion. The Emir of Granada, who was encamped in the

rear of the Christian army, permitted the funeral cortege to proceed to

Seville without molestation, and many cavaliers of his court assumed

mourning in honor of the deceased sovereign, the oppressor of their

countrymen and the enemy of their faith.

The remaining years of Yusuf were passed in peace. The series of

misfortunes, which, in melancholy succession, had afflicted the Moslem

arms, were, for the time, suspended. In Castile, the dissensions

incident to a minority again distracted that kingdom; again the

factious nobles contended for political supremacy by conspiracy and

rebellion; again the course of justice was interrupted; again the

royal dignity was degraded and fell into general contempt. Thus

relieved from the heretofore omnipresent fear of invasion, the kingdom

of Granada was enabled to pursue, without interruption, its course

in the progressive march of civilization. The treasures formerly

employed in the unprofitable operations of war were now expended in

the development and application of the arts of peace. Pre-eminently

fortunate in the character of its princes, the dynasty of the Alhamares

produced no superior to Yusuf in every noble trait and aspiration which

can contribute either dignity or honor to the reputation of a king.

Passionately devoted to building, the most magnificent apartments

of the Alhambra were constructed during his reign and under his

personal supervision. At this epoch were realized those conceptions

of architectural genius which rendered that splendid edifice without

a parallel among the most sumptuous abodes of royalty. In imitation

of its beauties, scores of mansions and villas were erected in the

city and its environs by the illustrious nobles of Granada. In the

plan of these magnificent palaces the prevailing tastes and customs of

the Orient were universally observed. The courts were surrounded by

columns of white marble and alabaster, whose capitals were carved of

massy silver, whose shafts were often covered with gold. The stuccoes

were painted scarlet, green, and blue; upon this brilliant background

in high relief appeared with bewildering variety a maze of sacred

legends, of geometric tracery, of intertwined arabesques, all gilded,

and shining with gorgeous splendor. The pavements and dadoes of the

courts and halls were alike composed of mosaics disposed in a thousand

fantastic patterns; the balusters of the galleries and the beams of

the ceilings of larch and cedar were carved and inlaid with ebony,

mother-of-pearl, tortoise-shell, and ivory; in the flower-beds the

tropical luxuriance and brilliancy of choice and fragrant blossoms

reproduced with wonderful fidelity the designs, the texts, and the

tracery of the walls. On every side was a profuse abundance of water;

a reminiscence of that greatest of blessings to the sojourners in

the hot and arid atmosphere of the Desert, the simple and abstemious

progenitors of the proud lords of these stately edifices, sybarites

in fastidiousness, familiar to satiety with every refinement of vice

and luxury. Introduced through great aqueducts, from reservoirs in

the Sierra fed by melting snows, it was distributed in every form

which human ingenuity could devise for the benefit or gratification

of man. It shone in basins of alabaster filled with goldfish. It

coursed through the tiny channels of conduits in hall and vestibule.

It displayed the hues of the rainbow in the fountains of garden and

court-yard. It ran swiftly in the balustrades of marble staircases, at

each landing throwing up a sparkling jet to the height of many feet.

And lastly in the bath, that indispensable requisite of the abode

of every wealthy and conscientious Moslem, it was lavished with a

prodigality and convenience unknown even to the luxurious Roman in the

most fortunate days of the Empire.

It was not only in the encouragement of architecture that the practical

genius of Yusuf found employment. His attainments as a scholar far

surpassed his knowledge of, or his capacity for, government. There

were few branches of science known in that age with which he was not

familiar. In astronomy and chemistry his learning was especially

extensive and accurate. It was during his reign that the famous

Ibn-Beithar, the first botanist, physician, and natural philosopher

of his time, travelled under the patronage of his sovereign through

every accessible country of the world with a view to the improvement

of medical science and the acquisition of botanical information. The

measures taken by Yusuf to improve the condition of his subjects were

adapted to every grade of society, to all branches of industry, to the

regulation and practice of religious ceremonies, to the encouragement

and direction of intellectual progress. His enlightened mind perceived

at a glance the steps required to confer a public benefit or to correct

a grievous abuse. His edicts prescribed the performance of the often

neglected ritual of Islam; they defined and enforced the injunctions

of cleanliness, of regularity, of formality in worship--that the

believer should always live within hearing of the call to prayer; that

with every twelve houses a mosque should be erected; they recalled

the meritorious character of duties to the poor and the helpless;

the protection of the orphan; the visitation of the sick; the

distribution of alms. They regulated the police of cities, fixed the

hours for opening and closing the gates, and appointed for each ward

a magistrate responsible for the preservation of order. They enjoined

the prosecution of military operations with humanity, and severely

prohibited injury to non-combatants or molestation of the peaceful

ministers of a hostile religion. The barbarous punishments instituted

by Koranic law were greatly modified by the generous indulgence of

Yusuf, who not infrequently permitted the mitigation of a sentence

where the severity of the penalty was disproportionate to the nature of

the crime. Public edifices of great size and palatial character, mints

and universities, mosques and arsenals, were multiplied throughout

his dominions during his reign. By importations from Arabia, by the

institution of rewards, by the publication of ordinances, he improved

the breed of Andalusian horses, even before that time famous in Europe.

In the manly pride of health and vigor, this great monarch, the

representative of an advanced civilization, the patron of learning, the

father of his people, came to an ignoble and untimely end. An assassin,

so obscure that the chronicles neither mention his name nor disclose

his motive, stabbed him while performing his devotions in the mosque.

His murder was probably the act of a fanatic or the culmination of

a plot contrived by some unprincipled aspirant to the throne, whose

identity was not discovered and whose treason certainly failed of its

object. Mourned by every class of his subjects, Yusuf was buried in the

royal vault of the Alhambra, where his marble sarcophagus, inscribed

with a lengthy and pompous epitaph, once resplendent with blue and

gold, still remains.

The accession of his son Mohammed V. in the midst of peace seemed

to promise a long and happy reign. The Castilians were too busily

employed in fighting each other to concern themselves about their

Moslem neighbors. Their King, Pedro el Cruel, who considered a large

proportion of his subjects in the light of personal enemies, had

already, by his sanguinary measures, earned the ferocious appellation

by which he is known to posterity.

The new Emir possessed all the noble attributes which characterized

the most distinguished of his predecessors,--affability, generosity,

courage, solicitude for the happiness of his subjects, devotion to

letters. But his gentle disposition lacked the sternness and resolution

indispensable to a sovereign whose empire included so many discordant

national and political elements. Of simpler tastes than his father,

he at once banished from the precincts of the court that herd of

cringing parasites who live by flattery and corruption,--consumers

of the public revenues, ministers of pride and sensuality. In their

place he substituted a number of dignified and capable officials of

approved integrity and wide experience. This step, while it increased

the popular respect, created a number of treacherous and formidable

enemies, the effects of whose secret animosity were soon disclosed. The

generosity of Mohammed had assigned to his step-mother and her sons

as a residence the palace of the Alcazar, not far from the Alhambra,

and, while of less extent, almost rivalling it in beauty and splendor.

This woman, whose ambition was boundless, had permitted the thirst of

avarice to predominate over the natural sentiments of grief, and had

taken advantage of the confusion resulting from the assassination of

her husband to secretly abstract a large quantity of gold and jewels

from the public treasury. By means of this, with the design of raising

her eldest son Ismail to the throne, she corrupted princes of the

blood and representatives of powerful families, some of whom had been

driven from the court by the political reformation instituted by the

Emir. When the plot was ripe, a hundred picked men scaled the walls of

the Alhambra at night. The sentinels, unsuspicious of danger, were

killed at their posts. Distracted by the suddenness of the attack, and

deceived by the cries of the assailants and the movements of their

torches which magnified their numbers, the garrison fled. Oblivious of

the object of the enterprise, and tempted by the riches about them, the

insurgents at once gave themselves up to plunder. Through the devotion

of a favorite slave, Mohammed was provided with female clothing, and

escaped through one of the secret subterranean passages that connected

the Alhambra with the other royal abodes of the city. Swift horses

soon carried the fugitives to Guadix, whose loyalty was unshaken;

Ismail was proclaimed Emir, under the direction of his brother-in-law,

Abu-Said; and another revolution, with its train of evils--discontent,

proscription, confiscation, and wide-spread calamity--was inaugurated

to embitter the factions and undermine the power of the fair and

happy kingdom of Granada. The efforts of Mohammed to recover his

crown proving fruitless, he undertook a journey to Africa to enlist,

if possible, the sympathy and support of Abu-Selim, the Sultan of

Fez. Received with every courtesy, a large army was placed at his

disposal and transported to Andalusia; but the death of Abu-Selim, and

the accession of another prince, either neutral or unfriendly to the

aspirations of the dethroned sovereign, caused the recall of the troops

before they had begun operations. Thwarted thus by his allies, Mohammed

now had recourse to the King of Castile. His appeal was heard, and a

Christian army was assembled to effect his restoration. In the mean

time, the idle and voluptuous character of Ismail, combined with the

arbitrary assumption of authority by Abu-Said, had aroused the hatred

and contempt of his subjects. Those feelings were not diminished by

the bloody usurpation of Abu-Said, who caused the reigning prince and

his brothers to be murdered, and then took formal possession of the

throne which he had already occupied, so far as the actual government

of the kingdom was concerned. The Christian forces entered Granada;

the smaller towns at once signified their submission; there remained

nothing to be taken but the capital and its Vega; when Mohammed,

affected by the sight of the sufferings incident to the progress of

an invading army, abandoned his project, and requested the retirement

of his allies. Rather than inflict upon his people the misery which

must inevitably result from a siege of the capital by an army alien to

his people in nationality and religion, unrestrained by discipline,

and careless of the dictates of humanity or the usages of war, he was

prepared to renounce his royal inheritance.

Despite the discomfiture of his rival, the universal odium entertained

towards Abu-Said on account of his tyranny, as well as for his crimes,

rendered the stability of his power so uncertain that he determined to

temporarily abandon his kingdom. As a preliminary step, he restored,

without ransom and loaded with valuable gifts, a number of Castilian

cavaliers, including the brother-in-law of the King, all of whom

had been taken in a marauding expedition; and, in return for this

unusual generosity, requested their mediation to induce Pedro el Cruel

to espouse his cause. The daily increase of Mohammed’s influence,

the desertion of important cities, among them the stronghold of

Malaga, the treachery of his partisans, who, in increasing numbers,

constantly resorted to the hostile camp, determined Abu-Said to

confide no longer in the doubtful loyalty of his courtiers, tempted

by every consideration of personal interest and political advantage

to betray him. Attended by a considerable retinue of those who still

remained faithful to his decaying fortunes, he left his kingdom

and threw himself upon the royal honor and hospitality of Pedro el

Cruel at Seville. A more unfortunate and ill-timed resolution had

never been entertained by a despairing monarch. With an eye to future

contingencies, he had collected and taken with him all the wealth

which the treasury of Granada, depleted by continuous peculation,

mismanagement, and theft, contained. This, however inconsiderable when

compared with the riches of former times, was more than sufficient

to arouse the cupidity of a perfidious king, often almost reduced

to penury by extravagance, and absolutely unscrupulous as to the

means of supplying his necessities. The Moors, in the presence of a

hostile court, displayed with ostentatious profusion all the rare

and tempting objects of luxury so coveted by the poverty-stricken

Castilians,--horses of the finest Arabian blood; sumptuous housings

shining with gold and silver embroidery; lances, javelins, and

scimetars, elaborately inlaid, and set with jewels; coffers filled with

precious stones of extraordinary size and beauty--rubies, emeralds,

sapphires, pearls, and hyacinths; quantities of rich stuffs of silk

and cloth of gold. The apparel of the most plainly attired noble who

attended the exiled Moslem prince far surpassed in elegance and value

the garments of the Castilian sovereign. The effects of the folly

which permitted such a display by persons assuming the character of

suppliants soon became apparent. The King received his guests with

much ceremony and apparent cordiality. Abu-Said was lodged in the

Alcazar, as became his royal rank, and his attendants were distributed

through the Jewish Quarter, a locality near the palace and easily

accessible to the soldiery, which traversed by a labyrinth of narrow

and crooked lanes enclosed by lofty walls was a veritable prison from

which there was no escape. The resolution of Don Pedro had already

been taken. The sight of this great wealth within his grasp was too

much for his equanimity. It was true that the Moors were in his capital

under the royal safe-conduct, as well as with his personal assurance

of protection. It was notorious that the laws of hospitality were

respected by even the lowest races of men, and were by no people more

highly regarded than by the Arab ancestors of his guests. In a formal

audience, surrounded by all the evidences of civil pomp and military

array, he had solemnly pledged his word to carefully examine the

respective claims of the contestants for the throne of Granada, both

of whom acknowledged themselves his vassals, and to decide impartially

between them. These considerations, however, weighed but little with

the treacherous monarch. The fact that he was the suzerain of Abu-Said

afforded him a ready pretext for prompt and decisive action. Under

feudal law he could dispose of the property and life of an unfaithful

vassal. The Moslems, invited to a banquet, were seized by the guard.

All were searched, and the jewels and money concealed on their persons

confiscated. Thrown into prison, they remained for two days in

suspense; on the third, they were conducted to a plain outside the city

and fastened to stakes. In mockery of his rank, Abu-Said was clothed in

a scarlet robe, and, mounted upon an ass, led the melancholy procession

to the place of execution. Thirty-seven of his retinue, including

several personages of the highest distinction, shared his fate. These

deluded victims of their own credulity were used as marks for the

lances of the nobles of Don Pedro’s court; and the King himself gave

the signal by a thrust which pierced the body of his most distinguished

guest. The heads of the murdered Moslems were sent to Mohammed as a

testimonial of the friendship of his suzerain, and as an indication

that the power of the faction which had dethroned and exiled him was

broken.

Whatever might be the moral aspect of this transaction, it was

certainly advantageous to the King of Castile both in a financial and

political point of view. Enormous wealth was obtained by the spoliation

resulting from an unparalleled act of perfidy. There was not a Moor

who had not in his effects or on his person treasures of great value.

The pages, as least liable to suspicion, were the custodians of the

most precious jewels. From one was taken a necklace of a hundred pearls

as large as filberts; from another, who wore a leathern girdle, seven

hundred and twenty-three rubies; the search of a third revealed three

of the same stones of the size of pigeon-eggs and of extraordinary

brilliancy; almost a peck of beautiful pearls was found upon a fourth.

The gems of inferior lustre, or less highly prized, sapphires,

hyacinths, and turquoises, with embossed and damascened arms and armor

and gold in coin and bullion, were scarcely less valuable, and far

exceeded the booty ordinarily yielded by a marauding expedition. In

addition to the pecuniary profit derived from this outrage of the rites

of hospitality, the power of Don Pedro was materially strengthened by

it. The removal of a dangerous enemy, and the destruction of a party

whose influence had been sufficient to subvert the royal succession,

must necessarily insure the gratitude and support of Mohammed, who was

indebted to it for his restoration to power. The Castilians, entirely

controlled by the principles of the time, viewed with indifference a

breach of faith which, however reprehensible when committed against

a Christian, was almost meritorious when it involved the sacrifice

and plunder of an infidel. Mohammed received with mingled joy and

abhorrence the information of the death of his rival, and, amidst the

real or pretended rejoicings of the people, again ascended the throne.

Magnificent presents--horses and trappings, jewels and gold-- were

sent to Don Pedro as tokens of gratitude, and a perpetual treaty of

alliance was soon after ratified between the courts of Castile and

Granada.

In the domestic and foreign disturbances which oppressed the Castilian

monarchy during the troubled reign of Don Pedro, the Andalusian

Moslems remained the steadfast adherents of the Christian king. They

served in the war with Aragon. They rendered substantial and timely

aid in the implacable contest which, in spite of their efforts,

finally established the political supremacy of the bastard line of

Trastamara. During the siege of Cordova, animated by the sight of

their famous temple, the holy mosque of the Ommeyade khalifs, they

scaled the walls in the face of a desperate resistance and took the

Alcazar under the very shadow of the ancient Moslem shrine. The city

was almost within their grasp and must have fallen had their efforts

been seconded by their Christian allies with half the resolution they

themselves displayed. In the battles of Najera and Montiel, so vital to

the fortunes of Don Pedro, the one confirming for a brief period his

waning power, the other involving the forfeit of his life and crown,

the Moorish soldiers of Granada, intrusted with the safety of the royal

person, displayed a fidelity and a heroism far surpassing that of

the Castilian chivalry, oppressed by tyranny, corrupted by intrigue,

and continually wavering in their political inclinations through the

tempting inducements of the rival camps.

From the battle of Montiel, which closed the career of Don Pedro I.,

to the death of Mohammed in 1391, the kingdom of Granada enjoyed, with

but few trifling exceptions, the blessings of peace. The Emir, a few

months after the accession of Henry II., stormed the city of Algeziras,

and, unable to retain it, razed its fortifications, and filled up the

harbor. The defences were subsequently restored, but so effectually

was the port obstructed that its commodiousness was destroyed, and,

in consequence, the commercial and strategic importance of the place

was greatly diminished. An occasional border foray, undertaken by

irresponsible marauders in times of internal commotion when the

restraints of royal authority were barely tolerated or scarcely

acknowledged, was the only interruption of a cessation of hostilities

maintained, on the one hand, by policy and choice, and, on the other,

by necessity, which lasted twenty-two years. The prudence of Yusuf II.,

the son and successor of Mohammed V., at once suggested and obtained a

renewal of the treaty which had long united the two kingdoms, and whose

existence had been so propitious to the security, the wealth, and the

happiness of Granada.

In 1394, Don Martin Yañez de Barbudo, Grand Master of Alcantara,

Portuguese by birth, fanatic by nature, and adventurer from

inclination, sent to the Emir of Granada an absurd defiance, whose

grandiloquent terms recall the extravagances of the romances of

chivalry. Raising the banner of the crusade, which bore the green

cross of his order, at the head of eighteen hundred followers he

advanced to the conquest of a populous kingdom, which astrological

calculation and the suspicious predictions of a hermit had assured him

he would easily achieve. The remonstrances of provincial governors,

and the peremptory commands of the King, who saw with indignation

this unprovoked attack upon a friendly power, were insufficient to

divert him from his purpose, which he declared was sanctioned by the

Almighty and confirmed by many portentous visions and miracles. The

Moors permitted this band of fanatics to approach within a few miles of

their capital. It was then surrounded by an army of a hundred thousand

men and annihilated. Not a single Christian escaped. The knowledge

that the expedition had been undertaken contrary to the orders of

the King of Castile prevented a rupture between the two kingdoms.

About this time, Yusuf died suddenly, an event attributed, through the

Oriental love of the marvellous, to a poisoned mantle sent him by the

Sultan of Fez. He was succeeded by his second son, Mohammed VI., whose

intriguing and ambitious spirit had long since prompted him to subvert

the hereditary right of his elder brother Yusuf in order to obtain the

crown. Yusuf was confined, with his harem, in the castle of Salobreña,

where, although furnished with every luxury suitable to his rank, he

was subjected to strict restraint and constant espionage. Solicitous

concerning the validity of his title, and apprehensive of the manner in

which his usurpation might be regarded by the Castilian king, Mohammed

formed a romantic design, eminently characteristic of the manners of

the East, and whose danger and novelty, added to the attractiveness

of an enterprise remarkable for its boldness, were almost a guaranty

of success. In the character of his own ambassador, with a retinue

of twenty splendidly mounted and appointed cavaliers, he traversed,

unrecognized alike by his subjects and his Christian neighbors, the

provinces of his own and the states of the Castilian kingdom as far as

Toledo. A renewal of the treaty of alliance was readily obtained from

Henry III.; and the Emir returned to Granada secure, for the time,

from a renewal of hostilities from an adversary whose supremacy every

reflecting statesman in the Peninsula felt could not be much longer

delayed.

In 1406, serious trouble having arisen on the frontier, in consequence

of mutual depredations, King Henry summoned the Cortes with the avowed

object of using all the available resources of the monarchy for the

final subjugation of the Moslems of Granada. His sudden death, and

the occurrence of another long minority with its inevitable series

of plots and disasters, prevented the realization of this project;

and the existence of the Moorish kingdom, which fortune seemed to

have made the especial object of her favor, was protracted for nearly

eighty-five years longer. The demise of the king, however, only

deferred for a short time the prosecution of hostilities. The restless

spirit of the Spanish chivalry, nourished by war and sedition, was

never content with the formal and tedious ceremonial of the court. The

perils of the battle-field; the surprise of an isolated fortress; the

foray, with its excitements and its spoil; the flocks and herds of

the rich pastures; the treasures of splendid villas; the beauty and

fascinations of the inmates of princely harems,--these were at once

the school of the Christian cavaliers, the objects of their highest

aspirations, the incentives of their warlike and vainglorious ambition.

The enthusiasm aroused by the crusading enterprise of Henry III., while

somewhat cooled, was far from being dissipated by his death. A large

sum was voted by the Cortes. The cities of Leon and Castile resounded

with preparations for the conflict. A fleet of twenty-three galleys,

equipped by the Emirs of Tunis and Tlemcen and sent to aid the Spanish

Moslems, was defeated and destroyed in the Strait of Gibraltar by an

inferior force under the Admiral of Castile. Mohammed, well aware of

the plans of his enemies, endeavored to anticipate them by invading

the province of Jaen with a numerous army, and began the siege of that

city. Information of the approach of a Christian force caused him to

make an inglorious retreat without a battle. On the way he stormed

Bedmar, where, out of a numerous population, less than one hundred

prisoners survived to experience the bitterness of slavery. In return,

the Christians took the strong outpost of Zahara, and ravaged without

mercy the fertile environs of Ronda.

In 1408, Mohammed, at the head of twenty thousand soldiers, besieged

Alcaudete. The spirit of Arab tactics, intolerable of delay and

unreliable in the face of strong walls and obstinate resistance,

faltered before the determined courage of the garrison. Both Christians

and Moslems had suffered greatly during this war, which had hitherto

yielded no perceptible advantage to either; a suspension of hostilities

for eight months was readily agreed to; and the Castilians, to whom a

temporary respite was even more advantageous than to their adversaries,

having previously exhausted their available resources by the enrolment

of troops, now with forty million maravedis in the treasury,

impatiently expected the expiration of the truce.

In the mean time, Mohammed VI., stricken with a fatal disease, was

admonished by his physicians that he had but a short time to live.

Recognizing that the life of his brother, still detained in the castle

of Salobreña, might prove a serious obstacle to the prospects of his

own son whom he had destined to succeed him, he sent a peremptory

order to the alcalde of Salobreña to send him the head of Yusuf by

the messenger. The alcalde received the latter while playing chess

with the imprisoned prince, whose affable manners, engaging address,

and unmerited misfortunes had won the esteem of all his guards and

attendants. The manifest agitation of his companion revealed to

Yusuf, ever in expectation of such a catastrophe, the serious nature

of the despatch. Acquainted with its import, the prince begged for a

few hours’ delay to bid farewell to his family; but the command was

urgent, and the messenger, a standard-bearer of the Emir, accustomed

to implicit and instant compliance, demanded its immediate execution.

It was finally agreed that a respite should be granted until the

conclusion of the game. Short as the time was, it had not elapsed when

two nobles of the court arrived, and, with every mark of respect and

homage, saluted Yusuf as Emir of Granada.

Mohammed VI. had suddenly expired; his subjects, recognizing the

superior claims of the unfortunate Yusuf, had repudiated his nephew;

and the sorrowing prisoner, under sentence of death and with but a

few moments to live, saw himself raised in an instant from the lowest

depths of misfortune to the throne of a powerful kingdom and the

absolute sovereignty of more than a million souls. The accession of

Yusuf was followed by the usual embassy, bearing rich presents to the

Castilian court; his advances were met with courtesy; and the personal

hostility to Mohammed having been terminated by his death, a new truce

for two years was without difficulty concluded. At its expiration

in 1410, Yusuf, in accordance with the wise policy which had for so

long governed the Moslem princes of his line, attempted to obtain its

renewal. His request was insolently refused, and he was offered the

alternative of vassalage and tribute or war. He chose the latter;

assembled an army of a hundred and thirty thousand men, and met the

Christians who were about to besiege Antequera. The Moors, despite

their superior numbers, were routed in a bloody engagement; their

country was laid waste; and Antequera was taken by Ferdinand, uncle of

the King, chief of the regency, and practically ruler of the kingdom.

His success he piously attributed to the sword of St. Ferdinand, a

priceless souvenir of victory long deposited in the Cathedral of

Seville, and which, in this as in former campaigns, had been carried

in battle, where it was supposed to exert the miraculous powers of a

sacred relic, as well as the more appropriate virtues of a military

talisman. Peace was soon afterwards established conditionally upon the

liberation of several hundred Christian captives by the Emir of Granada.

The Moslems of Gibraltar, subject to the extortion and tyranny of

a grasping alcalde and seeing no prospect of relief, communicated

secretly with the Sultan of Fez, and offered to deliver to him the

fortress. That monarch, seeing in this proposition an opportunity

to disembarrass himself of his brother Abu-Said, whose talents and

popularity already menaced the continuance of his power, despatched

him to Gibraltar with two thousand men. The agreement was kept by

the citizens; the gates were opened; the Africans occupied the city;

and the alcalde with the garrison took refuge in the citadel. In a

short time, Ahmed, son of Yusuf, arrived with a large detachment of

troops, and the Africans, engaged in front and rear, were compelled to

surrender. The prince, Sidi-Abu-Said, was taken to Granada, where he

received the attentions due to his distinguished rank.

As soon as these facts became known to the Sultan of Fez, he despatched

messengers to the Emir, requesting the murder of his brother, both

as a measure of safety to himself and an evidence of friendship from

his neighbor. The generous nature of Yusuf revolted at the proposal.

He showed the letter to his prisoner; tendered him his sympathy and

his assistance; and sent him with a force of picked men and a great

treasure to avenge his wrongs and drive his inhuman brother from the

throne. The Sultan was defeated near his capital and died in prison;

Sidi-Abu-Said seized the crown without further opposition; and the

disinterested generosity of Yusuf cemented anew the relations of the

two Moorish kingdoms, so frequently interrupted by national jealousy,

sectarian discord, and the projects of unscrupulous ambition.

For the remainder of his life, no further hostilities occurred to vex

the repose of Yusuf, and a career begun in trouble and persecution

was passed amidst the pleasures and amusements of an enduring peace.

The cavaliers of Castile and Aragon, who had deserved the jealousy or

provoked the resentment of their respective sovereigns, found in the

Moslem court a refuge from the vengeance of their enemies, and their

feuds were sometimes permanently reconciled through the mediation

and the good offices of the Moorish king. In the same manner, he was

not infrequently appealed to for the settlement of disputes which

had arisen between the haughty Christian knights. Opportunities were

afforded, in accordance with the chivalric custom of the age, for the

decision of these quarrels by a contest of arms. The lists were placed

in the famous Plaza de la Bab-al-Rambla, in the heart of the Moslem

capital. Every formality of the tourney, as known and exercised by

the most refined and polished people in Europe, was observed,--the

proclamation by heralds, the adherence to the established rules of

knighthood, the practice of dignified courtesy, the presentation of

favors, the distribution of the rewards of valor and address by the

hands of beauty. The attractiveness of the spectacle was enhanced by

the character of the surroundings, by the splendor of the costumes, by

the romantic features of the encounter, by the presence of the monarch,

by the charms of the beautiful Moorish women. The quaint old houses

with their overhanging balconies and sculptured lattices were hung with

silken tapestry and garlanded with flowers. From them, the ladies of

the court, whom the liberal customs of the Andalusian Moor allowed to

appear unveiled, looked down upon an exhibition of daring horsemanship

and dexterity in the use of weapons to which modern equestrian

exercises offer no parallel and can afford no adequate conception.

Their garments of silk, curiously embroidered, were of every color;

their dark tresses glittered with jewels; about their necks were

strings of enormous pearls and many chains of gold. Upon a balcony

more elevated than the rest sat the Emir, the judge of the combat,

with rows of black eunuchs and mamelukes in magnificent uniforms and

armed with gleaming weapons grouped around him. The heralds, whose

tabards were emblazoned with the armorial bearings and cipher of the

monarch, proclaimed the mutual defiance of the champions, enforced

compliance with the regulations of the lists, and prevented the excited

contestants from exceeding the limits prescribed by the rules of

chivalric honor and deferential courtesy. Second only to the rewards of

military renown were the distinctions of the tourney and the tilt of

reeds among the dashing Moorish cavaliers, passionately fond of every

martial exercise and of every pastime which required the exhibition of

activity and skill.

In ordinary encounters, as well as in the more serious contests of the

Castilian champions presided over by Yusuf, blood was rarely spilled.

The impetuosity of the ruder Christian knights, whose customs demanded

a serious duel in satisfaction of injured honor, was restrained by the

politic Emir, who used every effort to pacify his infuriated guests

and to change their enmity into temporary if not lasting friendship.

This course, indicative of the noble generosity and inherent justice

of his nature, obtained for him the highest esteem and popularity at

the Castilian court. The confidence reposed in him, the admiration

evinced for his talents and his integrity by the hereditary foes of his

nationality and his creed, are the most unequivocal testimonials of the

greatness of his character. The dowager Queen of Castile maintained

a regular and intimate correspondence with him, and presents were

frequently exchanged between them. The asperities of war were softened

by this friendly intercourse; the condition of the frontiers, always

unsettled, became more peaceful; and, in the midst of hostilities,

Christian captives were frequently liberated without ransom.

Under the pacific reign of Yusuf, Granada increased in wealth, in all

the vices engendered by the abuse of luxury, and in that effeminacy so

fatal to military power and so characteristic of general decadence.

His death ushered in a period of civil wars and general disorder,

insignificant when considered singly, but which collectively portended

the ruin of a nation.

Mohammed VII., the son of Yusuf, received from his father a kingdom in

appearance powerful, but in fact without stability in its institutions

or loyalty among its people. The calamities of his reign, the result

of his arrogance and want of tact, procured for him the appellation

of Al-Hayzari, The Left-Handed, rather a synonym of misfortune than a

nick-name of awkwardness. Far from imitating the virtues of his father,

he seemed to cultivate the dislike of his subjects by his neglect of

their welfare and by his insufferable pride. The viziers and great

officers of the court received at his hands as little consideration

as the eunuchs and slaves. He refused audiences to the people, long

accustomed to the patriarchal method of redressing wrongs inherited

from the informal administration of justice by the sheiks of the

Desert. Adopting the unpopular custom of the Orient, so inconsistent

with the traditions and the practice of Islam, he secluded himself

within the walls of the palace. The martial amusements of chivalry were

prohibited. The populace were deprived of their games and festivals.

All classes of society were soon united in the hatred of their

monarch; he was deposed and driven to Tunis, and his cousin, Mohammed

VIII., Al-Zaguer, ascended the throne. His first act was to exile the

powerful family of the Abencerrages, whose intrigues with the King

of Castile and the Emir of Tunis eventually accomplished his ruin.

Mohammed-al-Hayzari was restored, and Al-Zaguer, eminent for political

and literary talents, dexterous in military exercises, and possessed of

every quality which contributes to the power and popularity of kings,

was dethroned and beheaded. In return for the substantial aid afforded

him, the Castilian king demanded the payment of an annual tribute and

the acknowledgment of vassalage from Al-Hayzari. This being refused,

another conspiracy was hatched, with Yusuf-Ibn-Alahmar, a wealthy noble

of royal descent, at its head. His success was assured by the support

of a powerful faction which, with a Castilian army, encountered the

forces of the Emir at the base of the Sierra Elvira. The battle which

ensued was one of the most bloody and destructive recorded in Moorish

history. The Emir was overwhelmingly defeated; and another engagement,

scarcely less disastrous, completely destroyed the power of Al-Hayzari,

who was a second time driven into exile. His advanced age and the grave

responsibilities of government shortened the life of Yusuf-Ibn-Alahmar,

whose reign lasted only six months. His death was the signal for

the return of Al-Hayzari, whom the fickle populace, which had twice

expelled him, received with every token of joy and loyalty. The

unpopularity of this monarch, who had learned nothing from adversity,

extended even to members of his family, and his own nephews conspired

against him. One of them, Ibn-Othman, by the lavish distribution of

gold among the mob of the capital, excited a riot, seized the Alhambra,

and threw his uncle into prison. His triumph was of short duration,

however, for another nephew, Ibn-Ismail, with the support of the

Christians, usurped the crown of Granada, now become the prize of

every daring adventurer. The civil war between the two princes lasted

for several years, with incalculable damage to the country and the

people. The struggle was prolonged by the intrigues of Castile, through

whose assistance the supremacy of Ibn-Ismail was finally secured. These

serious commotions, which absorbed and exhausted the resources of the

monarchy by the destruction of its wealth and the diminution of its

population, left neglected and almost forgotten the fortresses of the

frontier, the bulwarks of its safety, and the guarantees of its power.

Many of these by voluntary relinquishment or by conquest passed into

the hands of the Castilians, among them Gibraltar, the most important

of all, which was surprised and taken by the Duke of Medina-Sidonia in

1462.

At the death of Ismail, in 1466, his eldest son, Muley Hassan,

ascended the throne. A bitter foe of the Christians, he had more

than once, while a mere youth, resented their interference in aid of

pretenders and would-be usurpers, a feeling which became intensified

a hundred-fold when he assumed the supreme direction of affairs. His

implacable temper, the ferocity of his manners, his flagrant disregard

of treaties, his pitiless forays, which gave no quarter and left

behind a smoky waste, struck terror into the hearts of his enemies.

The forces of the kingdom were at that time engaged in suppressing

the rebellion of the alcalde of Malaga, brother of the monarch and

claimant of the succession. In the palace, the plots of the inmates of

the harem--rival wives who aimed at the exaltation of their progeny to

royal power--disturbed the peace and further embittered the naturally

morose disposition of the King, already irritated by the ingratitude of

his kinsmen and the bloody experiences of incessant war and rebellion.

An important crisis, ever memorable in Moorish annals, was now reached

in the affairs of Granada. For nearly two hundred years that kingdom

had gradually, but none the less surely, been approaching dissolution.

The political conditions which foster individual heroism, the patriotic

loyalty which preserves a prosperous empire, imperceptibly diminishing

with each succeeding generation, had finally disappeared. The

expansive power so marked in the early ages of Islam, and especially

conspicuous in the conquest and occupation of the Peninsula, no longer

existed. The principle of hereditary right, practically unknown

to the Arabs, adopted only for convenience by their descendants,

frequently abrogated by the arbitrary will or the uncertain caprice

of monarchs, and always weak among polygamous nations, was no longer

recognized by the Andalusian Moslems. This custom, although weak in

theory, had been one of the safeguards of the royal succession, and

consequently an assurance of stability of government and of security

to the citizen. Now, however, a swarm of pretenders disputed with each

other the possession of the throne. The inheritance of royal blood,

the possession of great wealth, the enjoyment of popular favor, were

qualifications, any one of which was sufficient to tempt an adventurer

to aspire to the crown of the Alhamares. Even the spirit of tribal

loyalty, an ancient legacy of the Arab, had been weakened by a rapid

succession of rulers of uncertain title and obscure antecedents. The

populace was debauched by the gold which the leaders of every revolt

scattered with prodigal hand. Successive irruptions of a score of

tribes and nations, of fanatics of hostile sects and barbarian manners,

had destroyed the comparatively homogeneous character at one time so

noticeable in the inhabitants of Granada. The selfish vices peculiar

to mercantile communities, the timidity incident to the holding of

great possessions and the control of vast commercial interests, had

engendered a spirit of cowardice, which was willing to purchase even

when it was able to defend. The martial spirit which had once inspired

a nation of warriors, bent upon proselytism and conquest, was extinct.

Military ardor and ambition existed, it is true, among the higher

classes which had adopted the profession of arms, but the number of the

latter was comparatively insignificant, and their achievements were

limited to the irregular operations of the foray. The levies summoned

to battle by the sudden exigencies of war scarcely deserved the name

of soldiers. Without discipline or obedience, often without weapons,

they were little better than a disorderly rabble, whose first onset

once repulsed caused them to flee incontinently from the field. While

the arts of civilization had progressed in such an unparalleled degree,

the science of war had remained stationary or had actually retrograded.

The tactics of the Spanish Moors of the fifteenth century were still

the ancient tactics of the Desert. Heavy-armed cavaliers they had none;

foot-soldiers were represented by untrained peasants, armed largely

with the implements of domestic use and husbandry. Their light-horse,

however, were the finest troops of the kind in Europe. The rapidity

of their evolutions, the ambuscade, the feigned retreat, the sudden

rally, often confounded, to his sorrow, the rash and unguarded pursuer.

This superiority, formidable as it was, was not sufficient to save, or

even to protect, the kingdom. The vulnerable character of the military

organization of the Moslems of Granada was disclosed by the number of

important battles fought within sight and almost under the shadow of

the walls of their capital. The incursions of an active foe ravaged,

almost without interference, the fairest portions of their territory.

The endurance of Moorish dominion, protracted for two centuries

beyond the natural term of a nation in the age of its decadence, is

to be chiefly attributed to two causes,--the natural obstacles which

formed the frontiers of the monarchy, and the incessant discord of its

neighbors. On one side of Granada a chain of rugged mountains, whose

passes were defended by well-fortified castles, on the other, the sea,

intercepted the progress of the invader. In the long interval between

the death of Ferdinand IV. and the union of the crowns of Castile and

Aragon, minor princes came to the throne. The advent of each, and

the regency which ensued, were signalized by dissensions, intrigue,

conspiracy, and revolt. But, while turmoil and sedition weakened

Castile in one respect, it strengthened it immensely in another. Its

people, from the highest to the lowest, became accustomed to the

presence of danger, convinced of the necessity of discipline, familiar

with the use of arms. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries there

were scarcely any manufacturers in the Christian dominions but those

of weapons and armor. The specimens of these existing in museums

to-day disclose the perfection of strength and elegance to which their

fabrication had attained. The swords forged upon the Tagus were, even

then, unequalled for the excellence of their steel and their wonderful

durability. The product of the Spanish armorer was proof against the

fiercest assault of the battle or the tourney. In weight, in stature,

in endurance, in religious fervor, in martial enthusiasm, the Castilian

knight was far superior to his Moslem antagonist. During the Moorish

wars and the contemporaneous domestic seditions was formed the model

of the invincible Spanish infantry, destined in the next century to

become the dread and the admiration of Europe. Heretofore the Moors had

had the power of the Castilian monarchy alone to contend with; now,

however, they were to encounter the combined forces of the various

kingdoms of the Peninsula, moving grimly and irresistibly forward to

the attainment of a single end. In the ensuing catastrophe, a great

people--learned, hospitable, accomplished, industrious, ingenious,

long inspired by the most noble incentives which have ever directed

the course of human progress--were to be abandoned to extortion,

robbery, persecution, and exile; a land whose natural fertility had

been enhanced a hundred-fold by the patient labor and inventive talent

of man was to be swept clean by the desolating tempest of war; and

a civilization, far surpassing that of any country in that age in

the knowledge, the culture, the graces, the refinement, which confer

national distinction and individual happiness, was to be ruthlessly

blotted out from the face of the earth.